by T. J. Kline
Toni felt the tires giving as she skid around a curve, far too fast for her own safety and slid to one side. “Shit,” she muttered, her hands shaking as she gripped the wheel, barely able to hold it in her lane.
A glance in the rearview mirror showed the truck caught behind a large delivery van. The terminal drop off was ahead and, luckily, packed with travelers. She grabbed her phone and slowed as she slipped her vehicle into a spot between two shuttles. People stared as she jumped out of it, not bothering to turn it off, before bolting through the sliding doors. A blast of cold air hit her and she sucked in a breath, trying to acclimate herself as she ran past a mother with a stroller dragging a large bag behind her. She dodged the woman, avoiding another with a dog in a carrier.
"Excuse you," the woman sneered.
Toni ignored her, searching for the security gate. Toni cursed her heels as she sprinted for the TSA officer, however, she was thankful she hadn't changed clothes after her meeting with Monique before heading to see Jones. If she had, this douche bag would've caught her alone. At least this way, she’d made her way into a crowd where she could create a scene and preserve her cover. She glanced back over her shoulder but didn’t see the kid following her into the building yet. Toni ignored the nasty glances cast her direction from other waiting air passengers as she cut through the line to reach the TSA officer stationed at the checkpoint.
“FBI.” She slid her badge and identification on the table, keeping her gun hidden so no one noticed it, or heard her. “There's a guy heading this way from Terminal One: early twenties, blond, crew cut. He’s in an older model, white Ford outside. He tried to run me off the road and I believe he's carrying a gun.”
The officer didn’t need to be told twice. She reached for her radio. Within seconds, four armed officers bolted toward the terminal doors. Another three headed for a second set past the bank of windows. Toni remained beside the officer, watching for the drama to begin. It didn't take long. The kid, handcuffed and surrounded by security officers, created a scene, swearing loudly as they escorted him through the airport. He threw himself into one officer, trying to gain some leverage but the officer dodged his maneuver and, with a hand on his arm, let his momentum drag him to his knees. People turned to stare at the commotion but he was swept past the checkpoint and behind the security doors.
“That’s him,” Toni confirmed.
The TSA officer called up a replacement for her station and escorted Toni to an office where she waited for Jones to arrive, giving her statement once they'd confirmed her identity.
Jones leaned against the doorframe and shook his head when he saw her. "You realize what a pain in the ass this paperwork will be, right?"
"About time you got here." She rose and patted his shoulder. "I had to buy myself some time. It wasn’t like I was going to hide in the bathroom. At least I didn't blow my cover."
"True, although you'll probably need to use an unmarked from here on out. I hope you've got good insurance."
Son of a bitch!
Toni hadn't even thought to call the tow truck for her car. She doubted it would come out of this as well as she had. That bastard destroyed the last gift she'd received from her father.
"I hope he gets a cavity search for this."
“What the fuck are you doing? She can't stay here with the others!”
"I got her, didn't I? That's what you said you wanted. You figure out the details."
Tank jerked at the pillowcase. Barely conscious, the woman's head bowed forward, and she blinked slowly, struggling to clear her vision.
Tipping her face up, a hand gently cupping her chin, her eyes trying to focus in the semi-dark room. Her face didn’t look as perfect as it had this morning with her lip swollen to double its size on one side, split and bleeding. A streak of blood from another cut in her hairline dried alongside her eyebrow. Long, blonde hair hung over her face in a matted mess of what had once been flawless curls.
“You shouldn’t have hit her. He's going to be pissed about this.”
Tank chuckled sadistically, making it evident he'd loved every second of this hunt. An evil grin tugged the corner of his mouth as he licked his lower lip. “Who are you kidding? He’s going to do worse than this to her.”
“He likes a blank canvas for his own artistic inclinations.”
“After what she did to Wilson, I owed her.”
A snort of bitter laughter burst out and, if the glare cast by Tank was any indication, it wasn’t appreciated. “Please, I’m sure this wasn’t his first or last arrest. You have plenty of guys to help you out. The kid was expendable.”
“Wilson was a good supplier for you. It's not easy to find a kid who's good with the girls and smart without being too smart.”
“Whatever. I'm sure you'll find someone else to take his place.”
“Where am I?” The woman’s dark eyes began to clear.
“You're at a rendezvous location. We're getting you ready for a trip.”
“Trip?” she slurred, from her confusion and the damage to her lip. “What trip?”
“It'll be a few days before you’re able to travel. That should give you time to heal up. Get her some water.” The order was met with immediate obedience, exactly as it should be.
“I want to go home. How did I get here?”
Tank pressed a plastic cup in the hands of the woman who still seemed dazed. “You were in a car accident,” he explained, lying easily. “We rescued you.”
Recognition hit her and her eyes widened. She struggled against the zip ties around her wrists. “No, I remember you. You grabbed me when I was in the parking lot.”
“Stop.” The order was quiet but authoritative and she shrank back into the chair. “I know you don’t understand yet, but you’re a very lucky woman. You'll live an exciting life, filled with travel and romance.”
