Chapter Thirty-Seven.

The lights flew on, and there stood John William. He had never left the basement. Myles was suspicious about Cali, sensing she would try to rescue the two kids who remained. Maggie's heart dropped in her chest, and her eyes darted around the basement like a wild animal as she wondered how much he'd heard.

John William walked briskly to Cali's kennel. "I heard every fucking word you said. We knew you'd be trouble. Well, sleep tight, girly, 'cause trouble awaits your ass in the morning," he vowed.

The two girls stayed awake all night, trying in vain to comfort each other. They knew the reprimand was going to be harsh, but neither could imagine the extent to which the cartel would go to punish her. John William entered the basement at dawn and heaved his heartless mass of flesh and bones across the basement. He took Cali and Maggie up to the room where they had stripped and danced.

Maggie and Cali clung to each other as they were led across the room. John William stopped and pulled a wire dog cage out from under a wooden table. The cage was forty-eight inches long and thirty inches wide. He bent down and opened the door of the crate. Looking at Cali, he said in an icy voice, "Get in."

Maggie was already crying, remembering how the men had pissed on her when she was forced into the same cage. Cali got onto her hands and knees and crawled into the cage. Then John William fastened three padlocks on the top, middle, and bottom of the wire door. He pulled on the door to be sure it wouldn't budge. Cali was hyperventilating inside the small space, which her body nearly filled.

"John William, please let her go. I swear, we were just talking. We're never going to try to run away. I swear," Maggie begged. At that moment, Maggie was willing to do anything to stop what was about to happen to them.

"I'll have sex with you," Maggie blurted.

John William swaggered close to Maggie. "You're damn straight you will. You can count on that."

"I'll do whatever you want. Please don't punish Cali. Please let her out of the cage," Maggie begged.

"Nah, I ain't gonna do that, and you're gonna have sex with me anyway. How do you like them apples?" he mocked.

Maggie heard footsteps approaching. It sounded like an army of people. She looked toward the doorway as Myles walked into the room.

"You two have deeply disappointed me," he said in a cold voice. "It's time for you to go your separate ways."

Myles pushed Maggie toward the cage. She dropped to all fours and twisted her fingers between the wires. Cali put her fingers over Maggie's, and the girls huddled together, only the wire standing between them. Neither of them spoke. No words could articulate what they felt. Fear gripped each of them so deeply that only death could release them from it.

Myles walked over to the girls. His facial features looked depraved. His anger was raw, and his demeanor was so incredibly coldhearted that no one would ever believe Myles had a wife and children whom he loved. "You," he said, addressing Maggie. "This is the second time you schemed to get away. In this business, we don't tolerate snitches or runaways. You see, if we did, it would jeopardize all that we've built. I've thought a lot about what I should do to punish you. Then it came to me. I can punish both of you at the same time. Kind of like a two-for-one." He laughed.

Then Myles stopped laughing and bent close to Maggie's face. "Such a shame. You had so much potential, and now you've gone and thrown it all away. Now it's time to pay the piper."

"Please don't separate us, Myles. Cali and I want to stay together. Maybe someone will want to buy both of us," Maggie begged.

Myles glared at her, his eyes clouded with pure contempt. "I can't sell the two of you together. That would ruin my reputation and my business. If I did that, it would only come back to haunt me."

Right before John William pried Maggie's fingers loose from the wire cage, Cali had a moment of unadulterated clarity. "Remember what I told you, Mags," she whispered. "You're the one among us."

Two of Myles's men picked up the dog cage and carried Cali toward the kitchen. Myles grabbed Maggie's arm and followed the procession. As they entered the kitchen, another man opened a door to the outside.

It was late November, and the wind whipped the cold air, making Maggie suck in her breath. There was no indication of a sun behind the thick, dark clouds. A light rain fell on them. Maggie, like Cali, was wearing only a T-shirt, and both girls instinctively hugged themselves against the cold.

Maggie took in everything around her. Their prison was three stories tall. Long balconies ran the length of the house on the second and third levels. Over the tall fence surrounding the property, the treetops looked as if they belonged in a supernatural-horror flick. The once-white house was pale gray from years of neglect. The windows were boarded up from the outside, which explained why there were only a few places inside where natural light penetrated. Weeds and bushes grew thick and thorny around the house, as if to keep people in, rather than out.

