by Dale Mayer
Logan was helping Harrison again. They went through the easy stuff—the rest of the shoes, the ties, and towels—until they only had what could be the most interesting of all of it so far. They each reached for a book, carefully checked out the spine, the front and back covers, held the book upside down to see if anything floated out free. One book was a paperback novel. The other a hardback. Neither yielded anything. After close examination, both ended up back in the box. Another twenty minutes, and they finally came to the end of that box’s contents. The only thing she’d found were the odd pages with crisscrosses over them, as if they’d been grabbed to jot down notes at odd times, reusing the paper over and over. She held them out. “I don’t know if anything is useable in this.”
Harrison took the papers from her and sat, slowly studying the notes. He picked up the last pages and handed them to Logan.
Logan snatched them up and said, “Okay.”
She lifted her head and studied him. “What?”
He held up the four pages so she could see them. Some of them had stains, like coffee had been sloshed over them. But the last entry was clearly legible, easily recognizable. And why wouldn’t it be. It was her name.
*
Logan watched her face as she read her name on the sheet. Curiosity became horror.
She glanced back at all the stuff on the bed and the boxes on the floor. “He knew me?” She shook her head. “I can tell you that I didn’t know him.”
“And the question now is, why was your name on a piece of paper in his room a year ago?”
She slumped back in position. “I don’t know,” she cried in horror. She raised a trembling hand to her temple. “Unless he knows Colin, and they predetermined I was on the list of possible people to get kidnapped.” She shuddered. “How horrible is that? To think people were plotting to kidnap me for over a year.”
The stack of papers was set off to the side. Harrison, after determining nothing else of value was on the bed, removed everything else, putting it back in the box and opened the last one. And this appeared to be all notes, papers, journals, and books.
Logan said to Alina, “Hopefully this one will yield a little more information.”
Once again, with everything spread out on the bed, the three stood and stared at the stack.
She shook her head. “Is this all that remains of a man’s life?”
“That and sixty thousand dollars,” Logan said. “Let’s start with the books, and then we’ll go through those loose pages.”
Each took a book, and following the same procedure as before, carefully checked for notes or paper stuffed inside, something used as a bookmark that might be of interest, and if it had a jacket flap, anything that might be tucked underneath. Logan picked up a dog-eared journal.
He flipped through several pages; the beginning had been ripped out. Handwriting appeared on the next few pages, but it was very difficult to read. The rest of the book was empty. He checked the very last page, as he had a habit of doing so to write notes sometimes if he had nothing else handy. But it too was empty. He looked at the notes in the front again, not able to determine if they were of value or not. He set it off to one side and reached for another notebook. By the time they’d gone through everything, they found nothing else of value. Now they had all the loose pages they’d set aside.
Harrison picked up a stack. “Looks like a set of accounts scratched onto loose leaf pages but stapled together.” He glanced through them. “Not a lot of accounting here. Whether that’s him trying to keep a budget for himself or for the kidnapped women, who knows?”
“Do we know when these women were kidnapped?” Alina asked.
“No,” Logan said. “So after all that, his address and your name is the connection. I wish we’d found more.”
“But that connection is damn strong,” she snapped. “I can’t say I like seeing my name on any of these sheets.”
Harrison was still flipping through lines of accounting entries.
Logan glanced around to see what else there was and found several crumpled-up pages. He opened each and spread them flat on top of the bed. Several contained numbers but had nothing to identify what they were. It looked like somebody doing simple accounting. He set them off to one side and kept going.
At the end of the stack he found another set of stapled sheets. He pulled it up and studied the entries. “And here’s a connection to Colin.” He tapped the paper and read out loud, “‘Colin’s asking for more money. He’s getting paid enough.’ And the word ‘enough’ has been heavily underlined.” He glanced up to see Harrison studying him and said, “Since Joe is in cahoots with Colin, we have to assume he was part of this trafficking ring. Likely one of the minions below the four ringleaders. Joe either was paying Colin or negotiating, so he was caught in the middle between what Colin wanted and what the buyers wanted. Joe was not happy, but he’s the one who ends up dead.”
“Why would that be?” Alina asked. “It doesn’t make any sense.”
“It does if Colin cut out the middleman.”
Looking ill, Alina sat on the chair, hugging her empty coffee cup. Logan glanced at Harrison and motioned toward her.
Harrison nodded. “Let’s finish the rest of this,” he said. “We’ll have a box of whatever that we’ll keep track of. The rest can go.”
Although they went through the rest of the pages, they didn’t find anything of value aside from the stack they put aside. This time Harrison grabbed the boxes to toss in the dumpster.
Logan nodded. “I’ll take this comforter outside. It’s your bed, and we didn’t consider all the dirt in those boxes.” He rolled up the top cover so the dirt and dust would be contained. Then he stepped outside into the hallway, tossing the comforter into a laundry hamper. He returned and asked, “Do you think you need a cover? I can go find another one.”
She looked up at him, confused, then looked at the blankets on the bed. “I’ll be fine with what’s here, thanks.” She smiled. “Truly, I wasn’t too impressed with the idea of having all that happening on the bed I was sleeping in.”
