Dead of Summer

by Sherry Knowlton

  “Transitional housing.”

  “That’s it. A big chunk of the transitional housing and the detention center were actually holding cells for kids awaiting a buyer. To avoid detection by state and county officials, they falsified paperwork to make it look like those kids were out-of-state placements. And, of course, they also had legitimate out-of-state kids housed there—so the smoke and mirrors were elaborate.

  “The refugees were warehoused in New York and California when they first hit the United States. It’s going to take the Feds awhile to unravel the entire organization. Nash and Hutton ran a sophisticated and multi-faceted sex trafficking operation on the backs of these minors.”

  Cannon grimaced, “Something went very wrong with Meg Wilson. We still haven’t pinned down all the details, but apparently she was being held on the Nash estate while negotiations were proceeding with a wealthy oil baron in Nigeria. Because she was uncooperative, they were sedating her. But they overdosed her by mistake. To cover things up, they shot her up with heroin and dumped her near the truck stop. This is consistent with Ms. Wilson’s autopsy results.”

  “So Meg was up at Children of Light the whole time?” Alexa gave the troopers a horrified look.

  “Yes. Unfortunately, none of us in law enforcement had any reason to suspect Children of Light at that time.”

  Norris interrupted, “Can you tell us who will be indicted?”

  John answered. “Jack Nash, Vivienne Nash, Quinn Hutton III, Ralph Price, and several key staff. As you probably know, the FBI is leading the sex trafficking investigation. So far, they’ve arrested more than fifty people around the country. They are also working with the authorities in a number of foreign countries.”

  Alexa’s whistled. “So Vivienne Nash was actually involved in all of this?”

  “Up to her neck. Let’s just say that her position as board secretary was not an honorary title. She was deeply involved in the criminal activities of the organization.”

  “What about the Children of Light Board? Any other arrests there?” Graham shifted in his chair.

  “At this time, we believe the board members were duped by Jack and Vivienne Nash. However, the investigation is ongoing.”

  “Obviously, I’m also concerned about Alexa’s fiduciary responsibility as a member of the board—for this whole mess. I can just envision the lawsuits.” Graham had turned a little green.

  “I can’t advise you on that. If I were on the board, I might consider suing Jack Nash and Quinn Hutton III. But, hey,” John waved at Norris, Graham, and Alexa. “You’re the lawyers here.”

  “Graham, we’ll deal with all that. I have a liability policy. I was an interim appointment.” Alexa shot her brother a look of warning. “What about Cecily Townes’ murder?”

  Trooper Cannon jumped up and paced around the room as he responded. “We have reason to believe that Jack Nash ordered the murder. Ms. Townes attended a fundraiser at the Willard Hotel in Washington. During the event, she apparently walked into a private meeting between Jack Nash, a senator who I will not name, and a young Thai girl. Jack spun a story about educating the senator on the foreign adoption program. It might have worked, except Cecily noticed that the girl appeared to be under duress. She realized that she had seen the young girl before but couldn’t remember where.”

  “Melissa’s photo,” Alexa shouted.

  “Exactly. Cecily later realized that the girl looked like Roongnapar Rathanapimarn.” Cannon stumbled over the pronunciation.

  “Melissa called her Pa or Dawn,” Alexa offered.

  “The daughter of Cecily’s longtime agency manager in Bangkok.”

  That’s why Cecily asked Melissa for the photos from their trip to Thailand. And it was what she wanted to tell her at the RESIST march.”

  “Yes. Cecily also contacted Pa’s father, Somchart, and confirmed that his daughter was missing. Nash suspected that Cecily had not been convinced by his story. He couldn’t take the chance that Cecily would blow the whole operation out of the water. So he sent Ralph Price to kill her. Apparently, the hit didn’t go as smoothly as they planned. Cecily put up a fight. In the melee, Ralph Price popped a hernia. Still, he managed to clean out her computer’s hard drive before he left. They thought they had stopped the threat.”

