Santo Diablo Pt. 06

"Over the years we lost enough to make me question the program, but the benefit far outweighed the risk." Rich explained, "The women voluntarily undertook the missions, knowing what was at stake. Each woman that finished the program received U.S. citizenship for themselves and their families. When one of them died, I took care of their families. Each direct family member received monthly payments for the rest of their lives, along with a place to live for free. It was the least I could do for someone that gave their life for us."

"I made it a point to know each Black Widow." Rich continued. "The last part of their test was me revealing the other side of my coin; that I also trafficked women. I explained to them why, and even introduced them to my personal slaves, including Deborah. The ones that had a problem with that we let go. I was looking for that same moral flexibility Julie exhibited, as those women would be the most useful to me and our company. We never ran out of women to fill the role. Thankfully, there are plenty of pragmatic women in world."

The lead FBI agent spoke up, "Do you still own slaves?"

"No, I stopped that years ago." Rich answered, "I grew too old. I didn't reach enlightenment or any of that nonsense. It just came down to practicality. Once I couldn't properly care for my slaves, I freed them. Understand, I never mistreated the women I owned. Sure, you can say owning them and not allowing them to leave is mistreatment, but that is neither here nor there. These women would be slaves, whether I was their owner or not. I learned years ago that some people you just can't save. If I let them go, they would be back on the street with some pimp using them for a quick buck."

"I never kept a slave that was taken from her family." Rich explained. "I bought plenty, but always shipped them back home. I only kept women who hit bottom before becoming prostitutes or sold into slavery. Most of my women at one time had drug and/or alcohol addictions. These were women with nowhere to go and no one to fall back on. Sure, I owned them and controlled their lives, but they were far better with me than anywhere else."

"Don't you think that's an awful lot of justification for what you did?" The lead FBI agent asked. "I mean, you're doing some considerable mental gymnastics trying to make yourself feel better about enslaving women."

"You're probably right." Rich answered. "I'm not looking for forgiveness, and I'll have to answer for all the hurt I've caused when I meet my maker. I just hope the good I've done outweighs the bad. That, gentlemen, is all any of us can hope for."

Samantha walked in and addressed everyone, "It's getting late, and my grandparents need to get ready for bed. I'm sure everyone can continue tomorrow."

With that, the FBI agents gathered their notes and recorder and showed themselves out. Samantha helped Rich and Isabella to the dining room to eat before getting them ready for bed. It was a long day of retelling old stories and answering questions, and Rich was tired. Some stories were fun to retell, others not as much. He lost many of the people he loved, and retelling the stories made him feel they were still with him. He would become sad each time, as he missed them all. If only he had one more day with each of them. At least he had Isabella and hoped he would until the day he died. He was certain if she died before him, he couldn't go on living. It would just be too painful.

He told the FBI agent he hoped he had done more good than bad. He knew that was bullshit. The pain he felt losing people he loved one at a time as he suffered the curse of outliving them was payment for all of his misdeeds. He closed his eyes, knowing with certainty that Isabella would die before he did. It was the last dagger that his maker could use to inflict pain before taking Rich for his eternal punishment. There was little for Rich to do but wait for that day.