“Keep me updated.” Clay disconnected and saw Trent and Blake leave the interview room.
Clay raced to the door. “Trent, a word. Now!”
Trent spun. “You want in on bringing Ursula in? Fine. Follow me.”
“No.” Clay grabbed Trent’s shoulder. “Toni’s been abducted. Looks like it’s Ursula in a car rented by Sharkey.” Clay handed the paper with the vehicle’s details to Trent and shared Drake’s call. “We need an alert put out on the car.”
“I’ll do it from my vehicle.” Trent spun. “Let’s move.”
“We need a plan,” Clay called after him.
“We’ll make one on the way.” Trent marched down the hallway.
Blake followed. “Hibbard told us where to find Ursula. She’s moving the girls tonight. We have to stop her.”
“Yes, of course.” Clay’s mind spun. “But what if she’s not taking Toni there? What if she’s taking Toni somewhere else?”
“Then we’ll need your brothers’ help.” Trent pushed open the exit door and faced Clay. “We’re going to search for the girls. Either come with us or wait for your brothers to show up with another lead. Your choice.”
Toni followed the narrow drive among tall trees lining the way, certain now that Ursula was her kidnapper, which meant she had to be involved in trafficking the girls. Toni didn’t know how or why, as there’d been no hint of this woman’s involvement in the operation, but why else would she take Toni? Hopefully Toni would have an answer to that soon.
The driveway opened into a large clearing with three buildings—a house, a large metal barn-like structure, and an actual wood barn that looked fairly new. Light shone from under the door of the wooden structure.
A semi-truck was backed up to the barn, and a stocky man stood at a door with a rifle—not big barn doors, but a regular-size entrance door. He wore a ball cap, a heavy jacket, and jeans. A solid shank of metal, chains, and a padlock held the main door closed. Much like the lock at the school. A prison.
“Park by the last building,” Ursula said.
Toni drove slowly to get the lay of the land and plan an escape route. Underbrush encroached on the buildings as if no one had tended to this property in quite some time. With the recent wildfires in Oregon, it should all be cut back for a firebreak. If a wildfire burned nearby, the whole place would go up in flames. But maybe this was a temporary home for Ursula. A home for what? Trafficked girls?
Toni reached the door, shifted into park, and tried to get a better look at the man.
Ursula jabbed her gun into Toni’s side. “Get out.”
Toni killed the engine and grabbed the keys.
“Leave them,” Ursula demanded.
Toni did as she was told and got out. A fog was settling over the property and left her feeling wet and cold. She took long breaths to fortify herself for what she would find behind the guarded door. If this was where Ursula kept the girls she trafficked, Toni would have to find a way to save them too.
Ursula shoved her gun into Toni’s back. “Inside the barn. Go.”
Toni took her time, giving the guy who opened the door for them a don’t mess with me look. He replied with a snide grin.
She fisted her hands and considered all the ways she would make him and Ursula pay. Not physically with her own arms, but with the long arm of the law. She’d get them on kidnapping, assault and battery, sex trafficking… She’d probably think of a few more charges before the night was over. When these two were behind bars, they’d never see the light of day again.
Light spilled out, and she stepped into the building. The front was partitioned off. There was a small door with a steel bar, chain, and padlock. Another guard stood at this door, this guy sturdy and rugged-looking too. She turned her attention to the space. Folding chairs and end tables holding pornographic magazines sat by the chairs. If not for the magazines, the guard, and the massive lock on the inner door, it could be any business.
She smelled recently sawn wood. Everything looked new, as if this operation had just opened. Maybe they’d moved here after the high school.
“Through the door,” Ursula said.
The guard opened it, but Toni didn’t move and Ursula shoved her inside a long hallway. “Come with us, Tanner.”
Toni took a good look at the new area as she walked, vaguely aware of Ursula’s and Tanner’s footsteps behind her. Each side of the hallway had four doors. One was open, and Toni looked in to see the dreaded bunk beds, but this time, they weren’t empty. Two girls per bed sat up and looked at Toni, despair dulling each pair of eyes.
