Bart and Michael talked quietly. Lucas watched the car in front. He could see Morgan’s curly wig in the passenger seat. She was sitting up front. Kate was behind Fernice, the child beside her.
Lucas leaned back and closed his eyes, his chest tight with tension.
“You okay there, Lucas?” asked Alex.
“I’m good.” It was plain that he wasn’t, but there was nothing Alex could do about that now.
CHAPTER 37
Gregori Kirigin—well practiced at ridiculing those around him—was livid with rage. “Where the fuck is the girl!?”
“I don’t know.” Rhodes was flustered; a difficult position for a man who prided himself on always being in control.
“You don’t know!”
“Maybe Penderman took her,” said Rhodes, grasping at straws.
“Why would he do that? And where’s the buyer?”
“I just called the front desk and Delacroix hasn’t checked in yet. Penderman was supposed to join us after the sale.” Then something occurred to Rhodes. He walked over to the closet, stepped through, and tried to open the door to the stairwell. Gregori was right behind him.
“The door won’t open.”
“Check the landing—now!” he hissed.
Rhodes turned on his heel and left the suite, seething with rage, but doing his best not to show it. Kirigin was the wunderkind who took care of their online presence and a myriad of other things as well. He was important in their operation and Rhodes couldn’t afford to get on his bad side. He knew Kirigin wouldn’t pull out of their deal over this—whatever it turned out to be—but it gave him a chance to treat Rhodes badly. Something he loved to do.
Kirigin and his partner, Eric Severall lived in Baltimore, MA. With the social and economic collapse of Russia in 1991, Severall saw an opportunity and over the years, had developed excellent trafficking connections in Russia, the Baltic States and East-Central European countries formally under Soviet control. Those connections served him well.
The partnership with Severall and Kirigin put them in the big league. Their BC operation was small potatoes in comparison: the distribution of books and calendars; arranging local parties; managing a few kids. When they joined forces with them, they became part of a very lucrative human trafficking ring operating right across North America.
Rhodes took the stairs and descended to the third floor, exited at the landing, and entered the seldom used side stairwells. He climbed to the fifth floor and found the unconscious Penderman sprawled across the landing adjacent the suite. He rolled him onto his side and rapped on the small door leading to the closet of the suite. Kirigin opened it.
“Christ! Tell me he’s alive.”
“He’s alive. We need to move him into the suite.”
“Brilliant idea.” Rhodes ignored him.
Penderman was a big man, well over 200 lbs and unconscious he was dead weight. Rhodes pushing and Kirigin pulling, they managed to get him through the door to the closet area. That done, there was enough room to roll him onto a small rug and pull him through to the suite. Rhodes moved the unconscious Penderman onto his side and arranged his arms and legs to keep him there.
“He does have high blood pressure. Maybe he had a stroke.”
“Surely not surprising. Better questions right now: Why was he out there and where the hell’s the kid? Call an ambulance for this,” and he waved a hand disdainfully at the unconscious Penderman, “then find the girl!”
Rhodes dialed 911, arranged for an ambulance at the back entrance and called the front desk to let them know it was on the way. Then he texted MacLeish to come to the suite.
“We’ll find her. She can’t be far and is probably just frightened by all this,” said Rhodes. “And even if someone does find her, there’s nothing to tie her to us and she can’t speak English.”
Kirigin glared at him. “Who saw her last?”
“Probably Joy. Marie wets herself. Penderman phoned Ange earlier and he sent Joy to the room to deal with it.”
“And who is Joy?”
“One of ours. We bought her last year. She helps with the kids and Ange got her a job here, to help smooth things with out-of-town sales.”
“Penderman must have called from here.”
“Probably.”
“Where the hell is Joy? Find out who was here when she came to the room. We need to find that kid. She can’t have gotten far.” Rhodes dialed Batlan.
“Don’t worry; she won’t talk. She hasn’t spoken a word in the four months we’ve had her,” said Rhodes. “That’s another reason we decided to get rid of her.”
“She doesn’t talk. Period?” Rhodes nodded.
“Perhaps she’s dumb.” At Rhodes blank look, “maybe she’s unable to speak.”
Rhodes was speechless. It hadn’t occurred to him. “Maybe she is,” he said, flustered at his own stupidity. “Anyway, she won’t be giving us up then, will she?”
“Phineas, are you there?” It was Batlan, his voice tinny and distant on Rhodes’ cell phone speaker. Rhodes talked with him briefly before turning to Kirigin.
“They were both here when I came up. I left before Joy arrived. But apparently, when she came up the second time, both Penderman and the girl were still here. Ange wants to know what’s going on.”
“Ange wants to know what’s going on!” Kirigin bit the words out through clenched teeth. “Phineas, has it occurred to you that someone has taken the girl from this room? Maybe they’ve already left the club.”
“Of course it has,” Rhodes blustered, “but I’m certain that’s not at play here. No one is on to us!”
“Really? You think the kid just got up and left?”
Traffic was light and twenty minutes later, they pulled into the alley behind Jas’s parents’ house. Jas was taking the 90N. She’d be here soon.
