by Bob Moats
Penny grinned, "Great, I’ll look forward to it."
"We have to get moving if we are going to meet Deacon and Lynn," I interrupted. "Angelo, the house is yours if you need it."
"Thanks Mr. R. but I’m going to be gone most the day."
I didn’t ask what he was up to, and really didn’t want to know, especially if it involved his mob friends. The less I knew the better. Penny went to get her things and Willy’s leash.
"Not bringing the carry bag?" I asked.
"Throw it in the van in case," she said.
We went outside to the van, drove to the office and saw Deacon’s huge pick-up in front of the building. I was hoping that Lynn didn’t have any ideas about going shopping at the mall. We parked and they came over. Lynn had a camera hanging around her neck.
"You were serious about taking carnie Buck’s picture," I said.
"Bet your bippy, I want this to show Maria and Trapper," she said. "Speaking of him, where is he?"
"I haven’t spoke to him since Friday when he told me he and Samantha were going to try and see if they can rekindle their relationship," I said.
"So Trapper’s horny and Sam is available," Deacon laughed.
"Probably, but that’s his business. Now shall we hit the desert before it gets too hot out?" I said.
We all got into my van and I drove back south to the carnival. Parking wasn’t so bad this time and we weren’t too far away from the midway. We entered and went down the first row of rides, until we got to the corner where I spotted Buck and Mac at the entrance to the round-up. Buck was operating the controls and Mac was helping people on and off the massive ride.
Lynn spotted them also and we headed there. I said that we didn’t want to give away their cover, so I told the women to just act like they were interested in Buck and Mac, since I could see there were a few women crowding around them. Penny handed Willy to me as Deacon and I stood back while she and Lynn went up to the metal railing surrounding the ride. They stood near the entrance where the now sweating men herded the people onto the ride.
Buck saw Lynn and Penny, he didn’t make a fuss but after the people were on the ride, Mac closed the door and stood back as Buck started the thing running. The huge round machine started to spin forcing the people standing against the wall to be pinned. The whole thing started to lift off the ground, giving the riders the feeling they were going to fall, but wouldn’t.
Lynn moved up to Buck while still watching the ride spin, she glanced over and smiled to Mac and Buck. Buck wiped the sweat from his head and moved closer to the women.
"I got some goods on Dark," he said quietly, "He asked Mac and me to help induce women into joining the carnival if you know what I mean." He went over and pushed a few controls to take the ride higher. The people were all screaming, then he started to bring the ride back down.
Lynn leaned to Penny and said, "So Dark wants to kidnap a few women for possible human trafficking, but we need to find the boys first."
Buck brought the ride back down and slowed the spin. After it stopped, Mac helped people off the ride. More people crowded the gate to get on, covering Lynn and Penny from unwanted eyes. As Mac herded the people, Buck leaned against the fence and spoke again.
"Dark wants to talk to us tonight more about what he’d like us to do. So far we haven’t found anything about the missing boys, no chatter from the other men. We’re going to keep our ears and eyes open, so be patient. Once Dark has us do anything illegal, I’ll call you in. I don’t want to get involved in kidnapping, so don’t forget that we are undercover."
Lynn smiled and said, "Don’t worry, you’ll be covered, short of murder. I need to look into Dark’s background too, and see if there have been any other complaints or activity that he may be involved in. Just do your best and keep me informed."
"I’ll do that, now either ride or move away before they get suspicious." He stepped back to the controls as Lynn brought up her camera and snapped off a couple pictures of him and Mac.
"Lacey will love this," she said to Penny as they moved away from the ride.
They came back to us and Lynn passed the info she got from Buck. "I hope the boys are still alive, but I believe they are, it’s got to be a human trafficking operation. They move from town to town and grab a few people, not enough to draw attention, then move on. A carnival is a perfect operation."
"I hope that’s going to comfort the Walkers, that their boys are probably still alive. I just hope they haven’t been shipped off to some foreign country to be slaves. That’s not good."
