Secrets in the Dark

by K D Michaels

  Ian looked over at Larry, “Keon, what’s the Bureau’s take on this?”

  Larry looked down at his hands before looking over at Pratt and Gene before facing Ian. “Honestly, we weren’t aware of this until Laura called me about their case. We are now working alongside them to see how many more victims there are as well as help find the website source.”

  Gene nodded, “I honestly thought Laura and Larry were talking about a damn good mystery book myself when they first called me about this. Then again, I shouldn’t be surprised with the shit I’ve seen in all my years in dealing with the scums of the earth. But this case takes the depravity of mankind to a whole new level.”

  “I’m actually glad that Gene is here now. When I got Laura’s text about them heading to Tampa, I knew I needed to introduce her to you guys so we can pull all of our sources together to find Dakota and any other victims that we come across with this case,” Larry nodded at Ian and Carter.

  “I personally spoke with Ms. Jones, Laura and her sergeant were present, about her time in captivity. I needed to know what she saw, heard, everything.” Looking over at Gene, then to Ian. “In all my years as a federal agent, I’ve never heard of anything as horrifying as I did until I spoke with her. We’ve done some of our own searches, as well as checked every data base we can find. We, like Alpha Squad, cannot find anything on this Ares, or anything about a similar ring as this one.”

  Ian stared at Larry for a moment then stood up. “Egghead, start a search for Ares. Look for any known name of a person, organization, company, anything and everything. We need to find Dakota and figure out who these people are.”

  As Brody got to work, Diesel squinted her eyes at him. “Egghead? Why in the world…”

  “Diesel…” Sgt. Brocard warned.

  “His love of eggs lass. Do not pick on the man when he’s going out of his way to help ye.” Highlander warned.

  “Don’t you take that tone with me mister! I’m not the one who bends over for you to spank, tie up and order around in the sack!” Diesel chirped, smirking at Pratt who was giving her a glare.

  Pratt hid her face in her hands. “Fuck me running”

  Diesel stood up from her seat and sauntered out of the room. “He probably would!” Diesel shocked Alpha Squad, Highlander and his team as she stormed out.

  “She always that much of a spitfire?” Gene asked, trying to hide his laughter.

  “Only on days that end in y.” Pratt shook her head as she leaned into her husband to apologize.

  “More so when her parents decide to visit out of the blue,” Rameriez advised her teammates.

  “Fuck” The five remaining teammates mumbled in union.

  “They can’t be that bad,” Snake chided the women.

  Pratt scoffed, looking over at Snake. “Her parents give mine a decent run for their money as parents of the fucking year. Her brothers make Maria and the stepsisters seem like Mary fucking Poppins, almost!”

  “Damn, your parents and siblings, leaving Dominick out of that equation, are pretty bad. There’s really someone who can give them a run for their money?” Larry asked, making a face.

  “Damn lass, I didn’t think anyone could compete with ye parents and sister.”

  Sgt. Brocard’s phone rang, interrupting everyone’s conversation. Several minutes after answering the phone, she turned to face her team.

  “That was a Tampa PD officer named Dakota Swift. They have Candy in custody. They are waiting for us to join them for the interrogation.”

  Ian stood up at the name of the officer.

  “Swift is good people. She’s one of ours. She’ll help you anyway that she can,” Devon informed the team.

  “Thank you. Rameriez, go grab Diesel and meet us at the SUV. The rest of us…” Sgt. Brocard looked around the room.

  “Brody has started the search on Ares. You deal with Candy. See if she gives up anything,” Ian told Sgt. Brocard.

  “I’m sending Alvarez with you guys. Swift knows her,” Gene informed Alpha Squad.

  “Works for me. Maybe fresh eyes, someone not attached to this case from day one can be helpful.” Sgt. Brocard nodded at Alvarez.

  “I’m happy to help in any way that I can.” Alvarez smiled at Alpha Squad.

  4

  Alpha Squad, Larry, Jordyn, Cater, Highlander and Ian arrived at Tampa PD a short time later. Ian advised the desk sergeant that the group was there to meet with Officer Swift.

  Several moments passed before a woman came out and walked up to Ian. “Ian, how are you? I didn’t know you were coming.”