“What? No, I want to go home.” The woman’s voice caught, turning to a whimper. Tank reached for her wrists, holding them hard in her lap as he pressed a hypodermic needle against the delicate skin on the inside of her elbow. “Please, don't.” She fought for a moment but she was no match for him. “Please?”
“Shh. This will make all the discomfort go away, Casey.”
“No,” she squeaked, twisting her shoulders in a last attempt to escape as she faded into the drug-induced oblivion. “I’m… I’m Rose.”
8
“You sure you don’t want to come in, Jones? I’ve got a six-pack in the fridge with your name on it,” Toni offered as he pulled up to her house to drop her off.
“You don’t drink beer.”
Toni shrugged. “I keep it stocked for you. It’s the least I can do for you after all the times you’ve saved my ass. Besides, you got my car towed.” She ran a hand through her hair. “If you want something stronger, there's some Glenlivet calling my name. You’re welcome to join me.”
He raised a brow at the invitation. Even worn out, she didn't bother to hold back from teasing the man. He was a good partner to work with, and she’d had a few duds early in her career until she’d paired with Jones almost three years ago, right before meeting Leo.
“What can I say? I'm a giver.”
Jones's smile faded. “You should consider a hotel room while you’re working undercover.”
“This is secure. My father was too cautious for his own good. He turned this place into a fortress. Trust me, there is nowhere safer in Vegas than this house.” Too bad he hadn’t been so cautious with his own health and eating habits.
Jones jerked his chin toward the front door of her house as she parked in the circular driveway. “You’ve got company.”
Toni followed his gaze and saw Leo waiting for her. “He won’t care you’re here. Hell, when he finds out what happened, he’ll probably offer to pour the drinks.”
"You'll actually tell him?"
"Don't you think it'd be better than letting him find out on his own from the rumors at the station? Wouldn't you be pissed if Angie didn't mention som
ething like that?"
Jones tipped his chin down and looked consciously at her, down his nose. "We both know you find yourself in way more messes than Angie ever would. Shit, T, you get into more messes than most agents do. Sometimes I think Leo's right, that you have a death wish."
She clamped her jaw hard, irritated that another man was telling her how to do her job, preaching about safety to her. She'd tell Leo about what happened but with Jones beside her, she could put off the discussion until after she’d had a drink and a long shower. At least one of those things should help to work the kinks out of her aching muscles.
She yawned and arched her back, the bones cracking and popping all the way down her spine. "Are you coming or what?"
Jones shrugged his broad shoulders. “Sure. Why the hell not?”
He headed to the house with her, matching her steps. Leo approached and met them on the walkway.
“Have you talked to your sister today? Your mom says she should’ve been home from work hours ago.”
Toni pulled her phone from her pocket and checked her messages. One from Leo when she was late to meet with him. Nothing from Rose. “No, but maybe she went out for drinks with friends.”
“And forgot to call or text?” He shook his head. “Doesn't sound like your sister.”
She didn't miss the implication in his voice. You, but not Rose.
Someday she'd be able to stop disappointing the people she loved. Or stop caring that she did.
“Your mom is concerned.” Leo shot her a sidelong glance, his mouth pinching as he spoke. “Or it might be that she’s paranoid after hearing about your close call today.”
Toni shot an accusatory glance at Jones who held his hands in front of him. “Wasn't me! Was probably—”
“The insurance company called your mother. She assumed you’d already called to tell me.” Leo's eyes flashed with indignant fury but she saw he was trying to keep his temper in check, whether because of Jones’s presence or the situation with her sister she appreciated the effort. She punched her sister’s contact picture on her phone, hoping to remedy at least one issue. It rang until it kicked Toni to Rose's voicemail. She called back, hoping it was only that Rose hadn’t heard the ringer over the noise where ever she might be.
Please, let it be that she can't hear it over bar noise.
This time a child’s voice answered on the third ring. “Hello?”
“Hello? I… I’m looking for Rose Blades.” Worry settled in and Toni started to second-guess herself, although she knew she'd dialed the correct number. “This is her phone, right?”
“I'm not sure. I found it on the ground.” The voice grew muffled, and it sounded like the child was talking to someone else. “Mom, is this Rose Blades’s phone?”
A woman’s voice came on the line. “Hello? I’m so sorry. My daughter found this phone at the grocery store, in the parking lot, and we weren't able to locate the owner. It has a password.”
A slight tremor crept into Toni's voice. “Which store?”
“Sunshine Market.”
Her stomach plummeted. It was Rose’s favorite organic food hangout. Only a few blocks from her classroom and where she usually picked up lunch. Toni did a few quick calculations in her head, realizing that her sister had gone to lunch a few hours after her skirmish this morning. He’d been bounced pretty quickly because the FBI hoped he’d lead them straight to the trafficking contact, but there was also a good chance he wasn't working alone. She still didn’t know why he’d rammed her car but it was likely they’d made her. What if that kid sent someone else after her and picked up Rose in retaliation? The attack this morning and Rose going missing a few hours later wasn't a coincidence.