Toni’s heart crumpled for them. How could they go on each day?
Toni wanted to swipe an arm at Ursula and try to get away to free these girls. But even if Toni managed to escape, Tanner or the guard at the front would stop them.
“All the way to the back,” Ursula directed.
Toni gave the girls a look that she hoped said I’m on your side and I’ll be back for you before she marched down the hallway to the end. The door was secured by the same kind of heavy lock. The guard got it open and stepped back to give Toni access.
A space the width of the building was set up as a one-room apartment with a tiny kitchen, living area, and two beds. Two children slept in one of the beds, a woman in the other.
Ursula flipped on the light.
The woman rolled. She brushed her dark hair from her face to reveal eyes wild with fear as she got to her feet.
Toni came to a sudden stop, and her mouth dropped open. She was looking at herself only with aged skin, wrinkles, and worry lines around her eyes. Maybe ten to fifteen years older.
“Lisa?” Toni asked. “Is that you?”
Choice? What kind of choice had Trent given Clay? He didn’t know where Ursula was taking Toni. He knew nothing about the woman other than that she’d been married to Rader. He couldn’t predict how she would act. Would she want to oversee the movement of the girls or steer clear of it?
Perhaps she would normally stay away, but with Hibbard and Sharkey in jail, she had no choice. Just what Clay had counted on when he’d jumped into the back seat of Trent’s cruiser after grabbing his vest and assault rifle from his borrowed SUV.
Clay’s phone dinged. He looked at the satellite view Erik sent of the address Trent was racing toward.
Clay read the message. “Place belongs to the RRH Corp. Erik dug into the corporate documents. RRH stands for Richey Rich Hibbard.”
“He didn’t mention this place,” Blake said.
“Looks like he’s trying to hide behind his company.” Another text came in, and Clay read it. “Hibbard has six properties under this company name. He isn’t mentioned in any of the corporate filings, but Erik dug deep and found the ownership information.”
“No wonder you couldn’t find Hibbard,” Blake said. “He had all these hidden places to retreat to.”
“Erik also sent the satellite image for our target location. Three buildings, a house, and two barns. One looks temporary. Lots of brush overgrowth. Place doesn’t look like it’s been cared for.”
“What are our options to breach the perimeter?” Trent asked.
“One entrance. Mile long drive. Surrounded by wooded land. We should be able to approach on foot from the highway. There’s foot access about a half mile beyond the drive and then a mile hike to the place.” Clay would hand the phone to Blake to view for a second opinion, but the metal mesh meant to keep a prisoner at bay was in Clay’s way. “I can text the image to you, Blake, if you want to confirm my suggestion.”
“Sure thing,” Blake said.
Clay forwarded the satellite image and sat back to think about their approach. “The trafficked girls—if we’re right on the large number—would have to be housed in one of the two barns. They could be escorted to the house when a john comes around. Or maybe they have rooms in the barn too.”
“Either way, it’s likely we’ll find them in one of the barns.” Trent pointed out the front window. “Driveway’s just ahead.”
<
br /> Clay watched the road as Trent’s headlights cut through thick fog trying to smother the dark roadside.
“Satellite is just as you described it, Clay,” Blake said. “I concur with your plan.”
“Okay, I’ll park ahead, and we’ll go in on foot,” Trent said. “We need to be prepared for armed guards.”
“Fog should help us,” Clay said, imagining what was at the end of the driveway and praying that Toni was there.
Because if not, he’d tossed the dice and made a fatal choice.
27
“Yeah, I’m, Lisa.” The woman eyed Toni. “Who are you?”
“Your sister.”
“Surprise.” Ursula’s sarcastic tone grated on Toni. “Isn’t it nice that the two of you could meet before you leave this earth?”
Lisa snapped her gaze to Ursula. “Richey won’t let you do anything to harm me.”
“The fool’s gone and got himself arrested. With everything he’s done, he won’t be coming back, and I have no use for you. But Rachel’s another matter. Take her, Tanner.”
