by Dale Mayer
She glanced at him and asked, “Can you make that happen?”
He looked down at her in surprise. “Make what?”
“Help me disappear. To get away from the city. From my apartment. From that world. Find a job somewhere, somehow.” She paused. “It seems so real suddenly. Like the last forty-eight hours wasn’t—like I pushed it away into the recesses of my mind—but now I can see how dangerous my situation is. I’m terrified of getting caught again.”
“When you say that world, you mean your life? Your normal home and job?” Logan kept her tucked close and gently rocked her on the bed. “Well, it’s probably a good thing you are more aware now. As to making you disappear…” He leaned back to consider it. “I’m sure we can help you. Not sure of the time frame.” He glanced down at her. “How much of this is a passing whim on your part? You could change your mind tomorrow. Or a week from now. If we help you relocate to a new city, and you find a new job, are you going to regret it?”
She pushed herself off his chest and stared at him. “Will I be alive? Will I not be a sex slave or slave labor, or God-knows-what they had in mind for me? I might always wonder if this was a necessary step, but then the nightmares will remind me how bad it was being tied up in that bed, panicking to escape.” With that line, she shook her head. “If I have to move, I want to go to Houston. At least that’s where Caroline lives. She’s been bugging me to move there as it is.”
“Oh, I agree. But that’s no guarantee they can’t track you.”
She nodded. “But it’s about as good as I can get. It must happen quietly, like you and Harrison said. I don’t know how much trouble it would be to change my name. Or if that’s even necessary,” she confessed. “I make decent money, and I have some saved, but I can’t be out of work for six months.”
She studied him as she pushed the blankets off her shoulders, realizing she was now sitting in his lap, a new situation for her but she liked it. He looked a little preoccupied, as if contemplating the logistics of making her disappear.
“What about the police?” she asked Logan. “We must tell them something. But it’s hard to imagine rings like this operating within the city without some law enforcement knowing.”
He tilted his head, his mouth in a grim line.
She hated the thought of the police being involved or at least knowing and turning a blind eye. She wanted to believe they were honest and doing the most beneficial things they could for the citizens of the city.
She stared around the hotel room. “Why Boston? I thought trafficking would be in places like Florida, Texas, or California.”
He nodded. “They are. The fact is, human trafficking rings are operating in most states.”
With that the statement, she slumped back against his chest, not wanting to move away from the contact, his presence being so soothing, reassuring. He was big, strong, and indomitable that she couldn’t imagine someone like Colin even thinking about kidnapping her from Logan. No one would want to provoke Logan’s wrath.
Colin had been a weasel. He’d sneaked around behind people. She still found it hard to believe she’d been carried out in a suitcase. Her mom used to laugh at her when she was growing up, because she’d said she could take her traveling around the world whenever and wherever in a suitcase. It had been a joke at the time. Only now Alina realized how much of one it wasn’t. It was an eye-opener to the world around her, showing her how shady it could be.
For the first time, she considered how very vulnerable every single female was. That didn’t exclude married women from being victimized, but the former were much easier, particularly when they lived alone. And that was another reason to consider Caroline’s offer. At least then Alina wouldn’t be living alone, not for a while.
Although she didn’t want to give up her independence out of fear. She could see how that was a step down a path she didn’t want to take. She wished she could shrink Logan to a pocket-size elf to keep him with her forever—as if needing that security blanket he’d so generously supplied up to now. One part of her knew it was wrong. But the part that had been kidnapped and tied to a bed for several days didn’t give a damn. She’d do a lot to keep this man around. He saved her once. The question was, could he again?
*
Logan could imagine Levi’s reaction. Particularly given his earlier comment about making a spare room available in the house. It wasn’t what he’d intended at all. But at the same time, a disappearing act in this case would not be a bad idea. Was it something they could pull off? Hell, he knew they could. It certainly wasn’t all that difficult. They could hire a company to come in and clean out her place, donate the furniture she left behind. It would be a simple matter of taking her back with them on a one-way ticket to Texas. That she was looking to move there was something he would call a coincidence, but he knew the rest of his friends would say it was Levi’s hero magic happening all over again. Mason, if he ever found out, would be howling with laughter. But then he also would pat Logan on the shoulder.
He wasn’t against running with the idea. He was with leaving these assholes behind to take off with her. She shouldn’t have to spend the rest of her life looking over her shoulder. He pulled Detective Easterly’s card from his pocket and sent a text. “Hopefully Easterly is closer to finding the other three men involved and the missing women. Then Harrison and I want to be involved when they take down this ring and fast.”
She stared at him. “Here I am safe and snug, warm and well fed. They could be hurt right now. Or dead.”
He rubbed her shoulders. “At least now we know there are other women. For the ones Colin was responsible for, the police have their IDs to track them down. Somebody knows where these women are.”
She settled back somewhat, wrapping her arms around her chest. “Part of me wants this whole nightmare to go away. I want to run and never be reminded of it again.”
“Understandable, but it’s not just about you.”
