But he’d also warned her that she hadn’t chosen the easy path. That because of her associations some people may not trust her as he did. But largely, her issues with her squad started a year ago, when she went to Mexico to help rescue Brad Donnelly and a group of boys who’d been used as mules for a drug cartel. That one act had ignited a chain of events that resulted in one of their own—and favored—agents, Barry Crawford, being kidnapped, tortured, and nearly killed. Barry would never be the same, and the way people looked at her—Lucy realized now that they blamed her.
The garage side door opened and Lucy jumped. Sean stepped out, opened her car door.
“I heard you drive in ten minutes ago.”
“Thinking,” she said.
He took her hand and pulled her up. Kissed her. “What’s wrong?”
“I’ll tell you later—we have company.”
“Nate and Kane can wait.” He searched her eyes. “Luce, talk to me.”
Sean was her rock. She had to share with someone, or this anxiety would fester deep inside. “Rachel finally explained what her issue is with me. And she’s right.”
“I’m sure that’s not true.”
“At least I understand her.”
“What did she say?”
“Essentially, she was impressed with my cases, especially the black market baby investigation.”
“As she should be.” He put his arms around her waist and kissed her.
“But I’m a maverick, like Brad Donnelly. My colleagues don’t trust me, half my files are redacted, and I lied to her about going to San Diego in January.”
“Yet you saved a little boy’s life.”
“She pointed that out, but that doesn’t justify my actions. And she’s right—it doesn’t. Everything she said is true, except.” She shouldn’t say anything. She slipped out of Sean’s arms because this was all harder to talk about than she’d thought.
“What.” It wasn’t a question.
Lucy bit her lip.“She thinks I went to Mexico in October specifically to bring back Baby Joshua.”
Sean tensed, and she knew she shouldn’t have told him now. Later, when they were alone, in bed, when they were relaxed and remembered that no matter what happened in the past or could happen in the future, they had each other now.
“You were taken to Mexico against your will, and that is none of her fucking business.”
“Sean—”
“There is no record of you being there. None. Even the Navy SEALs files are classified. Rick made sure of it. Everyone is on the same page.”
“She got that part wrong—but honestly? If I knew that Baby Joshua was down there, and if I thought that I was the only one who could safely bring him back by using RCK or any other resource at my disposal, I would have done it. We both know that. So while Joshua may have not been the reason I was there, it could have been.”
“Why does she even care about that? Baby Joshua had been ripped from his dead mother’s womb and sold on the black market. The people who had him didn’t deserve him, nor would they have been able to keep him safe considering they were working with some very dangerous people. So what if you went down there?”
“Sean—a federal agent is prohibited from working across borders. It’s a matter of trust. She doesn’t trust me. Maybe that’s why she was pushing on the baby. I don’t know.”
“Stop, Lucy. Everything you’ve done from the day we landed in San Antonio may have crossed a few lines, but you did them for the right reasons. You have to stop second guessing yourself on everything you do.”
“I’m not.”
“Yes you are. You’re letting Rachel get inside your head and make you feel guilty for things you should be proud of. I’m not being naïve, Luce, I know there are a lot of gray areas in this business. I know you wouldn’t have done anything differently. Would you?”
She shook her head. “We’ve both done things for the greater good, but at what cost?”
“It’s a price you and I have always been willing to pay; don’t let Rachel Vaughn change that.”
“She’s monitoring all my activities. She knew that I ran a search on Martin Hirsch and asked why. I was vague and she called me on it. She also knew that I had lunch with Kane and made a point of saying I had to stay out of this, that it’s not a San Antonio investigation.”
“How the hell did she know you had lunch with Kane?”
“My guess? The new agent, the one from her old office, told her. He saw us in the restaurant.”
“Kane told me he followed you.”
“I didn’t know—I’m usually good at picking up a tail.”
“Then you’re out of this. We’ll do this with RCK only.”
