Conclusion

I stayed there with Brooke through the day. She was very fidgety and nervous. I had turned away her morning date. Her blackmailers were certainly going to be none too happy about that. She was concerned about what they may do in retaliation. What if her pastor or the principal at her son's school were given pictures of her pushing a dildo into herself or a video of her, naked, inviting men to come and see her when she was in their area?

Even more disconcerting was the prospect of having to face her husband. How could she tell him about what had happened? He was supposed to be back sometime in late afternoon. She anxiously watched the clock slide past 2:00. Then, it was after 3:00. As 4:00 approached, she anxiously begged me, "Please just stay with me. Don't leave me." I assured her I would be there for her.

Soon after that, we heard a vehicle pull in the driveway. She put her hand over her mouth and whispered, "Oh, God. He is here." I tried to reassure and calm her, but she was inconsolable.

Her husband, Bob, entered and exclaimed cheerily, "Brooke, honey, I'm home." He was puzzled to see me there with her in the living room. Setting down his briefcase, he joined us. With a quizzical expression, he looked at first one and then the other us and asked, "Well, this is a surprise. What's up?"

I started. "Bob, you need to sit down. Brooke has something she needs to tell you."

With a concerned look, he slowly settled into a chair and inquired, "Is it serious?"

She still could not bring herself to speak. I answered, "Well, kindda." I then stepped back.

There was a momentary, awkward silence. Bob folded his hands and looked at his wife. Brooke steeled herself and began. "Honey, while you were gone, something, um, happened. I had a few visitors here. They had photos and videos that I had made back when I was, uh, kidnapped. They were very, well, explicit. They said that I would have to work for them in a club that they controlled. If I refused," and here she started to cry, "they would send the material to your office, the principal and other parents at our son's school, people at the church and everyone in our neighborhood." Bob looked first at her and then at me.

Brooke took a deep breath and went on. "I did not think I had a choice. So I did as they demanded. When you called yesterday, and asked where I had been during the evenings, I lied to you. I just could not tell you the truth." She sniffled and wiped away tears. "I was working at their club."

Bob was stunned. "I see," he said. "What were you doing there?"

"Well," she explained, "I had to dance on stage. I had to dance for men at their tables. And I had to,um, entertain some of them backstage."

"I see," Bob replied. "What did you do with them backstage?"

Brooke first looked at me before responding. I encouraged her and she haltingly answered, "Well, I pretty much, uh, did, oh God, whatever they wanted."

Bob was just speechless. After another awkward silence, Brooke continued. Biting her lip, she added, "That is not the worst part." Bob sat there trying to imagine what could possibly be worse than this. "I agreed to work for them at the club. But then they said that I would also have to entertain men here at the house during the day. And I did it because I was so terrified that this material with me would get out. I would do literally anything to prevent that, and these people knew that."

Bob looked first at Brooke and then at me. For him, this was just obviously like something coming from out of left field. He quietly asked her, "Did you sleep with these men here?"

"Yes," she mumbled. Wiping away more tears, she added, "and now I feel so guilty and ashamed. If you do not want anything more to do with me, I would not blame you."

Another awkward silence. Bob got up and went over to sit next to his wife on the couch. "Brooke," he said in a low voice, "I really wish that you would have brought this up to me right away." Brooke protested that the material that these people had was very explicit. She did not want him to see it, "Brooke, listen. I know that experience years ago was traumatic. I had thought we were past it. It just pains me that you did not think you could come to me with this.

Staring at the floor, she whimpered, "I am so sorry, Bob. I am just so sorry."

Cupping her face in his hand, he turned her to look at him. "Brooke, listen to me. I love you. Nothing can change that. We can work this out."

I could see that my role here was done. Two is company. Three is a crowd. I inched my way out of the living room and toward the door. Reaching it, I turned and nodded at Bob. He waved as I went out the door.

When I got back home, I related the events of the day to Kathy. She was completely shocked. We thought the kidnapping incident was behind us. I asked her what she would have done if someone suddenly showed up with explicit material featuring her from that time and used it to blackmail her. She said that she really did not know what she would do. But she certainly sympathized with Brooke and realized that she was only doing what she thought she had to do.

Brooke was back at work the next week. The leave of absence turned out not to have lasted for very long. Her and Bob did have some counseling sessions with their pastor. But very soon it seemed, at least to an outsider, that their marriage was even stronger and more loving than it had been before. And that is saying something.

The two individuals who had blackmailed Brooke were never identified. There were suspicions, since the people who controlled the club where she worked were known. But nothing could be proven. None of the material involving Brooke ever turned up. But if it did, she knew how she would handle it the next time.