Chapter 3

It was very unusual somehow, but from the first moment they laid eyes on each other Pam and Lynn seemed to have some sort of connection with each other. I've never seen anything precisely like it either before, or since. The closest might be the almost empathic or even telepathic bond some identical twins seem to share.

I had been very concerned about how to tell my friends about Lynn and I; but even more worried about how she would react when I asked her to tell them her story. We'd picked them up at the airport just in time for lunch and I agonized over what approach to take so much that I really didn't enjoy the meal like I should have.

I first met Cliff when I was in first grade and he was in sixth. He was my reading buddy. I'd had two missing teeth that first day of school and between the newness of it all and the teasing my lisp earned I pretty much pulled into my shell and quit trying. Not a very auspicious start I'm afraid, but in the second week our "Reading Buddies" came and started to work with us. Not only did Cliff not tease me about my lisp but it seemed that he genuinely liked me. His acceptance of me and patience with my mispronunciations and broken sentences gave me courage to keep trying. By Christmas time I was actually excelling at reading and the confidence carried over into the other areas of my school and home life.

Cliff was "an unexpected gift - our belated love child" his parents used to say. He'd come along after their first family had been raised. I guess he thought of me as the brother he would never have and even though there were five years between us it didn't seem to make much of a difference to him. I really was an only child, but in a way Cliff was to and neither of us liked to have to do everything alone all of the time. He still had his older friends, but if they didn't like having a little tag along and tried to force him to choose between having me around or spending time with them, Cliff would just tell them to enjoy themselves and tell him about it later. His was the rare combination of cool head, good heart, good physique, and a handsome face that girls seemed to love.

Over the years, as age caused our interests to vary more, we did spend more time pursuing those interests apart from each other; but we were still friends. When he went to college he met Pam. I could tell from the first moment I met her that she was a wonderful person and over the years it was easy to see that both Cliff and Pam were happy together. Seeing the two of them happy was an inspiration to me in some of the more difficult times of my life and their honest acceptance of me meant a great deal more than what others might think of me. Now I saw that acceptance extended towards Lynn as well.

After the Limo driver had unloaded their luggage and the porter had situated their things in their room, Lynn asked them if they'd be willing to take an afternoon walk. Cliff knew I had a few things I'd wanted to talk about and he looked my way to see how I might feel about a possible delay to our conversation. I just smiled and nodded my head. She headed us in the direction of Pantoja Park. When we reached it Lynn walked over to the bench I'd found her sleeping on and sat down on one end motioning for me to set beside her for Cliff and Pam to join us as well.

Anyone who walked through the park that afternoon must have thought the four of us had gone crazy. Lynn couldn't tell her story without some tears and it was impossible for the rest of us to hear it without shedding a few as well. I saw Cliff's knuckles go white as the veins in his neck bulged from the anger he felt towards Lynn's parents.

"Excuse us ladies I have to walk off some of my tension," Cliff said. "Rich, could you join me please."

We got up and headed away from the girls. Cliff began to speak in a soft but urgent voice "We have to go to the police with this! If we don't many of the girls on the slaver's list are going to have their lives ruined - not to mention the ruined lives of their families! This has to stop!"

"Well, now you know part of why I called you here Cliff."

"Part?"

"Yes. It's a bit more complicated than that. Lynn's story isn't over yet - there are still some things you didn't hear."

"There's more?"

"Yes and not all of it pleasant I'm afraid."

"Do I have to hear this?" he asked. "This is really hard to listen to Brad," he said slipping for a moment. "My daughters are in college now, but this would have killed me if it had happened to them."

"I know, but you need to hear it if you want to help me and Lynn and if you want to put a stop to it."

"Okay, but can we go back to the hotel - I think I need a Brandy," Cliff said.

We'd been gone for maybe a total of two minutes and Lynn had stopped with her story when we'd left. The suggestion to continue it in our hotel suite was met with Lynn and Pam's approval. It didn't take long to walk back to the hotel. Once we were in the lobby it seemed that the small crowd of people parted before us like fish trying to evade a shark; one look at Cliff's face and I understood why.