She turned her attention back to the woman on the phone. “Can you meet me at the market and show me where you found it?”
“I…sure. I’ll meet you in fifteen minutes.”
Toni disconnected the call and looked at Leo. “We have to go.”
Jones reached for her arm. “What about me?”
“Pull files for all the cases I've been working in the past two years and send someone over to pick up that guy who rammed my car this morning. I need to find out who he is because I have a bad feeling he's connected somehow. If we figure out how and to who, we can find out who got their hands on Rose.”
After retrieving Rose's phone and delivering it to Forensics to dust for prints, Leo listened with growing concern as Toni explained the details about what happened after she left the 4Teen Center and how she’d managed to get away from the guy who’d hit her. As soon as she described him, Leo’s lungs constricted, rage boiling inside him.
“Wait a second.” He hurried out of the office and to his desk, grabbing his case file and returning to where Toni and Jones sat with heads close as they tried to figure out how best to find Rose. Leo slid the picture of Craig Wilson in front of Toni. “Is this the guy?”
“Yes! Who is he?”
“Why were you at the Center today? To see Monique?”
Toni bristled, growing defensive. “Why did you go?”
Leo leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. “You know why I went. This is the guy, Megan’s boyfriend,” he said, tapping the picture. “He claimed she’d been at the Center for a while. Monique confirmed it although I'm sure she was lying about the last occasion she’d seen her.”
“Is this your girl?” Jones pulled out his phone and showed Leo a pixilated photo, a blurry night vision image that looked like Megan Fletcher, her hands tied at the wrists and being led to a nondescript white van. His gaze lifted.
“Looks like. Where is she now?”
“Loaded into that van two days ago and crossed the border into Mexico. We’ve got eyes on a house waiting for her to show up.”
Leo jumped up, knocking his chair backward, looking accusingly from Jones to Toni. “You've had this for two days? What are you investigating, Toni?”
She glanced at Jones but remained disturbingly silent. “It’s a sex trafficking ring the FBI's been watching. We finally got enough to send a team in. So, they assigned this case to us after we closed our last one.”
“You?” Toni nodded at him. “Did you request it?” She shook her head in denial and Leo slid back into his chair, feeling slightly relieve that she hadn't completely stabbed him in the back. “What about Megan?” Leo was trying to piece together what he knew about his three cases and the probability that any, or all, of the girls were pawns in some sick sex game. “You said Megan’s in Mexico? If she’s still alive, we owe it to her family to bring her home. The other two might be there as well.”
Jones shrugged. “It’s possible.”
“Then why are we sitting here, waiting?”
Toni's gaze locked with his, defiant. “Because my sister isn’t in Mexico. We’ve got to rescue her first.”
He leaned over his hands on the table, prepared to argue with her. In this frame of mind, she was a loose cannon, and it would get someone hurt. She was too close to this case to be of any help. Someone else needed to go after Rose.
As always, Jones was the voice of reason. “Sit down.”
Leo slid back into his chair and ran his hand over his forehead, trying to focus. “You suspect this might be a retaliation move by Wilson? Why? Because he got picked up this morning?”
“He’d been let loose by then,” Jones reminded them. “What if he sent someone out looking for Toni and they found Rose by mistake?”
Toni paled, her hands trembling as if had someone mistaking her identical twin for her hadn’t crossed her mind.
“Toni?”Leo exchanged a glance with Jones. Had neither of them understood this was a possibility?
“They thought Rose was me.” She swallowed hard. “ I did this,” she whispered.
Leo saw the guilt swamping her. They needed her focused again. There wasn't time to let her bow down to her regrets.
He reached for her hand, squeezing it. “You suspect Monique is the head of this operation?”
“What do we know? Not gut feelings but facts?” Jones turned toward Leo. “Your missing girl is connected to our sex trafficking ring. It’s possible that your other two are as well, but we aren’t sure yet. Let’s compare notes.”
Leo leveled his gaze at Toni. “You realized the cases overlapped, didn’t you?” Toni closed her eyes, refusing to meet his disappointed gaze. “You never considered discussing it with me?”
“I…didn’t tell you…because…” Toni let her words trail off, taking a deep breath.
“Because you wouldn't back off and let us take the case until forced to,” Jones finished for her, rolling his eyes. Toni glared at him but her partner shrugged unapologetically. “What? You were beating around the bush. We don’t have time for that crap.”
The knot of betrayal in Leo's heart tightened. She’d suspected their cases were connected from the moment she received it and hadn’t bothered to mention it when they argued the other night. They’d been so preoccupied with their personal feelings, what another undercover case meant for the future of their relationship, that they hadn’t discussed the details. If they had, if he’d asked her for help the way James proposed, they could have prepared Rose for the potential risks. Then again, if Toni hadn’t gone undercover again…Leo didn’t want to chase that rabbit trail. Their miscommunication and need to assign blame was part of the reason Rose was in this situation.
“I was posing as a student last night, hoping to get my foot in the door of the Center and ascertain who at that party, if anyone, could fund an operation like this. Monique is a suspect as is pretty much everyone else. Like that giant she has working for her.”