Isenberg stayed in the back of the room with Meredith Fallon, who’d been called by Mrs Bautista for her children, even though both Erica and John Paul insisted they didn’t need a therapist. Meredith took no offense, simply smiling as she and Isenberg quietly listened.

Scarlett found her heart breaking again and again, listening to their story, and then to Marcus telling them about Tala’s last days. He’d emphasized how brave she’d been and how much she’d loved her family. The Bautistas had cried, holding each other.

Scarlett found herself wiping her eyes, cognizant that she was not the only one of the observers to cry. Marcus’s tears ran down his face unchecked. He’d seen Tala die and he hadn’t started to deal with the shock. So Scarlett laid her hand on his forearm, lightly stroking his skin with her thumb, just so that he would know she was there.

Efren Bautista dropped his head in shame. ‘I feel so stupid,’ he said when he’d finished telling them how the family had come to be tricked into human slavery.

‘We’re educated people,’ Mila added, clutching her husband’s hand. She hadn’t let go since they’d been reunited. Her son sat at her feet, his arms wrapped around her legs. Erica had her arm in her father’s and her head on his shoulder. The family was intertwined like a vine.

‘We should have known better,’ Efren said wearily. ‘Now my daughter is dead because I brought us here.’

‘Thousands are tricked just like you were, every year,’ Kate said softly. ‘I know it won’t help now, but perhaps someday you can take some comfort in knowing that you’re not alone. And certainly not stupid. These traffickers have a very sophisticated operation.’

‘And you came to work,’ Agent Troy said. ‘You were trying to make a better life for your family. There’s no shame in that, sir.’

Efren shook his head, completely unconvinced. ‘I should have stayed in the Philippines. Tala would still be alive. She would not have been violated, forced to have Anders’s baby.’

‘She’s a beautiful baby,’ Marcus said. ‘Your granddaughter has Tala’s eyes.’

Efren only nodded, his gaze glued to the floor.

‘Let me summarize what you’ve told us so far,’ Kate said, ‘and then we have a few more questions. Okay?’ She waited until Efren nodded, and then went on in a gentle voice. ‘You were approached by a neighbor who’d applied with a recruiter and had gotten a job in the United States.’ She spelled the neighbor’s name and Mila nodded.

‘I hope he didn’t experience the same nightmare we did,’ Mila said. ‘We should try to locate him and be sure. He said he was going to work in New York.’

‘We will make every attempt to find him,’ Kate assured her, ‘but you should be aware that many times the neighbor who tells you about the jobs is paid by the recruiter. Many times the neighbor is still in the home village, living very well by betraying his friends. I’m sorry,’ she added when Efren and Mila looked stricken. ‘I hope I’m wrong.’

‘I hope you are too,’ Mila whispered. ‘The person who told us was Efren’s cousin. I don’t want to think of him suffering like we have, but . . .’ She put her arm around her husband when a strangled cry broke free from his chest.

‘He had a new car,’ Efren sobbed. ‘He said he’d gotten it for his mother to drive when he left. He lied, Mila. He lied and our daughter is gone.’

Scarlett exhaled. To be betrayed by family was another agony they’d have to endure. She met Kate’s eyes and could see that she was thinking the same thing.

Once he’d calmed, Kate began again, asking Efren for further details of his recruitment. Efren explained that the recruiter had charged an exorbitant placement fee for his services, so not only had the recruiter been paid by the traffickers, but he’d stolen the Bautistas’ savings as well. Efren had taken out a loan at such a high interest rate that it was pretty much assured he would never be able to pay it back. He’d come to the United States hoping for honest work and a living wage, only to find himself in a worse situation than any indentured servant.

The family had been separated almost immediately, Mila and Efren only allowed to see each other only four times during the first year, and not at all in the last two. That had been imposed by Chip Anders, who taunted Efren by telling him he was sleeping with his wife and daughters, then forced his compliance by threatening to do the same to John Paul.

‘Do you want to apply for a U visa?’ Peter Zurich, the immigration attorney, asked.

Efren shrugged. ‘I would be humiliated to go home and be laughed at for being such a fool, but I’ll continue to hate myself if we stay, so where we are matters not to me. If Mila and my children want to go back, I’ll go back.’

Mila looked panicked. ‘I don’t know. I . . . I just don’t know.’

‘When do they have to make a decision, Mr Zurich?’ Meredith asked using what Scarlett recognized as her counselor voice. Soothing without being condescending, it had an instant effect on Mila, the poor woman’s panic visibly receding.

‘Within the next few weeks,’ Zurich told them, kindly. We need to get a jump on the paperwork, as the others liberated from Anders’s factories will also be filing applications and there is a ceiling on how many U visas are issued every year.’

‘If they give you permission to start the paperwork and they change their minds,’ Meredith asked, ‘is that a problem?’

‘We can always withdraw an application,’ Zurich said.

‘Then start it,’ Efren said, his eyes remaining downcast. ‘Thank you for your kindness.’

Zurich gave all four Bautistas their own cell phones and his business card. ‘Call me if you need me.’

Efren didn’t take the phone he was offered. ‘I can’t pay for any of this.’

Zurich placed Efren’s phone on the lamp table. ‘Right now, don’t worry about paying. We’re working for you at no charge because we know how many people are in situations just like yours. Five years ago I worked with a family who’d come from India. He was an engineer with a graduate degree and found himself working in a restaurant for no wages. He was embarrassed, much as you are. Today he and his family are US citizens. Their sons are enrolled at the university. And he volunteers his time to help families like his – like yours – get a new start. We call that paying it forward, and someday I’d like to count on your support in the same way.’

Efren looked up then, his eyes red from crying. ‘Thank you for trying to restore my dignity. But I fear it is too late.’

‘Not too late, sir,’ Zurich said. ‘Remember, you’re not alone in this. We’ll talk again soon. For now, rest.’ He looked at the two agents. ‘You’re going to the temporary shelter for the other people pulled from Anders’s factories?’

‘Yes,’ Kate said. ‘You’ll represent them too?’

‘For now. My office is working to get more attorneys on board. Today it’s just me.’

‘I’ll stay for a little while,’ Annabelle Church’s grandson said. He smiled at Mila. ‘My grandmother made me promise to take care of you.’

As the agents and Zurich left, the CPD sketch artist came in. Scarlett rose to give her a hug. ‘Lana. Thanks for coming in. I heard it’s your day off.’

‘I was cleaning house,’ Lana D’Amico said with an easy laugh. ‘I’m glad to escape it.’

Scarlett led her to where the Bautistas sat, still twined around each other. ‘This is Sergeant D’Amico,’ she said. ‘She’s going to create sketches based on your descriptions of the man and woman who brought you to the city. Sergeant D’Amico is one of my friends. She and I were partners many years ago, before I was a detective. Now she’s a police artist.’

‘I’m very pleased to meet you,’ Lana said. Her smile was always so sweet that it put witnesses at ease, and the Bautistas were no exception. All four visibly relaxed when she took the seat that Kate Coppola had occupied.

‘Lieutenant Isenberg? Detective Bishop?’ Cell phone to his ear, Deacon stood in the doorway to the adjoining room, motioning them to come, his expression unreadable.