by Karen Rose
Cal came in. ‘The mobile camera unit you asked for isn’t here. I remembered that Phillip used it last. He always forgets to return it. It’s probably still in the trunk of his car.’
‘Tell him to go get it,’ Marcus said, annoyed. ‘And chew him out for not returning it like he was supposed to. He lives in a fucking hellhole. I’d be surprised if some punk hasn’t stolen it out of his trunk by now and sold it on Craigslist.’
‘I would tell him, but he’s not back yet. Last I saw him, he’d gone to your place to walk BB because you were still out. Maybe he decided to make a stop on his way back here. I called him, but he’s not answering his cell.’
Marcus frowned at this. The youngest member of their team, Lisette’s brother Phillip was forgetful about equipment, but his cell phone was permanently velcroed to his hand. If it rang, he’d have answered. ‘I’m going home now. I’ll look for his car on the way. Maybe he got a flat.’
‘He’d have called.’
‘Maybe his cell’s outta juice. He’s always playing games on the damn thing. I’ll check it out. Don’t worry. I’ll call you when I find him.’
Cincinnati, Ohio
Tuesday 4 August, 8.15 P.M.
Scarlett found Deacon waiting for her in the lobby of the Cincinnati FBI Field Office. She hoped she wasn’t showing her shock at finding out about Marcus’s abduction and his brother’s death, but she knew she it was written all over her face when Deacon’s white brows shot up and his bi-colored eyes narrowed in concern.
‘What happened?’
She considered saying nothing, but they didn’t lie to each other. Hide shit they didn’t want to deal with, sure. But they didn’t out-and-out lie, and Scarlett wasn’t about to start now.
‘I just found out about . . .’ Her mouth hung open, no more words coming out. ‘I’m sorry, Deacon. I’m just not . . . me at the moment.’
‘I can see that,’ he said mildly. ‘Come with me.’
She followed him into a conference room and lowered herself into a chair, her legs shaky. ‘It doesn’t have anything to do with this case. I shouldn’t even be thinking about it now, but I can’t . . . I can’t help it.’
‘I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this rattled. Talk to me, Scar.’
Tears pricked her eyelids and she sucked in a breath, appalled at herself. A bottle of water appeared on the table in front of her and she used the few seconds it took to chug some down to wrestle her emotions back where they belonged.
She cleared her throat, her gaze locked on the bottle’s label. ‘Did you know there was a fourth O’Bannion brother?’
Deacon’s eyes widened. ‘No. I’m sure that Faith doesn’t know either.’
‘This was long before Jeremy even met Marcus’s mother.’
‘Della,’ Deacon supplied.
‘Yes, Della,’ she murmured. ‘Della was still married to her first husband, so it wouldn’t have been O’Bannion gossip at the time. Marcus, Stone and their younger brother Matthias were kidnapped and held for ransom twenty-seven years ago.’
‘Oh my God.’
‘They lived in Lexington then, and their last name was Gargano. It’s not a hard Google if you know the right search terms.’
‘How did you get these search terms?’ Deacon asked quietly.
‘Marcus told me, but only his brother’s name, their old last name, Lexington, and the year. He couldn’t get any other words out. It was like he’d been electro-shocked or something. But those words were enough. The kidnappers told the parents not to contact the authorities, but Della did and she nearly lost them all. The son who died was only three.’
Deacon dragged his palm down his face. ‘Wow. No wonder Della didn’t want the FBI in her business when Mikhail was missing. That’s gotta be a parent’s worst nightmare.’
‘Stone was shot, was in a coma for a week. Somehow the bullet meant for Marcus went wide.’
‘The lucky bastard’s charmed,’ Deacon murmured.
‘But for how long?’ Scarlett sighed. ‘Marcus told me not to judge Stone nine months ago. I understand why now.’ She also had a new understanding of the episode that she’d witnessed that morning in Marcus’s office, and wondered how many times Marcus had talked his brother down over the years.
Deacon squeezed her shoulder. ‘You feel better getting it out? Because it’s not like I’m rushing you, but I’m rushing you. Our trafficking contacts are waiting for us. Apparently they’ve got all the info there is on suspected human trafficking rings operating in the tri-state area. We need to go.’
