Archived Lightning Stories Below
THE UNTOLD STORY
Heather,
Former SA Call Girl, Tells All
The
Gerry Grant Connection, And More
By Heather, As Told To RG Griffing - COPYRIGHT 2004
SAN ANTONIO LIGHTNING - DISCRETION ADVISED
Editor's Note: The following series was
written by Heather. She is the former San Antonio
call girl who played a pivotal role in the Gerry
Grant conviction. Grant, a former San Antonio TV
anchorman, was convicted on child pornography
charges. He has served time in prison and is now back
in San Antonio, freed but monitored.
But this is NOT just the story of Gerry
Grant.
This is the story of a beautiful young
woman, 5'9, brown hair, from a small Texas town, who
came to San Antonio to join the Air Force, but was
eventualy sucked into a maelstrom of prostitution,
vice, and violence.
Here is her narrative, as told to the
San Antonio Lightning.
* * *
Part 1 - How It Started
I
went to school in a small town, not far from San
Antonio. I lived there with my grandmother, because
my mother had been killed in a car crash when I was
14. My father had left when I was 12.
In
high school, while doing research on a school paper,
I ran across something that talked about Escort
Services, and it seemed pretty interesting.
The
article explained how much money escorts can make,
the exciting life, etc. I actually called an escort
service, but they told me I needed to be 18 years
old. They told me to call back then.
In
March of 1998 I signed up for the Air Force and was
scheduled to leave for basic on July 11. I hoped
to train in fire protection.
About
two weeks before I was scheduled to leave I got into
an argument with my grandmother and decided to go to
San Antonio early.
Once
I arrived in San Antonio, I realized the money that I
had was not going to cover the hotel and expenses
very long. I decided that I would try escorting.
I looked in the Yellow Pages under that listing and
called one of the many numbers.
They
hired me even before they saw me.
As
I waited for them to call back, which they had
promised to do in a couple of hours, I decided to try
another service.
The
girl that answered this time, Crystal, said
"sure she would hire me." In fact, she had
a call right then and there, if I wanted it. She
came to pick me up and took me to the Omni Hotel.
I
met a very nice, middle-aged italian businessman. I
told him it was my first session, and he decided to
keep me for two hours. Each hour was $180 plus
tipping.
Considering
that I had only had sex one time prior in my life, I
was definitely nervous. But he was very nice.
For
the next two weeks I escorted and made quite a bit of
money.
But
I was still obligated for military service.
The
night before I was to report for basic training I met
a client with whom I stayed the night, and the next
morning he drove me to basic. He was a young law
student. I really liked him.
While
I was in basic we kept in
contact. Unfortunately, I have a major fear of
failure, so I decided that, rather than get washed
out of the military, I would tell them I was lesbian
so I would simply be discharged. It worked.
After
I left, I returned to San Antonio and started
escorting again.
The
law student I told you about -- the one that had
dropped me off for basic -- and I, moved in together.
I
finally decided that I should move out because my
occupation might hurt his future career as an
attorney if anyone ever found out about us. I
guess I was right because eventually he became an
assistant district attorney.
The
money continued to be very good, and I kept doing
this, until one day I got a phone call for a
session.
I
went to a motel near Fredericksburg Road and met a
young guy in his twenties. During our session, the
vice squad came in. It became obvious that my
client was an undercover cop.
The
police told me that if I would assist them they would
not arrest me.
I
said "OK," but I guess they did not believe
me. They arrested me anyway.
A
few days later I contacted vice and told them I was
willing to do what they wanted. So I worked with
them in some major prostitution investigations,
including the Acapulco Fantasies case, Magic Moments
case and several others.
I
was paid enough informant money by vice detectives to
have my arrest record expunged.
So,
the next time I met him, police followed and tried to
get his license plate number, but could not for some
reason.
Due
to a department policy concerning overtime, they said
they couldn't make it to the next session.
So,
I tried to record everything he said. But he caught
on and found the recorder. He became violent
towards me and tore up the tape. I was scared. I
told him it was for my safety in case something ever
happened to me. He finally accepted that and we
continued the session.