  “I’m good. Dakota, this is the detectives from California.” Ian went about introducing Alpha Squad and Highlander one by one.

  “Nice to meet you ladies. We arrested Candy Ruiz a few hours ago, but she’s not talking. She’s asked for a lawyer, yet for some reason he’s not answering her calls or ours.”

  “Guess her well ran dry when it comes to lawyers. Her lawyer in San Diego dropped her as well.” Diesel shrugged, looking at her teammates.

  “Maybe, but let’s see what we can find out,” Sgt. Brocard told her detectives. “Officer Swift, who is her attorney of record?”

  “Some high dollar sleezeball named George Goodfrey.”

  “He hasn’t shown up yet?” Ian asked amused when he heard the name.

  “Either he knows something we don’t know about her finances or whoever has been paying her bills has broken the ties they had when she got arrested and she just doesn’t know it yet,” York guessed, looking over at her sergeant.

  “How about we go find out. Officer Swift, can you do us a favor?” Sgt. Brocard looked at her team smirking.

  “Sure, what’s up?”

  “Since Mrs. Ruiz asked for an attorney, let’s call a court appointed one in for her.”

  “Oh shit, this is going to be fucking hilarious.” Diesel laughed and clapping her hands.

  Nodding at Swift, Raso looked from Pratt to Sgt. Brocard. “Okay boss lady, how are we handling this? We are on Officer Swift’s turf here.”

  “Well, obviously Officer Swift is going into the interrogation room. But I’m also sending Pratt and Diesel in with her. If that’s okay with you Officer Swift? Pratt and Diesel tend to annoy the hell out of Candy the most.”

  Pratt looked down at Diesel’s feet, shaking her head, causing the others on her team to cough, trying to hide their laughter. Larry, Carter, Ian, Alvarez, Highlander and Swift looked around at the team confused.

  Pratt sighed, placing a hand on her hip and one on her forehead, “I seriously cannot believe you’ve been wearing those green sequent socks this whole time with your uniform on.”

  “Don’t be jealous! They make a rocking statement, haters!” Diesel pulled up one of her pants legs and slightly moved her foot to make the color shimmer on the shocks showing above her work boot.

  “Yep…fuck her from this side up.” Everyone looked up from Diesel’s leg to watch Rameriez walk away in shock.

  Everyone except for Diesel burst into laughter when Diesel flipped Rameriez off before walking in the opposite direction towards the interrogation room that held Candy. Diesel looked over her shoulder at Pratt and Swift, lifting an eyebrow, getting impatient to get the interrogation started.

  The three women walked into the interrogation room where Candy was sitting at the table, handcuffed to a bar bolted to the table.

  “Mrs. Ruiz, I’m Officer Swift…”

  “One word, bitch…lawyer,” Candy snarled as the women came into the room.

  “Not sure about you Officer Swift, but that sounded like four words to me,” Pratt looked over at Swift then at Diesel as she sat down before looking back at Candy, tilting her head to the side.

  “Yep, that’s four words she uttered. Too bad her attorney can’t be bothered with either of her words, since he’s not responding to her calls,” Diesel smirked at Candy as she sat down in the chair next to Pratt.

  “Fuck you,” Candy yelled, snapping her handcuffed arm before
it was yanked back down.

  “Not without your lawyer present,” Diesel mock whispered to Candy, leaning into the table.

  “You. Better. Call. My. Attorney. Now. You fucking whores!”

  “Wait, Officer Swift, you’re a ho?” Diesel looked back at Officer Swift, who was leaning against the back wall by the two-way mirror, in mock horror.

  “O. M. G. you’re a ho too?” Swift mocked as she fanned her face before looking over at Pratt questioningly.

  Pratt batted her lashes at Swift. “I was born a ho! Just ask my husband. He loves my ass! Oh wait, that’s right, Candy’s been trying to fuck my husband, guess she just wasn’t a good enough ho to ride that ride.”

  “Lawyer…” Candy repeated, drawing out her ‘r’.

  “Well, you’ve already waited two hours for the one you asked Officer Swift to call. You seem to be having bad luck with lawyers lately, Candy.” Pratt leaned into the table, crossing her arms in front of her.