She frowned. “But can’t we do something more about it?”
He smiled. “Harrison’s outside right now, checking in with Levi, seeing what our next move should be. We’ll do what we can while we are here.”
When the door opened, Harrison walked back inside, his face serious and determined. “Levi sent a link and access to the documentation on the server.” He motioned at the laptop sitting beside Logan. “Bring it up. They’ve mapped the women’s locations, jobs, and given us a JPEG of all their faces. According to Ice all the women run the same type.”
Logan set her gently aside as he stood. She sat up to ask, “Who is Ice?”
“Blonde Amazon woman. Hell of an ex-marine helicopter pilot we work with,” Harrison said without even looking at Alina, but watching Logan boot up the laptop and login to the server.
Using the code Levi had sent, Logan brought up the files. Once he was in, he opened the map, and they could see Colin had been hunting locally. He tapped the monitor and said to Alina, “Come look.”
She came nearer, looking over his shoulder. “Oh, my God! It looks so scary when you see it like that.”
“Red dots are where the women lived. Blue are where they worked. The red are scattered around, but still all within the Boston area. But the blues were gathered in four specific areas.” The hospital where Alina worked had dots. The university had several. A large assisted-living home had several more. And then the last one appeared to be another medical center of some kind.
She sat beside Logan. “Presuming Colin had some association with these places, it gave him access to roam freely to pick out his victims.”
“Yes.” Logan opened his email and sent the map to Detective Easterly. Anything they could do to help with the investigation was a good thing. He glanced at Harrison and asked, “Did they find any connection between the women, other than places where they worked, lived, and their general appearance?”
“No. But the workplace is how they were found.”
Harrison put on a small pot of coffee in the room, t
hen said, “Another folder in there has the missing person files for each of the women. Ice also made a time line, so we can see how long they’ve been missing and how much time elapsed between taking each one. Even though they had Colin, that doesn’t mean they don’t have other people scoping out women. Somebody else, like the dead brother, may be collecting women too.”
“We need to contact Easterly or Levi. Find out if the police have any leads on how Joe Lingam died.”
“But we know he was shot,” Alina said. “Maybe by the same people who shot Colin?”
“Maybe, but it could be completely unrelated. It’s hard to say.”
“It will be,” Harrison said. “I’m sending Levi a text to find out.”
Logan opened the other folders. One had the case files. Another one with a time line, which he checked first. They were taking one woman every three to four months. Which meant many had been missing for years. He glanced at the time line. “The first one went back about four years.”
Alina let out a shuddering gasp and dropped back down on the bed. She threw her arm over her eyes. “I don’t think I want to see any more.”
Logan reached across the bed and grabbed her hand, giving it a squeeze. When he went to pull free, she wouldn’t let go. “We need to read the missing persons file for every one of these women.”
Harrison shrugged. “Send them to me on my phone. Then we can both go over them.” Within seconds they were settled in, reading the histories of the missing women.
Logan grabbed a notebook, one left behind from the brother but completely empty, flipped it open to the first page and jotted down notes as he read.
Chapter 11
Alina opened her eyes to realize she must’ve dozed off. She rolled over to see Logan still sitting beside her, reading the files on the computer. She yawned, sat up and slipped off the bed.
“How are you feeling?” he asked.
She smiled. “I’m fine. I hadn’t even realized I was so tired.”
Harrison spoke from behind her. “You’ll probably do that for a few days. Shock and trauma sneak up on you. Your body needs to recover, and it’ll take some time.”
“And thanks to you guys, I have that,” she added seriously. She made her way to the bathroom, and after using the facilities, washed her hands and took a careful look at her face. She still had scratches and bruises, blooming deep yellows and greens now.
Her phone rang on the night table, and she returned to the bedroom to answer it. It was her boss. “Hi, Selena.” She smiled.
“How are you doing?” her boss asked. “I couldn’t sleep thinking about you. I can’t imagine what you’re going through still. Are you back home? Are you sure you shouldn’t be in the hospital still?”
“No, I don’t belong in the hospital,” she assured Selena. “But I have to admit I’m not adjusting as well as I’d hoped.”
“If you need more time off, say so. You certainly have cause,” Selena said. “Now when anyone misses work, I’m immediately worried. Take Tracy Evans. She didn’t show up today. I’m sure she’s fine. But knowing what happened to you, well, it’s making me a bit paranoid.”
“I’m sure she’s not feeling well. She calls off almost once a month, remember?”
Selena sounded better by the end of the call.
When Alina put her phone away, she turned, Logan still reading files. “Did you guys find anything interesting in the women’s files?”
Logan looked up. “Some basic similarities. Size and age, body type—the fact that ten of the women were taken either going to or coming from work helps, but not in any big way. They were likely stalked, picked out. The men probably tried to get close to the women, and, depending on the women’s reactions, the kidnappers would know whether they would take the women from home or work. Every three to four months one goes missing.”
Alina shook her head. “So, because you saved me, it means they’re out looking for another one right now?”
