Killer Summer

by Kay Bigelow

“It is,” Leah said.

  “Are you familiar with it? Can we get a copy of it somewhere?”

  “We can,” Leah said, turning to Dani as the song came to an end. “Where have you been?”

  “Taking care of business. I’ve put the young woman who stood up to Cooper yesterday in temporary charge of Wild.”

  “We, unfortunately, have to feed Cooper and Camryn. What do you have?”

  “I’m pretty sure Chef can make up some gruel with stale bread and water,” Dani said, smiling grimly.

  Leah laughed out loud. “If that got out, your reservations will fall off dramatically.”

  “There is that. So I guess we’ll have to give them something else. Maybe week-old leftovers?”

  “That’ll be fine. Have you been inside?” Leah asked.

  “Not yet. Are you going in? And if you are, can I go with you?”

  “Of course. Come on, I want to see if the girls are ready to talk to me.”

  As they climbed the steps to the porch, someone started clapping, and it built until all the women in the small crowd were applauding.

  “What are they doing?” Leah asked.

  “They’re thanking you for taking care of these girls.”

  “It wasn’t just me. It took all of us to wrap up this awful mess.”

  “Sweetie, accept the accolades. If it weren’t for you, these girls would have been sold into lifelong slavery,” Dani said, taking her hand. “You’re a hero to the women out here because they know each one of them could have been one of these girls.”

  Leah didn’t know what to say. She’d never had people applaud her for doing her job.

  I don’t deserve this kind of accolade. I just hope we can find the other girls Cooper sold. She’d seen way too many girls abused, tortured, and killed in her years as an urban cop. She would have never guessed she’d be faced with it again on a pleasure planet.

  She raised her hands to her chest, pressed her palms together, and bowed her head to her fingers. She could never convey the humility she felt to the women in the crowd.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  Before Leah and Dani could get inside the house, someone in the crowd yelled, “We love you, Leah!” Leah felt herself blush deeply.

  “That’s so cute,” Dani murmured to her. “Turn around and wave to the crowd.”

  “I will not. That’s just so egotistical.”

  “Thank the crowd, Leah. Trust me.”

  “Oh, alright, if that will make them let this go.”

  Dani laughed as Leah turned to the crowd and gave them a wave and immediately turned to enter the house. Almost instantly the crowd quietened.

  Inside the house, all was quiet, too. There was no one in the living room. As Leah and Dani moved through the room, Maria came out of the kitchen. Following very closely behind her was the young girl who Maria had walked out of the cabin in the woods.

  “Hey, Maria,” Leah said. “Who’s your friend?”

  “Leah, this is Tasha.”

  Tasha clung to Maria’s hand.

  “Let’s go to the kitchen,” Leah said.

  When she and Tasha were seated at the kitchen island, Leah asked Tasha, “What are you two cooking?”

  “Chocolate chip cookies,” Tasha said shyly.

  “Yummy. I love chocolate chip cookies.”

  “Me, too.”

  “I like to dip them in milk, and then take a big bite,” Leah said.

  “Me, too,” Tasha said, smiling.

  “Is it okay if I ask you some questions, Tasha?”

  “I think so,” Tasha said, looking at Maria for guidance. Maria nodded.

  “Will you tell me your last name?”

  “It’s Saunders. My name Tasha Jane Saunders.”

  “Thank you, Tasha Jane Saunders.”

  Tasha gave Leah a big smile at the use of her full name.

  “Can you tell me the name of the girl who used to be with you and the others?”

  Tasha nodded her head but said nothing.

  When Tasha didn’t continue, Leah asked, “What was her name?”

  “The mean lady called her lots of awful names, but she told us her name was Natalie. Do you know where she went? She was nice.”

  “How was Natalie nice?”

  “She once stood between me and the mean lady so she wouldn’t hit me again.”

  “That was awfully nice of her,” Leah said.

  Leah continued to gently question Tasha. She started with easy questions, like where she was born. A question about her parents seemed to distress the girl, so Leah changed tactics and asked her about the other two girls.