She nodded, pushed to her feet and followed him on unsteady legs. ‘I know. I’ve arranged for a SAR unit to track Tala’s mother and sister, so I don’t have much time anyway.’
Deacon frowned. ‘You think dogs are the best idea?’
‘When the dogs are accompanied by a priest, yes.’ She gave him the highlights of what they’d learned from Annabelle Church and the agreement Marcus and Lynda had come to.
‘Lynda’s allowing Marcus to embed with us? How’d you manage that?’
‘By reminding her we have nothing to hide. Who are the people we’re meeting with?’
‘Zimmerman, a senior analyst named Luther Troy, and a new agent who just arrived from DC an hour ago. That’s all I know.’
‘They brought an agent in just for this?’
‘No clue.’ He shot her a light-hearted grin. ‘Your uncle is really Father Bishop?’
‘Yes,’ she said with a long-suffering sigh.
‘When he grows up, will he become Bishop Bishop?’
She lifted a brow. ‘You’ve met my dad.’
He frowned. ‘Yeah.’
‘Big guy, right?’
‘Yeah,’ Deacon said more slowly. ‘Why?’
‘Uncle Trace is the baby brother, but only in age. He’s taller and bigger than my dad. So you go ahead and crack all the Bishop Bishop jokes you want. The good father will crack your head like a walnut.’
Deacon was chuckling as he pushed the conference room door open, but he stopped dead in the doorway. Scarlett barreled into him and leaped back, sputtering. ‘What?’
But Deacon wasn’t listening. He was too busy staring across the room. Scarlett gave him a little push and slipped around him to see what had caused her partner to freeze in his puppy-chewed shoes.
A woman stood at the far end of a big table, a smile on her face. She was as tall as Scarlett, with dark red hair pulled back in a neat twist. Deacon started walking and she opened her arms, gathering him close for a quick, hard hug.
Scarlett glanced at SAC Zimmerman to find him wearing a small pleased smile.
Deacon was grinning like a lunatic as he pulled out of the embrace. ‘What are you doing here?’ he asked the woman.
‘I work here. Now.’
Deacon’s head whipped around to stare at the SAC. ‘She’s the new agent?’
Zimmerman nodded. ‘She is. She wanted to surprise you.’
‘She did,’ Deacon said emphatically. ‘How, why? When?’
‘In a minute.’ The woman met Scarlett’s gaze directly, her brown eyes assessing. ‘You must be Detective Bishop. I’ve heard a lot about you. I’m—’
Scarlett recognized her now. ‘Special Agent Kate Coppola. You were Agent Novak’s partner back in Baltimore.’ The only photo that Scarlett had seen of the woman had been taken at the wedding of one of Deacon and Coppola’s mutual friends, and everyone had been in formal wear, Coppola’s hair loose around her shoulders. She looked different in a black suit with minimal makeup. But still gorgeous, Scarlett thought with a tug of envy. But it was the woman’s eyes that had sparked Scarlett’s recognition. In the photo she’d seemed apart, watchful. Her eyes looked exactly the same today.
Deacon’s grimace was embarrassed. ‘I’m sorry. Kate, this is my partner, Detective Scarlett Bishop. Scar, this is my old partner, Special Agent Katherine Coppola.’
Scarlett’s shoulders relaxed, surprising her because she hadn’t realized she’d gone so
tense. Deacon called her ‘Scar’ to indicate that they were more than partners. After almost a year on the job together, they’d become friends. Scarlett began to walk toward Kate, but the woman met her halfway, hand extended, a smile on her face.
‘Deacon has spoken so highly of you, Detective. I’m glad to finally meet you.’
Scarlett found herself returning the smile without reservation. ‘Likewise.’ She gestured to the table. ‘Have a seat and answer Deacon’s questions before he pops a blood vessel.’
Kate laughed, and it was just that simple. Scarlett knew the woman would fit in well with their group.
‘I wasn’t supposed to start for another few weeks,’ she explained. ‘I was on leave, wrapping up some personal things back in Baltimore, when SAC Zimmerman called me this morning. He said they might need to bring me in early, that there was a case developing that would be excellent transition training.’ She motioned to the man who’d taken the seat beside her. ‘This is Special Agent Troy, my new partner.’