*
Chapter 7
We walked around until I finally saw Jacob Dark and pointed him out to Lynn. She brought her camera up and was pretending to take a few pictures of the rides, then snapped a couple of Dark as he was talking to a well-dressed dark skinned man in his late fifties. Lynn brought her camera down and said, "Rather ominous looking isn’t he?"
"Yep, he’s dressing for the part. He’s a rather pleasant speaking person but it’s mostly for show I presume. Buck didn’t say much about him?"
"He didn’t say much about anything other than being asked to grab off a few women. This carnival is here until Wednesday, so we only have three more days to shut down whatever Dark is doing," Lynn said.
"It’s been over twenty-four hours since the boys disappeared. I hope Dark hasn’t had enough time to take them anywhere. I also hope Buck and Mac can find something. Time will tell," I said as my cell phone buzzed. Caller ID said unknown, I answered, it was Mr. Walker. I told Penny, then I went off the side of the midway where I had a little privacy.
"Mr. Richards, have you found them yet?" he asked sounding a wreck.
"Mr. Walker, I’m at the carnival right now with a police detective friend of mine, I have two men working undercover to find them, please be patient. We are doing the best we can right now, but this is real life and crimes don’t get solved in an hour like on TV." I was a bit harsh on him but he needed the reality check.
He was quiet for a beat then said, "I’ll have to trust you, but we are both going crazy here. I don’t know how to calm my wife; she’s been pacing and driving me crazy also. I’m sorry I bothered you."
"You didn’t bother me, if you hadn’t called I might have thought you didn’t care."
"Nonsense! We care deeply, we care so much it hurts to have to wait."
"I fully understand, I have a son also and I know how I’d feel if he disappeared."
"Do you have any idea what may have happened?"
I had an idea but didn’t want to panic him, "We believe the boys are still alive, from what we have found out so far, but we just need to find their location. Now try and relax, I know it’s a dumb thing to say, but I don’t have any better words."
"Thank you Mr. Richards, we’ll trust you, call as soon as you have something."
"I’ll call even if we don’t, just hang in, we’ll talk later." I hung up and felt really bad, damn Dark and his people.
I went back to Penny and she asked if everything was all right, I said no, but stable for now.
We went one more time around the midway and then over to the tent where they had the sideshow. We paid the admission, went in and followed the narrow aisle to walk along the row of stages with all the geeks performing their talents.
We saw the rubber man who could twist himself into any small box or suitcase, which was handy if you wanted to be carry-on luggage on a plane. Then we watched the man who Earl and I watched sticking needles in his skin. I looked back for the giant but he wasn’t there. We saw a good number of acts, the bearded lady, the man who could eat glass or any other horrible thing. My stomach was turning by the time we reached the exit.
Lynn said, "I’ve seen worse in my career as a cop."
"Including the wolf boy?" I asked.
"Every full moon," she said with a laugh.
Lynn’s cell phone rang and she answered it, listened and then hung up. "Seems the permits to set up this festival were signed by
a Lucius Cole, representing the carnival. Ever heard of him?"
"No, did Warren dig a little deeper?" I asked.
"He said he’s going to check on him shortly and let me know."
"While we wait, I’m getting hungry. What say we go eat," I said.
"Sure, but no fast food, I want real food." Penny said.
"Bistros?" I said.
Everyone agreed and we headed back towards the van. As we got close to the trailer that housed the carnival office, I said to hold on.
"What’s on your devious little mind, and I do mean little?" Lynn asked.
"Wait here, Deacon come with me," I said as I went to the trailer, Deacon in tow. I went up the stairs and into the lobby of the office. A grouchy looking woman was sitting behind the grillwork.
"Can I help you two," she growled.
"May I speak to Lucius Cole," I said simply.
The woman just stared, not speaking. "Where do you know this Mr. Cole from?"
"I don’t, but his name is on the city permits he signed for the carnival. We’re just checking his validity."