  By the time Leah got to the point of thinking it would be okay to ask about Cooper and what she’d done, the cookies were out of the oven and Maria served them to the others along with little glasses of milk. Leah and Tasha toasted each other by touching their chocolate chip cookies, each sweet treat dripping with milk.

  A half hour later, Leah and Dani were walking toward the big house. The crowd outside the cabin parted for them, making a human tunnel to walk through. The crowd was silent. Occasionally, a woman would reach out to touch Leah or Dani. When they entered the lobby of the big house, the women there stood to show their respect for what Leah and Dani had done for the girls in the cabin.

  They went into Camryn’s office. Dani pulled out her phone and called the shuttle captain to see when they’d arrive on Wild.

  “When will the shuttle arrive here?” Leah asked when Dani turned off her phone.

  “They’re departing Xing at midnight, so they’ll arrive tomorrow morning around ten. Is there anything else we need to do?”

  “I have to make arrangements for the prisoners to be fed. That’s all unless something happens that Stanhope and Sojourner can’t handle. What about you?”

  “Not much. Bette will be able to handle the routine stuff, and I hope there’ll not be any non-routine stuff happening tonight. I’m exhausted.”

  “Poor baby,” Leah said, smiling.

  “Come on, let’s see what awful stuff Chef has hidden in the far reaches of her refrigerators,” Dani said, taking Leah’s hand.

  As Leah and Dani stood talking to Meryl, Wild’s chef, Stanhope came into the kitchen. Leah motioned her to join them. Then Sojourner came in.

  Meryl said, “Before anybody says anything, I’d like to add my kudos to all of you for saving those poor girls. I’m assuming you and your teams will need to be fed. Give me some time and I’ll send the food to you so no one needs to come here and leave their charges. And, Jardain, I need more groceries. I’m not due for another delivery until next week.”

  “Make a list. The shuttle is arriving tomorrow morning. I’ll ask the shuttle to bring your groceries with them.”

  “Thanks. I was wondering what I’d do when we ran out of food.”

  Maria walked in with Tasha, who still clung to her hand. “Tasha and I are on a mission,” Maria said. It was clear that Tasha was not going to let Maria out of her sight.

  When Tasha saw Leah, she ran to her and hugged her again.

  “The girls and I would like to make a request. We’d like pepperoni pizza for dinner, with Reagan’s permission, of course,” Maria said.

  Leah dug her phone out of her pocket and called Reagan. When the doctor answered, Leah said, “The girls are requesting pizza for dinner. Is that a problem?”

  Leah knew that people who have been starved were generally reintroduced to food slowly, starting with bland items.

  “Normally, I would say no to pizza, but this time, and only this time, I’ll say yes. But only if there’s no tomato sauce on it.”

  “Why no tomato sauce?” Leah asked as she watched the eyebrows of the people standing in a circle with her shot up.

  “Too acidic. Could cause stomach upset and aggravate already overly sensitive stomachs.”

  “Thanks, Reagan, for making this one exception.”

  Leah said to the group, “Dr. Reagan says pizza for tonight only. Then they ha
ve to eat what she tells them to eat. Oh, and no tomato sauce on the pizza tonight, Chef.”

  “What? What is a pizza without tomato sauce? Nothing but a piece of bread with cheese and pepperoni,” Meryl said.

  “It’s either no tomato sauce or chicken broth for the girls who really want pizza,” Leah said, taking the liberty of expanding on Reagan’s orders.

  “What about the grownups?” Meryl asked. “Are they allowed tomato sauce?”

  “We’ll have what the girls are having,” Maria said. “And thanks for making them pizza,” she added before turning to go back to the girls.

  “What about your other guests in Stanhope’s facility?” Meryl asked Leah.

  “Do you have Brussels sprouts and sauerkraut or something equally distasteful?” Leah asked.

  Everyone but Meryl laughed and nodded their dislike of either one or both of the vegetables Leah had mentioned.

