Vicious Cycle (17 page)

Emily smiled, but Barbara sensed a wall between her and Kent. Emily hadn’t expected him to be at the graduation. She’d acted happy to see him, but it would take time for them to feel comfortable with each other.

“Well, we’re going to get happier,” Emily said. “Don’t worry, Mom. I’ll take care of things today.”

Barbara frowned. “What do you mean?”

“I mean I’ll go to the hospital to talk to Jordan. We’re good friends now. She’ll listen to me.”

“I don’t know, Emily. That’s probably not a good idea. You just got out.”

“Mom, are you seriously gonna let her keep saying Lance tried to steal her baby?”

“No, not if we can prevent it. But I’ll go myself.”

“Her mother won’t let you in. It has to be me. If Lance can’t go, I’m the next best thing.”

Lance leaned up against the back of Barbara’s seat. “She’s right, Mom. Let her go.”

Barbara sighed. “All right, but I’m going with you. If her mother is still there, we’re out of luck. She won’t let either of us anywhere near Jordan.”

“Her mother won’t be there,” Lance said. “No way she’d sit by Jordan’s side like you would with us. She’ll have to go out for a fix. And I almost forgot since lockdown kind of
messed with my head, but when I was in the holding cell the other day, there were some dudes who told me that there’s a guy in the hood who finds pregnant, addicted girls and offers to give them cash for their babies.”

Kent turned around. “Did they say who it is?”

“No. But it sounds like there are other babies being sold. They pick addicts because they know they’ll do anything for drug money.”

Kent stared at him. “That’s baby trafficking.”

“What do they do with the babies?”

Kent shook his head. “It could be just black market adoptions — finding babies for a high fee. Or it could be something really evil.”

“Like what?” Lance asked.

Kent swallowed and met Barbara’s eyes. “I don’t know. But I’ll look into it.”

Quiet settled over the car for a minute as that sank in. Finally, Emily broke the silence. “Don’t worry, Mom. We’ll get her to tell the truth.”

A
whole year. Emily felt the lost days as she stepped back into her bedroom. Posters welcoming her home hung over the bed and across her wall.

Everything was organized and neat. Her mother had cleaned it up. Emily was sure that the last time she’d had an overnight pass, a month ago, she’d left her bed unmade and clothes over the chair. But that was a far cry from the way she’d kept it a year ago, when she’d been at the height of her drug use.

The furniture in her room hadn’t been changed or moved, and the comforter and curtains were the same. But the absence of chaos and grime made it look unfamiliar and alien. She thought of how far she’d come. But was it far enough?

The phone sat beside her bed, plugged into the wall. She lowered to the bed and picked it up. But who could she call?
Not Paige, her former best friend. Paige was still deep into her addictions. Everyone else in her circle of friends was still ruining their lives. She had nothing in common with them now, and New Day had spent months drilling into her head how dangerous those old friends were to her sobriety.

But loneliness would consume her after a year surrounded constantly by other girls. She’d complained that she had no privacy, sharing her room with three other girls and standing in line for one bathroom. But the friendships had been good medicine.

Now the noise was gone, and Emily dreaded the silence.

“You okay in here?” Her mother leaned in the doorway.

“Yeah,” she said. “It’s good to be home.”

“Karen Thompson just called and told me Maureen has left the hospital. Jordan’s there alone.”

Her spirits lifted as purpose returned. “Can we go now?”

Her mother studied her. “Are you sure you’re up to this?”

“Yes, Mom. We’ve got to get Lance out of this. We can’t let him go back to jail. And I have a few things to say to Jordan.”

“All right,” Barbara said. “Let’s go.”

As Emily stepped into Jordan’s hospital room, she had the uncanny sense that she was standing outside her own body, looking at a potential version of herself. No, she and Jordan didn’t look alike. But she could have ended up in the same place … beaten and overdosed, with an innocent, homeless baby. Jordan’s face was swollen and blackened with bruises. Bloody scabs had formed on her puffy lip.

Emily’s anger at her friend vanished. No one wanted to be like this. Who would choose to go to sleep at night wondering where they’d get their next hit? No one wanted to wake up
thinking about how to scrape together enough cash to score. And to be beaten and abused as a way of life … What had Jordan’s mother put her through to make her lie about Lance?

