Girls Like Us(50)

“You couldn’t have known.”

She shakes her head. “Gio was upset. He wanted her to come to the party with us. We both felt like something was off. I can’t explain it. I just had a bad feeling.”

“Where was the party?”

“In Southampton. This rich guy’s house. He parties a lot, and Gio always brings him girls. And we got paid really well. A thousand dollars a night.”

“Do you know his name?”

She shakes her head.

“If I took you to the house, would you recognize it?”

She looks up at me, her eyes wide. “I don’t want to go back to that house.”

“Not inside. I’ll just drive you down the street and you can point. Okay? There’s no one home, I promise.”

Luz doesn’t answer. She’s crying quietly. Her cheeks glisten with tears. “After Ria died, I told them I’d never go back there again.”

“Who is ‘them,’ Luz?”

“Gio. And the others.”

“Can you tell me their names?”

She shakes her head.

“Was it Glenn Dorsey, Luz? I know he was the one who got you the job at Hank’s.”

“I can’t talk about it.”

“Luz, listen to me. Two of Gio’s girls are dead. If there are cops involved, I need to know. It’s the only way to make sure that you and the other girls who work for him aren’t in danger.”

“You need to get Miguel and me out of here. You need to swear.”

“I will. But please, help me. Help me and I’ll help you.”

She turns and we lock eyes. “Two years ago, Glenn Dorsey busted Ria. She’d been advertising online. When he brought her in, he gave her a choice: he’d either turn her over to ICE or she could go work for Gio.”

My face instantly flushes. My foot hits the brake, slowing the car. “Wait. Dorsey connected Ria to Gio? You’re sure? Glenn Dorsey.” I feel breathless as I say his name. I think about his arm around me in the parking lot after we scattered Dad’s ashes. I rested my head against him, wishing we’d stay in touch. I told him I loved him.

I feel bile rise in my throat. It was bad enough to think that Dorsey was taking kickbacks from a pimp. It hadn’t occurred to me that he was a pimp himself, preying on girls who had no other option but to obey him.

“Yeah, I’m sure. That’s how most of the girls found their way in.”

“And Gio pays Dorsey to bring him girls?”

“Dorsey does everything,” she says, her eyebrows raised emphatically. She seems frustrated, like I don’t fully understand. “Dorsey brings in the girls. He makes sure we don’t get in trouble. He gets security at the parties, too. Some of the clients are really high profile. They like having cops around. It makes them feel like they won’t get caught.” Her lips curl downward in disgust.

“Were there other cops involved?”

“Sure.”

“Do you know their names?”

She pauses, thinking. “There were a few. Ron something. He’d come around sometimes. And DaSilva. Short guy, red face? He was like the muscle. He worked security at the parties. He was a real asshole to the girls. Always kind of threatening us, you know? Like he enjoyed seeing us scared.”

“Anyone else you remember in particular?”

“There was another guy. I can’t remember his name. Tall, quiet. Rode a motorcycle.”

“Marty Flynn.”

“Yeah. That sounds right. He came around some.”

I turn onto Meadow Lane. Most of the houses are dark. The wind howls and rocks the body of the truck. In the distance, I can see the lights on the Ponquogue Bridge. At the end of the road, Shinnecock County Park sits, an expanse of blackness, an open mouth.

“This is it.” Luz sits up. “This is the street.”

We drive to the end and stop. I point up at Meachem’s property. A flash of lightning illuminates the house.

“There?” I ask.

“Yeah. That’s the house. The man who throws the parties lives there.”

“Thank you, Luz. You’ve been so helpful. Can I ask you one more thing?”

“Sure.”

“I need you to introduce me to Calabrese.”

“What? Why?”

“He won’t know I’m FBI, I promise. I need to get inside his office so I can figure out who pays him and who he pays in return.”

“How am I supposed to do that? I haven’t seen him in a year.”

“Tell him you have a friend. A friend who might be interested in working for him. A friend who’s really desperate for cash.”

She looks at me, appraising. “I don’t know. He’s really picky about his girls. Most of them are young.”

“You introduce us. Leave the rest to me.”

She tucks her knees up under her chin and says nothing.

“By the time I meet with him, I promise you, you and Miguel will already be off the island. I’ll get you on a plane the minute the meeting is set.”

“Can you do that?”

“I can,” I tell her, trying to sound more confident than I am. “And I will.”

She nods slowly. “I’ll do it. But please. You’ve got to understand. If you leave me here, they’ll kill me, just like they did to those other girls.”