12:57 a.m.
18 minutes into the interrogation
Teresa and Wendy averted their eyes from the scene playing out in front of them. Red blotches littered the floor. The face of the man, who had gawked at their nakedness, was covered with his blood. At one point during the interrogation, they heard him spit; a split-second later, something chinked off the floor.
“I don’t run whores. I’m paid to deliver the merchandise…that’s all. I swear.” Breathing heavily, his stomach muscles convulsing, Moses rolled onto his right side and looked up at his captor. “Please…please don’t hit me again.” He coughed for twenty seconds straight. “Please—”
“Make the call, Higs.” Leaning back against the edge of an office desk, ankles crossed, Jacob tapped the ‘end’ button, dropped his phone into a pocket and cocked his head at his prey. Twenty minutes ago, you were so sure I was a dead man. He pushed away and sat on his haunches in front of Moses. “You don’t run whores.”
“I don’t deal in prostitution…” he gasped, “only drugs.”
“Sure, sure,” Jacob nodded, “you have your standards, I know. Tell me where you run the women. Where do you take them?”
“We deliver shipments over the border, into Canada.”
“Canada’s a pretty big place; you mind narrowing that down for me?”
“Regina.”
“Who’s your contact person?”
“Some woman…I think she’s the madam.” Moses spat blood. “She handles everything for a guy named Xavier.” Moses filled his lungs a couple times. “He’s the one who controls the operation.”
His forearms resting on thighs, Jacob held out his hands. “I need names…first and last.”
“Xavier Bergeron and,” Moses rolled his forehead back and forth over the floor, “Delphine. I don’t know her last name.” He coughed and spat more blood. “She’s never told me.”
“When’s your next delivery?”
“Not for another two weeks.”
“How can I make contact with these people?”
“Del calls me and sets up the meet.”
Jacob stood. “And Xavier? Where is he?”
“I’m not sure,” the bound man squirmed, moving his balled hands to ease the pain from the plastic ties, “but I think he has a place on the other side of Calgary…near the Rockies.”
“What makes you say that?”
Moses’s chest heaved before he expelled a gust of wind. “I overheard Del talking to one of her people during a delivery.”
“The Rockies in Calgary…another big area.”
Moses rolled his head over the floor again. “I don’t know anything else. If I did, I’d tell you.”
Hearing distant sirens, Jacob bent over and put hands on knees. “If you’re lying to me—”
“I’m not. I’m not. I swear. Don’t hit me again. Damn it. Don’t…”
Jacob went to his full height, planted fists on hips and gaped at Moses. One more piece of trash soon to be off the streets. He faced Teresa and Wendy. “This is almost over. The police will be here to take you home.”
“Thank you,” they replied in unison.
In his ear: “Jacob, this is Amber. Several cop cars have pulled up to the gate. Are you still in there? Over.”
“It’s all right. I’ll be out soon—over.” He backed up and leaned against the desk, crossed arms and ankles, and ogled Moses. “It’s almost over for you, too, Mr. Falcone.”
… … … … …
1:05 a.m.
Standing tall, Jacob lifted his badge above his head a second before the office door flew inward.
Guns drawn, three officers stormed into the room.
“Homeland Security.” Jacob pointed. “Arrest these men, officers. They’re wanted on charges of drug possession and trafficking.” He tipped his head in the direction of the couch. “These women were kidnapped and brought here against their will. You need to get them back to their families.”
The officers spied Jacob’s credentials before exchanging the plastic ties on the prone men’s wrists with steel handcuffs.
Wearing a gray suit, a fourth man stepped between the uniformed officers, stopped in front of Moses and peered at Jacob, his gun in both hands. “And you are?”
“St. Christopher. I’m with Homeland Security.”
“What’s your interest in all this?”
Jacob stowed his cred pack. “That’s a matter of national security. I’m not at liberty to say.” He motioned at Moses, who was hoisted to his feet by two cops. “You’ll find the DEA has a warrant out for this man.” He nodded at the suited law enforcement official. “I’m sure they’ll be very pleased to discover you arrested him.”
“I arrested them?”
“I’m not in a position to take credit for any of this, without compromising my confidential status in the agency. I’m sure you understand.”
… … … … …
Standing outside the warehouse, a light rain falling, Jacob held out a hand. “Thank you for your cooperation, Detective Billings.” The men clasped hands. “I must be going.”