  “No. No Brussels sprouts, but I can feed them a plain hot dog and sauerkraut.”

  “That’s too good for them,” Stanhope growled.

  “That will be fine. We can’t starve them like they did the girls, but we don’t have to treat them to the best of the menu, either. Feel free to feed the prisoners last.”

  “Here’s my list of emergency groceries,” Meryl said, taking a piece of paper off the refrigerator and handing it to Dani. Dani quickly ran her eyes over the list.

  “Why don’t I send the list to Cots and he’ll have the items on the list delivered to the shuttle?” Leah asked.

  “Sounds good, but I need to add a few items,” Dani said as she took the proffered pen from Meryl and began adding items to the chef’s list. When she was done, she handed the list to Leah who, in turn, sent it to Cots, asking him to have the groceries sent to the Wild shuttle that would be leaving around midnight with the DA on board.

  Meryl smiled and moved away to begin fixing dinner for the girls and their rescuers.

  “If anything comes up, call me. Hear?” Leah said to Stanhope. “Sojourner, can I speak with you?”

  “Yes, Boss,” Stanhope and Sojourner said in unison.

  Stanhope left the kitchen through the back door while Sojourner and Leah moved to a corner of the kitchen.

  “Sojourner, can you process the little house with the same thoroughness as you did Cooper’s bungalow?”

  “We’ve already started that. We got two of the three rooms processed, but I decided to leave the main room to tomorrow morning first thing. The light in the house is terrible, and there are no klieg lights here. So we’ll have to hope tomorrow is bright and sunny.”

  “Thanks for taking the initiative. Remember, the chain of evidence is crucial in these cases.”

  “I need to spend some time with Bette. Text me when you’re ready to go home,” Dani said, giving Leah a soft kiss on the lips.

  When Leah stepped out of the kitchen, Stanhope was waiting for her near the kitchen garden.

  “Stanhope, are Peony and Alex still at the house with the girls?” Leah asked as she approached her.

  “Yeah, they were playing video games with the two older girls.”

  “Make sure Meryl knows she needs to fix enough for them as well, please.”

  “Will do. And I’ll send them home at a decent hour so everyone can get some rest.”

  “Thanks,” Leah said with a smile.

  As she and Stanhope walked toward the jail, Leah said, “I want to talk to McDonald. I’d like you to be present. But first I need to know if it’s McDonald blackmailing you.” Leah smiled at how quickly she had moved from thinking of Camryn on a first-name basis to using her last name only.

  “How did you know?”

  “Is she the one?”

  “Yes.”

  “When did it start?”

  “Just after I started working here. She said she knew about why I’d left my job with the police, and if I didn’t pay her, she’d tell Dr. Bensington and make sure I got canned. I needed this job badly, so I gave her the money.”

  “That part of your life is over. Do you have anything in the jail that looks like an interview room?”

  “Not really. We’ve never had the need for an interview room.”

  “I’ll interview McDonald in her cell, then. I want you to stand outside. Are we sure Cooper won’t be able to hear us?”

  “Yes. Someone designed the jail in case the need for privacy arose or, I think, because some of our ‘guests’ can get quite rowdy after a night drinking in the bar. So there’s one cell that’s around a corner from the others and, for some reason, sound has a hard time getting in or out of that cell. That’s where I put McDonald.”

  “Good. Let’s get this interview over so we can get on with our evening.”

  As they entered the short hallway leading to McDonald’s cell, she said, “It’s about time you showed up. I’m hungry.”

  “You’ll eat as soon as the chef gets it made. In the meantime, I’ve got a few questions I’d like to ask.”

  “What are they?” Camryn McDonald asked warily.

  Before asking her first question, Leah took her tablet from her bag and opened the recording function. “Interviewing the suspect Camryn McDonald is Leah Samuels, deputized captain in charge of the investigation of the murder of the victim now known to be Natalie, no last name known at this time. Witnessing this interview is the head of Wild Security, Caitlyn Stanhope. Time 17:00.”