Emily sat down on the edge of the bed, like she had so many times at New Day when she and Jordan had talked into the night about what they might do with their lives when they truly kicked their addictions. She knew better than to wait for her to wake up. The girl was a sound sleeper even when she was sober, and she was withdrawing from her drugs, which meant she was utterly exhausted. She could sleep for days, except to eat and go to the bathroom. If Emily waited for her to wake up, it might be a long wait.

She shook Jordan’s shoulder. “Jordan, wake up.”

Jordan’s eyes cracked open. “Leave me alone,” she muttered.

“Jordan, it’s me, Emily. I need to talk to you.”

Jordan’s eyes fluttered open again. Disoriented, she focused on Emily. “What are you doing here?”

“Thanks for missing my graduation,” Emily quipped.

Jordan closed her eyes. “Yeah … congratulations … whatever. I was sorta busy … having a baby and stuff.”

“You know you never should have left in the first place.”

“I still would have had the baby.”

“Yeah, but none of this would have happened.”

Jordan shifted and glanced back at her. “None of what?”

“You wouldn’t have gotten beaten up. You were safe there. And my brother wouldn’t have had to spend the weekend in jail. You’re lucky I’m even speaking to you.”

Tears rushed to Jordan’s eyes, and she stared at the ceiling, as if remembering all that had happened in the last few days. When Barbara stepped into her sight, she sat up. “Have you seen Grace?”

Barbara came toward the bed. “Who’s Grace?”

“The baby. I named her Grace.”

Emily glanced up at her mother. Clearly, Jordan hadn’t told anyone that.

“Are you keeping her?” Emily asked.

“That would be a disaster,” Jordan whispered. “I didn’t want Lance to go to jail. Is he okay?”

“He’s out on bond. Jordan, tell the police the truth. You know Lance didn’t kidnap your baby.”

Tears rolled over her eyelashes, down her cheek. “My mother made me say it. She forced me. She’s whacked out and I can’t cross her.”

Barbara came closer. “So what really happened?”

“She was arguing with Lance in the hall. I locked my door and went out my window and put the baby in his car. It was the only way I could save her. Mom was giving her to those people. I thought of going with him myself, but she would have known right away and chased us down. I thought if I went back in, I could buy them some time to get away.”

“You have to tell the police that, Jordan.”

Jordan wiped her eyes. “I know. And I have to make sure the baby’s all right first. I can’t let Mom give her to those people.”

“She can’t give the baby away without your approval,” Barbara said. “If you don’t want them to have Grace, then they won’t.”

“I want Loving Arms to handle the adoption. They’re the ones I’ve been working with at New Day. I trust them.”

“Then I’ll call them for you,” Barbara said. “We’ll get them here. But, Jordan, I’m also going to get the police here, so you can tell the truth.”

Jordan squeezed her eyes shut. “She’ll kill me.”

“She won’t come near you if you don’t want her to,” Barbara said.

“Yes, she will. I’m a minor. She can do anything she wants. This adoption is important to her. She needs the money.”

Emily’s gaze snapped to her mother’s.

“What money?” Barbara asked.

“The money those people were going to pay her.”

Barbara caught her breath. “They were offering you money for your baby?”

“A lot of money,” she said. “Forty thousand dollars.”

Barbara’s jaw dropped.

“Do you know how long that kind of money could keep my mom scoring? Once she saw those dollar signs, she couldn’t think of anything else. She won’t give it up. She’ll kill me for telling you. I’m not exaggerating. She’ll really kill me.”

Barbara’s voice grew thin. “Jordan, I need their names. The people trying to buy your baby.”

“The Nelsons is all I know. I don’t know their first names. I think my brother is the one who found them, which makes it even worse. All his friends are sleazy. I don’t want anybody he knows having anything to do with my baby.”

“I wouldn’t either,” Barbara muttered. “We’ll make sure that doesn’t happen.”

Emily touched her hand. “Jordan, we need you to stay sober so you can do your part to make sure Grace is safe.”

Jordan closed her eyes but didn’t commit to anything.

S
o do you think this will go on my permanent record?” Lance’s question turned Kent from the grilled cheese sandwich he was making.

“Not if we get Jordan to drop the charges.”

“But will I have to tell people I was arrested once, like on job applications and stuff?”

