by Charly Cox
‘We need names of all the individuals involved,’ Cord said. ‘Aside from the men we arrested at the house, you, and this Tatiana. Who else are we looking for?’
Yarmini’s eyes flickered to the door. ‘Tatiana hired a recruiter to get the girls. She targets the mark, incapacitates her, then transports her to Hotel Camino – where Tatiana sends in her men to pick up “the package.” Sometimes it’s a few hours; sometimes it’s overnight.’
‘She?’ Cord leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest again. ‘She had to be pretty strong to get these girls into her vehicle by herself and then into the hotel.’ His tone implied his skepticism.
‘If she had help with that, I don’t know anything about it.’
‘What’s this girl’s name?’ That same itch she’d been having was back, and Alyssa’s pulse fluttered as she waited for Yarmini’s answer.
‘I only knew her first name. Anna.’
It was Alyssa’s turn to pale as the connections all flashed before her, finally linking together. ‘Can you describe this Anna?’
‘I only saw her once, and it was dark. But she was about five-feet-four with a weird scar on her right cheek near her ear. She had what I guess you’d call strawberry-blonde hair…’
Doing the best to control the trembling in her hands, Alyssa tapped on her phone and scrolled until she found what she was looking for, then flipped it around. ‘Is this the girl you recognize as Anna?’
‘Yeah, that’s her.’
In a move that startled everyone in the room, Alyssa shoved back from the table and rushed to the door. ‘This interview is over. Have Joe escort Mr. Yarmini back to his cell.’
Chapter Fifty-Two
Monday, May 27
With a hand on her forearm, Cord halted Alyssa before she barged through the double doors heading into the patient wing of the hospital. ‘Stop. Let’s make sure the rest of the team is in place before you go barreling in there half-cocked. We don’t want to mess up this chance.’
A clap of thunder from the random, freak rainstorm distracted Alyssa long enough to bring her back to her senses and heed Cord’s warning. Despite the urgency of the situation, it wasn’t lost on her that he was the one reminding her she needed to be in control when it should’ve been her calming him after he’d sat through that painful interview, knowing he was probably reliving the nightmare his family had gone through with Shelley.
Pulse pounding, nerves shaky, she waited while Cord confirmed that Joe and Tony were ready. The second they radioed back that they were in place, Alyssa shifted her focus to the doors in front of her. Taking a deep breath in an effort to calm the bees swarming her insides, she hit the button on the wall and waited only long enough for her to squeeze herself through the door, aware that Cord was right behind her.
Her head pivoted left and right as they moved along the hall. At the first nurses’ station, she flashed her badge and ordered one of the attendants to stop any more visitors from coming through and to keep others in whatever rooms they were in. It took one look at her face for the nurses to grasp the gravity of the situation, and several staff members scattered in different directions to do as directed.
Just as they turned the final corner of the patient wing, Alyssa watched the girl known as Anna enter Jersey’s room. Her breath caught in her throat as time slowed almost to a standstill. Holly was in that room.
In the next second, commotion erupted everywhere. Something that sounded like someone gasping for air reverberated out into the hall from Jersey’s room, someone yelled for a nurse… no, not someone, Holly… and then two nurses raced from behind the counter and headed straight for Jersey’s room, ignoring Alyssa’s shouted commands to stop.
Even as she rushed forward, her mind processed things in slow motion. Nick Otis exited his sister’s room, his head swiveling down the hall, his brows arched high, forehead wrinkled in concern. And then Anna was there, backing out of Jersey’s room slowly, apologizing as she turned to leave.
Only to pull up short as she spotted Alyssa and Cord. ‘Mrs. Wyatt?’ Leigh Ann said. ‘If you’re here to talk to Jersey, you might have to wait.’ She whipped her head toward her friend’s door. ‘She’s having a bit of an episode, I’m afraid.’
Holly poked her head out the door, and her wide-eyed, scared gaze landed on Alyssa and Cord before she swung it back to Leigh Ann. The hair on the back of Alyssa’s nape lifted, and she had to bite the urge to snap at Holly to get back inside. A tear trailed down Holly’s cheek as she tipped her head forward in what Alyssa recognized as defeat, and then eyes boring into her mother’s, she slowly backed into Jersey’s room, closing the door softly behind her.