By the time we had him situated in the large overstuffed leather chair with a Brandy in his hand he had calmed somewhat. "Lynn," he said in his pleasant baritone voice, "I owe you an apology. I'm sorry that I stormed off like that back in the park. I want you to know that my anger is not directed at you. If I haven't frightened you away from it, please continue your story."

Lynn smiled at him and sat down next to me. "This is hard for me to talk about to Cliff. Now, I think I had just told you about running away from home before we left the park."

Lynn continued recounting her story not holding back any necessary details - even those relating to her rape. This time, when she saw Cliff getting worked up again, she stopped him by saying "Wait, you don't understand Cliff, things have worked out for me. In fact they've worked out so well for me that I'd go through it all over again if necessary; just to find my love."

Now Lynn told them of meeting me that day in the park. She left no detail out and had a riveted audience in Pam and Cliff; I was interested to since I was hearing the tale from her perspective. I won't bore you, the reader, with all of the minutiae; you already know most of that part of the story.

When she reached the end it was almost eight at night. Pam, who had been wiggling about for some time jumped up and ran for the bathroom as fast as her feet would carry her. Lynn headed to the bathroom off of the bedroom a split second later leaving Cliff and me alone for a few minutes.

"I think I'm beginning to see another aspect of your problem old friend," Cliff said. "She's pretty young from an age perspective, but seems beyond her years in other ways. You did the right thing Rich, some people are just meant to be together."

"I didn't start helping her with that in mind Cliff."

"I never thought you did old buddy."

When the ladies came back everyone was hungry, but no one really wanted to go anywhere so we ordered room service. There was still some talking to be done - more than I knew about in fact.

"Rich, how old do you think I was when Cliff started to date me?" Pam asked.

"I'm not exactly positive Pam. I know that he was in the first year of his Master's program and you were your freshman year in college. You could have been anywhere from eighteen to twenty-one I guess," I replied.

"Not even close!" Pam giggled.

"Well you can't have been much older than that. Twenty-two maybe?"

"Wrong direction," Cliff interjected.

"You were seventeen?" I exclaimed unable to keep the astonishment from my voice.

"No! But you're getting closer! I was only fourteen when I met Cliff."

I was so stunned that she could have knocked me over with a feather. "Weren't you married just two years later?"

"Yes we were," Cliff confirmed.

"Wait a minute Pam," Lynn said with a look of confusion on her face, "you finished grade school and high school and were in college by the time you were fourteen?"

Cliff looked at me and said "Haven't I always told you she's the smart one in the family?"

"Well yes, and I've always known Pam was bright - but that's like genius level right?" I asked in a fumbling voice.

"Just can all the talk about being a genius - it's all pretty much a load of crap anyway as far as I'm concerned," Pam said. "I don't want the two of you to lose sight of the point I was trying to make. Cliff and I are eleven years apart in age. It's not as far apart as your nineteen year age difference - but we can understand where you're coming from."

"So you don't think I'm some kind of perverted cradle robber?" I asked.

Pam looked at me with a very mischievous glint in her eye and replied "This young woman is definitely past the cradle stage, but as far as you being a pervert or not - I'll have to get back to you on that after Lynn and I have had a chance for some more women's talk."

My eyes darted to Lynn's as I asked "You won't really tell her all of that will you?"

"Oh, I don't know Rich. I have a feeling I can talk to Pam about anything at all!" she said before bursting into laughter at my obvious discomfort with the whole trend of the conversation.

After the food arrived we continued in lively conversation until sometime after midnight. Lynn and I both learned more about the legal issues we faced if we tried to pursue our relationship while at the same time trying to involve the police in going after the slavery ring. We had more to talk about but since everyone was growing tired, we decided to meet after breakfast the next morning and called it a night.

The next morning Cliff made a few phone calls probing some of his contacts for information while being careful not to reveal our identities to anyone. There really was no one hundred percent legal way for me to gain custody of Lynn. If her parents found her the law was on their side unless she testified against them and then she'd end up in a foster home somewhere. None of us wanted that and Lynn and I wanted to stay together.