“We should have had put a protective cover over it first.”
He laid all the pages out on the bed again, and with his phone carefully took close-up images of everything. He did the same with the accounting sheets Harrison had. When he was done, he sat and sent the whole lot to Levi, quickly dialing and waiting for him to answer.
“A hell of lot of paperwork you sent us,” Levi said.
“Yeah, but it also has Colin’s name in there and Alina’s.”
He heard a low whistle on the other end. “Nice work. That certainly connects the three of them.”
“Plus to a couple of the addresses you were sent,” he said. “We didn’t find anything at the house where we found the dead man.” Logan cast a quick glance to Alina, but she didn’t appear to be listening. “You have any update from the property?”
“He’s one of the four men we were looking for. It’s not evident yet why or who he might’ve known living at the property or even why he was there. The police are on it. They suspect that the address was a holding property where the kidnapped women were kept and is now too ‘hot’ to be used again.”
“You’ve told Jackson, I presume?”
“Yes. He’s also very interested in the information you found. I’m waiting to hear further instructions from him.”
Logan nodded. “Are we to stay here on location?”
“For the moment. I’ll call back when I know something more. Still hoping to hear the police have something.” Levi hesitated, then asked, “Where’s Alina?”
“Right here,” Logan said. “I have to admit that my instincts told me not to leave her alone.”
“Right,” Levi said, concern lacing his tone. “Am I to arrange for a spare bed here for her?”
Logan’s eyebrows shot up. He glanced over at Alina. “That would be a long commute. She has a job here and is expected back at work in a couple days.”
“Ri
ght,” Levi said in a brisk tone. “Did you leave anything behind at her apartment?”
“I set the doors to trip so we’d know if anybody went in, and I left a bug in the living room.” At that Alina glanced at him. He turned and smiled at her reassuringly. “So far nothing’s been triggered on the bug.”
“Okay, keep me posted.”
Logan hung up, pocketed the phone and turned to face her. “It’s the only way we could know if your apartment had been accessed.” He crouched down in front of her and grabbed her hand. “Trust us. We know what we’re doing and keeping you safe.”
Chapter 10
She stared at him in shock. “It never occurred to me to figure out if somebody had gone into my apartment when I wasn’t there,” she whispered. She shook her head. “This is a nightmare that just won’t end.”
He hesitated, glanced over at Harrison, and then back at her.
She leaned forward, her hands gripping his hand. “What?”
“Our time here could be very short,” he said. “That was my boss. We’re to stay for the moment, but we can’t forever. And you may have to face the fact that if this isn’t solved, people could still be after you.”
She shook her head. “What are you saying? That I should pack up my life and move because of this? How is it I can be safe in another location other than here? Wouldn’t they track me?”
“It’s possible, but at the same time, if you move out of their reach, it’ll cost them that much more to go after you. They might want to cut their losses and walk away. A lot is going on behind the scenes. But at some point, our plug will get pulled, and we’ll have to return to Texas.”
She gently disentangled her hands and sat back, crossed her arms over her chest and contemplated what she was supposed to do. She didn’t have any answers. What kind of a nightmare was this? “What if I took a leave of absence and went for a vacation?” She cast her eyes around the room, as if seeing her apartment, the few belongings she had. “To uproot my life and make a move like this with no job, place to live, or security…” She shook her head. “That’s extreme.”
“Is it?” Harrison asked. “Consider what the other option is. You stay home. You get relaxed, figure it’s all over with and wake again tied up in another bedroom.”
Her hand went to her chest at the reminder. She straightened against the chair back, fished her phone out of her pocket, opened her contacts and called Caroline. When the phone was answered, she said, “Caroline, it’s Alina.”
“Alina!” Her friend, overjoyed to hear from her, bubbled with good news. When she finally calmed down, she asked, “But you called me for a reason, right?”
Alina filled in her friend as much as she could, with an awful unpleasant silence greeting her on the other end. After a quiet pause of her own, Alina said, “The police haven’t told me very much at all.” She glanced at her watch. “I should’ve called them earlier to get an update. I don’t know if I have to be here for a court case or what, but according to the two guys who rescued me, I’m still in danger.”
“Of course, you’re still in danger,” Caroline cried out. “And that rat who kidnapped you said they would come after you. The chances are very good they will. That’s it. You’re coming down here.”
“What good does that do?” Alina asked wearily. “I’m working and likely would be coming back and forth for the stupid trial.”
“Are you kidding? That could be two years from now.” Caroline let out a gust of breath. “I’ve tried to get you to move here anyway, so this is perfect.”
Alina sat back, happy to hear her friend’s voice, realizing how much she had missed her. “I don’t have a job there or a place to live. And I don’t have a ton of money. I can’t be out of work forever.” And yet even she knew those were weak excuses.
“You’re just afraid. You’re afraid to make the move, like you were when I did. But surely the fear of being taken again must supersede the one of changing jobs and locations. I have a home. You can stay here with me until you’re on your feet. And the hospitals here are screaming for nurses. You can move here.” Caroline’s voice was firm and adamant. “I’ll even pay for your plane fare.”
