by Matt Lincoln
“Richard?” I asked.
“The man who attacked you,” he clarified. “Old Richard Brown. I’ve always known he was up to no good in that little shop of his, but I never imagined anything like this would happen.”
“What do you mean?” Olivia asked. “Why did you think he was up to no good?”
“This is a small town,” Morris replied. “It’s no secret that Richard had suspicious types coming and going at all hours of the day and night. I assumed it was just drugs. Something to help him make ends meet since he obviously wasn’t making a living selling all that old junk.”
“So you didn’t know he was involved in human trafficking?” Olivia asked.
“Certainly not!” Morris replied vehemently. “Drugs are one thing. I’m not going to toss a seventy-year-old man in a cell for something so small, but if I’d known, he was tied up in all that… Listen, agents. I won’t pretend like this place is without its problems. I try my best to keep the town safe, but in a close-knit community like this, it is important to know how to choose your battles. Some drugs I might let slide, but prostitution? Abuse on women? That I will just not accept.”
He seemed genuine, and I was glad that he was taking this seriously.
“We appreciate your cooperation.” I nodded at him.
“Of course,” he replied. “Anything I can do to keep my town safe. Now, why don’t I escort you three over to where Richard is?”
He stood and led us out of the office and into a different part of the station.
“You mentioned something about the ‘old junk’ that he sells,” I remarked as he led us to the interrogation room. “You wouldn’t happen to know how he comes by it, would you?”
It was a stretch, but I would take any information I could get about the anchor. If Brown was unwilling to tell me about it, I’d have to use whatever avenues I had available.
“Not really,” Morris shrugged, to my disappointment. “I know he scavenges things from off the beach. I’ve seen him down by the shore several times. You’d be surprised what kinds of things wash up. I once found an old ceramic teapot when I was a child, completely intact! Must have come off an old shipwreck or something.”
“Really?” I asked, my interest immediately piqued. That in itself was interesting, though the more I thought about it, the less likely it seemed that Brown would have just found the anchor washed up on the beach. Anchors were heavy, and it probably wouldn’t have moved much from whatever location it had sunk to on the ocean floor, and even if it had, there was no way that Brown would have been able to transport it all the way back to his shop.
“Here we are,” Morris announced as he unlocked the interrogation room door with a key. “We don’t have one of those two-way mirrors, but I can watch from the monitors in the room next door.”
“Thanks,” I replied as I stepped into the room.
The room wasn’t as austere as some interrogation rooms I’d come across. The bare white walls and lack of furniture, save for a plain metal table in the center of the room, definitely gave the place an uncomfortable aura. That being said, the two large windows that were flooding the room with warm light didn’t help make the room feel intimidating, despite the thick metal bars that were stretched across them.
Brown was sitting alone at the table inside. His hands were cuffed together in front of him, and there was an ugly scowl on his face.
“Ugh, you again?” He groaned as he looked up at me. “What, you didn’t get enough back at the store? Just leave me alone.”
“Yeah, that’s not gonna happen,” I replied coldly. “We need some answers, and we’re not leaving until we get them. How long that takes is up to you.”
“Hah!” Brown barked out a laugh. “You can have fun waiting, then.”
I regarded him carefully as I thought about how I should proceed. There was a lot I wanted to ask him, though, admittedly, some of what I was interested in knowing had nothing to do with our current case. Then again, maybe starting with something seemingly innocuous might throw him off enough to get him talking more.
“Where did you get that anchor?” I asked him casually.
“What?” He glared at me like I was crazy. “What are you talking about? What anchor?”
“The giant one mounted on the wall of your store,” Olivia clarified.
“Oh, that thing?” Brown scoffed. “Hell if I can remember. I’ve been collecting everything in that store for my entire life, ever since I joined the British Royal Navy back in my twenties. Why do you want to know about that old hunk of junk?”
I bristled internally at the dismissive way he talked about it. This was an important historical artifact, and it was painfully obvious that he didn’t see the value of it at all. Honestly, I was annoyed with his response and more than a little disappointed that he didn’t have more information about the anchor, but at least I’d gotten him talking, which had been the most important goal.
“Okay, nevermind about the anchor then,” I muttered. “Why don’t we talk about the reason we were at the antique store, to begin with? Tell us what you know about the trafficking group.”
“Who?” he rasped. “Oh, you mean the girls. Well, not much, to be honest with you. It’s been a while since I went down that way myself.”
He grinned lecherously, and my stomach churned at the grotesque sight.
“I do know one of their main spots is right on the beach up near the north edge of Kew town, off the Millennium highway,” he continued. “The boys in charge come by every once in a while to pick up their goods.”
“And what goods are those?” Olivia jumped in.
“Drugs, mostly.” Brown shrugged. “Makes the girls easier to handle.”
I could feel Olivia stiffen beside me. I knew that hearing him talk about this so brazenly must have been making her furious.
“Wait a minute,” Holm interjected. “This place that they operate out of, is it by a boat dock?”