‘Troy heads our human trafficking task force,’ Zimmerman said. ‘He was in Cleveland this morning, interviewing some young women rescued from a massage parlor operation. I brought him back when you told me about the young victim of this morning’s shooting.’
Troy nodded to all of them. ‘The Cleveland operation had ties to organized crime. We know of at least three rings operating in the tri-state area that are similar.’ He rolled his eyes. ‘Suspected ties. Suspected rings. Suspected organized crime. We don’t have any proof.’ Then his eyes gleamed. ‘But we do have undercover operatives in two of the organizations, one of which is a deep cover op.’
Scarlett sat up straighter, new energy pulsing through her body. ‘Can we talk to them?’
Troy shook his head. ‘We can’t risk it. Even the one that isn’t in as deep is too far in for us to grab for a chat. He gets time off in two days. He’ll stop in and talk to us then. The one who’s fully immersed only communicates with his handler and only when he has something to say. We’ve sent a message to his handler, but so far we’ve heard nothing back.’
‘I thought so,’ Scarlett said with a sigh. ‘But I had to ask.’
Troy’s look was sympathetic. ‘I understand your frustration. I know who these operatives are and where they are, but I’m about as helpless are you are. However, finding the victim in the alley this morning was an amazing break for us.’
Scarlett thought of Marcus, thought he’d be bristling to hear Tala’s death referred to in such a way. Scarlett was bristling herself, but understood what Troy meant. ‘She broke her leash.’
‘To protect her baby, we understand,’ Troy said. ‘The child is all right?’
Scarlett nodded. ‘Yes, she is.’ She briefed them on the events of the afternoon, noting the scowls on the Feds’ faces when she mentioned Marcus’s involvement in finding Tabby and interviewing Annabelle Church. ‘We’re sending a SAR team out to hopefully retrieve the mother and sister. I don’t know if they’ll be able to identify the men who took the Anderses or not. The women may have been gone by then.’
Zimmerman nodded. ‘I knew about the search for the mother and daughter. Isenberg and I talked right after you all finished questioning Ms Church. I’ve got resources ready to aid the search if necessary, but for now, I’m leaving it in MCES and CPD’s corner.’
Scarlett appreciated Zimmerman’s willingness to have Isenberg lead the search. Lynda had allowed FBI resources access to their investigations as well – grudgingly at first, but it got easier each time. That Zimmerman had acquiesced this time surprised Scarlett, though.
‘You look surprised, Detective,’ Zimmerman said dryly, as if reading her thoughts, and once again she wondered at the disappearance of her legendary poker face. Marcus, she thought. It had been slipping since she’d first heard his voice.
‘I am,’ she admitted. ‘I thought you would have yanked the reins from us, considering one of your own was killed today.’
Zimmerman shrugged, his expression abruptly remote. ‘These women didn’t pull the trigger and Isenberg’s cops know the lay of the land better than we do. We’ve agreed that we will question the women jointly.’
‘What about the old woman found at the Anders house?’ Kate asked. ‘The aunt. Can she be questioned?’
‘Not yet. She’s still unconscious,’ Scarlett said. ‘I called on my way over here to check on her. The hospital has my number. The nurse promised they’d text me the instant she wakes up. What about Chip Anders’s factories? Did you find any evidence of trafficking there?’
Zimmerman nodded, his smile grimly satisfied. ‘Oh yeah. We did simultaneous raids on all three.’ He glanced at Deacon, apology written all over his face. ‘That’s where I was when you called to tell me about Agent Spangler – and why I couldn’t go with you to notify his wife.’
Deacon nodded. ‘I understand. It’s all right. I covered it.’
At a cost, Scarlett thought. But that went with the job. She’d done her share of notifications and it never went well. But at least she’d never been attacked. Poor Deacon.
‘We pulled out so many illegals,’ Zimmerman continued, ‘that the factories would have needed to shut down operations even if we hadn’t padlocked the doors after clearing out the employees. They didn’t have enough labor to maintain even a basic operation. The people we took into custody will take a while to process. We don’t have sufficient interpreters to take their statements, so we’re still in the identification process.’
‘But we have isolated out the other two members of the Bautista family,’ Troy said. ‘Efren and his son John Paul.’