  “But then that asshole, Jack, walks into Melissa’s opening and spies a three-foot by four-foot photo of Pa hanging on the wall.” Alexa finally knew how Melissa had become a target.

  “Yes. She was the girl in the photo at Ms. Lambert’s exhibit called . . .” Cannon glanced at his notes. “As It Should Be. We’ve spoken to Melissa and she told us that Jack Nash bought that photo and paid her to take it off the market.”

  “That was why they broke into her gallery and her house—twice. They wanted to make sure they’d eliminated all the copies of this girl’s photographs. Right?”

  “Yes, your friend Melissa—and you—became collateral damage. Nash sent those guys to grab Melissa’s computer files, her photo cards, anything with pictures of the Thai girl.”

  Alexa held her breath as she asked, “Have the police located Pa Rathanapimarn?”

  Trooper Taylor nodded with a look of disgust. “The FBI and D.C. police located her in a property owned by the senator Cecily saw. Apparently, the sales transaction she witnessed was completed, and the senator stashed the girl in a place in the Adams Morgan district of the city. Pa is in good medical condition. I don’t have details about her state of mind. The FBI is making arrangements to return her to her family in Thailand. The senator is about to be indicted. I guess his home state will need to fill a Senate seat very soon.”

  Susan Williams brought her bed to a fully upright position as she entered the conversation. “And what about the murder of Willow at Woodstock?”

  Cannon replied, “We’re sorry to tell you that the New York State Police are not going to bring charges. I know they interviewed you. And they tracked down most of your traveling companions and Levi Bloom. But there is no hard evidence to build a conviction. The young girl who called herself Willow was identified at the time of her death. Her name was—” Cannon paused to look at his notepad. “Greta Shapiro, age fourteen. Police thought her death was due to trauma from being run over by the truck. There was some indication of sexual trauma, but it could have been consensual sex. This was Woodstock, with free love and all that.

  “Her mother didn’t want an autopsy, and since the cause of death seemed accidental, the police didn’t insist. Remember, they were dealing with the aftermath of a disaster area: clogged roads, vehicle accidents, and calls from concerned parents. In retrospect, it might have been a bad call on their part, but the police had a lot on their plate.

  “It’s not clear that an autopsy at the time would have even pointed to a homicide. Any signs of physical trauma might have been attributed to the truck. And what would the evidence of drugs in her system proved? Most of the kids at the concert had drugs in their system.”

  “I can’t believe it,” Alexa’s mom protested, silent tears spilling from her eyes. “What are those two bastards, Jack Nash and his twisted friend Eskimo Hutton saying?”

  “About Greta Shapiro’s death?” Trooper Taylor sighed. “Nothing. They know it’s your word against theirs. And, as much as I’d like to see them pay for this, ma’am, you have no direct knowledge that they killed that girl. Your suspicions may well be true, but you didn’t see them drug her, or rape her, or drag her out to the field. Without an eyewitness account or physical evidence, there’s nothing we could do now.”

  Susan wiped away her tears and replied, “You’re right.”

  “The Nashes and Hutton have hired a flock of fancy lawyers to defend them on all of these charges. I expect they believe that their high-powered legal representation and money will help them walk.” John stopped as if he had just remembered his audience. “No offense. Everyone deserves legal representation, of course,” he mumbled.

  “Agree, but no offense taken.” Norris waved his hand in
dismissal.

  “I guess I’ll have to live with this. At least I finally remembered what happened.” Susan’s tears dried to be replaced by a commanding look. Alexa knew this mom-in-charge-of-the-universe look well.

  “I would think that Jack Nash and Eskimo, I mean Quinn Hutton, are looking at years in jail for all these crimes. Troopers, you must develop an airtight case so that they both spend the rest of their lives behind bars. If they are going to walk on Willow’s murder, the rest of it has to stick, even with the high-powered lawyers. Cecily’s murder. Meg’s death. And all the trafficking charges. Hell, they shot me and could have killed Lexie.”

  Alexa’s dad walked over to his wife’s bed, sat down, and folded Susan into his arms. “I’m not a criminal lawyer, but it sounds like a conviction on just half of these charges could send them to prison forever.”

