Front Page Affair

by Jennifer Morey

  “I heard you were back on the island,” she said. “Keep walking.”

  They walked up the street.

  “One of Julian’s maids is missing.” Her scared eyes searched for anyone watching. “I haven’t been on the island long. I came over from St. Maarten because my boyfriend lived here. But we broke up and I miss my family. I am going back. I quit my job at the hotel and I am taking the ferry this afternoon.” She turned to face them and they all stopped on the sidewalk. “If you had not shown up today I would have left all of this behind me and not looked back. But I am glad you did.” She searched around her again.

  Braden did, too, and saw no one taking notice of them.

  The girl bit her lip and looked at the shops across the street awhile, before turning to them again. “There was a woman from South America who came here alone. A tourist. She stayed at the Frenchman’s Point Hotel.”

  Braden went still, excitement pumping through him.

  “She went to Julian’s villa and disappeared after that. And then...” Torment ravaged her, her breathing erratic. “She was killed.”

  “We read about her,” Arizona said. “You saw her go to Julian’s?”

  The clerk shook her head. “She told me that’s where she was going. Sometimes tourists talk to me. She had been there several days and had begun telling me of her trip. She was happy to have met a man.” Tears billowed in her eyes and one spilled over. “My manager...” she sobbed.

  “It’s okay, you can tell us,” Arizona said.

  “He told me never to speak of the women.”

  Braden shared a look with Arizona, who turned to the clerk.

  “Why?”

  More tears spilled over. “I do not know, but he threatened grave consequences if I did. I took a chance telling you about your sister.”

  Braden took hold of her arm and started looking for a taxi. “Come on. We’ll take you to the ferry and make sure you get on.”

  She sniffled and wiped her dark face. “Thank you.”

  Arizona trailed behind them.

  “What else can you tell us? What grave consequences was your manager referring to?”

  “Nothing he would do. He was taking money from Julian Blake in exchange for his silence. Most of the women who go to the villa...they don’t return. Julian uses the hotel for his feeding ground. With all the tourists coming and going, he has got a steady flow. Some are reported, others...”

  “We know of four women. My sister, her friend, the South American woman and a local woman.”

  “There have been at least two others.”

  “Oh, my God,” Arizona breathed from behind them. “And you never went to the police?”

  The clerk twisted to see her. “I could not. I was not afraid of my manager. Julian, however. He is not a man for someone of my station to cross. I have no one here, and the police seem to turn a blind eye on matters of concern with him.”

  Now Braden looked back at her.

  “Crawford is in on it?” she spoke her question aloud.

  “In on it or taking money like my manager.”

  “Or afraid to do anything.” Braden paid extra vigilance to his surroundings. Seeing a taxi, he raised his hand. He’d be damned if another woman would be killed in their search for Tatum and Courtney. What still confounded him was the lack of connection to stolen technology.

  “What is Julian doing with the women?” Arizona asked as the taxi pulled to a stop along the street.

  “I do not know. Torturing and killing them. Julian Blake is a sick man. I cannot wait to get off this island and never return.”

  Braden opened the back door, scanning the street and shops. Assured they hadn’t been seen, he climbed in after the women. He and Arizona would take her to the ferry and wait with her until she was on it and safely away.

  * * *

  After the ferry disappeared on the horizon, Arizona and Braden took a taxi back to their rental, which they’d parked in town. After that, they drove to Frenchman’s Point Hotel. Arizona was increasingly frightened that this would not end well.

  Braden was hell-bent on paying a visit to the hotel manager. They raced to a stop at the hotel.

  “You can wait out here if you want,” he said.

  She’d never seen him this zealous. The fire in his eyes was from more than desire to rescue his sister. This came from a piece of his past he refused to talk about.

  She climbed out of the silver Hyundai Terracan.

  Inside the lobby, people milled about, entering the elevator, checking in or out at the reception desk, which was less one clerk. The manager struggled to keep up. But his eyes shifted and caught sight of Braden’s approach.

  Arizona doubted he saw her. One look at Braden and he had to be afraid.

  He quickly finished with the guest, who smiled and left. The manager moved along the desk to the opening at the end, where he emerged to meet them.

  “Where is my sister?” Braden demanded.

  “We’ve already had this discussion.”

  “That was before I found out you were taking money from Julian.”

  Braden waited while the import of that registered. Arizona saw the man swallow. “I don’t know who you’ve been talking to, but I don’t take money from Julian.”

  “Oh, I think you do.” He stepped closer.

  The manager stepped back. “You don’t understand.”

  “Don’t I?” Braden kept stepping closer until the manager could back up no more; the wall was at his back beside the entrance to the rear of the counter.

  “Who were you talking to? That idiotic clerk of mine? I’m glad she’s gone. She was a nuisance.”

  Reaching up, Braden fisted both sides of the man’s suit jacket. Pulling him forward, he shoved him back against the wall. Hard.

  “Where is my sister?”

  “I don’t have any idea.”

  Such rage tightened Braden’s features, she wondered if he’d explode. “Braden?”

