Luke drove Niagara Falls Blvd where all the cheesy motels claimed to have the best rates, minutes from the falls, but they weren't the places where pimps hung out. Tourist traps. He wasn't far enough into the underbelly of Buffalo where he needed to find his daughter.

He ran out of real estate and parked his car where you could walk a few hundred feet and look down on the American side of Niagara Falls. With a death grip on Chrissy's phone, he wondered if her so-called boyfriend erased all the contacts and messaged memories. Maybe he didn't expect it to be found so easily in a dumpster, or maybe he thought having stomped on it was enough before throwing it away.

Lucky break for Luke. Chrissy still showed contacts on her phone-a treasure trove of leads. As he tumbled from the car, his heart rapt like a speedbag about to burst. He took Bugsy with him on a leash and found a park bench where the cool summer mist of the falls showered them both. He was close enough to hear the thunderous sound of the water fall below where he didn't have to listen to his pulse pounding in his ears.

While Luke scanned the phone to locate the boyfriends phone number, a tour bus pulled up to the busy curb where Buffalo's skyline could be seen. As the group shuffled off the bus, it was clear they were Chinese and seemed less inspired to be on the American side of the falls when horseshoe falls in Canada was across the way in all its fury. He wanted to tell them that the Buffalo side was far more dangerous. No one ever survived the torrent of rocks below, even tucked inside a barrel. No time for small talk with his thumb on the phone.

Bingo! His real name: Brad Dunn. It seemed too easy, but every minute counted. He suspected his daughter would be trafficked or put on the street and pimped if he couldn't find her soon enough. Bile crept up his throat. He pulled up his own phone so it couldn't be traced to Chrissy's, and then called.

Voicemail kicked in. "Hey its spike. You leave a message, and if it is important I call you back. Got it?" Click.

Yupp! That was his M.O. "Hey, man. I hear you got a new girl. I want to see what's on the market. I'm not in town for long. Call me."

Luke bent over, away from Bugsy and puked. He didn't know if he had the stomach to pretend to be a John in order to find his daughter.


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Crystal put the silky sun dress on in the bathroom. Then she turned her dirty blonde hair into pigtails with rubber bands. She put eyeshadow on and blush to hide the racoon eyes looking back at her in the mirror. Spike wanted her to look like she just came from the school yard before he took her to the club where they had those backroom doors where men paid for a peep show.

"Come on Crystal. It's time for you to make a good impression on the clubs owner."

She knew he'd break the door down. She swallowed a knot in her throat and opened.

He stood back and admired her girlish look. "Not bad. Not bad at all. Men are going explode when they see you."

Crystal choked on her own vomit but kept it down. "When can I have my phone back? My mother's going to be worried. I promise, I won't tell her where we are."

"Don't worry about your phone. Do this for me tonight, and I will let you call her to tell her you're fine."

Fine, she thought. Fine! She had to use makeup to cover the bruise on her face.

"I told you. It's just a peep show. No one can touch you. We need to make money if we are going to California."

"California?" He hadn't mentioned it before.

"I got a client, a big named one who wants to see you. I've already sent him pics. He's our golden movie ticket."

Crystal wanted to scream. She wanted the child inside to come out and run for it. She wanted to believe there would be a way out. The walls closed around her. The room spun.