Maggie searched for the car that would take Cali to her new "home." Her desperation heightened as she realized that she might never see Cali again.

They walked on a crushed-stone path around a row of large bushes that surrounded an abandoned in-ground swimming pool. The kidney-shaped pool was filled to the brim with murky, brown rainwater, which, under the sunless sky, looked black. The wind blew leaves in menacing circles across the surface, sending small ripples of water to the edges.

For a fleeting moment, while moving through the backyard, Cali and Maggie's eyes met. "I love you," Cali yelled to her young friend.

"I love you too, Cali. Come and find me someday," Maggie called over the wind that whipped against her body.

Myles, still dragging Maggie along, stopped suddenly. John William stepped forward, wrapped his hefty arm around Maggie's waist, and hoisted her off the ground. Maggie watched as the two men strode to the edge of the pool and threw the crate, with Cali inside, into the water.

As the crate hit the water, the coldness jolted Cali's body. She felt as if tiny needles were being pushed through the surface of her skin. As she plunged toward the bottom of the pool, her eyes were open wide. The murky liquid blurred her vision. Within seconds, the cage hit bottom, and Cali's lungs began to fill with water. The oxygen in her bloodstream rapidly diminished as she battled to breathe. The cloudy water forced itself into her sinuses. Cali yanked on the door of the cage with all of her might, trying to break it free of the padlocks. This further depleted her energy and her store of oxygen.

A few minutes after Cali hit the water, she slipped out of consciousness and into the peacefulness of death.

Chapter Thirty-Eight.

"Nooo." Maggie screamed, digging her nails into John William's arm, a mistake she'd pay for later. "Pull her up. Please pull her up." Maggie pleaded, looking at Myles in terror. Maggie let out guttural sounds and lashed out, but she was no match for John William, who harnessed her securely in his beastly, hairy arms.

"Get her inside and ready for the next group. I've had enough of this useless drama," Myles told John William.

John William forcefully led Maggie back into the house. Before the door closed behind them, she glanced out to the yard. She imagined Cali under the water, struggling to get free from the cage. The images of Cali's death haunted her, and she slipped into a state of shock. She stood looking up at John William. She had nothing left to say to him. The burden of loss and grief was so powerful that she went limp and slumped to the floor.

John William showed no sign of remorse. He snatched a fistful of her long, black hair and walked toward the basement steps. Like a zombie, Maggie staggered to her feet and walked on, barely noticing the pain of her hair being yanked. In the basement, John William followed her into her kennel. He knew it would be only a few hours before an offer was made for Maggie.

Maggie walked over to her mattress and sat down. She put her head in her hands, and rocked like a small child. She wanted Cali to be alive. She wondered how she could go on without Cali. Her loss was too great for the young girl to bear alone.

A short time later, John William approached, his groin tingled. His ego soared as he recalled the scene outside and that bitch, Cali, plunging into the water. Maggie's deep sense of loss and the way she completely gave herself over to grief turned him on.

Kneeling next to her, John William pulled her T-shirt over her head and ripped off her panties. She did not resist as he effortlessly flipped her onto her belly and took what he wanted. When he was finished, he slapped her on the ass. "I told you all along I'd get it from you. It won't be long before you're out there on the streets, selling your scrawny little ass for twenty bucks to anyone who will have you."

When John William left the basement, Maggie dressed and moved to the front of her kennel. "Seth? Are you OK?"

"I'm scared. Where's Cali? Is she coming back, or did she go to see God like Max did?" he asked in a cracked voice.

"Yeah, Seth. Cali went to see God," she said.

Maggie was tired of fighting. She had been battling to keep a piece of herself since the day John William kidnapped her. Now all she wanted was an end to her suffering. She thought about all she'd lost since that day at the mall. It was too great a burden for her to bear alone. Now, only she and Seth remained, and there was no telling what the cartel would do to the two of them. The only comfort she had was that maybe, just maybe, Max and Cali were watching over them.

That evening, John William took Maggie upstairs to the room where the films were made. She was told to undress and sit on the bed. As she waited for what was to happen next, her thoughts wandered to her mother. It would Christmastime soon, and her mother loved all the excitement surrounding the holiday. She wondered if her mom had experienced a joyful Christmas since she'd been gone. She hoped her mother's life wasn't as grim as her own had become and clung to the idea that her mom hadn't given up hope of finding her.