  The manager’s eyes slid to hers in trepidation.

  “Tell me now.”

  “I swear, I don’t know. I swear. I never go to Julian’s villa.”

  “But you take his money. How does he give it to you? After the women get into the cab you call for them?”

  “No. Please.”

  With a roar, Braden swung the man around, letting go of his jacket. The man sailed across the lobby. A young couple stopped talking and laughing, the woman gasping. An older couple let the elevator doors slide shut without getting inside.

  Braden approached the manager.

  Oh, no.

  Arizona hurried to him, touching his arm. “This isn’t the place, Braden.”

  “The hell it isn’t.” His furious eyes turned to her. “It won’t matter where I do this.”

  She didn’t try to stop him when he resumed his assault. She wouldn’t be able to anyway.

  The manager had gotten to his feet and pivoted when he saw Arizona’s efforts had failed.

  Braden caught him easily, long before he made it to the door, hauling him around and slugging him on the jaw. The manager staggered and the young woman gasped again. The old man with his wife pressed the elevator button again. The door opened and he took his wife inside.

  Meanwhile, Braden didn’t stop. He slugged the manager twice more, sending the poor man to the floor.

  The man with his young wife took out his cell phone.

  The manager raised his hand to ward off more beatings. “All right. All right.”

  Feet wide, fists clenched, Braden stood over him, unaffected by his bleeding face.

  The manager took him in from foot to forehead. “I do take money. But only because I have no other choice.”

  “No other choice?”


  “You don’t understand. If I didn’t cooperate, he’d kill me.”

  “Since you’re making money to oblige him, I’m sure it wasn’t a tough decision for you.”

  The man shook his head. “He’d kill me.”

  “Why did he take my sister? Why Tatum?”

  “She came here looking for the other one.”

  “Courtney?”

  The man nodded, climbing to his feet, wiping his bloody mouth.

  “Why did Courtney come here?”

  “I don’t know.”

  “What about my sister?”

  “I don’t know about her, either.”

  Braden moved a step closer.

  “I swear. I don’t know! I didn’t get paid for that one. She went straight to the villa after asking about Courtney. She didn’t stay here.”

  Now Arizona approached. “What do you mean you didn’t get paid for that one? That one what?”

  He eyed her hesitantly, and then Braden.

  “What’s Julian doing with all those women?” Arizona asked.

  “He...keeps them.”

  “Keeps them?”

  “Yeah, you know...like a harem.” He looked warily up at Braden, who’d gone stone still.

  A harem? It made no sense. What did that have to do with stealing laser target designator technology?

  Chapter 16

  Arizona followed Braden into the police station. He’d cooled down a little since discovering his sister could be held captive with other women to satisfy Julian’s perverse activities. Inside the reception area, a black woman looked up and saw them. Braden kept walking, pushing through a swinging half door and continuing on his way.

  “Sir?” The black woman headed toward him. “You can’t go back there.”

  Arizona fell in step behind her, seeing Crawford sitting in his office. He stood up and moved around his desk as Braden and Arizona entered the office.

  “It’s okay,” he said to the agitated clerk, who glared at Braden and shook her head as she turned and went back to the front.

  “You never went to check Julian’s villa and you never went to question Patty Williams, did you.” Braden wasn’t asking.

  Crawford put his hands on his hips, regarding Braden a few too many seconds, a caught man. “Why are you here?”

  Braden stepped close, threatening with the sheer energy of his anger. “Cut the crap, Detective. We know you’re on Julian’s payroll.”

  “I never took any money from him. I’ve told you before, I have no evidence on him. I need proof to bring him in.”

  “You’d risk that? Aren’t you afraid like everyone else? Isn’t it easier to turn the other way when women disappear?”

  Crawford was growing angrier. “I don’t turn the other way.”

  “How does it feel when they end up dead? How does it feel knowing you could have done something to save their lives?”

  “If I could have saved their lives I would have.” His voice rose.

  “I don’t see you trying very hard to do that.”

  Lowering his arms, Crawford went to the office door and shut it. Several faces sitting at the handful of desks averted. Then he faced Braden, barely acknowledging Arizona.

  “You don’t understand what I’m up against.”

  “An arms dealer who keeps a harem locked up in his villa?”

  Crawford didn’t respond.

  There was more. Arizona went on high alert. “What else is going on at the villa?”

  Crawford didn’t stop staring at Braden, stress and angst low on his brow. “You can’t beat this.”

  “Beat what?” Arizona asked.

  Braden remained silent.

  “Most of the time Julian keeps them for a few weeks, maybe months, and then he gets rid of them when new replacements come in. But your sister knew things about his organization. She’s dangerous.”

  “You knew all of this and you did nothing? You could arrest Julian.” Braden’s fists were clenched at his sides just as they had been with the hotel manager.

  “If I had proof, I’d arrest him. Solid proof.”

  “The testimony of my sister and any other woman held captive would be enough proof. You don’t go there and free them because Julian pays you not to.”

