A Story Idea Each Day for a Month — Day 8

This is the 10th year in a row I’ve run this series in April. Why a story idea each day for the month? Several reasons which I’ll work my through during this series of posts. Here’s another one:

You always need more than one in your gun.

Want that explained? Go here to read a Business of Screenwriting post.

Today’s story idea: Slavery in the U.S. in 2019: Strip mall brothels are everywhere.

In the aftermath of the story of Robert Kraft having been charged in Florida with first-degree solicitation of what amount to sex slaves, a very illustrative story showed up in a local publication from Massachusetts (Patch Woburn).

This story struck me not only because it revealed a lot of things that are hiding in plain sight, but also because it was a well-done piece by a small-town journalist.

I hadn’t really thought much about all those “massage” storefronts you see. I mean, people get massages, right? Kind of like people get their nails done. There are lots of nail shops around, too, but to me, those things just take up space, and I mostly ignore them. But many, if not most, of the “massage” joints appear to be likely human trafficking outposts:

Day spas, like the one in Jupiter, FL, where police say New England Patriots owner Robert K. Kraft purchased sexual services, are prevalent throughout Massachusetts. From a strip mall storefront three doors down from a popular breakfast restaurant in Wilmington to a converted house across the street from a middle and elementary school in North Andover, the victim advocacy group Partners LLC estimates there are 230 such places in Massachusetts.

And it’s evidently not hard to figure this out if you visit certain websites, which the article names in great detail but I won’t:

The businesses have set up shop in storefronts in the business districts of several Boston suburbs. They advertise and are reviewed on websites catering to men looking to purchase sex. Anonymous posters on those sites leave blunt descriptions of the sex acts available, as well as fees charged.

The reason it’s so important to have lots of these storefronts and operate a network is that the owners don’t want to keep their “human capital” in one place for too long. They get shipped around from storefront to storefront every couple weeks, so that the clientelle can have “new faces”, and so that the women don’t get too well-oriented in their surroundings and maybe end up talking to someone.

Strip mall brothels. Sex slaves. Billionaire clients. Political influence. Obviously, the fate of these sex ‘workers’ is an horrific one and we can only hope these recent revelations can lead to arrests and hard prison time, combined with shutting down these illicit operations.

From the perspective of what a writer could do with this material, this represents a unique subculture and would cry out for a Protagonist who is an outsider working their way in. I see this as a variation on the movie Chinatown. There is a private detective. Former cop. Let’s make it a female lead: Bryce. A client appears. Missing person. A young Asian woman in her teens. The client is vague about their motivation in wanting to locate the woman, but the wad of cash tossed onto Bryce’s desk is impressive.

She takes the case.

What follows is a labyrinthine investigation which takes Bryce into the world of sex slaves which — ironically — are hidden in plain sight in local strip malls. The roster of clients she discovers has quite a few shakers and movers, and once that information is uncovered, things start getting dicey for Bryce. Threats of bodily harm. An actual assault. Holds on her banking accounts.

Somebody wants her to stop looking for the missing girl… and now.

There’s a start. Gritty mystery drama.

There you go: My eighth story idea for the month. And it’s yours. Free! Here are links for all the previous posts in this year’s series:

Day 1
Day 2
Day 3
Day 4
Day 5
Day 6
Day 7

Each day in April, I invite you to join me in comments to do some brainstorming. Take each day’s story idea and see what it can become when we play around with it. These are valuable skills for a writer to develop.

See you in RESPONSES to hear YOUR take on this story idea. And come back tomorrow for another Story Idea Each Day For A Month.