“No. They’re usually only interested in felonies. You’re innocent, Lance. We’re going to get this cleared up.”

Kent scooped the sandwich up with the spatula, turned it over, and watched smoke come up from the pan. Maybe he should have put more butter on the bread or sprayed more Pam.

“Are you sure you know how to cook?”

“I know how to cook bachelor food. Nothing anybody else would ever want to eat.”

Lance came over to the stove and grabbed a glob of butter with his fingers. “Here, maybe this’ll help.” He dropped it in, and it sizzled and sent up more smoke. “I’m a whiz at grilled cheese. That, and macaroni and cheese.”

“My two favorites,” Kent said.

Lance wiped his fingers on his jeans. “So … it’s really cool that you came all this way to help me.”

Kent smiled at the boy. “I’m glad your mom called.”

“So … are you two official?”

“Officially what?”

“You know … a couple.”

Grinning, Kent scooped the sandwich out and dropped it onto a plate. He shoved it across the counter to Lance. “I don’t know. What do you think?”

Lance bit into it like he was famished. “I think you are.”

“I’m not sure how your mom feels. There are a lot of miles between us.”

“Yeah, I know. Makes it tough. Man, this is good. You know what you’re doing.”

Kent leaned over the counter. “Not burned?”

“Burned just enough.” He chewed for a minute. “My dad used to burn them so bad they were stiff. I like them that way. He’d always scrape the burnt part off.”

Kent decided to make another one. A weekend in jail had left the boy hungry. As he buttered the bread, Lance said, “You could visit us a lot more, you know. Especially with a friend who’s a pilot.”

“Yeah, but flying’s not free, even that way. Fuel costs a lot, and he has a lot of costs for the plane.”

“If you really want to, you’ll work it out.”

Kent dropped the sandwich into the pan and gazed at Lance. “I would if I knew your mother wanted me to.”

“Are you kidding? Her face lights up when you’re around.”

“I think it was lit up today because of you and Emily.”

He shook his head. “Different kind of light.”

“And you don’t have a problem with that?”

Lance shrugged. “Why would I? You make a mean grilled cheese.”

As Kent laughed, his cell phone rang. Barbara’s name filled the screen. He clicked it on. “Hey Barb. We were just talking about you.”

“Kent, good news. Jordan has agreed to tell the police the truth.”

Kent sucked in a breath. “Oh, man, that’s great. Do you need me to contact the PD?”

“Yes, and get them here fast, before she changes her mind. Also, tell Lance for me, will you? I have to go.”

Kent punched the air as he clicked the phone off. “Lance, Jordan told your mother the truth. She’s ready to tell the police. If all goes according to plan, your charges will be dropped by the end of the day.”

Lance’s mouth fell open. “No way! Really?”

“Yes. I’m going to the hospital to be there when they take her statement. Then hopefully we’ll get an arrest warrant for her mother.”

Lance came around the counter and flipped the sandwich.

“You go on,” Lance said. “I’ll finish this.”

“I hate to leave you here alone after you’ve been locked up all weekend.”

“Hey, it’s worth it.” He scooped the sandwich onto his plate and turned off the burner.

“All right, but Lance, I want you to stay here until your mother comes back to get you. Don’t do anything, got it? You’re almost out of trouble. I don’t want you to blow it.”

“I won’t. But will you call me when you know something?”

Kent promised he would.

Barbara waited in Jordan’s room, pacing the floor. As she did, she prayed that Jordan wouldn’t change her mind about confessing. What if her mother showed up and shut the whole thing down? What if Jordan feared repercussions for making a false statement to the police officer who’d taken her original statement?

When Kent arrived with two police detectives and a transcriptionist, they set up a tape recorder. Jordan looked ready to spill her guts as Detective Dathan sat down in a chair next to the bed.

“Jordan,” Dathan said, “could you state your full name?”

Jordan cleared her throat. “Jordan Elise Rhodes.”

A pretty name, Barbara thought. The name of someone whose mother might have given it some thought. Maybe Maureen had been sane at the time of Jordan’s birth. Somewhere though, things had gone terribly wrong.

“Jordan, could you tell us what happened on Saturday, November 1?”

“I had my baby … at home. The night before, I felt bad, cramping and back pain, and I didn’t realize I was in labor. So I got high, and it helped with the pain.”