"What authority do you have?"
Deacon pulled his badge and flashed it. "Now can we see Mr. Cole?"
"He’s not in Las Vegas, his office is in Florida. He came into town and took care of the paperwork and went back home. Sorry, but if you’ll leave your card I’ll have him get in touch with you."
"I was under the impression that Mr. Dark owned the carnival."
"He does, but he has investors and Mr. Cole holds the position of CEO. Now if you can leave your card."
I said, "That won’t be necessary, we just wanted to verify he existed. Thank you," I said and we left.
Back with the women I said, "The mysterious Mr. Cole isn’t in the state, he’s supposedly in Florida. And he is the CEO of Dark carnival. This is far reaching."
"Well hopefully Warren can find something about Cole. Now let’s go eat."
We got back to the van and drove out to go to Bistros where we dined. It was now almost five and not much had been accomplished. I felt bad that I didn’t have any good news to tell the Walkers.
As we sat at the table, Lynn got a call and after she took it she said to us, "Trouble, we have two more parents reporting that their children didn’t come home from the carnival when they said they would. Dark is either taking more than he needs or something more sinister is going on. Warren has one set of the parents at the precinct. Maybe we should go talk to them?"
We paid the bill and I drove them to their truck, waited for them to head out and followed. We arrived at LVMPD a few minutes later and parked. Warren had a man and woman in Lynn’s office at her request and Penny, Deacon and I stood just inside the doorway as Lynn sat at her desk.
"Hello, I’m Lieutenant Lynn Carter, and you are?"
The man spoke, "We’re Joan and Harry Felton, our son Jeff told us he was going to the carnival this morning with some friends, he said he’d be home by two because we had family coming over. He never came back. I called his friend Steve and he said Jeff split off from them at the carnival and then they couldn’t find him. I’ve called his cell but he’s not answering, this is not like him, he’s a good kid."
"Do you have a picture of him?"
"Yes, the other detective asked us to bring one," he said as he pulled out a wallet size photo and handed it to Lynn.
"You know we don’t usually investigate missing persons for at least 48 hours, but sometimes the circumstances warrant a look." She didn’t want to mention the two missing boys yet. "If he should return, call me." She handed him her business card and he put it in his shirt pocket. "Sometimes things just get screwed up and he may be off doing something boys don’t tell their parents about. Does he have a girlfriend?"
The wife spoke now, "He’s popular, he has a few that follow him around, maybe he’s off with one of them, but he wouldn’t miss our family get-together. He said he’d be back."
"Okay, it’s no good sitting here guessing, but we’ll do what we can. Now just go home in case he returns and call if he does." Lynn stood and the Feltons followed her out as we stood aside from the door. Lynn took them to the entrance and then came back.
"Could be nothing, or could be Dark is getting careless and grabbing more," she said as she came into the office.
Warren appeared at the door and said, "Lynn, the other parents just called and their daughter has returned home, so she’s safe."
"Good, one less to worry about. Thanks Greg." Warren left and we all sat. "I think I’ll use this to send a few uniforms into the carnival with copies of the boy’s picture and ask around. It may stir up something and Dark may make a move, so Buck can observe what’s going on. Buck said Dark wanted to talk to him and Mac later tonight about the deal he has going. We need to find the location of the boys and get them out."
Warren was back at the door with a folder, "Lynn, here’s all I could find on Lucius Cole, he’s out of Gibsonton, Florida and has no priors, but he is being watched by the Feds for possible drug trafficking and gun running. When I made my inquiry, it brought a flag up in the FBI database and I got a call from some agent out of Florida and he asked why we wanted to know. His contact number is in the folder."
"Thanks again Greg." Lynn dialed the number in the folder and got an agent Bill Kestor. She explained who she was and why we were inquiring about Lucius Cole. She listened for a couple minutes and then told him all we had so far. She finished and hung up.