  “I told you, I don’t take money from Julian.”

  “Then why not raid his house? You should have done that months ago. A lot of women are dead and they shouldn’t be. Why haven’t you done anything to help them?”

  “Because I can’t!” Crawford shouted. “There’s nothing I or anyone else can do to stop Julian.”

  Braden leaned so that his face was inches from the detective’s. “Your answer is to give up?”

  “You can’t save your sister. If she isn’t dead now, she will be soon.”

  Braden brought up his arm and punched him. Crawford’s head jerked back with the impact and made him lose his balance. He stumbled backward, holding his jaw.

  “Yes, I can. Because unlike you, I’m not a coward. I’m not afraid to stand up to Julian. I’m not afraid.” He strode out of the office.

  Arizona sent her reproach to Crawford. “You don’t deserve to be in law enforcement. People depend on you for protection and you just stand by and allow men like Julian to rape and murder innocent women.”

  He’d lowered his hand during her admonishment. “This is about more than Julian. His organization is much bigger than you realize. Go home while you still can. I’ll get Julian when the time is right.”

  “The time is right now.” She traced Braden’s path out of the office, the door open, with workers watching again.

  * * *

  She and Braden went back to the house above Julian’s, finding everything just as they’d left it. Braden stood with the binoculars at the window. Nothing would stop him now. He would wait for the opportunity, and probably nightfall, to strike.

  “Julian’s father is still there,” Braden said.

  She went to his side and picked up her own binoculars. Carlos Ramirez stood on one of the back balconies that must be off the bedrooms on the upper level of the villa. A man of about fifty, he spoke into a cell phone. Shouting, more like.

  “Why is he so angry?”

  “Maybe he found out what Julian’s been doing in his villa.”

  Her cell phone rang. She went over to the coffee table where she’d left it. “Lincoln.”

  “Hey, Arizona. I’ve got some news for you and Braden. Put your phone on speaker. He’s going to want to hear this.”

  Lowering her phone, she pressed the button to engage the speaker. Braden had lowered the binoculars when the phone rang, curious who had called.

  “Braden’s here,” she said.

  He approached, putting the binoculars down.

  “I had an interesting talk with my friend. You remember, the one who works for ICE?”

  The Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent. “Yes.”

  Braden sat on the couch. Arizona joined him, sliding the phone to the edge of the table.

  “He isn’t working the arms dealer case, but he has access to the files. The team did do an investigation of American Freight Forwarding Services. The shipments were done using Tatum’s passwords, and they couldn’t charge her because she could prove she was nowhere near the company when the transaction occurred.”

  Things they already knew.

  “But he had some interesting information on the arms dealer. His name is Leonardo Gallegos. Ex-military. Left the country five years ago and started up an arms trafficking organization. He’s notorious for opening front companies to facilitate deals. The ICE team caught up to him last year and almost made an arrest. He disappeared from France where agents traced him and they’ve been searching fo
r him ever since. Now he turns up in this American Freight deal, and they’ve lost him again.”

  “We have some news for you, too, that you should pass on to your friend,” Arizona said.

  Braden went on to explain the sex operation Julian Blake was running, and that he paid certain townspeople to either help him or silence them.

  “Crawford is dirty?” Lincoln asked.

  “I wouldn’t say dirty,” Braden said with distaste. “Just scared.”

  “And he’s a cop?” Lincoln grunted.

  “He said Julian’s operation is bigger than we realize,” Arizona said.

  “If he’s involved with Gallegos, it is.”

  She shared her confused speculation with Braden, his green eyes intelligent and glowing. Could Gallegos be connected to Julian somehow? Was his insurance underwriter job a disguise?

  “I’ll send over a picture of Gallegos to Arizona’s phone. If you catch any sight of him with Julian, let me know.”

  Arizona ended the call.

  “Why would Gallegos come here?”

  She retrieved the photo Lincoln sent and sucked in a shocked breath. She showed it to Braden. Around fifty, on the tall side, and skinny, Leonardo Gallegos wore a tan suit and was standing with two other men dressed in jeans and T-shirts. His salt-and-pepper hair was thick and cut short, and he had a well-groomed beard. He looked exactly like Carlos Ramirez.

  “Call Lincoln back.”

  She did. “Leonardo Gallegos is Carlos Ramirez,” she said when Lincoln answered. “We just saw him on one of the villa balconies.”

  Lincoln was quiet for a few beats. “All right. You two stay put. This is enough to bring in the cavalry. Where are you now?”

  “At the house we’re using to spy on Julian,” Arizona answered.

  “It won’t be long. Twenty-four hours. The ICE team working this are eager to get Gallegos.”

  Arizona smiled at Braden. That was good news for them, and especially Tatum and Courtney.

  “Be ready tomorrow. Don’t try anything on your own tonight.”

  Braden stood and went to the window. She could feel his anxiousness to be proactive. Waiting a day would kill him. But he’d keep watch. And hopefully he wouldn’t see anything that made him go there, as Lincoln had warned, on his own.