Data on Violence Against Native American Women: Efforts to protect aI/an victims are further complicated because many live in isolated rural communities with limited or no access to cellular/landline phone services, transportation, or emergency care; and limited criminal justice, legal assistance, and safe housing resources.272 Getting to or receiving services can often be tremendously challenging. frequently, incidents of domestic violence are under-reported or undocumented because victims are not able to obtain assistance from police or medical professionals. Less than one-third of native american land is within a 60-minute driving distance of healthcare centers that offer saRT/sane services. -Pg 63

www. justice .gov/ ovw/ page/ file/933886/download

Songs for this chapter: "Gun in my Hand" Dorothy, "Even if it Hurts" Sam Tinnesz and "Hold On" The Brevet.


Cady adjusted the blonde wig and swiped on a little more lipstick before correcting her dress and heading out for the speed dating event. Ferg was at the bar, having (somewhat reluctantly) agreed to be her backup.

Taking her seat, she cast what appeared to be a casual glance around the room, noting some familiar faces, but mostly different ones. She had used a different name for her registration, though the woman doing the name tags and intake appeared to be the same as the last two she had gone to with Mathias.

A flash of guilt went through her at the thought of him. He hadn't wanted her to come and here she was, putting herself in danger if he was right.

She straightened her spine and shook the idea off. She had a wig on and had used a fake name. No one would know it was her.


Slumping onto her bed she kicked her heels off and flopped back, tugging her wig off and scratching at her scalp. For all her time invested, she hadn't found anything new out. Ferg had told her he didn't feel comfortable going anymore, so she would have to put off going until she could convince Mathias to go.

With a heavy sigh she rolled over and onto her feet, heading into her bathroom to wash the scent of cigarettes and regret off her skin.


"So I was thinking, what if we went to Casper and tried to talk to some of the women on the streets?" Mathias suggested, watching Cady as she absentmindedly ate a french fry and studied a file.

They were in her office this time, and he had to admit that her couch was infinitely more comfortable than his was. She even had a mini fridge stocked with snacks, water and beer. Plus there was the coffee maker that brewed what he considered to be a cup of nearly perfect coffee.

Yea, Mathias liked Cady's office.

When she didn't respond, he frowned and glanced over at her again. Since Noreena's death, she had been different. More intense, more focused. She joked a little less, and her bright smiles were a little less brilliant.

"Cady."

"Mmmm?"

She didn't look up and he huffed in annoyance, nudging her knee with his, startling her into looking up. There were creases between her brows and dark circles under her eyes, but when she smiled sheepishly at him, it all disappeared and he thought how pretty she looked.

"Sorry, did you say something? I was trying to make sense of these financials," she admitted.

He grinned a little at her intensity and nodded, "Yea I said that we should go to Casper and try to talk to some of the women on the streets working, see if any of them have seen our missing women, maybe they've heard something," he told her.

She gave him a thoughtful look and then nodded slowly, "That's a great idea actually," she murmured. Glancing at the watch on her wrist, she frowned, "It's what, an hour from here to Casper?" she asked, looking back up at him as she set aside the file.

"Yea, we could be there by 10. They'll just be getting going for the evening. If we take some cash and some food, we'll get more from them," Mathias told her, already gathering up the files in preparation for their departure.

Cady nodded and rose from the couch, cracking open her office door to call out to Zach. "Hey, Zach, Mathias and I are going to Casper to follow up on a lead for our missing women case. I need you to hold it down here," she ordered and Mathias could hear the quiet buzz of the man's voice as he responded, the words indistinct through the door.

After a moment, Cady turned back, grabbing her thick coat off the coat rack and gave him a faint smile.

"Ready?"


They had been out in the cold for nearly an hour with no luck. Most of the women either didn't want to speak to them, or those that would, didn't know anything. Mathias turned down a new street he knew was heavy in prostitution and pulled up to the curb, eyeing the four women huddled together under a dilapidated awning trying to avoid the snow flurries.