The door opened, and John William brought four men into the room. She'd never seen them before, and she looked at them fearfully. They checked her over carefully. A man named Rock looked into her soulful blue eyes.

"Yeah, baby, you're a real looker, aren't you," he mumbled under his breath.

Maggie remained silent. She wasn't afraid any longer. Nothing could compare to the pain of losing Max and Cali.

Rock turned to John William. As if the other three men weren't in the room for the same reason he was, he said, "Let's go talk. I'm ready to make an offer."

John William grunted and looked at the others, who were still studying Maggie. They all nodded as they filed out of the bedroom. Up in the attic, in Myles's office, Maggie was sold to the highest bidder for ten thousand dollars. Rock had purchased himself an almost new, fourteen-year-old whore.

Before Rock left, Myles made another offer. "Listen, I got this boy. He's around seven. If you want him, I'll give him to you cheap."

Moments later, in the bright light of the kitchen, Rock looked at Seth. "Well, he's a little too young to turn out, but my old lady always wanted a little boy. She can have him for a while and play mom," he said, thinking aloud.

"I'll tell you what," Rock said. "I'll give ya five hundred bucks for him. He ain't no good to me this young. I'm gonna have to raise him for a couple of years. Gonna cost me money to feed him and keep him. You know what I'm sayin'. So five hundred's my final offer."

Myles looked at Rock as though he wanted to spit in his face. "Yeah, fine. Five hundred bucks. I need the little shit stain out of here. You come back with the cash tomorrow. Early."

"Sure, Myles. I'll be back in the morning," Rock promised.

Maggie wasn't within earshot during any of the negotiating. The only thing she knew was that the men were making offers. She stayed up most of the night worrying about Seth and what would happen to him if she left. It wasn't until morning that Maggie found out that Seth would be leaving with her.

Chapter Thirty-Nine.

It was just before dawn when the lights popped on in the basement, waking Seth and startling Maggie, who had been up all night worrying. John William opened Maggie's kennel, and she rushed over to Seth, who looked pathetic with his small arms extended through the chain link toward her. He was whimpering like a small puppy. She moved in as close as she could to comfort him.

"Get the hell out of the way, you whore. I need to open his kennel," John William said.

Together at last, Maggie hugged Seth close as they walked up the basement stairs for the last time. In the kitchen, standing next to Myles, was Rock. He was over six feet tall, and his arms were crossed over his massive chest in a threatening stance. Rock wore his hair long, combing it back with a greasy hair-care product. He had a full beard and a mustache. He was one of the most dangerous people in Kensington, where he lived and did all of his business. Rock was the biggest drug dealer and pimp in the area surrounding Center City, Philadelphia.

He got the nickname Rock when he was in his late teens and started pushing crack cocaine, or "cookie," on the streets. He looked every bit the picture of a man involved in a shady business. He patrolled Kensington Avenue regularly, keeping a close eye on his street dealers and whores, and was always on the lookout for young people to make money for him.

Rock was infamous for strong-arming people into doing what he wanted. Since he controlled most of the drug pushers and prostitutes in the area, he had any number of people at his beck and call. His reach was endless.

Maggie and Seth had fallen into the hands of one of the most ruthless men in Philadelphia. He showed no tolerance for disobedience and had high expectations for the people he considered his property. The fourteen-year-old and the seven-year-old stood before him, waiting to hear what would happen to them next.

"Let's go," Rock said to Maggie. "I wanna get you back to town so you can start makin' me some money." Then he glared at Seth. "You comin', too."

Seth squeezed Maggie's hand tighter as they followed Rock out to his car. The sky was clear that morning, and Maggie looked back toward the bushes where Cali lay dead in her cage at the bottom of the pool. Her eyes brimmed with tears as the great loss tugged at her heart.

"Listen, girl. Don't be doin' none of that cryin' shit, ya hear? I ain't got no time for that. Get the fuck in the car so I can get your sorry ass back to where you gonna be livin'," Rock demanded.

The kids slid into the backseat of a black sedan. The windows were heavily tinted, making it impossible for anyone to see into the car. Rock sped out of the driveway and eased onto a country road. Rap music was blaring. Seth was sitting so close to Maggie that if he got any closer, their hips would fuse together. Seth was seeing the outside world for the first time in his life that he could remember. His memories from before he was taken by John William were nonexistent, and now, with so much whizzing by the window, he was overstimulated and on the verge of panic.

