Hearts and Aces (Kelsey's Burden Series Book 7)

by Kaylie Hunter

  “What might not be anything? Talk to me.”

  Katie walked in and set my cognac on the table before cracking another beer and dropping onto the other couch.

  “Okay,” Lisa said, sitting beside Katie. “We gathered the list of possible abduction sites like liquor stores, churches, pawn shops, hair salons and at first none of them seemed likely.”

  “How did you sort the lists?”

  “First we narrowed by their neighborhoods,” Anne said as she pulled a list from another folder and read from it. “When you look at most of the businesses, though, either the neighborhoods had multiple options, like liquor stores on every block, or the locations were too big, like the local community college.”

  “The larger places like the courthouse, college, YMCA, and social services all seemed unlikely locations to pull off abductions without witnesses,” Lisa said. “Other companies didn’t fit the profile of attracting prostitutes, like the limo company and a few nice restaurants.”

  “You’d be surprised, but keep going,” I said, nodding. “That left…”

  “A dental clinic,” Anne said. “They do discount dental work for pennies on the dollar for low-income patients.”

  “It also made sense that the women wouldn’t be addicts,” Lisa added. “Junkies might target the clinic for drugs, but not for routine cleanings.”

  “Did you run a background on the clinic?”

  Anne pointed to the folder I was still holding. “They looked legit until last year when they lost their federal funding. The clinic was scheduled to close until they received a donation to keep the doors open.”

  “A private donation?”

  Tech nodded. “They filed the paperwork as an anonymous donation.”

  I opened the file and flipped through the tax statements, quarterly financial report, a list of employees, and random news articles. The next twenty or more pages were patient names. On several pages, I saw the highlighted names of the girls who’d disappeared.

  “Are all the girls on this list?”

  “They all went to that clinic, yes,” Lisa said. “We can’t figure out who at the clinic is behind the kidnappings, though.” She handed me another folder. “We ran backgrounds on everyone. No one sparked an interest.”

  “Who had the most to lose if the clinic closed?”

  “Everyone,” Anne answered. “We originally thought only those in charge would care.”

  “But it’s tough finding a good job these days,” Lisa added. “If someone was worried about paying their bills, they might’ve started the abductions.”

  “What if the person responsible isn’t an employee, but scouts the clinic for girls?” Bridget asked.

  “I don’t think so,” Anne said. “We had Sara hack the clinic’s appointment system. Each of the women had some type of dental work done on their last appointment.”

  “They were drugged,” I said, standing up. “Damn, that makes perfect sense. It would make it easier to have them leave without making a scene as long as the dosage was under control.”

  “They’d have to slip them something stronger than nitrous oxide,” Katie said.

  “Or give them just enough nitrous so they were woozy,” I said, starting to pace. “They’re trying to stay under the radar, right? What if there’s an inside person who kicks up the gas a notch or two, or even slips the women something else that still leaves them able to walk and talk, but off their game? Then another person offers them assistance when they aren’t feeling well. It could be as simple as the girls feel dizzy or queasy. They’d be appreciative of anyone offering to sit with them or helping them home.”

  “They’re not likely to accept a ride from a stranger,” Bridget said. “These are street girls. They’d know better.”

  “Maybe they’d accept cab fare, though,” I said.

  “That—” Bridget said as she stood, “—would work! The girls come out of the clinic, but they feel dizzy. A good Samaritan offers to get them a cab, paying it forward bullshit.” She waved her hands about as she thought out the con. “Then the cab driver, who was waiting down the street, pulls up and takes the victim to another location. Poof! They’re gone. It would explain why there weren’t any witnesses.”

  “Now we’re up to three people involved,” Katie said. “The person who dosed them, the good Samaritan, and now a cab driver.”

  “That’s exactly how a big fish would play the game,” I said. “Human trafficking is built on networking. Everyone involved has a role to play.”

  “How do we find out who the actors are?” Anne asked.

  “Surveillance,” I said, sighing and throwing myself onto the couch. “But they’d spot law enforcement a mile away, and I can’t get down there with everything else going on.”