"He doesn’t know anything about human trafficking, so he asked us to keep on top of it. He also told me Dark is dangerous and to be careful."
*
Chapter 8
Lynn yelled for Warren and he came running, "Can you somehow get an itinerary of where Dark’s carnival has been and see what you can find about missing persons in the areas."
"You got it," he said and went off.
"So he’s traveling the country and kidnapping people for what? Human trafficking? Where are they sending the people?" I asked.
"Most of the trafficking involves foreign countries, Arab countries, Russian, even England. The rich don’t care, they just want slaves or playthings to rape when they feel the need. It’s nothing new and hard to stop."
I said, "I remember back when Buck, Earl and I traveled to New York to find the girl taken by human traffickers. The girl was Angelo’s cousin’s girlfriend. Luckily, we found her before they totally ruined her, holding her as a prostitute in a club out there. But what do they want with young boys?"
"You really need to ask? There are so many perverts out there, it’s doesn’t surprise me at all. All ages including men, young and old, are taken each year. If this carnival is behind this, I want them to be taken down," Lynn said with a definite hatred in her voice.
~~*~~
Buck and Mac were going on a break to chow down in the carnies’ tent behind the office trailer. The men were all sitting around chattering about the day and then Buck and Mac came in and sat at a long table with a couple of them.
"So where is the show going to after here?" Buck asked to start a conversation.
The men went silent and gave Buck a hard stare.
One man finally spoke, "I hear Dark is looking for a new Chester."
Buck’s jaw tightened, he knew the term, "Why, did you lose the job as child molester?"
The man straightened up and started to stand, Skeeter Lynn stood from another table and told the man to chill, the man looked to Skeeter and sat back down.
Skeeter came to the middle of the tent and shouted to everyone, "Listen up, these two ride jockeys are in good standing with Dark, and you know you don’t want his grief. They aren’t forty milers, they have background. Buck here is a friend of Piper’s and you know what that means. So show some respect."
The rest of the men loosened up and greeted Buck and Mac. "You really rode with the Vigilantes?" one man asked.
Buck grinned and said, "I was acquainted with them, I was a loaner, had a Harley 94 Ultra Classic, Sh
riner Edition. We just need the work and Mac and I are both carnies at heart, so MISTER Dark took us on." Buck gave a heavy emphasis on the mister.
Skeeter spoke, "You two are to meet with MISTER Dark at midnight in the office, after we drop the awnings. He wants to set you up with his pet project. Now enjoy your meal and get back to the dog house, the clems await."
Buck and Mac finished their meals in relative silence then went back to the round-up.
~~*~~
Lynn was briefing the four uniforms who she was sending to the carnival to search for the missing teen. "Just go around, being obvious and ask questions, show the pictures and see what you can stir up."
I was standing nearby and said, "Lynn, why don’t you have them take the picture of the other two boys and have them shown? It may stir up more than showing one boy."
"Good idea, give me the picture and I’ll make copies." She turned back to the men, "Now be careful, Jim has two men working undercover, and we don’t want to queer their job." She looked to Tim and said, "You know Buck and Mac, they’re both working a ride called the round-up, so point them out to your men, but don’t give away their cover." Tim agreed.
One of the officers asked, "Lieutenant, if there are two men undercover, why are we going in?"
"I can tell you’re new, right?" The officer nodded. "Well, we want the bad guys to get nervous and maybe screw up. Buck and Mac are watching and will let us know what they are doing. Understand?"
He nodded again, and Lynn went to make copies of the photo. Shortly after the officers went off to do their search; Lynn and I went back to her office where Penny and Deacon were relaxing at Lynn’s desk, we sat.
"I’m hoping Buck calls us after he gets briefed by Dark. All we can do is wait until after midnight," I said.
"So are you going to stay here while we wait?" Lynn asked.
"Oh hell no, I’m taking my beautiful wife home and I’ll call you when I hear from my spies." I looked to Penny and said, "Shall we go get something to eat then go relax at home?"