Cady rolled down the window and leaned out a little, giving the women a warm, friendly smile. "Hey ladies. If you want to get warm and have a sandwich, you're welcome to join us in here," she called.

The women were younger, early twenties maybe, and Mathias thought that was probably why they only hesitated a few moments before seemingly deciding together that it was a good idea. The doors to his SUV were opened and the women piled into the back, shivering and wet.

Cady handed out sandwiches and bottles of water, making small talk with the girls until they relaxed a little. When their mouths were full and she was relatively sure they wouldn't bolt at her first question, she began.

"Girls, my name is Cady, and I'm trying to find out some information on some women that have gone missing in my county. Would you look at some pictures and tell me if you've seen any of them?"

Cady and Mathias waited, breath bated, for a decision.

The girls exchanged glances before one, seemingly the leader, nodded and leaned forward. "Sure." Cady eagerly pulled out the photobook she had made, flipping it open to reveal the faces of the women they had identified as having attended the dating service, and those who had been underage.

The young woman flipped through the pages, frowning. When she reached the end, she went back and studied one of the photos, "I think I know her. Her hair was shorter, and there were bright streaks of pink in it when I saw her, but yea, I think that's her."

Cady and Mathias exchanged an excited look and Mathias asked as gently as possible, "Do you know where she is now?"

The young woman shook her head, "No. I don't even know her real name. They…" she paused and the other girls got an uncomfortable look on their faces. She swallowed and continued, "The people running her called her Candy, but she told me once that wasn't her name. She had a lot of spirit, talked back to the customers one too many times, and I think after that, she got moved."

One of the other girls scoffed and shook her head, "Hopefully. You know who she was being run by," she murmured.

A knock on the passenger side window startled the occupants of the car, the girls in the back flinching and huddling together, the police in the front reaching for concealed weapons. The man at the window was tall, likely six and a half feet and well over two hundred pounds of muscle.

He scowled and rapped his knuckles against the glass again, "Open up!" he demanded.

Cady and Mathias exchanged a glance before she nodded and rolled down the window a crack, peering out at the man.

"Can I help you?" she asked politely, and Mathias had to bite back a laugh at how only she could sound both polite, and like she was telling you to fuck off all at the same time.

The huge man glowered at her, "Yea, I need the girls to get outta the car if you aren't gonna pay em or fuck em," he growled.

Cady's brows lifted, and she glanced first at Mathias and then back at the girls, shooting them a grin. "Oh, well, we were going to take them to a hotel, have a party. But if you don't want to make money…" she trailed off suggestively and the man stared at her, suspicion narrowing his beady eyes.

"Where do you want to take em? I'll need to come to make sure everyone stays safe," he muttered, glancing towards the backseat.

"Just up the street, that's all," Cady replied evenly, giving him a polite smile.

The man studied her and then frowned, shaking his head, "Nah. Not tonight lady." He rapped on the rear window and called out loudly, "Get out! Get your asses out here!"

The girls huddled together for a moment, shoving the remains of their sandwiches into coat pockets and hurriedly guzzling water before they followed his commands and stumbled out into the cold.

Cady's eyes narrowed as the man began berating the young women, pushing and shoving them, his face an ugly snarl. Her hand tightened around the door handle, waiting for him to step over the line before she exited the vehicle and arrested him.

When one of his meaty fists backhanded the leader of the group for talking back, Cady was out of the vehicle, her fist connecting with his jaw, propelling him back a few steps. Mathias cursed and jumped out of the SUV, hurrying around it as the large man recovered and bellowed at Cady, lowering his shoulder as he slammed into her, knocking her into the ground with a heavy thud. Mathias's heart was in his stomach as she went down, her head hitting with a sickening crunch.

One of the man's hands closed around her throat as his hips pinned her down, his free hand connecting with her face in a series of vicious blows that left her disoriented and with a dull ringing in her ears.

"Get off her," Mathias shouted, the barrel of his gun pressing into the man's skull. Below him, the man growled, stilling in his assault on Cady before he shifted and she crawled out from under him, blood covering half her face.