Alyssa released the breath she’d sucked in when Holly had poked her head out, secure in the knowledge that, for the moment, she was safe. Careful not to shift her eyes away from the person in front of her, she took two small steps forward. ‘Hello, Leigh Ann. I’m glad to see you here.’ In her peripheral vision, she noticed Cord slowly inching his way between Leigh Ann and Jersey’s room. As soon as he was in place, the elephant sitting on Alyssa’s chest moved, and her smile turned more feral. ‘I’m sorry – should I have addressed you as Anna instead?’
Leigh Ann adopted a puzzled expression, and she laughed a little, as if she was aware a mistake had been made, and she was uncomfortable pointing it out. ‘I’m sorry. No. Why would you call me Anna?’
‘I’m sorry. Maybe that’s just what Tatiana Salazar calls you.’
In a matter of seconds, Leigh Ann’s face contorted from an expression of innocence to a cold sneer. Even the shadows in her eyes darkened, as if she’d pulled a shade down. ‘I’m sure you don’t know what you’re talking about.’
Mindful of the growing interest of the staff and various onlookers, Alyssa shifted just slightly in order to place herself between Leigh Ann and as many innocent bystanders as she could. ‘Oh, I know full well what I’m talking about. You target and incapacitate girls for Tatiana Salazar’s sex trafficking ring, isn’t that right?’
Leigh Ann’s eyes flickered to the side, telegraphing her intent to flee.
And then Nick Otis, still standing outside his sister’s room, took one small step forward. ‘Anna? Is everything okay?’
Leigh Ann’s head snapped around, and Cord took advantage of her distraction by closing in and jerking her arm behind her back before shoving her against the wall.
Above the howls of Leigh Ann’s rage, Cord read her the Miranda Rights, and Alyssa spared a quick look in Nick’s direction. A rage she fully understood brewed in his eyes, and she knew then that he’d correctly interpreted the situation and purposely distracted the person responsible for kidnapping his sister.
His fingers clenched into fists as Cord pushed Leigh Ann toward the exit, and when she was directly in front of him, Nick stepped back inside Rachel’s room without uttering a word and closed the door in Leigh Ann’s face.
Alyssa wasn’t sure whether, in his shoes, at his age, she’d have been quite as in control.
Chapter Fifty-Three
Monday, May 27
Cord leaned his back against the door of the interrogation room while Alyssa pulled out a chair and sat across from Leigh Ann. She flipped open a manila folder and began to read from it.
My daughter has been troubled most of her life. We’d hoped a fresh start in Albuquerque would be what she needed, and for a while, I thought it was working.
She lifted her head to gauge Leigh Ann’s reaction, but the girl’s face remained impassive. Alyssa lowered her head and continued reading from the interview Hal had conducted while she and the rest of her team had raced to the hospital. As soon as Leigh Ann’s mother received the call about what her daughter was suspected of, she had readily come in, bringing with her folders of past psychiatric evaluations for the detectives’ use.
After some troubling incidents in school when she was twelve, and then again in our neighborhood when she was thirteen, my now ex-husband and I forced our daughter into counseli
ng where she was soon diagnosed with a narcissistic sociopathic personality – a social predator who plays with people’s feelings and emotions. My daughter is the perfect chameleon; she can fit in anywhere and make anyone like her. She can and does become whoever she needs to be to gain whatever it is that she wants. Picture if you will, a cat with a mouse before it finally destroys it. Do you have any idea what that’s like for a mother to hear? It’s not easy.
The narrow-eyed glare Leigh Ann shot her way was the only indication she’d heard any of it. Alyssa closed the folder and leaned back, crossing her arms over her chest, letting the silence grow heavier as the girl she’d believed to be Holly’s friend absorbed the things her own mother had shared about her.
Finally, Alyssa spoke. ‘Aren’t you curious as to how I figured it out?’ The air inside the room dropped ten degrees from the icy gaze Leigh Ann drilled into her. How had she ever missed the cold emptiness in those eyes?