  “Wonder why that is? You know Detective Pratt, I’m wondering if the man this bitch sold her beautiful, innocent daughter too decided to cut his losses with mommy dearest here since he got the better end of their deal.” Diesel baited Candy who was staring angry daggers at Diesel.

  “Well, it wouldn’t surprise me, Detective Diesel, I mean, Candy here has tried to fuck every US Navy SEAL on the west coast.” Looking back at Swift, Pratt batted her lashes, knowing her husband would see through the two-way mirror, “You see, Candy here, despite being married to a SEAL, twice, she’s what is considered a frog hog.”

  Candy smirked as she leaned into the table, staring Pratt down. “Your husband has fucked me plenty of times bitch. Every time you thought he was training or debriefing, he was pounding that huge fucking cock inside of me, screaming my name as he came.”

  “Oh fuck,” Diesel mumbled, looking back towards Swift and the two-way mirror worried.

  Pratt leaned further onto the table, getting into Candy’s face, staring her down, voice calm, “I believe he may have been drunk off his ass and you took advantage of it, years ago. Guaranteed it wasn’t good enough for him to remember. Because, like all the other SEALs you’ve fucked, it was a one and done, then talked about as the worse one-night stand ever. Now, me on the other hand, I fuck him every fucking morning, noon and night, when he’s stateside. Even when he’s deployed, his dick gets hard thinking about fucking his wife when he gets home. So, Candy, if you’re trying to imply my husband has fucked you since he’s met me, then I can and will call you a fucking liar, because my husband knows what he has at home and would never throw that away for a loosey goosey like you.”

  “Fuck you,” Candy screamed, trying to stand up, but falling back onto her chair when she couldn’t get her arm free.

  “Where’s Dakota, Candy?” Pratt ignored Candy’s outburst, going in for the kill.

  “You’ll never find that little bitch!”

  “Who is Ares?” Diesel stood up, walking around to stand behind Candy, leaning onto the back of her chair.

  Candy laughed as she looked down at her nails. “Someone you three cunts should be very afraid of.”

  Pratt looked over at Diesel and nodded to her. “The only thing I’m scared of is liver and onions.” Pratt mock shuddered.

  “Seriously? Liver and onions scare you?” Diesel shook her head.

  “Yep, after watching Silence of the Lambs, seeing what Hannibal Lector did to his victims…yeah…nope. Never touched the shit again!”

  Diesel and Swift laughed. “Ummm no hot water after a day of dealing with cuntcakes like this bitch.” Diesel glanced at Candy then back at the other two women.

  “Yeah that makes sense,” Pratt and Swift said in union.

  Pratt and Diesel looked over at Swift who shrugged. “Not enough coffee to get through a day without killing idiots!”

  “Ohhhh, good one.” Pratt clapped, nodding her head up and down. Looking back at Candy, Pratt shrugged with her hands up. “So yeah, no fear of this Ares character, sorry.”

  “Oh, don’t worry, bitch. He will bury you when he’s done with you. And your husband, he’ll be begging me to suck his cock.”

  Pratt burst into laughter, slapping the top of the table as a man hurried into the interrogation room, looking disheveled. “Sorry Candy, even if my husband did beg you to suck his cock, where you’re going, there’s no special visits, so he’s going to be stuck with Rosie Palmer and her five sisters.”

  “Hello, ladies, I’m Lonnie Steigerwald. I’m the court appointed attorney for…” the man looked down at a piece of paper, “a Mrs. Candy Ruiz.”

  “You are not my fucking lawyer! What the fuck is this?” Candy screeched, looking at the three officers.

  “We told you already, the number and name of your attorney has not responded to all calls that have been sent to him. So, being the ‘nice whores’ that we are, we contacted the office for court appointed attorneys and got you this awesome gentleman.” Diesel used the air quotation marks with both hands before gesturing to the lawyer in the room.

  “One of you assholes better get my lawyer instead of this law firm reject and you better do it now,” Candy yelled, pounding her fist onto the table.

  “Mrs. Ruiz, I spoke with a Mr. Galen Trotter before I came in here. He states he does not, nor will he represent you. He states he has no idea who you are,” Lonnie advised Candy, reading from the note in his hand.