As she rose to her feet, she drew a foot back and snapped it forward, kicking the man in the balls so hard Mathias's own flinched in sympathy. As the man collapsed onto the ground, wheezing and heaving, Cady kicked him again, this time in the ribs.

Glaring down at him, she swiped the blood from he eyes and then looked up at the women, gaze intense. "If you want out, come with us. We'll get you to a shelter."

Again, the group seemed to take a few moments before they nodded and hurried back into the safety of the vehicle.

"You want to arrest him?" Mathias asked softly, drawing her gaze back to him. Cady's cerulean eyes blazed in the night and she nodded slowly, anger raging in her gaze.

Mathias cuffed the man and shoved him into the large trunk of the SUV, slamming the hatch shut before taking off. The ride was quiet; the girls in the back were stiff with fear and Cady was pressing a wad of tissues to her brow, her jaw firm.

By the time they dropped the girls off at a shelter and the pimp had been processed by the local police, it was near dawn. Mathias found Cady sitting in the hallway outside the interrogation room, legs stretched out in front of her and her head back against the concrete wall, eyes closed.

Blood was dried to her face in dark splotches and he could see that already bruises were forming on her left eye, cheekbone and jaw. The bruising and cuts on her face mad him sick to his stomach. Anger, guilt and worry ate at him; Cady was his partner, his friend and he hadn't been able to keep her from getting hurt. He had never once in his career used excessive force, never shot someone unless he had to, never taken a life unless it was the only option.

But tonight, he had been breaths from smashing his fist into the pimp's face until it resembled nothing less than bloody pulp. The anger and fear had made his blood rush through his veins so hard and fast it had taken his breath away. Had he not needed to take care of Cady, he would have made a mistake. He would have done something unforgiveable.

He approached her slowly, the adrenaline long gone from his system, now replaced with exhaustion. The desk officer had given him a first aid kit, and as he sat beside her on one of the uncomfortable plastic chairs, she jolted, hand going to her weapon as he eyes flashed open.

He could see the panic and fear in those azure depths as her brain processed that it was him and not an attacker, and it made his gut writhe. When she slumped, chest rising and falling a little too fast for normal, he tapped his fingers against the first aid kit.

"Why don't we get you cleaned up," he suggested quietly.

She stared at him for a long minute and then nodded slowly, a wince crossing her face. Mathias moved with care, hands gentle as he used a disinfecting wipe to clean the blood from her face. She had a split lip, a large cut above her brow that probably needed a stich or two, but with the limited resources in the kit, he just put on two butterfly bandages and hoped it was enough.

When she was clean and bandaged, he dug out a packet of painkillers and ripped them open, taking her hand so he could drop them into her palm. She stared down at them for a moment and then popped them into her mouth, accepting the water bottle he offered, and drained half of it in a few swallows.

She was stiff as they made their way back to the SUV, and as he pulled away from the police station and onto the highway, she stared out the window with a bleak expression. It wasn't until the lights of the city faded that she finally spoke.

"You think they're all dead?"

His hands tightened on the wheel and he glanced over at her to see her staring out the window, her bruised jaw the only thing he could see of her face.

"I dunno. Not all," he replied quietly.

She hummed softly and then sighed, turned her head to look at him. The depth of sorrow in her gaze felt like a knife to his chest. He didn't like seeing her brightness so dimmed.

"I can't believe you've dealt with this for so many years," she murmured, sounding stunned. "I don't know how you have the strength to get up everyday and face it," she said, shaking her head faintly.

Mathias sighed and shook his head, "Because my people need me to. If I didn't, who would?"

Cady nodded thoughtfully at that, eyes starting to grow heavy as the painkillers numbed her. "Dunno, but, I'm glad you were there tonight," she sighed, eyes falling shut.

Mathias glanced over at her as she drifted off, his chest aching. She was like a storm, waning as it lost energy, but when she was angry and fighting for his people, her rage lit up the sky like the brightest lightning.

It took his breath away.

"Me too little storm, me too."