‘See, I remember when you moved here from Artesia a few years ago, and Holly brought you over to our house. I was passing by her room, and I overheard you refer to yourself as Anna when you told Sophie and Holly about your mother yelling at you. But that didn’t click right away. It was only when I started shifting pieces of the puzzle around that the picture started to become clearer.
‘Faye Harrison moved to Albuquerque for a career change just over a year ago. When I saw that she was also from Artesia, things started to open up for me. The two of you attended the same middle school, but you weren’t friends since she was two years ahead of you.’ Alyssa didn’t expect a response and didn’t receive one. ‘Becca Marshall is from Hobbs, which is pretty close to Artesia, but it’s not so close you would automatically run in the same circles. So, we dug a little deeper, and you know what we discovered?’ Leigh Ann’s face remained a cold, emotionless mask. ‘Becca used to visit her sister in a treatment facility – you might be familiar with it since you were there at the same time.’
Leigh Ann maintained her stony silence, but each word tightened the skin across her face. If there was going to be a reaction, Alyssa wanted it to be to the next bit of news, so she straightened in her seat and leaned in until she was mere inches from Leigh Ann’s face. ‘Meghan Jessup used to visit her grandfather every spring break. Oddly enough, Jersey’s house is located near Meghan’s grandfather.’
Face and neck flushing red, nostrils flaring, Leigh Ann opened her mouth just enough to bare her teeth, giving her the appearance of a rabid animal. Alyssa pressed on. ‘Beau Cambridge saw Meghan one day and decided he liked her, despite already having a girlfriend. And that made you jealous and sent you into a rage.’ Of course, she didn’t know any of that to be true, but it made sense as to why Leigh Ann would’ve targeted Meghan and even Jersey. ‘How could he notice a fourteen-year-old child when you were right there in front of him? It was nothing personal against Meghan; she was just someone who was in the way of you getting what you wanted. And you wanted Beau. Is that why you ended up targeting Rachel, too? You saw him hitting on her at the frat party?’
When Leigh Ann’s reaction came, it was far from what Alyssa was expecting. Leigh Ann’s neck flung back as a high-pitched cackle exploded from her throat. When she finally brought her gaze back, merriment beamed from her eyes as she shook her head. ‘Here I was beginning to think you were so smart, maybe even a match for my intelligence, and then you go and blow it with some stupid, amateur observation. Allow me to correct your erroneous assumption.
‘If Beau Cambridge was on fire, I wouldn’t let a stray dog piss on him. The only purpose that oversized buffoon had was that he was the perfect scapegoat. Clueless and arrogant, the perfect cocktail. I saw an opportunity, and I took it. Except he was too stupid to even do that right. I mean, really, how perfect was it that he could be tied to three of the missing girls? And then I saw Katelyn walking near Jersey’s and Meghan’s neighborhood, and oh damn, it was like a calling. And I knew Beau was so convinced of his own god-like status that he wouldn’t be able to stop from being himself when you finally connected those dots.’
Alyssa cocked her head to the side and arched her brows. She looked over at Cord, shook her head, and sighed before turning her attention back to the girl across from her.
‘What? You don’t believe me? You actually think I love that moron? You’re far dumber than I thought. Poor Holly will be so disappointed to learn that.’ Leigh Ann twisted her head away to stare at the wall as if she didn’t have time for such idiocy.
Alyssa’s muscles stiffened at Holly’s name emerging from the monster in front of her. ‘So, all the girls you chose were a matter of convenience and nothing more?’
Leigh Ann shifted in her seat. Once started, she couldn’t seem to stop from spouting about her own brilliance. Over the years, Alyssa had seen this often – where a perpetrator had to show everyone how much more intelligent he or she was than everyone around them. The girl in front of her was no different.
‘Look, Jersey and Meghan are nothing more than rich, overdramatic drama queens who got on my nerves and deserved a reality check anyway.’ One shoulder lifted in a blasé shrug. ‘They needed to see their lives weren’t nearly as atrocious as they thought. I hated Faye from the first moment I laid eyes on her. Becca’s sister did nothing but blather on and on about how sickly devoted her older sister was. Cheyenne was nothing more than convenient.’ She laughed, an evil sound that made the hairs on the back of Alyssa’s neck stand up. ‘God, what a thrill it was watching all you idiots scrambling to figure out the truth when I was right there under your nose’ – she lowered her voice to an excited whisper – ‘in your house – the entire time.’