Marie was fast asleep between Kate and Bart. The sergeants were out of the cars and talking at the back gate.
“No one saw us leave,” said Alex.
“But they’ll know by now the child is gone.”
“Unless they’re complete idiots. We can’t put her with child services, at least not yet. They’ll be looking for us to do that.”
“Jas has someone in mind.” Jeri called Detective Ignace while they waited for Jas. She brought him up to speed and told him they needed a trace on the cell phone Carey had called from. Ignace left immediately for the Main Street Station.
“We’ll need search warrants.”
“Batlan’s house, the boatyard and Penderman’s house. We can use knowledge of the civilian search for Penderman’s warrant,” she said.
“But we don’t know where the materials are now. The guy who showed up at the boatyard must have taken everything.”
When Jas arrived at her parents’ place, she parked in the alley, quickly exited the car and motioned for everyone to follow her as she headed up the sidewalk to the house and unlocked the back door to the kitchen. Bart carried the sleeping child in from the car and laid her on the couch in the living room. Jas turned up the heat and found blankets and a pillow.
“She’s out for the count,” said Jas, checking the child’s pupils. “Looks like she’s been drugged.” She lifted her carefully and tucked a folded blanket under her. “I smell pee,” she said.
“Jas, did you find a safe place for her?” asked Jeri.
“I did, but I want to talk to you first and get my story straight.”
“Tell your caregiver that the child’s mom is in an abusive relationship. The husband beat her up and threatened to abduct the child. We can’t put her in the system yet because the husband has access to the MCF database. We need to ensure the child’s safety for the weekend at least.”
Jas nodded and called her contact. After a short conversation, she got off the phone.
“She’s waiting for me. She’ll keep the girl for the weekend, no questions asked.”
“That’s great,” sa
id Jeri.
“I’ll go with you,” said Kate. “I can help with the little one.”
“I’ll go too,” said Bart. “Can you bring us back here after?”
“I can do that.”
“Make sure you park in the alley when you bring them back.”
“Sure thing boss,” said Jas, with a good-natured wink to Jeri.
“I just want to keep you safe, keep everyone safe,” said Jeri, her voice sharp.
“I know you do, Jeri,” said Jas, much more seriously. “I’ll be very careful.” Bart picked up the child, Kate wrapped her in the blanket, and they followed Jas out to her car. He got into the back seat. Kate climbed in after them. Jeri watched the car leave, then returned to the kitchen.
“Let’s go Alex.”
Alex turned to Michael, Lucas, and Morgan, sitting around the table in the kitchen.
“I’m sure you all understand how important it is that you remain here, for your own safety.”
CHAPTER 38
Carey heard the front door open and close, the clomp of heavy steps cross the living room to the kitchen, chairs scraping against wood as the men sat down at the big kitchen table. Everyone was talking at once and it sounded like they were mad. She recognized the voices of Ford and Ange and Phineas.
“We need to get rid of the kids tonight!” She didn’t recognize that voice—a bossy man who talked like a teacher who’s angry with his students.
“We’ve already made arrangements for Tuesday,” said Phineas.
“And for a good price,” said Ange.
“You’re delusional, both of you. We can’t wait. Not now!”
“Greg’s right. We get rid of them tonight,” said Ford. “I called Cecil. He’s on his way. Norse too.”
Carey reached for the stuffie and hugged it close. Her mom didn’t know they were selling them tonight. She was tired and scared and tried to stay awake but was soon overcome by exhaustion. She didn’t hear shoes on the wood floor downstairs moving from room to room, then their heavy clomp on the open stairs up to the bedrooms. She didn’t remember that they tried to wake her up, to ask where Seth was.
“We tipped our hand when we took the girl,” said Alex. They were approaching the Marion Way cut off that led up the mountain to Batlan’s place. “They’ll try to move the kids ASAP.”
“Yeah … Take a right here,” said Jeri. “You don’t see fog this bad very often. It’s like a blanket!”
The higher they went, the thicker the fog and Alex was forced to slow down. “We need to pull in the North Van detachment.”
“I vote we wait till we get there,” said Jeri. “I’ll feel a lot more comfortable if we’re on site, controlling the situation.”
“Agreed. Once we’re at Batlan’s, I’ll make the call to North Van and get them to move on search warrants. It shouldn’t take long once they get in touch with the duty judge.” Alex looked over at Jeri. “You’ll have to take a back seat once we’re there,” he said. “I am sorry about that, Jeri.”
“Don’t be, Alex. Let’s just get the bastards.”
“How much further?”
“We’re close,” said Jeri.
“We don’t have to just sit here! There’s nothing to stop us from doing a little surfing,” said Michael, booting up his laptop. “Good, someone has internet.”
“Where’s Batlan’s house?”
“He’s at 8985 Marion Way,” said Michael. Lucas and I watched over his shoulder.
“He’s close to the end of the road and his place borders a wooded area.”
“It looks like his street becomes a trail.”
I asked Michael to switch to satellite view. Batlan lived right at the forest edge, very secluded, which gave him lots of privacy.