“And my furniture? What do I do with that? Am I supposed to sell it?” she asked, her voice rising at the end. “How does that make any sense when I’ll need furniture at a new place?”
“It makes more sense than to ship it. All of it was secondhand when we bought it. We can do that all over again here.”
“I can’t walk away from my apartment, leave everything behind.” She made a slow 360 turn, mentally calculating the contents of her place. “I have the couch, tables, and my bed.”
“Put an ad for free in the newspaper,” her friend suggested. “Everything will go on the first day. I’m not taking no for an answer.”
“I’ll call you back as soon as I talk to the police.” Alina hung up the phone. She stared at Logan blindly. “She’s pretty insistent that I move to Houston.”
“Maybe the real question you must ask right now,” Harrison said, “is why you wouldn’t?”
And just like that she saw the enormity of the situation she was in. “I need a few minutes to lie down,” she murmured. She sagged on the now-clean bed and curled up with her head on the pillow. She’d been holding on decently for most of the day, pushing back all the memories, all her fears under control because she had these two men standing by her. No way would she be kidnapped with her two bodyguards. But they had to leave soon. Then what?
Her eyes were wide open and completely dry, like the issue was too big for tears. The chasm between her old and new life was so vast, so wide and impossible to cross, she had no emotion other than shock.
She recognized his touch instinctively. Logan quickly scooped her up, pulled the blankets back and tucked her under, pulling them close to her shoulders. Harrison was a nice guy, but he was not the touchy-feely person Logan was. That touch wasn’t irritable or cranky; it was easy, calming. Logan was holding her hand, giving her a hug, stroking her arms or cheek, or in some other way making contact with her most of the time. It helped her stay grounded in this crazy new reality.
But as she heard the men’s voices whispering behind her, it was as if she had been fooling herself all this time.
She couldn’t imagine going back to her place now. And if she didn’t, where else could she go? She had slept there last night. But she’d had the two men with her. Now she was in their hotel room, strangers but not. She’d never felt safer. Yet it would only last if she was with them, and that wouldn’t continue for long. They’d check out as soon they were told to. She didn’t know if more was on their itinerary, but they were waiting for orders. They’d been here one night and were supposed to leave the next day. And that meant she had to return to her life. Without them.
When the shaking started, she didn’t know how to stop it. Maybe if she could sleep, it would do her good.
She heard a muffled exclamation before she was suddenly picked up, blankets and all, and tucked up against Logan’s chest. The lights were turned down, and she didn’t know if it was still daylight. The curtains were closed and she heard Harrison mumble something.
She whispered against Logan’s chest, “I’m sorry, so sorry.”
He held her close, rubbing her back. “You have nothing to be sorry about,” he said quietly. “I’ve been expecting a reaction like this the whole time. I didn’t quite understand how you were so composed.”
“I’m not. When I finally realized what I could be facing forever, I understood then how much trouble I could be in.”
“Or maybe you were in denial,” he said. “It’s our instinctive nature to look at things in a positive light.”
She nodded her head. She wanted to convince him that she was okay, but the words wouldn’t come. Instead, she turned her head into his chest and clung to him. He didn’t talk or bother her with questions. He just held her close and rubbed her back. Some of his calm, his compassion, finally slipped into
her consciousness, and she could feel the shaking ease. She took several deep breaths, and, lying against his chest, whispered, “Thank you.”
“I have hardly done anything,” he murmured. “I wish I could’ve saved you those couple days tied like that, panicking and afraid, worried about where you would end up. I haven’t done anything. The problem is, I can’t guarantee your safety if you stay here. We could put you in protective custody, but we know all too well how easy it is for somebody to get at the victim if they truly want to.” He squeezed her tight against his chest. “I’m not saying that to scare you, but it is the reality. The criminal world has ways, means, and manpower that is almost impossible to beat sometimes.”
She lifted her head and looked up at him. “What if you catch the bad guys?”
His gaze was hard and yet soft, determined and yet weary, as if he held too much knowledge of the world.
“We hope we catch all the bad guys, but you know how very slim the chances are, so we must focus on catching all who were after you.”
“The only way to do that is… Surely the police will track down all Colin’s associates.” She was terrified for the fourteen women who had been kidnapped, still caught in that bad situation. “That big house. The expensive one. What are the chances the missing women are in there?”
He shook his said. “We don’t know. All I can tell you is we’re awaiting orders. We’ve done what we were supposed to, and I don’t know what’s coming next.”
She glanced around the room. “Harrison left. Did I scare him away?”
“No. He went for a breath of fresh air and to make more phone calls. He’ll be back in a little bit. You haven’t had much time to yourself. We’ve needed to stay close to make sure you were okay.”
She stared around the small room that had become home so very quickly. “I don’t know what to do.”
“I’m sorry that picking up stakes and moving is a hard thing for you because it would be so much easier if you disappeared from the grid. The men wouldn’t have a clue where you were, and they wouldn’t be able to track you.”