“I want to do this.” She’s been thinking about it all the way home, weighing the pros and cons, and in the end she realized she was a valuable asset. Kane was right—she knew many of the players, but more importantly, she understood the human trafficking business. For the last six months she’d been tracking the babies sold on the black market and had learned far more than she’d ever wanted about the buying and selling of human beings.
“You sure?”
“JT has always been there for us. Always. He’s never asked for anything in return. Now his sister’s missing. I’m not turning my back on him. Kane is right. I know the players, I understand the business of sex trafficking. There is a void, and before Ryan left we were putting together a list of potential players. We destroyed one major network, but there are always more people looking to cash in. I’ve been looking for Mona Hill.”
“What? Why?”
Mona Hill had run a group of prostitutes in San Antonio until she disappeared early last summer. Some in the FBI thought she was dead; Lucy didn’t. If she was dead they would know, because at the time Tobias—Nicole Rollins’s front man—would have wanted to make an example of her. This was long before their network was destroyed. Ryan had tracked her to Houston. Now, Lucy had no idea where she was, but she would find her.
“Mona Hill knows the sex business better than anyone, but there was never a hint of her trafficking. Every girl who worked for her was of age and willing. I think she can help if properly motivated.” She paused, looked up at him. “Do you think I’m wrong?”
“No—I just don’t know that she will help, or that she’ll be easy to find.”
“Well, she’s not easy to find. I haven’t yet, but admittedly it hasn’t been on the top of my to-do list.” She took his hand, kissed his palm. “Don’t say anything to Kane or Nate about Rachel, okay? I thought about this while driving home, and I’m going to help JT. Bella could be in serious trouble. I’ll just have to do it quietly and on my own time.”
They walked into the kitchen. Kane was typing a text message on his flip phone—he still hadn’t converted to a smart phone. Nate was drinking a beer at the large center counter where they often ate.
Bandit was at Kane’s feet, but as soon as Sean walked in, he ran to his master as if he’d been gone for hours instead of ten minutes. Sean scratched the Golden Retriever, then Bandit went to Lucy for the same greeting.
“Oh, I know who’s your favorite,” Lucy said, bending down to kiss Bandit on the top of the head. “I’m second fiddle.”
They had adopted the young dog while on their honeymoon, after Bandit’s owner was murdered. The dog had been happy and loved, but not trained. Over the last five months, Sean had Bandit obeying most every command. Bandit listened to Lucy, but worshipped Sean. Sean had started taking Bandit with him when he went out, and was getting him trained as a search and rescue dog, not only because it was a valuable skill but so he could bring him anywhere as a service dog. There was a sense of peace and purpose that had fallen over Sean when they brought Bandit home with them. Sean had even bought a new car—a Jeep Wrangler with extra-durable seats, unlike the buttery leather seats in his custom Mustang—so Bandit’s nails wouldn’t destroy them.
Lucy dropped her purse on the desk in the kitchen and sat next to Kane. “A
fter I sent the information about Hirsch to you, I called Suzanne Madeaux in the New York office. You met her at the wedding.”
Kane nodded.
“She’s going to talk to NYPD and find out who his connections were, if there’s any chatter about him. I also asked her to find out who he bunked with in prison. He was in for two short stints. But he’s been completely under the radar for twenty years.”
“JT and Jack are heading to El Paso in the morning,” Kane said. “One of the girls Bella rescued overheard something about El Paso, and Declan Cross also heard a rumor they were heading there. I called in favors and there’s chatter that something’s going down, people are antsy.”
“Who’s Declan Cross?”
“He served in the SEALs with JT and Rick, stayed longer than all of us. When he got out, he went to work for Adam and Laura Dixon, the people I told you run Genesis Road, a group that rescues sex slaves, primarily outside the U.S. Now he and Bella work for Simon Egan.”
“How’s he involved?”
“He was supposed to be backup, but Bella slipped away when he wasn’t looking.”
Lucy frowned. “He screwed up?”