“Yeah, actually, it is,” Brown replied. “If I do recall correctly, it’s right on the beach, just across the way from where the boats are kept.”
“That explains how they knew so fast,” Holm sighed before turning to look at me. “Yesterday, when we were talking to Kenneth, those guys came out of nowhere, right? They showed up, guns blazing, the moment we started speaking with him. If they were already nearby, then it would explain how they were able to get there so fast.”
“You’re right,” I muttered. “Interesting that Frank failed to mention that little detail.”
“Haha!” Brown cackled. “And here I thought you federal agent types were supposed to be smart.”
“One last question,” I plowed on, deliberately ignoring his obvious attempt to rile me up. “What do you know about a man named Samuel?”
“Samuel?” He parroted. “That’s a pretty common name, agent. I’ve known quite a few Samuels in my day, personally.”
“Cut the crap,” I growled at him. I was seriously losing my patience.
“Alright, settle down,” Brown sighed patronizingly. “I know who you’re talking about. Of course, I know about Samuel. He’s the one who runs all that business.”
“Do you know where we can find him?” I asked.
“Nah.” He shrugged. “Like I said, I’m not too involved in all that. I only ever meet with his boys. Though from what I hear, he isn’t anywhere on the Western Island.”
“Thanks for your help,” I replied sarcastically as I stood up from the table. “Come on. I think we need to go pay Frank another visit. Where did you say he was transferred to, Olivia?”
“I can call my director and find out,” she replied as she stood up from the table after me.
I walked to the door and knocked on it loudly so that Morris could let us out.
“All done?” the captain asked us as we filed out of the interrogation room one at a time.
“Yeah, we are,” I grumbled as soon as the door was closed behind us. “We didn’t get much, though.”
; “Well, we found out that Frank was lying to us,” Holm corrected me encouragingly as we began to make our way back toward the entrance of the station.
“I guess.” I shrugged. “Though I wish we hadn’t had to get into a gunfight with an obnoxious old man to do it.”
“If we hadn’t, you wouldn’t have found the anchor,” Olivia noted.
“Good point.” I smiled. “I guess it was worth it after all.”
“That’s the spirit,” Holm snorted.
“Anchor?” Morris asked curiously.
“Oh, it’s nothing,” I replied with a shrug. “Just something interesting we found while we were in the old guy’s shop. Anyway, now we need to go speak to that snake, Frank.”
“I’m sorry I was not able to be of more help to you,” Morris apologized.
“Don’t be,” I replied. “You were a lot more helpful than the last police captain we had the pleasure of dealing with.”
“Let me guess,” he frowned, “you are talking about David Turner?”
“You know him?” Holm asked.
“I’m afraid so,” Morris muttered. “I figured you must have run into him if you were in Kew before. That man is as corrupt as they come.”
“No surprise there,” Olivia muttered.
“What makes you say that?” I asked.
“He’s an embarrassment of a police officer!” Morris growled. “Turns a blind eye to everything that goes on in that town! We were in the academy together, him and me. I knew from day one that he was a rotten egg. I’d be careful around him, agents.”
“Thanks for the warning,” I replied.
“Of course.” He nodded. “Please don’t hesitate to seek me out if there is anything else you might need.”
I thanked him again before making my way back through the bullpen and the short corridor that led to the main lobby, Olivia and Holm not far behind me.
“Well, I guess that explains why Turner was so uptight about having us snooping around,” Olivia scoffed as we stepped through the doors and into the sun. “He probably has some kind of connection to the traffickers.”
“That would explain how they’ve been able to operate for this long,” I replied in agreement. “Turks & Caicos is a small place, and it’s not all that densely populated. It would be almost impossible for them to carry on for this long unless they had law enforcement covering for them.”
“I guess that means we’ll have to be careful of who we speak to,” Olivia sighed. “So far, we’ve managed to get more assistance from a self-confessed drug dealer than from the local authorities. Let me call my director and find out where Frank is.”
She stepped away to make the call, and I took a moment to look out over the horizon. I could see the ocean from where we were standing, which was unsurprising, considering pretty much every town and city in Turks and Caicos seemed to be situated right on the coast. The sun was already high in the sky and beating down on us, and all around us, people were going about their daily business, completely unaware of the heinous crimes that were going on right beneath their noses.
“Hell of a way to start our investigation, huh?” Holm asked me as he stretched his arms up over his head. “Feels like we’ve been running at full speed since the moment we landed.”
“No kidding,” I snorted. We’d been shot at twice in the span of just two days, and already we’d discovered that the local cops appeared to be tangled up with the traffickers. “Wouldn’t have it any other way, though. It still beats sitting behind a desk at an office all day.”
“I have no idea how Diane does it.” Holm shook his head. “I think I’d go stir-crazy.”
“You and me both,” I replied.
“Okay!” Olivia announced her presence with a curt outburst. I could tell just by the tone of her voice that something was wrong. “So it turns out that there was a mix-up. Someone arranged for Frank to be transferred to one of the FBI’s international branches… in Barbados.”