Michael zoomed in. “It looks like there’s two buildings on the property, and a smaller one, probably a garage.”
“Seth must know the area. If he left the house, which way would he go?” This from Lucas.
“He could be anywhere. If he’s hurt, he could be disoriented. Chances are he might not have gotten far.”
“He could be unconscious. They may have people searching for him right now. What if he’s dead?” Lucas fell silent, his face stricken.
“Lucas, are you okay?”
“I’m all right and I’m going. We need to find Seth before they do.”
“Okay,” I said.
“Lucas is right, and we can’t ignore the possibility that they may have killed Seth. Remember Carey’s text: Ford hurt Seth.”
“Maybe he got away somehow,” said Lucas.
“I hope so. How long before Jas gets back with Kate and Bart?”
“She said round trip, about half an hour.”
“We should go now! We should be searching for Seth!” said Lucas impatiently.
“We can’t do this without Kate and Bart’s help. We’ll leave when they get here.” The three of us bent over the images on Michael’s laptop—forest, forest and more forest.”
Michael pulled up the weather forecast. “Damn. All of North Vancouver is under very heavy fog,” he said. “If anyone does find us, we can pretend we’re hikers and we’re lost.”
“We’d have a hard time passing as hikers,” I said. “Especially you, in that suit.”
In answer, Michael grabbed his overnight bag on the floor beside him and said, “hiking pants, hoodie, sneakers.”
“We really do need Kate for this,” I said, “especially with the fog.”
“And Bart.”
“Yeah, him too, but what I really mean is that Kate has special skills. I put the words in air quotes to make my point. The VPD have used her in the past to find missing persons.”
“Irish magic,” said Lucas.
“Magic is good,” said Michael.
“The fog will work to our advantage. It’s good cover for us,” said Lucas.
“We don’t even know what Seth looks like?” said Michael.
“How many single males do you think are lost up there tonight?” I said with a smile.
“Right. I’m not thinking straight.”
“Understandable,” I said.
“Desocarras and Fernice are going to be so pissed with us.” said Lucas.
“Much more so, if we showed up at Batlan’s house,” I said.
“Which is where I want to go right now!”
“Michael, you know we can’t do that.”
“I know.”
“My money is on the sergeants,” said Lucas.
Michael looked at Lucas. “Do you think we should tell Jas we’re going to look for Seth?”
“No. Jas won’t go for it,” I said. “She’ll feel she has to tell Jeri. Let’s leave Jas, Jeri, and Alex out of this. They’ll just worry. They don’t need that right now. We wait till Jas brings Bart and Kate and when she’s gone, then we go.”
Carey woke up to the sound of Joy’s voice. She was in the next room and it sounded like she was getting the kids dressed. Downstairs, everyone was yelling. They were mad because someone took Marie from the club. She heard a man say they’d have to move them all tonight. Two men were out looking for Seth. She went into the upstairs bathroom and took Seth’s cell from the secret compartment in the stuffie and called her mom again. Her mom answered, but then she started to cry and ask her where she was and wouldn’t let her talk. She had to whisper, everyone was so close to the bathroom and her mom couldn’t hear her very well. But when she told her they were taking them somewhere and please stop crying she did. Mom gave her the number for the cell her Uncle Michael was using. Then Christopher wanted to use the bathroom, so Carey hung up and hid Seth’s cell in the stuffie and waited in her bedroom until Christopher was done. She shooed him out and went back into the bathroom and locked the door.
She’d had to keep Uncle’s number in her head, saying it over and over because she had nothing to write it on. She pulled up the texting screen and right away put in the number and th
en she was so nervous she pushed SEND before she typed a message.
The men downstairs were angry, which scared her and then she couldn’t remember the number and she wanted to cry, but then she remembered she could pull up the SENT message. She told her uncle to please help, they were taking them away tonight and she hit SEND again. She put the phone back in the stuffie and went back to the bedroom.
Melanie was in the hallway, talking like she had marbles in her mouth. She could hardly stand up and had to lean against the wall. Joy was with her and one of her eyes was black and there was a big red mark on her face. That made Carey mad, but it scared her too. The kids were crying. Joy asked Carey to help get the children dressed.
“Michael, Carey just called! I talked to her! I gave her your cell number. She said they’re taking the children somewhere tonight. Oh Michael, she was so scared,” and Rosie burst into tears. Michael waited till she got control before he spoke.
“Did you call anyone else?”
“No. Only you.”
“Is Estelle there with you?”
“Yes. Geoff too.”
“Good.” His next question was interrupted by a text message. He put Rosie on hold to check it, but there was nothing there, just the number. He switched back to his sister but didn’t tell her about the blank message screen.
“The police are on their way to where the children are being held.” He was interrupted by another text message. He put Rosie on hold again to check it.
Please help they are taking us away tonight we are at Ange’s house up high
“Rosie. I just got a text from Carey. I’ve got to get this to the police.
“As soon as you know anything, anything at all, call me!” she said, before hanging up.
Michael called Jeri. “Carey just texted me. The children are at Batlan’s. They’re moving them tonight.”
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