  “You already banned me from going, and it’s too big of a case to send Trigger alone,” Bridget said.

  “What I need is time…” I drummed my fingers on the arm of the couch. “I need to stop the abductions until I get shit here sorted.”

  Katie laughed, looking up at me with a devious smile. “What about a small kitchen fire?”

  “It’s a dental office,” Tech said, looking at Katie with a raised eyebrow. “Not a soup kitchen.”

  “Not her point,” I said, standing again. “A small fire would work. They’d have to make repairs and have re-inspections. Appointments would be rescheduled. If the fire was controlled, it would buy us a week at least.”

  “It’s fire,” Lisa said. “How the hell are you going to control it from spreading?”

  “Does the building have a sprinkler system?” I asked Tech.

  He looked to his laptop and started typing. A few minutes later he nodded.

  I pulled my phone and called Mickey.

  “How’s my favorite cop?” Mickey asked when he answered.

  “Ex-cop. You need a new line.”

  Mickey chuckled.

  “Is your phone clean?” He knew I’d mean if there was a wiretap.

  “Phone is. The room I’m standing in isn’t.”

  “That’ll work. I need a small fire to take place at a dental clinic. It’s related to that prostitution case I told you about. I just need the clinic to be closed for a few days, nothing more. The building has a sprinkler system.”

  “Sounds intriguing. Send me the details.”

  “Just like that?”

  “I’m not in a position to ask questions, and we both know I can’t tell you no. There’s just something about you, Harrison.”

  “My easy-breezy personality?”

  “Not likely.”

  “I cracked open that cognac, finally. It’s delicious. Thanks.”

  “My pleasure. Did Grady like it?”

  “He wasn’t invited to the taste testing.”

  “Lover’s quarrel?”

  “More like hurricane season.”

  “Need me to handle that as well?”

  “No. I hate to think of what your solution would be.”

  Mickey chuckled and disconnected.

  I set the phone on the coffee table and threw myself back on the couch, grinning.

  “You always have this evil gleam after you talk to Mickey,” Bridget said.

  Wild Card laughed from the entrance of the atrium. Donovan and Bones stood next to him, smiling.

  “She had that same look the first night I met her,” Wild Card said, walking further into the room. “It’s her good-girl gone bad vibe.”

  “At least I’m not an adrenaline junky like you,” I said, picking up my phone again and standing. “Class dismissed. Those attending the Destruction-of-the-Cartel meeting, regroup at Donovan’s. Those staying here, be on guard and protect the family in our absence.”

  “We’ve got it handled,” Anne said, gathering the files. “Whiskey, Farmer, and James are staying inside with us. Tyler’s leading the troops outside. I’ll put Nicholas to bed if the meeting runs late.”

  “One of us will swing back to say goodnight to him if the meeting runs l
ate,” Wild Card said. “I set an alarm on my phone.”

  Something about Wild Card setting an alarm for Nicholas’ bedtime sat uneasy with me. Was it because I should have done the same? Was it because the relationship between Wild Card, myself, and my son was beyond complicated? Or was it because I liked the thought of him caring enough?

  “Don’t overthink it, sweetheart,” Wild Card said, watching me.

  “Who? Me?” I asked as I carried my glass of cognac out of the room.

  Chapter Twenty-Four

  Regrouping in Donovan’s basement family room, each of us found a place on either the couch or one of the four club chairs. I sat in one of the club chairs with Bones and Bridget sharing a chair to my right. Wild Card was on my left with his feet stretched out, crossed at the ankles, and his fingers laced behind his head. Tech had the last chair and moved an end table over to use as a workstation for his laptop.

  Tyler entered through the sliding door, nodding to me before leaning against the wall so he could watch outside and still listen in on the meeting.

  Donovan looked around the room, realizing he had the couch to himself. He turned sideways and stretched out, taking up all three cushions. “I’m not used to having so few people attend these meetings.”

  “I still can’t believe you made Jackson choose,” Bones said, shaking his head.