The glee in Leigh Ann’s face as she recounted how she’d chosen each girl was reminiscent of a child at Christmas who sees the present she’s been waiting for all year. It sent a chill racing down Alyssa’s spine, leaving her cold all over.
But when Leigh Ann scooted forward, propping her elbows on the table, her eyes lit with joy as she dropped her next bombshell, the subzero temperature of her heart all but flashed on her chest. ‘Rachel… Rachel is nothing more than a spoiled little rich bitch who needed to be taken down a peg. But she had nothing to do with me. Rachel was purely payback for someone who took something of Tatiana’s.’
Beside the door, Cord stiffened.
‘Tatiana Salazar?’ Alyssa clarified.
Leigh Ann’s chin jutted out, and she smirked. ‘Oh, I know something you don’t,’ she taunted in a sing-song voice.
Careful not to let her emotions show, Alyssa feigned boredom, checked the time on her watch, and twisted her upper body to face Cord. ‘Are you hungry? I’m hungry.’
Cord immediately caught on to Alyssa’s cue and played along. ‘I’m thinking a burrito. What about you?’
Leigh Ann tapped her foot.
‘A burrito sounds good. Golden Pride?’
Leigh Ann clenched and unclenched her fist. ‘Don’t pretend you’re not curious.’
Alyssa kept her body angled toward her partner but twisted her head around to face Leigh Ann. ‘Curious about what? If you really knew something, you’d have told us, if for no other reason than to prove your superiority.’ She lifted her shoulders and let them drop back down.
Leigh Ann snorted, but when Alyssa once again turned away, she broke, and Alyssa had to bite back a smile.
‘Rachel Otis’s mother had an affair with Tatiana’s husband. Rachel was Tatiana’s way of getting back at her.’
More pieces of the puzzle began to click into place, but Alyssa was still careful to school her expression. ‘And how is it that you came to know Tatiana Salazar anyway?’
‘Well, Detective’ – Leigh Ann rolled her eyes – ‘if you’d dug a little deeper, you would’ve known Ms. Salazar and I became friendly when we were in Red Valley Treatment Center together. She was there under court order after she shattered all the windows on her husband’s car, and you know what people say: like minds attract. There we were, sitting in forced group therapy,
listening to some gal cry on and on about how her daddy pimped her out to his friend for drug money.’ She chuckled. ‘Let’s just say we discovered a way of making sick money, and we stayed in touch.’
Sick money was exactly right. ‘You know, I heard that Tatiana and Steve Yarmini came up with this plan. Maybe you’re not as bright as you thought?’
Leigh Ann brushed off the insult. ‘Another scapegoat to take the fall. I mean, seriously, who’s going to believe two females would be responsible for being innovative leaders of a sex ring? Please.’ This time, it was her turn to lean in toward Alyssa as she lowered her voice, a taunting grin spreading across her face as she dropped her biggest bombshell. ‘You know, Holly was next on the list. She was just so holier-than-thou, so, “Oh, my mom is so great; she’ll find Jersey and the others and swoop in and save the day.” She really needed to be knocked off that freaking pedestal. You both did.’
Blood pulsed in Alyssa’s ears as she struggled to keep her fury under control. ‘Yet here we are. The girls are safe, and you’re under arrest.’
Her words were met with more disdain. ‘You couldn’t save poor little Meghan, though, could you?’
Alyssa was glad she was sitting as the lights flashed in front of her eyes. She was still trying to regain her composure when Cord asked the obvious question. ‘What stopped you from going after Holly?’
Leigh Ann’s smile was filled with hate as she drilled a glare into Alyssa’s eyes. ‘Who says I’ve stopped?’
Chapter Fifty-Four
Monday, May 27
Late Monday afternoon, Alyssa and Cord found themselves back at UNMH, this time outside Rachel’s door. She’d tried reaching the Otises, but after several unanswered calls, she opted to try Nick to see if he knew where they were. He’d surprised her by telling her they’d just arrived at the hospital.