‘Bautista,’ Deacon explained when Scarlett frowned in confusion, ‘is Tala’s last name. Immigration Services contacted me just as I was about to meet you.’
‘They got a hit on her fingerprints,’ Scarlett murmured.
Deacon nodded. ‘I was going to tell you when I first saw you in the lobby, but we ended up discussing the other case. Tala and her family – mother, father, sister and brother – came into the US from the Philippines on an H2B visa. It’s since expired. It was only good for a year and they’ve been here for three.’
‘That’s the temporary labor visa?’ Scarlett asked, and Agent Troy nodded.
‘Technically it’s supposed to be for temporary seasonal labor,’ Troy said. ‘Hotels, amusement parks, stuff like that. It’s not supposed to be for agricultural jobs, but once they get here, it happens. Over seventy percent of victims of trafficking come into this country legally. They don’t sneak in. They’re lured here by the promise of better jobs.’
Scarlett blinked. That fact she hadn’t expected. Seventy percent? ‘Holy God. Is that what happened to Tala’s family?’
‘We think so,’ Zimmerman said. ‘We haven’t gotten anything from her father and brother yet. They were afraid to talk to us. Apparently Chip Anders told all his victims that we’d put them in jail if we caught them because their visas were expired.’
‘So the rest of Tala’s family are now here illegally,’ Kate said with a frown. ‘I hate when this happens. These victims are tricked into coming to the US by bogus labor recruitment firms operating in their own countries.’
‘Like the Philippines?’ Deacon asked.
Kate nodded. ‘It’s one of the top four countries we see victims coming from, second to Mexico. India and Thailand are third and fourth.’
‘They’re sold out by fellow countrymen trying to make a buck,’ Scarlett said quietly.
‘Basically,’ Troy agreed grimly. ‘And not only are they lied to about the jobs they’ll get when they arrive, but they often have to pay exorbitant recruitment fees for the privilege.’
‘The average is a year’s wage in their home country,’ Kate added with an angry shake of her head. ‘Sometimes it’s offered to them as a “loan”, but with interest rates so high they’ll never pay off their debt. Their wages are gone before they even start working. And that’s the ones who even get any wages. So many of those forced
into the sex trade get nothing at all.’
‘And when they arrive in this country, they find it’s all been a lie and they’re forced into slavery.’ Troy’s expression grew weary. ‘Sometimes it’s slave labor like Chip Anders’s factories, and sometimes it’s sexual slavery like the raid we did on the massage parlor this morning. Sometimes the victims are held by force or by threat to family members – here or back home. Sometimes they’re made to live at the factory, like many of Anders’s victims.’ He shrugged. ‘And sometimes they just don’t know how to get free. Their captors take their visas and all their travel documents and then allow the visas to expire.’
‘Which is what happened to Tala’s family,’ Scarlett said, her jaw clenched.
Kate sighed. ‘And then their captors tell the victims that they’re here illegally now and that Americans hate illegals. They tell the victims to be afraid of the police because we’ll arrest them. Most of these people come from countries where law enforcement is corrupt at best, brutal at worst, so they are afraid of us.’ She sighed again. ‘And the truth is, even when they do come to us for help, a lot of the time we have little control over what happens to them next.’
‘What does happen to them?’ Deacon asked, the look on his face saying he already knew he wouldn’t like the answer. Scarlett felt the same apprehension.
‘They’re kept in this country pending the investigation into their accused traffickers,’ Troy said. ‘But only about half of the traffickers ever end up being arrested. Most are long gone by the time their victims come forward.’ He grimaced in disgust. ‘Six percent of the perpetrators were released because they were diplomats. Yeah,’ he said when everyone around the table showed their surprise. ‘I’m with you all there. But that’s another department’s focus. My focus has been operations that have organized crime connections. They don’t get arrested because they don’t usually let their victims escape – another reason why Tala’s escape was such a lucky break for us.’
‘Still,’ Kate said, ‘getting free isn’t the end of the ordeal for the victims. They’re still here illegally.’
‘Even though they’re victims,’ Scarlett said bitterly. She wanted to say it wasn’t fair. Because it wasn’t. But saying so wouldn’t make it any fairer. She’d learned that long ago. Being a victim sucked, and life was rarely fair. ‘If they wish to stay, what happens then?’