I apologize for the delay. Real life just got in the way of what I really wanted to be doing. I hope you enjoy this next chapter.
Dressed in dark jeans, tee-shirt and combat boots, wearing her vest with "Five-O" emblazoned on the front and back and her gun at the ready, Alyssa pressed her back against the wall of a large, luxurious-looking house and listened for Steve's command to move. The briefing was rudimentary at best, but she knew what she needed. HPD had asked for Five-O's tactical help dealing with a prostitution ring that was operating out of this house. The implication was that there was a possibility that this was a human-smuggling operation and that the "employees"; Alyssa allowed herself a quick sour smile, were under-aged girls.
Of all the things she'd seen as a cop and now as a detective, crimes against kids were by far the worst. She would have dearly loved to take on the human debris involved in this, but Steve had another job for her. She was to find the girls and keep them calm and safe. She hated the order, but had to admit it made sense – if these girls had been abused, they would probably react better to her then to any of the men. She took a deep breath, looked over at Grover with whom she was paired and prepared to move.
Momentarily she heard Steve's voice. "We go on three. Mind the Flash-Bangs." He meant the grenades that HPD would launch through the windows in order to create a diversion. Steve's voice came on again, "One. Two," She heard the shattering of the windows and the grenades exploding. "Three," Steve bellowed.
Grover kicked the back door open and Alyssa moved into the area in a low crouch, her gun at the ready. She scanned left and right. She heard scuffles off at the front of the house, but saw nothing that was an imminent threat. "Clear," she said. Grover motioned to the first of many doors and they repeated the process. Grover would kick the door open and she would enter first and scan. All the rooms appeared to be empty.
"What the hell?" Alyssa asked when the team met up again. Three men were arrested on "Resisting Arrest" charges and there were two well-dressed men who appeared to be tourists and who being questions as to the exact type of "Tourism" they were interested in. "There are no girls here."
"They knew we were coming." Steve's voice was flat. "Somebody leaked information."
Something was tickling the back of Alyssa's mind. Like Déjà vu. Something that she remembered. Something that she had been trying to forget for many years. "Wait," she said.
She drew her gun again and carefully walked toward one of the bedrooms in the very back of the house. The team exchanged looks, but they were not about to let Alyssa go on her own. They drew their side arms and followed her.
Alyssa's heart was beating so hard, she was sure everybody could hear it. It couldn't be. That was over ten years ago. Sure not, "Please, God. No," she prayed silently as she edged ever closer to the room.
The door that Grover had kicked open had now swung about half-way shut. Alyssa gently pushed it open, scanned the room for danger and walked in. She was drawn to the sliding doors of the closet against the right wall. Almost as if in a trance, she walked up to them and, with gun at the ready slid them open just a few inched and looked in. When she was assured that there was no one in the closet ready to jump out she opened the doors more and started to scan the floor. There. She knew it. Her heart sank as the implication of her being right hit her. It was that house. She was remembering correctly. Things that she had tried to forget for years and now she was faced with it.
She took a deep breath and pushed the thoughts away. She would need to deal with this soon, but not right now. She looked down at the trap door built into the floor of the closet. The rest of the team was crowding into the room. She motioned them to be quite and indicated that they should wait outside. Steve and Chin were not happy with this order, but they complied.
Alyssa holstered her gun, and opened the trap door. She could neither see nor hear anything. "Hey," she called into the darkness. "It's OK. You're safe now. You can come up." There was no reply, so she continued. "My name is Aly and I'm a friend. I'm here to help you. Please come up where I can see you."
This time, the response was some shuffling and what Alyssa thought was a stifled sob. "That's it," she encouraged. "Please let me help you." She heard creaking as feet started up the ladder. She looked over at the team and motioned the men to step away to avoid frightening whoever was coming up the stairs. She actually signaled for Kono to enter the room, but to stay back.
In a moment, she saw a small face appear. The girl could not have been more than fourteen. Alyssa held out her hand and, after a moment's hesitation the girl took it. After her came another girl, maybe sixteen. Followed by another, younger girl. Alyssa knelt amongst the girls who were quite, but clearly frightened. She had ascertained that the first girl was Amy, the sixteen year-old was Trish and the third girl was named Gabby. They were all wrapped in blankets against what was probably a damp and chill basement.
"This is my friend, Kono," Alyssa said as she motioned Kono to approach. "We are police officers and we want to help you. Would that be OK? Can we help you?"
"Will you take us home," Gabby asked.
"We will sure try," was the best that Alyssa could do and her heart broke for the little girl. "Kono and I would like to take you to the paramedics to have them just make sure that you are not hurt?" The inflection in Alyssa's voice indicated a question and the girls nodded. Kono and Alyssa escorted the girls out to the waiting ambulances but did not immediately leave as their presence seemed to calm the girls. As the paramedics gently removed the blankets, Alyssa noticed something around Trish's neck and gasped. Kono turned to stare curiously at her friend, but Alyssa was already moving toward the girl.
"No," Alyssa's brain was screaming. "Please no." She was able to hide her turbulent thoughts as she gently asked the girl to look at the necklace. Trish caught her breath as if forgetting that she was even wearing a necklace. With a shaking hand, Alyssa reached for it and her breath caught in her throat as she saw what it was. A small white flower pendant, a representation of an orchid, hung from a simple gold chain.
"Oh, no," was all that Alyssa was able to breathe as her world began to lose focus and her vision began to swim.
Sometimes I think that poor Aly can't catch a break. What did you all think of this chpater? Does it make sense? I hope that you are interested and will stay tuned to the next installment. I promise that I will try to update much faster than I have. I have been asked to include some McKono and I am more than happy to oblige althogh I have not written that before and it will be showing up in subsequent chapters. As always, I love, love, love your feedback and comments as well as questions and am always so grateful for your reviews.