So, if we couldn't see justice served in a strictly legal fashion, we'd have to improvise. I was amazed at how quickly all of this was able to happen and I don't know how he accomplished it, but Cliff was able to obtain a birth certificate and other ID for Lynn under the name of Lynnette Peters. The background paperwork on Lynn's new identity stated that she was born in Taos, New Mexico at the Holy Cross hospital just over eighteen years ago. The story was kind of on the weird but believable side. Supposedly, Lynn's mother had been a ward of the state's mental care programs and her father was unknown. Lynn had been raised by an elderly aunt, now deceased.

The birth certificate was "forged" on the actual forms used by the county at the time of Lynn's "birth". Apparently a county worker in Taos had a little side business going to boost their income. Cliff somehow verified that the birth certificate actually existed in the county records and would hold up to general scrutiny. Even the hospital records had been altered to show her birth.

In addition to the birth certificate, the identity papers also included a school ID card from a school in Phoenix, AZ. I later learned that the school had actually listed Lynnette Peters as an enrolled student in good standing - but at a price that was more than four times their normal tuition. Apparently you needed some form of current ID to prove your identity to the Social Security Administration and a school ID worked for the purpose.

All of this arrived by courier at our hotel just three days after Cliff and Pam arrived! It was faster doing things this way then when I had tried to change my identity legally. Shortly after we received all of Lynn's new paperwork, the four of us flew to Phoenix where Pam accompanied Lynn to the local Social Security Administration office to apply for a Social Security card in person.

I wanted to take Lynn on an extended vacation and although she wouldn't need a passport in all of the countries we might be visiting - she would in some. It's a lot easier to obtain a passport if you already have your license. So a driver's license was the next item on the agenda. Cliff thought it best to spend some time teaching her how to drive before we went to obtain her license. He also wanted to do a bit more of what he termed to be supportive work before we applied for her license.

Lynn and I thanked Pam and Cliff for all of their support and efforts on our behalf. In addition to paying Cliff for his services I purchased a three week vacation package for my two dear friends to enjoy. I didn't try to surprise them since the whole thing would go to waste if it didn't fit their schedule. Instead I let them pick the place and the time and told them to just bill it to me without worrying about the expense. Pam had always wanted to go to see Australia and New Zealand but the two hadn't been able to afford that while the kids were younger and now that they had three of their offspring in college it was still just a bit out of reach financially. I was happy to give them the opportunity to enjoy their dream vacation a few years earlier than they might have otherwise. They were scheduled to depart in about eight months.

I rented a car and took Lynn out on some less traveled roads well away from the busy city area. She'd already completed Driver's Ed before she had to leave home. What she was missing was actual time behind the wheel.

I really didn't mind spending the time doing this - as long as I wouldn't have to stay in Arizona much longer. I loved many things about Arizona but painful memories persisted; both mine and Lynn's for that matter.

I couldn't just walk away from the situation with the slavers and Cliff couldn't either. I told him to keep on it and charge any expenses to me. Cliff felt it would be good to bring some outside talent in to perform surveillance on Lynn's parents and her uncle. Using someone from out of the area would avoid the chance that they might be easily recognized. Cliff hired three different detectives from three different cities to work things in an undercover fashion. Each of the men reported to Cliff but was aware of the other detectives working the case. One was assigned to tracking Lynn's dad, another her mom, and the third was tasked to watch her slime ball uncle. The three were bound by a non-disclosure agreement that forbid them from discussing their case with anyone other than Cliff. Each detective was working under the assumption that some wealthy victim's parents were footing their bill.

I was happy to leave it with Cliff. For my part Tucson was full of enough terrible and disturbing memories to keep me far away. Lynn applied for and obtained her AZ Driver's License and subsequently her U.S. Passport. Puerto Vallarta here we come!

Lynn and I were enjoying our time together to the fullest! I paid for Scuba and Diving lessons for Lynn to bring her up to speed in short order. She grew to love the beauty of the ocean and the new world that was opened up to her below the surface of the waves. We went diving at different spots up and down the west coast of Mexico.