Kane shrugged. “JT’s giving him the benefit of the doubt, and so far he’s been more help than hindrance, but a lot of shit has gone down over the years, and I don’t know how far I would trust him.”
Sean said, “Simon Egan runs a group like Genesis Road, only they focus in the States.”
Kane grunted. “Don’t say that to the Dixons.”
“I feel like I stepped into the middle of something,” Lucy said.
“Egan’s a former dotcom millionaire turned PI.” He said it with disdain, a tone Lucy rarely heard from the even-tempered Kane. “Questionable practices.”
“Sounds like a mess,” Nate said.
“When Bella was forced out of Seattle PD—that’s another long story—she went to work for Egan. I get it—she was frustrated with the system and the rules she had to follow, rules that ultimately benefited the predators more than the victims. JT didn’t—she’s his little sister, and with her history, he wants to protect her. He wanted her to work with Genesis. It’s run by JT and Rick’s former CO, Adam Dixon. Dix is a few years older, resigned his commission to run Genesis with his wife, Laura. After JT and I rescued Bella, she went to live with them.”
Lucy blinked. “Backup. Rescued Bella? When?”
Kane hesitated a moment. “It’s really JT’s story to tell, but he still doesn’t like to talk about it.”
“Does it pertain to what’s happening now?”
Kane nodded solemnly. “JT’s dad was a career criminal. His mother was a drug addict. That’s why JT spent so much time at our house, Sean, he had to get away. Bella is ten years younger, lived with her grandmother most of the time because their mother would go on binges and disappear for weeks. Grandma Sue.” Kane got a wistful look on his face. “She baked the best pies on the planet. I miss them.”
He glanced at Sean, then faced Lucy. “JT enlisted in the Navy, I went Marines, but we always kept in touch. JT planned on making the Navy his career. I kept re-upping because I didn’t know what else to do, and I was a good soldier. Six years in, JT found out that his father had been out of prison for nearly a year and back with his mother. Grandma Sue became ill, they took Bella from her. JT didn’t even know his father was out of prison, until he got word from Grandma Sue’s lawyer that she’d died. He went back for the funeral and Bella was gone. It took us weeks to learn that their father sold her into prostitution to pay off a debt to some asshole. Their father didn’t like Bella’s mouth—basically, Bella challenged him and when beating her didn’t work and she ran away, he found her and got rid of two of his problems—Bella and his debt.
“JT needed my help to find her, so I didn’t re-enlist. It took us months to track her down. She was moved from city to city in forced prostitution for thirteen months before we rescued her. She was fifteen by that time, and JT didn’t know how to help her. She was angry, bitter, guilty, and terrified. Dix and Laura took her in. What can you do when someone is trafficked for over a year? The prick who had her moved them around so they’d never be comfortable in one place. There were cops on their payroll, so the girls didn’t trust law enforcement. And even then, most just wanted to escape—but they had no home to go to. Stayed voluntarily? I don’t know—but when you think you have no other options, or you’re broken to the point you lose all free will, staying was de facto the only choice. Bella was bought and sold, but I suspect she felt like she should have found a way to escape. It took years before she understood the psychology of torture and threats, and how it impacted her as a young teen.”
“I had no idea,” Lucy said. But she understood what Bella had gone through. Lucy’s own ordeal was short-lived, but the guilt and fear had stayed with her for a long time. If only she’d fought harder, if only she had been smarter …
“JT doesn’t talk about it,” Kane said. “He has his own guilt over not being around when his bastard dad got out of prison. But they had something—a connection—and growing up with Dix and Laura helped. Then, a couple years ago, JT and Bella had a blowout about her working for Egan, before you and Sean hooked up.”
Lucy absorbed everything Kane said. She had known JT had a sister, but she didn’t know anything about her. What she must have endured … that she’d gotten out and made something of herself was remarkable.