  “I didn’t,” I said as I dragged the coffee table over to prop my feet on. “Jackson volunteered to be my spy.”

  Donovan sat up, swinging his feet to the floor. “What?”

  I shrugged. “I needed moles.”

  “Jackson and Trigger,” Bridget said, grinning. “You have two spies, though I’m not sure how long Trigger will survive if you keep pitting him against the guys.”

  “That shit with Jackson was fake?” Bones asked. “He was pissed. I thought he was going to take a swing at you.”

  “He’s a hell of an actor,” Wild Card said, looking over at me and grinning. “Jackson took acting classes with Reggie and played Henry Higgins from My Fair Lady in the annual county musical.”

  “His English accent was perfection, but man, can he sing,” I said, grinning at Wild Card.

  “You're shitting me?” Donovan said. “Jackson? One of the biggest bad asses of jungle warfare?”

  “We don’t have a lot of time,” Tyler said in a serious tone, drawing our attention. “Can we stay on task? How will Jackson and Trigger communicate if they can’t cross the highway? If they use their phones, they risk being overheard.”

  “Tweedle,” I answered. “She agreed to be the messenger. No one will expect her to be complicit, and her baked goods make her approachable.”

  “Does Ryan know?” Bridget asked.

  “No. We agreed Ryan wouldn’t like her being involved, so we aren’t providing him with the details until the situation is resolved or the weekend ends, whichever happens first.”

  Bones laughed, tucking his forehead against Bridget’s shoulder. “You guys really did corrupt Tweedle while we were away.”

  “Nightcrawler’s approaching,” Tyler said, opening the slider door. “Maggie’s with him.”

  “Did we know Maggie was coming?” Bridget asked.

  “No. But she was gathering intel on Sebrina,” I answered as Maggie and Nightcrawler stepped into the room.

  “Security around here is over the top, Tyler,” Maggie said as she entered and pinched Tyler’s cheek.

  Tyler grinned back at her until Nightcrawler threw an elbow into his stomach.

  “Tell me you brought me something,” I said to Maggie.

  Maggie walked over and sat next to Donovan on the couch. Nightcrawler sat next to her, but there was a distance between them. “I wasn’t allowed to print Sebrina’s file, but I was allowed to peek at it.”

  “And what did we see?”

  “Smart. Beautiful. Competitive.”

  “I knew all that.”

  “Did you know she’s never been assigned to work the Remirez cartel?” Maggie asked.

  “Now we’re getting somewhere,” Bridget said, leaning forward and clasping her hands.

  “The DEA knows she’s taken six trips to Mexico over the last year and that on three of those trips she met with Santiago. She also met with Santiago twice in the States. She reported the trips to Mexico as vacations or related to other cases, and claims Santiago sought her out.”

  “What about payouts?” Tech asked. “Is there a financial trail we can follow?”

  “Business as usual in her personal finances,” Maggie said, shaking her head.

  “She’s too smart to get caught holding the money,” Donovan said. “She knows her way around the system. If she was involved—and I’m not convinced yet—she’d have Santiago fund a foreign bank account under a false ID.”

  “Why do you think she’s innocent?” I asked Donovan.

  “I don’t, but that doesn’t make her guilty either. You want her to be guilty. I get that, but as Maggie said, Sebrina’s competitive. Just because she wasn’t assigned the Remirez case, doesn’t mean she’s not working it.”

  “He’s right,” Bones agreed. “Taking the Remirez family down single handedly would be right up her alley. She likes to be in the spotlight and doesn’t play well with others.”

  “Tell me more about her,” I said, watching them. “How is it that so many of you ended up sleeping with her?”

  Maggie and Nightcrawler looked back and forth at Bones and Donovan.

  Bones sighed, rubbing his jaw. “Really, Donovan? You felt the need to share that?”

  “What?” Bridget asked, looking over her shoulder at Bones. “It’s not like either of us were virgins when we hooked up.”

  “It’s different,” Bones said, shaking his head. “We were in the military still. Things were…”

  “Less emotional and more physical?” I asked.

