Free Trafficked by Kim Purcell Page B

not my idea of a good time.” Ina looked Hannah up and down. “Listen, you’re a beautiful girl. You could make a ton of money as a dancer at my boyfriend’s hotel.”
    Hannah noted that he was her boyfriend now, not her fiancé. “No, thanks.” She laughed lightly, even though she felt her chest constrict. “I can’t dance.” She didn’t add that she was going to be making four hundred dollars a week in America for cleaning snotty noses and that it would shame her family if she were dancing half-nude in front of a room of men.
    At last, the official came back and turned on a light in the office area. The bus driver’s assistant brought the plastic bag with the passports to him and began calling passengers through the glass door, stamping their passports and sending them behind him, through a gate that led outside.
    As Hannah waited for her name to be called, she started to get more nervous about Ina. Something about how she’d come up to her and told her she could be a dancer seemed too forward when they didn’t know each other.
    â€œOh, Ina,” Hannah said casually. “Don’t say anything to the official, okay? About me going to America?”
    Something flickered behind Ina’s gaze before she smiled. “Don’t worry about it.”
    The immigration official didn’t even look at her. He stamped her passport and she got back on the bus, then waited anxiously for Ina to return. Several passengers came before her, but finally Ina got back on, ran her finger over Hannah’s shoulder, and continued to the back.
    Stupid,
Hannah thought. She had to be more careful than that. A few minutes later, the bus driver got back on and they continued into Romania.
    Just after ten in the morning, the brakes on the bus squealed like a chicken with its foot caught in a fence, and the bus turned into a rocky parking lot in a residential area on the outskirts of Bucharest where other buses were parked. They’d arrived at the main bus terminal, where the agent would meet her. Outside it was bright and sunny, a perfect day for flying to America.
    Everyone remained seated, waiting until the assistant said they could get off. Ina crept up from the back and plunked down into the empty seat next to Hannah.
    â€œAre you going to the airport right now?” Ina asked.
    â€œI think so.” She scanned the faces of the ten or so people who were waiting by the brick bus terminal building, but didn’t see any man wearing a leather jacket with a Romanian pin.
    The bus driver’s assistant yelled for everyone to get off the bus. Ina jumped up in front of the rush of passengers and tugged on Hannah’s arm. “Come on.”
    Hannah picked up her father’s suitcase and hurried out of the bus.
    The assistant started taking larger suitcases out from under the bus, but Ina didn’t step forward to grab a bag, which was surprising because she had only a black purse. Perhaps her boyfriend had all her things. The passengers started heading off with the people who had come to meet them, but nobody approached Hannah.
    â€œIt doesn’t look like anyone is here to meet you,” Ina said.
    â€œNo.” Hannah looked around, feeling anxious.
    â€œMaybe he’s gone,” Ina said. “We’re over two hours late, you know. What did you say his name was?”
    â€œVolva?”
    Ina shrugged.
    They stood for another moment and waited. Hannah started biting her lip.
    â€œAre you sure you don’t want to come with me? The hotel has a swimming pool.”
    Hannah thought about all the work Olga had gone through to prepare her for the trip. They wouldn’t have done that if they were going to leave her here. “No, thanks. I’ll wait.”
    Ina gave her a quick smile, spun around like a fashion model, and strode toward an expensive-looking black car. An older man sat behind the steering wheel, watching her. He wasn’t