After forty-five minutes, Rock turned off a highway and onto Kensington Avenue. They drove under a massive steel structure that ran the length of the street as far as they could see. Maggie would soon find out that the seemingly endless, prehistoric-looking steel centipede was the Market-Frankford Line of the subway that was elevated above the ground. Under the El, which the locals had nicknamed the structure, the streets were cluttered with prostitutes and drug addicts.

Maggie couldn't peel her eyes away from the young girls; many were just a little older than she was, and some looked younger. They wore skimpy outfits, and when they noticed Rock's car, fear stirred on their faces. They tried to appear to be working hard to find customers. Girls leaned into cars and talked with scruffy men who skulked on the sidewalks. Maggie didn't know that she was looking at her own future.

Rock drove to the edge of Kensington and parked in front of a large twin home. He turned to the backseat. "We're home. Your mama is waiting for ya inside. Don't ya go givin' her a hard time, either, or I swear I'll kick your ass."

Seth clung tighter to Maggie. Rock gave her a threatening glare.

"Come on, Seth. We need to do what..." Maggie stopped short, realizing that she didn't know the man's name.

As if he was able to read her mind, he said, "Rock. My name is Rock. That's what you call me."

"We need to do what Rock says," she coaxed.

Seth silently followed Maggie and Rock into the house. They stood just inside the front door. The living room to the left was massive and in need of fresh paint and new carpet. A black leather sofa and matching chair faced a television. Empty beer bottles and overflowing ashtrays covered black-lacquered end tables. Stale cigarette smoke hung in the air, and their nostrils filled with an acidy mixture of booze, smoke, and body odor. The dark, velvet drapes were shut tight, keeping out any natural light. To their right was a dining room that had been made into Rock's office. Six mismatched chairs surrounded a large table, on the middle of which sat a telephone and a handgun. Maggie cringed when she spotted the gun. She wondered if they would sleep in one of the bedrooms on the second floor, an option that gave her a tiny sliver of hope.

"Come on," Rock said.

They followed him down a narrow hallway that opened into a kitchen. Dirty dishes were strewn on the worn, red, Formica countertop. In one corner, a heavy, black woman sat at a patio table. She looked up from her coffee and jumped to her feet. "Oh baby, you really meant it. You brought me a son," she gushed, rushing over to Seth.

Seth pulled away from her, locking his arms around Maggie's waist. Rock's wife, Thelma, didn't take kindly to his reaction. "What the fuck, Rock? I thought you said you was bringin' me home a new son. He ain't acting like no son of mine," she barked.

Rock grabbed the back of Seth's neck and squeezed hard. "Go say hello to your momma, boy. This ain't the way ya wanna get started with her," he said, seething.

Rock loved Thelma. They had been together from the time they were fifteen. In fact, Thelma's father, Jackie, was the drug kingpin in Philadelphia until he was murdered. Jackie ran the black mafia and had taken Rock under his wing to be certain his daughter would have stability.

Jackie had set Rock up as a dealer in Kensington and had never allowed him to be a part of the mafia. By the time Rock and Thelma were twenty, they had expanded into prostitution. Thelma's father had set the couple up in business, and Rock's loyalty to her was unbreakable.

In the ten years since her father's murder, Thelma had slowly become a recluse. She was a heavy drug user, something she had promised her father she'd never be. Now she was a full-blown, drug-using agoraphobic and never left the house for anything. The walls of her home defined her world, a rather lonely one. She had tried for many years to get pregnant, and after she and Rock accepted that it would never happen, Rock began to bring young children home for her to raise until they were old enough to use as prostitutes or drug runners. It had been over two years since Thelma had a child.

Unfortunately for the children, brutal, murderous parents had raised Thelma. She lacked patience and compassion for children who didn't act exactly as she demanded.

"Come over here to me," Thelma said in serious tone.

Maggie moved toward Thelma with Seth at her side. "It's all right, Seth. This is our new mom," she reassured him, fighting back the creepy feeling she had in her gut.

"Our new mom?" Thelma shrieked. "Who the hell are you talking about, fool? I ain't a mamma of no whore. You lucky I lettin' you be in my house right now. You ain't livin' here, girl. The boy is, but you ain't, you filthy bitch," Thelma said heatedly.

But then, what will happen to me? Maggie's thoughts silently screamed inside her head.

Chapter Forty.