“Thank you, Mr. St. Christopher. We never knew something of this magnitude,” he watched two officers lead Moses toward a squad car, “was going on in our small town.”
“Hey,” Moses struggled, “he beat me. He beat me up. Arrest him.” The officers pushed him into the car. “I want to file a complaint…police abuse.”
Facing Billings, Jacob showed the man his palms and held a shrug. “He resisted arrest. I had to defend myself.”
For several seconds, Billings stared at a pothole, slowly filling with water, before looking at the HomeSec agent and shaking his head. “I didn’t hear a word he said. Did you?”
Jacob smiled. “No sir.”
“Well, I suppose you’re in a hurry to get back to wherever it is you call home.”
Jacob gave the same pothole a long look. Home. New York. Stockwell. I’d love to, but—he eyed the man across from him. “Not yet. I still have unfinished business.”
“In that case, safe travels, Mr. St. Christopher.”
The two shook hands again, and Jacob headed for the Challenger, spying Amber sliding into the passenger seat. He climbed in behind the wheel, brought the engine to life and got on 23, heading west, the windshield wipers clearing away the rain.
She buckled her safety belt and gaped at him. “Well?”
“Well what?”
“Tell me what happened. Tell me everything. I take it my sister was not in there.”
“No, but I got a lead.” He poked a thumb over a shoulder. “The man you saw being taken away in handcuffs…he ran an operation that abducted woman and delivered them to another man,” hesitating, Jacob stroked his chin, “a man who runs a prostitution ring. His men grabbed your sister off the street.”
Amber’s jaw dropped. “Prostitution?” She sunk into her seat and shut her eyes. “So you’re saying Felicity’s a…”
“Don’t let your mind take you there. This is good news.”
“Good news? How the hell can you say that? My sister’s been turned into a hooker.” Amber put a hand flat to her forehead. “Son-of-a-bit—”
“This is good news, because we know she’s alive. We know she wasn’t taken and killed outright. I have a lead and I’m going to follow up on it.”
She faced him. “You mean we’re going to follow up on it.”
He shook his head. “I need to cross the border into Canada.”
“Knock it off.” She put fingertips to her chest. “I’m in this, until we find her, Jacob. I go where you go. You promised me; if I followed your orders, you’d take me with you. Going to Canada changes nothing. I’m capable of leaving the country too.”
He looked at her out of the corner of his eye. His mind recalled the last three years of eighteen-hour days, knocking on doors, talking to everyone in the neighborhoods between his house and D.D.’s school. When he was not tracking leads, he practically lived at the police station.
Amber dropped her voice as low as it would go. “Jacob, you promised me.”
He went back to watching the road. We’re still in the reconnaissance phase. If things start to get rough, I can always put her on a plane and ship her home…or lock her in a hotel room. He checked the rearview mirror and inwardly sighed; Higs isn’t going to be happy with me, before touching the brake pedal and spinning the wheel all the way to the left. Then again, is he ever?
A one-eighty later, they were going east on 23.
“Where are we going, Jacob?”
He pumped a hand at her. “Take it easy. There’s a…”
Amber squared shoulders with him. “You are not taking me home.”
“…jet is waiting for us in Minot.”
“Damn it,” she thrust a finger at him, “I told you, I want to be there when…wait…did you say us?”
He smiled. “I have a lot of stuff in my pockets right now…but no mouse.”
She frowned and tilted her head.
“You know,” he rolled a hand, “when someone says ‘we’ and someone else says ‘do you have a mouse in your—’” getting a blank look, he made a face and shook his head. “Forget it. You’re coming with me…for the time being.”
She smiled and sat straight in the seat.
“So,” he took the bend in the road, passing the flashing lights of police cars, “if you need to pick up anything before we’re airborne, now’s the time to let me know.”
Amber pinched her shirt and tugged. “I could use a change of clothes and some personal items.”
“Can it wait, until we get to Calgary? I’ll give you some cash, and you can go shopping.”
A slow grin washed over her face. “A shopping spree in another country…yeah, I think I can wait.”
He glimpsed her. “I never said a shopping spree.”
She pointed at him, “You hear what you hear,” before aiming the digit at her chest, “and I’ll hear what I want to hear.”
Jacob sniggered.
Ten seconds later, she turned her head and drew out her next word, “Oh,” while staring at the dashboard. “I get it now. Us…we…a mouse in your pocket. I think I have heard that one before.”
∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞ ∞
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