Afterwards,
I was able to get his license plate, and give it to
the detectives.
A
few days later they asked me if I had ever seen him
on TV. I told them no, and that is when they told me
who he was. "David" was Gerry Grant.
After
they found out who he was, police suddenly allowed
overtime. I thought that kind of odd. If you ask me,
I think they should have allowed the overtime
regardless of who he was.
* * *
Shortly
after that, I moved to Miami for a while. I worked as
an escort there. I made up to $400 per hour at some
agencies. But I missed San Antonio, and came back in
about 3 months.
When
I got here, I called Gerry Grant at the TV station.
* * *
During
our final session the police officers were ready.
They had given me child pornography photos, which
Gerry had requested to buy. During the session
while he looked at the pictures I went into the
restroom. Officers, who were watching, described him,
said he looked like "a kid in a candy
store."
They
recorded it all.
They
arrested Gerry right then and there for possession of
child pornography.
A
few months later I got shot, at point blank, in the
back.
* * *
Part 3 - Suicide, Fear and How I Got
Shot
The life I was living was beginning to
take a toll. A good friend of mine committed suicide
while in jail.
But the money was still good, and at one point I became
tired of personally escorting, so I decided to open
my own service.
I
had an investor -- an attorney in San Antonio -- and
I paid him $300 every Sunday on his loan.
It
was Saturday night and the girls only worked during
the day, so I decided to go to a session myself,
since the next day I would need to make the payment
to him.
I
had just gotten done working out at the gym and was
in a great mood when I got the call. As I said
before, no one was working so I went.
On
the way there I talked to the client, Peter, on the
phone, and he seemed like a really nice guy; and at
one point I asked if he had "any pets?"
He
said "yes." I am a major animal lover,
which is why I asked. He lived in a nice area in
Braun Station off Bandera and 1604, so I was not
worried.
When
I got there he was smoking pot which got on my
nerves, since I don't. I wanted to get out of there
as fast as I could.
I
asked where his dogs were and he said he didn't have
any. We both then realized he thought I meant
"pot" not "pets."
I
had a bad feeling. I wanted to get the session over
with but he didn't. He wanted to sit and
talk. He said he wasn't the "wham bam thank
you ma'am" kind of guy.
I
realized then that we might have a problem because I
explained to him that there was no way we were going
to have sex. I knew he wasn't a police officer
so that was not the reason. I just didn't want
to.
He
then told me that he had seen other escorts who
charged him less and gave him sex. I told him
that didn't matter. There was no way we were having
sex.
He
freaked out and wanted his money back. I told him
"no."
He
would not let me leave and said he was going to call
the police and say I stole his money. I said that was
fine and even attempted to call the police myself,
but he wouldn't let me.
I
finally called my business partners. The guy that I
was talking to told Peter that if he did not let me
go, they would come over there.
He
became scared and got a gun, and tackled me. All the
while he was still on the phone.
And
then he decided to let me go. I grabbed my keys and
he pushed me toward the door with the gun in my back,
and as I stepped out the door the gun went off.
It
was a .38 special and he shot me point blank in the
back.
He
called 911 and they took me to the hospital.
That's
where I learned I was paralyzed for life.
Part 4 - Would I Do It Again?
I
stayed for 51 days in the hospital. To be technical,
I am paralyzed from "C5" down.
Because
there was no one to take care of me, I ended up in a
nursing facilitiy; and from there I went to rehab
where I regained some function.
After
that I ended up back in several nursing
homes. For quite a while after the injury I was
bitter and acted out toward everyone. I overcame
that.
Eventually
I was able to live on my own.
So,
for some time now things have been a lot better and I
am finally in acceptance of my injury and am
definitely a lot happier.
Looking
back, from a wheel chair, I have a new perspective. I
am searching for closure, and this short story is
helping me toward that.
I
am glad to be out of the life I was living. It was
disgusting.
Would
I live that life style again? No.
Would
I recommend it to anybody? NO! It is a trap.
Now, I move forward.
* * *