  “But we are going to need your help, Mrs. Williams.” John turned to Alexa. “And yours. There are both federal and state charges here. You may be called on to testify several times.”

  “Fine with me,” Susan muttered. “I can’t travel for months anyway. I’ll be happy to help nail those bastards to the wall.”

  “You can count on me as well.” Alexa gave him a wry smile. “Although I expect you would subpoena me anyway.”

  The trooper remained serious. “I’m sure the federal prosecutor prefers cooperative witnesses. The Feds allowed us the courtesy of giving your family a heads up on the various pieces of this. But all the trafficking cases are theirs now, and the FBI is all over them. They’re utilizing the Human Smuggling and Trafficking Center. They’re working with other international police agencies since this mess spans multiple countries.”

  Cannon’s tone was even more somber. “The prosecution of Cecily Townes’ homicide and Meg Wilson’s death remain in Cumberland County. We’re getting some signals that Ralph Price may roll over and take a plea deal on the Townes case. He’s looking at a first-degree murder charge. Too early to tell how this will end up. Since Nash and Hutton were in charge, they’re also looking at first-degree murder since one or both of them solicited Price to kill Townes. They will probably be charged with Meg Wilson’s murder, too. The whole sex trafficking operation brings in conspiracy charges, RICO violations, and a slew of other charges. The FBI and Justice will be sorting all of that out.”

  “We’ll let Mrs. Williams get some rest now. We hope you’re on the mend, ma’am.” John rose and Trooper Cannon followed his lead. “Thanks for your time.”

  Alexa stood as well. “I do have a question. Is the younger Quinn Hutton going to be charged?” She caught the look of annoyance that fleeted over John’s face.

  Cannon answered. “No. So far we’ve discovered nothing that suggests Quinn the fourth knew about the dirty little business his father and Uncle Jack were running. He claims that he thought his father managed the Hutton family inheritance and dabbled in investment banking. The son hasn’t even lived in this country for most of the last decade. His lack of knowledge could be plausible.”

  Although Alexa had cooled on Quinn, she felt a twinge of sympathy for the man. He appeared to idolize his father, and now he had to deal with the reality that his hero was a murderer and a despicable man who trafficked children.

  It’s no wonder I haven’t seen or heard from him since the meltdown of everything on the night of the Nashes’ party, she concluded.

  When Alexa walked the two policemen to the door of her mother’s room, John lagged a few steps behind. “You should expect to hear from Special Agent Carter of the FBI.”

  “We’ve already met. He questioned us last week.”

  “I might stop by the cabin one night this week.” John dropped his voice so low that Alexa had to strain to hear him.

  “Sure. I’ll be home. But, next week, when Mom is discharged, I’ll stay with my parents to help out.” As Alexa watched the troopers walk down the hall, she realized that she felt much closer to John after he had rescued her from Ridge Road and helped bring down Jack Nash and his organization. Since the Cecily Townes investigation was still Troop H’s case, she wasn’t certain if the ethical issues about dating still existed.

  “I hope they disappear soon.”

  “What did you say, dear?” her dad asked.

  “Nothing.” Alexa smiled as she returned to the room. “Just talking to myself.”

  Chapter Forty-four

  “WE FOUND THE PERFECT HOUSE. It’s just outside Mt. Holly along the mountain. Jim will be close to the park. It’s only ten minutes to Carlisle and my gallery.” Melissa bubbled over with her news.

  “How many bedrooms?” Haley asked. “Is there room for a nursery?”

  “Whoa, girl. You’re getting way ahead of me. Just moving in with Jim is a major decision.”

  “I’m thinking there’s a little bit of projection going on here,” Alexa observed. “Is there anything you want to tell us, Haley? Perhaps the stork is flying a bundle of joy to the Donahue household?”

  Haley’s tone was wistful. “I wish. Blair and I are trying to get pregnant.”

  Melissa affected a look of confusion. “Wait a minute. Which one of you is going to carry the baby?”