The guard stepped in, jerked the girl from the bed, but left the boy behind. She looked to be ten or eleven and resembled pictures Toni had seen of herself at that age.
“Mom,” the girl cried out.
Lisa charged forward, and Ursula pointed her gun at Lisa. “One more step and Henry won’t have a mother.”
Lisa looked at the bed where a boy who seemed to be about five lay unmoving. She shifted her focus to the guard dragging the girl in fuzzy footie pajamas out the door. She was sobbing and calling out to Lisa. Over and over. Her voice was strained and pitiful.
Toni ached to go to her. To the girl who had to be Toni’s niece.
Please don’t let them take her. Don’t let them hurt her. Help me to free everyone.
Ursula backed to the door. “I’ll give you some time to get acquainted.”
“Wait,” Toni said. “Why bring me here? Why didn’t you just kill me?”
“You don’t have a clue, do you?”
“Clue about what?”
“Zack Wilshire. The fifteen-year-old boy you put into juvie for bank robbery not more than six months ago. He was innocent. Got shanked in juvie. Died. He was my son.”
Toni had to work hard not to gasp. She remembered the boy. He’d been part of a group of boys who terrorized a local bank clerk and nearly left her for dead.
But she’d said his last name was Wilshire. Could he be Nolan Wilshire’s child? A child no one mentioned until now. Toni had to know. “Nolan Wilshire’s child?”
“You know about him, do you?” A self-satisfied smile crossed Ursula’s lips. “We were lovers once, but he couldn’t handle losing his other children. Didn’t even complain when I left when Zach was a baby. I don’t think to this day he thinks of him as his son. And now he’s gone. So I’ll take your niece as payment. But don’t worry. I’ll let her live. She’ll service my clients for years. Then, who knows. I might let her go.” Ursula laughed and backed out of the room, her gaze wild and unfocused.
Toni suspected she was half mad and half evil. There would be no reasoning with her. She stepped out, and she heard the bar slide into place, and the chain jingling.
Lisa ran to the door and jerked on it. Pushed frantically. It didn’t budge.
“I have to get to Rachel.” Lisa shot a look around the room. There was only one exit and no window. A sob wrenched from her throat, and she fell to her knees on the hard ground. “Oh, God, no. Not Rachel. Please.”
Toni put her hand on Lisa’s shoulder to comfort her.
Lisa jerked back, her gaze that of a captive animal afraid for her life. “Don’t touch me.”
Toni raised her hands and backed off. She needed to get Lisa talking. Maybe then Toni could figure a way out of there. “I can’t believe you’re alive after all these years.”
“I always hoped Dad would find me. He was DEA, after all. But he must’ve given up. Thought I was dead.” She lifted her chin. “Maybe when you were born. He had a replacement. He didn’t need me anymore.”
“No, don’t say that. He never gave up. He died a year ago still trying to find you.”
“Richey showed me his picture in the paper in a story about him being killed, but he wouldn’t let me read the details. And he never told me I had a sister.” She ran her gaze over Toni. “If you’re telling the truth. This could be one of Ursula’s mean jokes. She likes to punish me because Richey took me out of the rooms and made me exclusively his.”
So Hibbard had taken a liking to Lisa. Likely fathered these children. As much as Toni was grossed out by the thought, it was better than years forced to abide the touch of hundreds of men.
None of that mattered anymore. The only important thing was escaping with the girls. “I don’t see a way out of here.”
“There isn’t one. They make sure of that. No windows. No daylight unless we’re chained and cuffed and paraded outside for fresh air so we don’t look so pale.” She shuddered and wrapped her arms around her waist. “And now they’ve taken Rachel.”
“What’s her full name?”
“Rachel Sarah Long, though she has no birth certificate. She’s eleven and Henry David is five. I had her and Henry in places not fit for animals.” She ran a trembling hand over her hair.
“Rachel left her initials on a paper in the high school and at the beach house.”