As we talked more about good memories from her past I learned that she really enjoyed horseback riding and that was something I'd never really done a lot of myself. "Well, why not?" I asked myself. She had learned to dive. I would learn to ride horses.

We found that there were quite a few tours available by horseback. That might have been a bit boring since you pretty much just rode the horses in a straight line one after another; but the scenery was worth it and I liked the idea of being able to ride in a more controlled setting for the first few times.

Lynn seemed to enjoy it immensely and after we got to know one of the tour guides well enough, he told us about a riding stable not too far inland from where we'd been staying. When we drove there we fell in love with the place immediately. There were quite a few riding trails nearby, the people were delightfully helpful and friendly, and their instructors were well up to the task of teaching me to ride and care for horses.

One day, after we'd been out for a particularly long ride, we got back to our hotel to find a message waiting from Cliff. I called him up at his house and he caught me up on the news from the detectives' surveillance as well as his own investigative results.

An interesting pattern had emerged in the past fifteen years worth of missing persons reports filed in and around Tucson. Girls between the ages of eight and fifteen accounted for more than seventy percent of those reported as missing. The majority of victims falling into this category had some definite points in common. They were active, often enrolled in the same types of classes that Lynn had been in, and sometimes even at the same locations. Usually there had been some major disturbance in their lives just before they went missing: divorce, the death of a family member, a change in schools. There was always something that had thrown the schedule of their daily lives into an uproar - and then they'd gone missing.

Cliff started to read the names of the young girls he'd been researching and I felt my stomach tighten into a knot as I realized that I knew many of these names as friends of Stacy's at one time or another; Kelly Wallace for instance. Her mom had died when she was nine and her father had sold their house and moved to a smaller place on the other side of town. With the move came a new school for Kelly and we'd never seen or heard of her after that. Then there was Cindy Mullens, a cute little eleven year old girl who'd gone to the same dance school that Stacy attended. Her parents divorced and had a nasty custody battle. The whole situation was awkward for people who knew them as a couple and as often is the case both Ted and Laura distanced themselves from their past friends. I'd never even heard of Cindy's disappearance. I told Cliff to stay by his phone - I'd call right back.

"Lynn, did you ever know a girl by the name of Stacy? Stacy Crawford?" I asked with great concern.

"Sure. Stacy was one of my best friends. We had dance class and swimming lessons together right up until I had to runaway. Why do you ask? Did something happen to her?"

Before I could answer, the phone was ringing again. I picked it up and heard Cliff's voice.

"Listen Rich, you hung up too soon. We have a situation we need to deal with right now!"

"What is it?"

"It's Stacy. That creepy Walt character has been scoping out most of the places she spends time at. I think he's planning a snatch!"

I was so upset by this turn of events! My heart was racing so fast I thought it was going to explode and if I hadn't been getting so much exercise the past year it just might have!

Lynn could see I was upset and tried calming me down the best she could while asking "What's wrong? Why are you so upset?"

I kept muttering "Stacy" over and over again. Cliff was trying to get my attention and after hearing him yelling several times Lynn took the cell phone from me and began to talk with Cliff.

"Please tell me what's going on Cliff! Whatever you've said to Rich has made him so upset he can't seem to utter a coherent thought. He's just repeating the name Stacy over and over again," Lynn told him.

Just hearing her voice asking questions and seeing her remaining calm as she listened to Cliff's responses began the process of calming me down.

"Put him on the speaker Lynn."

"What speaker? What are you talking about?"

"Here, just let me show you," I said as I took the cell phone back and switched it to speakerphone mode. I had never found a reason to use it before, but now I was glad it had the capability.

"Cliff, are you still there?"

"Yeah old buddy. I'm sorry I freaked you out so bad there? Can you talk now?"

"I'll manage. Just listen in for a moment Cliff; I want to tell Lynn something.

Lynn, you said Stacy was one of your close friends before you had to runaway. Did you know about her parent's divorce?"

"Sure Rich. She was really bummed about it. Stacy told me that she knew that her dad wasn't her biological father, but that he was more of a parent and friend to her than her mom had ever been. It just ripped her apart when she had to say goodbye to him," Lynn replied.