“It’s quite possible. No way to know who else would be targeted. Colin’s friends could have any number of scouts out looking for potential victims.”
Harrison spoke from the far side. “And yet they’d keep the ring fairly small, tight-knit, and very well paid. Too many men means trouble. And the ringleaders will have proof of the girls they’ve kidnapped, in case anyone decides they want out. A job like this, there is no quitting. Which brings us around to Joe Lingam’s file. Levi talked to Easterly. They have no leads. They believe it was a drug deal gone bad.”
She nodded. “I presume the police are forming a task force, now that they know these cases are all connected.”
“That would be the most likely prospect. But it’ll be hard to warn every woman with this body type to watch out.”
Alina frowned, her mind returning to her recent conversation with Selena. “Or they may already have the next one.” Quickly she filled them in on her phone call.
Logan brought up Tracy Evans on Google and searched for an image. Alina leaned over his shoulder. “That’s her. She’s my height and body shape,” Alina added painfully. “But how could they have grabbed someone so fast?”
“Probably because she fits the profile. It is definitely worrisome.” Logan brought up his phone and called the detective. He explained about the woman, adding, “Normally this wouldn’t be of such high concern, but she is five feet four inches tall with a tiny frame.”
She watched the relief on Logan’s face. “He’ll check on her,” Logan assured Alina.
She nodded. “Then considering the hour, is anyone else hungry?”
Both men checked their watches.
Harrison laughed. “She’s going to fit right in with the rest of them.”
Alina turned to Logan. “The rest of who?”
“Other women we know. I mentioned them to you before.” He laughed. “Let’s get dinner. A break is a great idea right now.”
“Maybe it’s because you didn’t feed me, or it’s the stress, but I am hungry.” She stood and picked up her sweater. “To go or can we go to a restaurant?”
“We should be totally fine to sit in a restaurant.”
“Good. Where?”
The men rose and grabbed their jackets. Logan asked, “What do you want?”
She linked her arm through his. “I don’t care, as long as there is lots of it.”
He gave a bark of laughter and opened the hotel door. The three of them walked outside.
At the car, Alina asked, “Do you think Tracy might have been kidnapped? By the same people? And if so, how would they even know about her? Unless they scouted her out earlier like they did me.”
Logan was silent, but Harrison spoke up. “If Tracy was taken according to some quota after you were freed, the kidnappers have a deadline to make. Or alternatively, if they already accepted payment for her …”
Alina felt that punch to her gut. “It’s a hard thing to consider that because I was saved, somebody else is going to suffer.” Glancing out the window, she realized she had no idea where they were. “How far away is Colin’s place?”
Logan turned and looked at her. “Only a few minutes, why?”
“Did you search it?”
They shook their heads, and Logan said, “Not in-depth. The police arrived too quickly for us to do that.”
She settled back in her seat. “Although I’m starving, we should check it out. He had to have a list of names of his prospective victims. If there’s any chance it’s still in his apartment, we should look for it.”
The two men exchanged glances and shrugged. Harrison turned the vehicle on the next side street as he said, “We’ll give it a half hour.”
“I’ll contact the detective to get permission,” Logan said, pulling out his phone.
She smiled, pleased with this turn of events. She could hear Logan talking in the front seat but not clear enough to understand the conversation.
At Colin’s apartment building no sign remained that the police had been there. On the sidewalk,
she forced herself forward. She didn’t want to be here, but they had to look. At the apartment door, Harrison knocked. Although they had permission to enter, that didn’t mean someone else wasn’t inside.
Standing behind the men, she found herself hyperventilating. She’d been a fool to think she could do this.
As Harrison brought out a small tool and quickly opened the door, she slipped her hand into Logan’s. When he squeezed her fingers, she immediately felt better. She might be back to the place where she’d been held captive, but she was no longer alone, and the circumstances were very different.
Inside the apartment, Harrison made a quick sweep to ensure they were alone, then they spread out. She headed to the kitchen first. Colin had coffee and food. But only for himself. Why waste spending money on her needs?
She could see signs where the police had been through the place, but she didn’t know if they’d found anything helpful.
She started with the bottom cupboard. She went through every shelf and its contents very carefully. She couldn’t imagine him going to too much trouble to hide something. He was lazy. This was easy money for him. The bottom shelves were empty. She went through every drawer. One for junk was of interest, specifically because something was jammed in the back. She took it out, carried it to the kitchen table, and returned the drawer to its slot. In the back was a small notebook. Black and a couple inches wide.
She pulled it out to take a look. It was hard to make sense out of most of it until she came to her own name. It wasn’t her full name, just her first two initials and last. Her address was there, where she worked and a date—from like six months ago.
At the check mark below, her blood ran cold. Obviously she’d been on a list and had been checked off as accomplished. But below her name were several more marks. She got up and ran to Logan. He turned when she came in, holding out the notebook for him to look at.
“Where did you find this?” he asked.
“It was jammed in the back of the kitchen drawer. I took the drawer completely out to get at it.”