“She what?” Lisa’s eyes got wide with fear. “If they’d caught her, they would’ve killed her.” She jerked on the door handle again. “Maybe it’s better than what they have planned for her. Oh, God, I have to get to her.”
A hint of smoke snaked into the room. Toni had seen a large firepit in the yard.
“Do you smell that?” Toni asked, trying hard not to panic.
“The firepit,” Lisa said.
Toni looked at the floor. Smoke seeped through the crack.
Toni pointed under the door. “Not with this much smoke. Ursula’s set the building on fire.”
Seemed like fire was Ursula’s thing. She could very well have set the fire at the school and hotel.
Toni had to figure out how to get out alive. How to get a bunch of girls, her sister, and her nephew out before the smoke or flames overcame them all.
“Smoke,” Clay said and shot a look around. Now was not the time for the stealth approach they’d planned. Now was the time for action.
He burst past Trent and Blake and barreled through the trees. Branches slapped at his body, but he didn’t care. Toni could be in the barn. Or the house. The girls too. And it could be on fire.
If Ursula set this fire, she could also have set the one at the hotel and high school. Could be her choice method to kill.
He had to hurry. Move. He plowed ahead. Reached the clearing and stopped behind a large tree. The small car rented by Sharkey was parked by the house.
“Thank you, God,” he whispered, but lost his voice when he saw fire crackling through the barn wall.
Toni could be in there. So could the girls. No sign of anyone, but a semi-truck sat out front of the barn, and a light shone from the house.
Were the girls in the barn? Toni?
“Rental car’s here,” he whispered to the others who’d come up behind him. “Means Toni’s on the property somewhere. Light at the house. Likely Ursula. Maybe Toni.”
Flames burst through the roof of the barn and high-pitched screams shrieked from inside.
“The girls,” Clay said. “They’re inside. We have to get them out.”
“Someone needs to go to the house to stop Ursula from leaving,” Trent said.
Clay had another choice to make and a split second to make it. Was Toni at the house or in the barn? Ursula obviously wanted Toni dead. So if the barn was on fire, Clay would find Toni there.
“I’ll arrange for backup. Trent got out his phone. “But put them on standby. Don’t want anyone rushing in and alerting Ursula to our presence.”
“Good,” Clay said. Out in this rural a
rea deputies were few and far between and it would be good to have someone waiting if needed.
Trent looked at Clay before he made the call. “You and Blake take the barn. I’ll take the house. I’ll keep my phone on vibrate, so you can update me.”
Clay bolted for the front door. The screams intensified. Girls crying out for his help. His gut clenched over their distress. He grabbed the padlock and shook it, but the heavy-duty lock was bolt-cutter proof. “No way we’re getting this off.”
“Let’s check the sides.” Blake started off.
Clay passed him by as the smoke oozed out of the siding. He shone the beam from his phone’s flashlight along the wall. At the ground. Searching. Hunting. Trying to find a way into the building.
He spotted an old chain-link fence. “I’ll free a post. You find a place where we can wedge it into the building and pry off some of the boards to get in.”
Clay grabbed the post and started working it free. He heard Blake moving by the wall. In the background, the girls cries grew hysterical. Clay offered a frantic prayer.
“Got a spot,” Blake called out.
Clay shimmied the post free and charged toward the light Blake was focusing on a hole. Clay jammed the pole in and pried. He loosened a board and ripped it free but came up against drywall. He’d have to break through that too. He pried a few additional boards loose and rammed the pole through the wallboard. Once. Twice. Three times. Then he backed up and looked inside.
A small apartment. A woman huddling with a boy on the bed. A second woman by the door jamming the handle of a cast iron pan into the wall. She turned.
“Toni! Over here.” He spit the words out between coughs. “I’ll clear a place for you to get out.”
She shook her head. “The girls are in there. I have to get them.”
“I’m coming.” He summoned every ounce of strength to kick a hole large enough to slide into the smoky space. He looked at the woman cradling the boy, covering his mouth and nose with a blanket. “Go out the back.”
She didn’t move. Shock?
“Now, Lisa!” Toni yelled. “You’ll be free.”
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