  “What do you know about Cooper’s child pornography ring?”

  “Nothing. I wasn’t involved in that.”

  “If you weren’t involved, then why were you helping her?”

  “She somehow figured out I was embezzling from Jardain, or maybe it was a lucky guess. In any case, I couldn’t afford for her to go to Jardain with the accusations, so I did what she wanted.”

  “Did she ask you to build her secret house?”

  “No, she asked me to build her a house farther into the forest. I knew about Jardain’s secret little house and told her I could arrange to build her one just like it if she’d pay the costs.”

  “Which I’m assuming she did even though you inflated the costs.”

  “Yes, she did.”

  “Whose idea was it to put listening devices and video recording devices in Jardain’s bungalow?”

  “Hers.”

  “Do all the bungalows have those devices installed?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “I think she intended to use the vid tapes and voice recordings to blackmail my guests.”

  “How did she manage to put the devices into so many bungalows?”

  “Uh, I guess I put most of them in place.”

  “You guess? Most of them?”

  “Oh, alright. I put all of them in place.”

  “Who watched them?”

  “I did.”

  “Then what happened to them?”

  “I gave them to Cooper.”

  “How much did you embezzle from the resort?”

  “At last count, only a few hundred thousand dollars.”

  “Only?”

  “I could have taken a lot more. The accountants Jardain hired are useless. They wouldn’t know a real audit from tracking the cost of groceries.”

  “How did you find them?”

  “They did the audits for the company I worked for before I came to work here.”

  “Did you know about what Cooper was doing here?”

  “Not really.”

  “But you were suspicious?”

  “Kinda.”

  “What did the devices you planted in her bungalow show you?”

  “Not much.”

  Leah waited for McDonald to go on, but she said nothing more.

  After a couple of minutes, McDonald murmured, “What the phuc.”

  Still, Leah said nothing.

  “It showed her selling girls to her clients.”

  “And you did nothing to help those poor girls?”

  “What? And get myself killed for hel
ping them? No thanks.”

  “How did you participate?”

  “Do you mean what did I do?”

  Again, Leah waited for McDonald to start talking.

  “She would contact me and tell me when she’d be arriving, just like any other guest. I’d make sure her bungalow was clean.”

  “That’s it? That’s all you did?”

  “Well, sometimes she’d want something special for her guests.”

  “Did the guests make reservations?”

  “Hardly. They came in and left all in the same day.”

  “So they all had their own ships?”

  “Seems like it.”

  “Where are the tapes of those meetings now?”

  “They’re all stored in a box beneath the floorboards in my cabin.”

  “How did you get them back from Cooper?”

  “She didn’t want to leave them in her bungalow and she sure didn’t want to get caught with them, so she asked me to keep them for her. I think she thought if she ever got caught, the police wouldn’t find anything incriminating and I’d be her fall guy. But I gladly took them thinking I could blackmail her for far more than she was blackmailing me.”

  “When did you know about the girl who escaped, and what did you do about it?”

  “I couldn’t tell Stanhope because she might become suspicious about how I knew about the victim. Then the tables would turn and I’d be the blackmail victim to her. That was nothing I wanted to have happen. So I did nothing.”

  “Did you know Cooper was going to kill Natalie?”

  “Who’s that?”

  “The girl you found dead in the woods.”

  “Oh. How could I have known what that madwoman was going to do?”

  “So you didn’t know that Cooper was having trouble with one of her girls?”

  “I knew that, but I had no idea she planned on killing her.”

  “What do you think she’d do with a girl who knew what she knew and wasn’t being cooperative despite several severe beatings?”

  “I thought she might kill her and bury her body somewhere.”

  “Had she done that before?”

  “Once.”

  “And you didn’t bother to tell Jardain?”

  “What could she do about it?”

  “You knew immediately who had killed her when you saw the body, and that was really the reason you were so frightened by the murder, wasn’t it?”