  “You know what I mean, Melissa.”

  Alexa sipped her chai. “So when is settlement on this dream house? I’m glad you’ll still be close to Scout and me. Haley, it’s a shame you live so far away.”

  “Mooreland is on your side of town. You just don’t like town living.”

  “I lived in Carlisle until I left for college. It’s not that I hate town, but living out in nature is better.”

  “For some,” Haley sniffed.

  “Look, there’s Tyrell Jenkins.” Melissa jumped up, nearly spilling her chai, and dashed across the café. A hug and a brief conversation later, she returned to the table with Tyrell trailing behind.

  “Haley, do you know Tyrell?”

  “I don’t think so. I’m sure I would remember meeting you.” Haley stopped and blushed when she realized what she’d just said.

  “Join us, Tyrell,” Alexa invited. “It’s been awhile.”

  Tyrell eased into a chair and ordered a café latte from Ariel. “Yes. I’m glad you’re here. I wanted to thank you for your part in exposing Jack Nash and his band of thugs. When I first heard about it, I just wanted to chuck it all in. When you work in child welfare, one of the fundamental things you rely on is the quality and commitment of the provider agencies. To find out that Children of Light was worse than a sham . . . it violated the trust of every child we placed there. Damn dogs.”

  He absently stirred his drink as he continued. “Our agency and the state are both taking some heat for not knowing what was going on up there on the mountain. But the state monitored Children of Light. They always passed with flying colors. Our agency routinely visited the kids in placement. None of them ever gave us any indication that there were problems. Maybe they were too scared. Few of the kids were actually affected by the trafficking operation, so maybe they didn’t know what was going on. The only anomaly was a high runaway rate—but since they specialized in teens, even that had an explanation. They listed most of those kids as missing from off-campus foster home placements.”

  “They served a lot of kids from out of state, right?” Alexa remembered a board presentation.

  “Yeah. They ran a whole paper trail on out-of-county and out-of-state kids they had trafficked. On paper, it looked like the kids were still around. Those site visits were contracted to another arm of Children of Light, so they pulled the wool over everyone’s eyes. They also had a whole adoption scam going on. They had fake parents who went through the adoption process on many of the kids. Then, Children of Light got paid to monitor the fake adoptions. Meanwhile, the kids had been sold to the highest bidder. What a twisted racket.”

  Alexa grimaced. “I heard that the diversion of foster kids was a very small part of their business. Most of Children of Light’s foster care and adoption business was legit. But they used the company
and the structure as a front for the illegal trafficking that relied on kidnapping and funneling kids in from overseas.”

  “What kind of people do that to children?” Haley’s expression was a mixture of shock and anger.

  Melissa gave a bitter chuckle. “Evil people, honey. You’d be surprised how many black-hearted bastards hide behind an

  ordinary-looking façade. Cecily opened my eyes to the way these traffickers care about nothing except the money they make. They just chalk up the misery they cause to the cost of doing business.” Melissa’s voice rang with passion.

  Alexa and the others sipped their drinks while lost in their individual thoughts. She remembered that group of refugees in Kenya: young people who’d already lost their homes and had then been further victimized by Jack Nash and his partners in crime.

  Tyrell broke the silence. “I also wanted to thank you, Alexa, for what you did for the Bertolinos. We found out why Meg died. Toni and Ed Bertolino will never fully recover from her death, but at least they know she was taken against her will—that she didn’t run away from their loving home.”

  Alexa demurred his praise with a shrug of her shoulders. “Last Wednesday at the clinic, Tanisha told me that the authorities located Aurora Washington as part of the FBI investigation into Children of Light. Tanisha didn’t know the details of where she’d been taken other than she was alive, relatively healthy, and still in the United States. I’ve heard that the FBI has its victim specialists working with all the victims who have been found through this investigation.”

  “Just think what that poor girl has been through. And hundreds like her.” Melissa ripped her napkin in half. “I’d like to do this to Jack Nash and his sanctimonious, snobby priss of a wife, Vivienne. Wonder how she’ll fare in prison.”