She nodded and then Cat escorted her inside.
“Whoa,” Mark said, after the two women went inside. “That was intense. I didn’t know all this was going on.”
“Murdered hookers isn’t exactly front page news,” I said. “Not good for tourism.”
“Do you really think you can make a difference?”
“We already have, brother. Maybe the difference isn’t big in the grand scheme of things.” I paused and looked at the door. “But it’s huge to those two girls. They have a chance at a path to recovery and to start a new life.”
Mark headed back to the marina and I drove back to the Pine Manor area. I cruised up and down Cleveland a few more times with no luck, so I moved on northward toward the bridge to North Fort Myers.
Turning right onto MLK, I came to a red light. A black girl stepped out of the shadow of a magnolia tree. My window was down.
The proposition was made, money was offered, and she got in.
It went on like that for several more hours. In all, I picked up eight more prostitutes, five of whom took me up on my offer. Two were black, one Hispanic, and two white girls. Savannah talked to each one and I took them to where Mark waited at the marina entrance.
Finally, just after 0200, I drove the last girl to the clinic. Cat got her checked in and I went with her to her office.
“I can’t believe you’re doing this,” she said with a yawn, taking a seat behind her desk. “Three more girls came in from the Pine Manor neighborhood. That’s ten altogether.”
I opened the go-bag I’d retrieved from the trunk of the rental car and counted out ten bundles of hundred-dollar bills. “Will this be enough for their treatment and to give each one who completes it five grand for a new start in life?”
She stared at the pile of banded Benjamins a moment, slightly aghast. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen that much cash at one time.” She looked at me, and I could see suspicion in her eyes.
“I assure you, it’s not from anything illegal.”
“Nobody does this kind of thing for nothing, Mr. McDermitt.”
I gave her a half grin. “I thought we were friends, Cat.”
She looked down at the money and back up at me. “Okay, Jesse, then. Why are you doing this?”
“I grew up here,” I said. “As did my late father and his father before him. Dad was killed in Vietnam and Mom took her own life a few days later. I lived with my grandparents from the age of eight until I joined the Marine Corps. Pap left me a sizable fortune and I’ve been fortunate to find some lost treasure over the years. This is just my way of giving back to the community, I guess.”
“You guess? That’s more than I take home in a year.”
I reached into the bag and took out two more bundles and added them to the stack. “Consider this a donation. What you’re doing here is important work, Cat.”
“How did you ever convince so many to come in?”
I smiled. “I didn’t. To be honest, I had no idea how to even proposition a hooker to get in the car when I started.” I pointed to my earwig, which was still on. “It was Savannah. She talked to each girl and convinced them to come.”
“What’d she tell them?”
“I don’t know,” I replied, then touched my ear. “Are you still there, Savvy?”
“She’s gone to bed,” I heard Chyrel reply over the comm. “She was emotionally drained.”
“Okay,” I said. “If she wakes up, tell her I’m headed back.”
I shrugged. “She’s gone to sleep,” I said to Cat.
“You should, as well. You look exhausted.”
I rose and extended my hand. “The word is out. If any more girls come in, just let me know and I’ll send you more.”
She rose and shook my hand. “I wish there were more people like you in this world, Jesse.”
“There are,” I said, with a grin. “You, Dr. Porter, Dr. Wilson; the world is full of people who are willing to help others.”
I left then, feeling good about what we’d accomplished. Chyrel had DJ and Tony on a different comm channel and had given me updates throughout the night. As I got in the car, I asked her to switch me over to their channel.
“Tony, DJ, how’s it going?”
“There’s three dealers lying under bushes up here in the north end of town,” Tony replied. “I have about a pound of meth and a couple thousand in cash. Left enough on each one to put them away for a while.”
“Roughly the same here in the south end,” DJ reported. “Maybe a bit more cash. These idiots walk around with way too much money and confidence.”
“Let’s call it a night,” I said. “We put a big dent in both gangs’ ability to make money. You recorded the GPS locations of all of them, like we planned?”
“Yeah,” Tony replied. “Chyrel has them all.”
“Go ahead and make your call, Chyrel,” I said.
“Hang on,” Tony interrupted. “I think I might have one more.”
“Hold on, Chyrel,” I said. “Let’s see if Tony can’t bag and tag another one.”
I got in the car and started the engine while I listened on the comm.
“Hey, man,” Tony said. “You know where I can score some party supplies?”
I heard someone in the background say something but couldn’t make out anything other than it sounded like a man.
“No, man, nothing like that,” Tony said. “A brother told me I might find a guy named Bumpy around here and he could hook me up.”
“I’m Bumpy,” I heard the man say clearly.
My mind raced. I didn’t want Tony to bring the guy back to the boats. Too many potential witnesses, and there was no way I wanted Savannah to know anything about this guy.
“Make the call, Chyrel,” I said, backing