“Barbados?!” I exclaimed, my eyes going wide with shock. “He’s in Barbados?”
“No,” Olivia replied. “The good news is that the FBI moves slowly, so he’s still here. The bad news is that he’s still back at the police station in Kew, which means that--”
“We get to deal with Turner again,” Holm groaned. “I bet he’s going to be thrilled to see us after the last conversation we had with him.”
“Well, we’re going to have to play nice,” I sighed.
“To hell with that,” Olivia scoffed stubbornly. “I’m not going to take any crap from that jerk.”
“Listen,” I sighed, “I don’t like it any more than you do, but we need to be smart about this. It’s clear that he doesn’t like us, at best. At worst, he might even be involved somehow. The last thing we want to do is antagonize him even more.”
“You’re right.” Olivia frowned. “As annoying as it is, so long as we’re on their turf, we’re at a disadvantage. We need to make sure we’re ready before we do anything rash.”
“Alright,” Holm agreed reluctantly. “Let’s go see what Frank has to say. Oh, but first, we seriously need to get a car.”
19
Ethan
It pleasantly surprised me to discover that Grace Bay had an Enterprise rent-a-car location smack in the middle of the city, probably a result of seeing so many tourists year-round. I’d thought this myself, but Holm had finally suggested that we get our own car in order to facilitate ease of movement. So far, we’d done fine just walking everywhere, but if we were going to be traveling between towns more often, it only made sense to get our own form of transportation.
The inside of the building looked like a place outside of time. There was a large, old-fashioned gumball machine tucked into one corner of the lobby. Right next to it was a row of little coin-operated vending machines, the kind that would spit out small toys and stickers in exchange for a quarter.
All over the walls were a mishmash of posters and framed paintings, some that looked relatively new and some that were so yellowed and worn that it was a wonder they were still even hanging onto the wall. The walls themselves were painted a pale green color, though I could see bits of white plaster peeking through the occasional crack.
A low counter that separated the front waiting room from the rest of the small building bisected the lobby. The man standing behind the counter perked up as soon as we stepped inside.
“Welcome!” the man inside the store greeted us warmly. I’d noticed earlier how friendly everyone on the island seemed, and though it was obviously fake coming from someone like Turner, most of the people we’d encountered appeared genuinely welcoming. “What can I do for you today?”
“We need to rent a car,” I replied as I approached the counter. We were the only people in the building, which wasn’t that surprising, considering how few cars I’d seen on the road at all since we’d gotten here.
“Of course you do!” The man smiled as he leaned across the desk to shake my hand. “That’s why you’re here! My name is Monroe. Please, come this way.”
He stepped out from behind the desk and led us through a door at the back of the store. It let out into a large parking lot, though I noted at once that most of the spaces were empty.
“You’re in luck,” he said without breaking stride. “Usually, I’m completely booked up by now. It’s the busy season, you know? But I do happen to have a few cars still available.”
He led us all the way to the rear end of the parking lot before coming to a stop.
“Now, what kind of car were you looking for?” he asked. “I have a few trucks available if you need the space.”
“Anything’s fine,” Olivia replied. “We just need it to run.”
“Now, hold on a minute,” Holm replied. “We should at least have a look first.”
“Why?” Olivia asked, sounding genuinely confused. “A car’s a car, isn’t it? How about that one?”
She pointed to one seemingly at random, a black sedan at the end of the lot.
“That’s… not bad, actually,” Holm muttered. “I mean, it’s not great, but it’s okay.”
“What are you even talking about?” Olivia scoffed. “Come on, let’s get the car and get back to Kew Town.”
I understood where Holm was coming from. While I wouldn’t say I was obsessed with car culture, Holm and I both had cars that we loved and valued, though it was clear Olivia couldn’t care less.
We headed back into the shop to sign the papers and pay for the car. The clerk was kind enough to explain how people drove on the left side of the road in Turks & Caicos. He even gave us a printout explaining all the ways it was different from driving in the United States.
“Most of the cars on the island are imported from America,” he explained. “So even though we drive on the left, the wheel is on the left as well. It might take some getting used to.”
“Thanks.” I nodded. “I think we’ll manage.”
“Excellent.” The man smiled as he handed us the key. “Well, just bring it back here when you’re done. There’s also a drop-off point out by Wheeland where you can leave it instead if that is more convenient.”
“Thanks,” I replied as I took the key.
We headed back out into the parking lot where the Impala was waiting. I climbed into the driver’s seat without hesitation.
“I call shotgun!” Olivia spoke up immediately.
“Wait, why do you get to drive?” Holm grumbled.
“Because I got here first.” I grinned at him. “You can drive next time. Come on.”
Once we were all inside, I pulled my phone out of my pocket to set up the direction back to Kew. So far, we’d only been riding in taxis, so I hadn’t actually paid much attention to the way there and back.
“Okay,” I declared as I finished inputting the address of the police station into the GPS app. “Ready to go.”