  “Exactly,” Donovan said. “It was sex, not love.”

  “Until Grady fell for her,” Bones said.

  “What was everyone’s relationship like before Grady and Sebrina got serious?”

  “Convenient,” Bones answered with a shrug. “If one of us—or two of us—landed in the same place as Sebrina with time available, we’d spend it between the sheets.”

  “Or... in the back of a Humvee. Or… against a tree in the rainforest.” Donovan raised an eyebrow as he looked at me. “If any of this gets back to Lisa, there’ll be hell to pay.”

  I waved off his concern. “Was it just sex for Sebrina?”

  “She enjoyed sex, but it was more of a power trip for her,” Bones said.

  “She liked being the center of attention,” Maggie said, nodding. “She was turned on by it. I can see that based on her profile.”

  “Exactly,” Bones said. “None of us thought anything about sharing her because it was something she wanted, and we already respected her for the work she did with the army.”

  “Why was Grady different?” I asked.

  “At first he wasn’t,” Bones said.

  “His first encounter with her was a group event,” Donovan said. “Bones and Grady spent time with Sebrina while Ryan watched.”

  “What changed?”

  “Grady changed,” Bones said. “It was after a mission that had gone bad. We all tried to help him shake off the mission, but we weren’t having any luck. We arranged to meet Sebrina in Germany for a long weekend.”

  “Grady didn’t participate. He just watched,” Donovan said, looking at me to see if I wanted him to continue.

  I nodded.

  “Sebrina had been watched plenty of times before, but that night, she couldn’t take her eyes off Grady. It was the same for him. It was like they suddenly saw each other.”

  “The rest of the weekend, it was just the two of them,” Bones said. “Two weeks later, we were out on a mission when he finally admitted that they’d gotten hitched.”

  “Just like that? They got married and reported back to work?” Katie asked.

  “Sebrina w
as in the field a lot for counterintelligence missions. We ran into her every few weeks while we worked missions of our own,” Donovan explained.

  “During the rare breaks between missions, everyone met up in Germany,” Bones said. “It wasn’t as far to travel as the U.S. so it became our off-duty destination. Sebrina included.”

  “You could’ve traveled to Italy, Greece, or went to Paris,” Bridget said. “Why Germany?”

  Bones laughed, rubbing her shoulder. “We weren’t looking for romantic getaways. We wanted to get drunk, get laid, and relax in a country where we were less likely to be shot.”

  “Our stomping ground was also close to the Army hospital,” Donovan said. “It made it easier to visit each other anytime one of us got shot.” Donovan pointed to Bones.

  “I was only shot twice. Grady spent more time at Landstuhl than I did.”

  I shook my head at Bones and Donovan. They were having fun reminiscing. Lifting my glass, I took a slow sip of my cognac and closed my eyes.

  “Where do I get one of those?” Maggie asked.

  I opened my eyes and saw she was pointing at my drink. “My basement bar.”

  Maggie hurried toward the tunnels.

  “Bring a couple of glasses and the bottle,” Donovan called out. “I’m already in the doghouse with Lisa. I might as well enjoy the downtime.”

  “Dangerous words, brother,” Bones said, grinning.

  “What were Grady and Sebrina like after they married?” I asked.

  “At first, nothing changed,” Donovan said. “Other than Sebrina was no longer part of our sexual experiences.”

  “Eventually things got weird, though,” Bones said, shaking his head. “Sebrina enjoyed group sex, but Grady wasn’t having any part of it. Not as his wife. Being watched during sex was enough for Grady. He didn’t need anyone else in the bed with them.”

  “This is way too much fucking information,” Nightcrawler said.

  “Agreed,” Tyler said, still leaning against the wall while he watched out the window. “How’s this relevant?”

  “It’s uncomfortable, I’ll admit,” I said, rubbing my neck. “But understanding what makes Sebrina tick will help us unravel her faster. I’m not willing to let this situation with the cartel drag on for the next six months. One way or another, that bitch has got to go.”