“That was JT on the phone when you walked in. I had some information from Siobhan he needed to know. She and Marisol have been putting together a list of potential locations in west Texas where Hirsch might be holed up. Mostly border towns, but we’re going with the El Paso lead. Plus JT said Hirsch uses moving truck companies. He thinks he owns several independent companies all along the I-10 corridor, though Declan only knows of one by name. JT is sending us the information.”
Sean rubbed Lucy’s neck. “I’ll run the company Declan knows against similar companies and see if I can find a pattern and other connections, then we can check them out.”
“Focus on any company that’s been sold within the last month,” Kane said. “JT thinks there might have been a new transaction. The girls were moved from L.A. to Phoenix in newly painted trucks. He also wants to know if you were able to break Bella’s cover.”
Sean didn’t say anything for a beat.
“Sean?”
“Yes, I broke it. I don’t believe the average person can, however.”
“It’s that good?”
“On the surface it’s outstanding. There were falsified news reports that were uploaded into archives, a court transcript that I was able to download that looks clean. A driver’s license with a history—great fake IDs. I mean, they’re not fake—they’re the real deal, they created a real person on paper. She has a Social Security number and false employment data with a hospital in Los Angeles.”
“That’s elaborate. And illegal,” Lucy said.
“The clincher is I don’t know if the documents physically exist—other than her driver’s license. I would have to go to L.A. and try to pull the court case. If it’s actually there, they had to have bought someone off to insert it in the archives. At that point the only thing that would tip her hand was if someone went to the judge of record.”
“I don’t see these people hanging out at a courthouse pulling docs,” Nate said.
“No—and that’s a good thing,” Sean said. “Because nothing is foolproof.”
“So if her cover gets blown, it’s not because of the setup,” Kane said.
“Correct.”
“How’d you break it?” Lucy asked.
“They set up a solid background on her, but they either didn’t think to or they couldn’t hack into the small medical school she ostensibly graduated from. They forged a degree, and created a fake article about her graduation, but there’s no record at the college itself of Isabella Carter attending, let alone graduating.”
Sean handed out more beers, then sat back down.
“It shouldn’t take me long to find the trucking company he bought. We’ll check it out tomorrow.”
“Actually, you and I will be in El Paso tomorrow, unless we confirm that Hirsch isn’t there,” Kane said. “Where JT goes, we go. They’ll need back up.” He glanced at Nate. “You can help Lucy with the truck company and monitoring the local prostitution rings?”
Nate nodded.
“You’re looking for someone ripe for a takeover,” Lucy said. “Honestly, they all are. Lots of infighting, no one clearly in charge. Our best bet is to read in Tia Mancini. She’s with SAPD and I trust her. Plus, she knows the local sex business better than anyone.”
“Is she back full time?” Kane asked.
Last May Tia had been shot and nearly killed when a criminal organization targeted Lucy for assassination. “She started full-time active duty the week we returned from Colorado. She’s doing good.”
“I’m glad. Read her in as much as necessary, but we’re protecting Bella’s cover. That’s need to know.”
“Of course.”
“If we’re in El Paso and Hirsch slips away, San Antonio is going to be his next stop. While ultimately it’s JT’s decision about whether we extract Bella, if you locate her and she’s in immediate danger, don’t wait for permission.”
* * *
Nate left and Kane was bunking out in the pool house. Bandit was in his dog bed in the corner of the master bedroom. Finally, Sean had Lucy alone.
“We need to talk about something,” Sean said. He’d hoped this day wouldn’t come. Kane had told him last year he needed to tell Lucy the truth about Mona Hill, but Sean hadn’t. He should have known that everything would come around full circle.
“I knew something was bothering you all night. It’s my boss, isn’t it? I can handle what’s going on at work, but I’m not turning my back on JT or his sister.”
“That’s not it.” Sean was worried about Lucy’s job security, but only because losing her badge would hit her a lot harder than she thought. He took her hands and sat down on the end of their bed. He kissed them. “It’s about Mona Hill.”
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