“The airport?” she asks.
“No, far too obvious, and far too difficult to offload our gear without uncomfortable questions being asked.”
“Where, then?”
“Offshore. Your uncle Harris found a particularly useful aircraft just for this mission.”
“Great.” Her voice is clipped, flat. “So what’s the plan? We’re hiding out near the docks.”
“Perfect. We do have plans, but I’ll wait to explain in person.”
“Super. Thanks for coming, Dad.”
A pause. “You sound upset.”
“That’s because I am.”
“Is Apollo okay? Are you okay? Hurt, I mean?”
“No one is hurt. We’ll talk in person.” She hesitates. “Is Lear with you guys, by any chance?”
“He is, but he was going to remain with the aircraft and the rearguard.”
“I need him.”
“Corinna. What’s going on?”
“Dad, don’t. Just…I need Lear. Okay? Please? I need him.”
“All right, Rin.” Muffled, aside. “Lear—Rin requires your services; I’m not sure what for, we’ll find out when we meet.”
I hear his voice but can’t make out what he says.
“Hang tight, honey,” Roth says. “We’re coming.”
“See you soon.” She ends the call and tosses the phone between her thighs again.
“Rin,” I start.
She shakes her head, and I trail off. “I’m angry. Not at you, just angry. At Spaulding, for the whole fucking situation. At…at dirty evil fucking men so obsessed with sex and power that this fucking industry exists at all.” Her eyes are cold with rage. “When this is over, Apollo, we’re doing something about it.”
I nod. “You don’t have to convince me, my love. You know this.”
She’s staring out the window, molars pulsing as she grinds them. “I know. But…we have to do more. I want to throw the full weight of our wealth and position into fuckingendingthis shit. I’m talking whatever it takes. Lobby politicians. Buy off whoever we have to buy off internationally. Form off-book, black-ops hit squads to eliminate purveyors like Spaulding. With the sole exception of legal,voluntarysex work, I want to make it so dangerous to engage in trafficking that it’s not worth it. And I will go fuckingbankruptdoing it. I wouldn’t count out torture for the evil fucks who do this shit to kids—I’m dead serious.” She meets my eyes. “You hear me, Apollo? We’reendingit. And it starts with Richard fucking Spaulding.”
“Sex trafficking is as old as humanity, Rin. I’m not sure ending it is a feasible goal.”
“Prostitution is, you’re right. And I qualified it—legal, voluntary sex work, be it strippers or prostitutes or Only Fans cam girls and everything in between, as long as the person engaged in sex work has chosen it of their own volition and is being paid a fair and equitable wage for that work. And making that the standard is the goal. Sex work is work. As long as it’s voluntary, and they’re getting paid and aren’t getting discriminated against—that’s a whole arm of the operation I’m envisioning. But the other arm is ending human trafficking, globally. And we have to tackle it financially, politically, and through force. We need investors and donors. Our money will go a long way, and I know Mom and Dad and all the others will be in. But we’ll need more. And when I say I’m going to shoot in the fucking face every single person who has trafficked in human beings, I mean it. I’ll go on the ops myself.”
“Rin, my love.”
Her eyes flick to mine, furious. “Trying to talk me out of this would be a very bad idea, Apollo.”
I touch her hand. “I’m not. I wouldn’t. If you’ll remember, I went undercover and personally did exactly what you’re talking about—I personally, physically shot and killed sixteen men who I could directly tie via hard evidence to human trafficking. These were the purveyors, as you called them. There were ten more who I know were…distributors, on a regional and local level. The ones who ran the pimps. And if I encountered clients who were knowingly paying for sex with slaves, I shot them, too.” I squeeze her hand. “But my only point is that, on the whole, your time and talents are best used at the top. Organizing. Driving the operations as a whole. Not that you’re not good at fieldwork, to euphemize what we’ve been doing, but it’s a much more effective use of your time and talents to let those who specialize in fieldwork do that work.”
“You didn’t do that.”
“I was…atoning…for the sins of my mother and grandfather. You have nothing to atone for.”