  “Oh, really now? Okay.” Candy sat up straighter and leaned onto the table the best she could. “I’ll tell you bitches everything you want to know, including who Ares is. I want a deal, hell, I want immunity from everything, and I want witness protection.”

  “You’ll get a deal of some kind for the homicide of your husband, but no deal for selling your daughter or giving Tina to the black market for her to be sold and killed.” Pratt growled at Candy and her new attorney.

  “Then I don’t talk, you’re fucked.”

  “Oh, you’re going to talk, because if you don’t, I will make sure Officer Swift let’s every snitch in the city of Tampa know you squealed like a fucking canary when your attorney dumped your ass and that you gave up Ares and his operations like a bitch in heat!”

  “You can’t do that, officer!” The attorney huffed before Candy could say anything else.

  “Officer Swift can’t, since this is her turf and all, but I, Detective to you, Mr. Steigerwald, can since I am not on my home turf. I don’t know who’s a snitch and who isn’t.” Pratt leaned back into her chair with a shrug, staring Candy down, who was now white as a ghost.

  “I will fucking sue you and your department if you do shit,” Candy cried out, glaring at the three women, standing up, leaning onto the table towards Pratt.

  “Eh, you gotta be in San Diego to do that. Annnnnd well, Florida takes their sweet ass time with extraditions, and you already have charges you’re dealing with here.” Pratt leaned forward, smirking into Candy’s face. “Let’s not forget, sugarplum, you got the attorney here, he can’t assist you with that lawsuit in San Diego. You seemed to have run through all the attorney’s young and dumb enough to end up fucking your ass, in and out of the courtroom.”

  Pratt, Diesel and Swift all stood up and walked toward the door. Swift turned around and looked at the lawyer, “You have twenty minutes to talk to her then we will be back. Just to make sure we are clear, there will be no immunity. Tell us where your daughter is, or we send you back to California to face the needle for the death of your husband.”

  Pratt walked over to Highlander and laid her head on his chest, literally shaking. Highlander wrapped his arms around his wife and leaned down to her ear.

  “It’s okay lass. I got ye.”

  “I wanted to punch her fucking lights out so badly.”

  “Ye did good babe. For the record, I’ve never touched the coo!”

  A confused Jordyn looked around the room before looking at Highlander. “Coo?”

  “Scottish slang for cow, lass.”

  “Ah!”
/>
  Pratt laughed into Highlanders chest before turning her head without removing it from its spot. “Trust me, he has tons of words I have to ask about and I’ve been married to the man for almost five years.”

  “Six years total lass. Five blissful and amazing years of marriage my beautiful lass.”

  “Joe, I know you didn’t touch her. God, I wanted to punch her face in because she thought she should get a deal after what she did to Tina and Dakota.”

  Highlander leaned down and hovered his lips just above Pratts, helping her calm down a bit before firmly planting a soft kiss on her lips.

  “She already gave away one major clue.” Pratt turned around and looked at everyone in the small room.

  “What’s that, Red?” Larry asked, looking at Pratt amused.

  “Whoever this Ares person is, he’s been supporting her financially until now and he lives here in Tampa. That means our Dakota may be here in Tampa too.”

  “I don’t know, Pratt. I mean, why, if she sold the kid, would she follow the buyer here?” Diesel asked the question burning in everyone’s mind.

  “Who knows why the bitch does half the shit she does. I think her being here has to do with her hatred for Dakota. I mean think about it…” Pratt walked over to the two-way mirror, staring into the interrogation room where Candy and her new lawyer were in a heated discussion. “Kota had the love of every Navy SEAL that knew her father, the love of Sheila and Eddie. It wasn’t sexual love, it was true, unconditional love. Candy chased those very men for attention, they couldn’t stand her, they barely tolerated her for Kota’s sake.”

  Pratt turned around to look at everyone individually for a moment, looked back at Candy for a several moments before looking back at the group. “If she’s still in touch with this Ares person after three years, she’s been able to watch Kota suffer, maybe even participate in making her suffer. Not only is it the ultimate ‘fuck you’ to the daughter who got all the attention she craved, but it’s also the ultimate ‘fuck you’ to every SEAL who loved that girl, as well as every law enforcement who has been involved in the search for her.”