by William Mark
“There is a man on the phone from Denver; says he’s from the Orion Project? And says he has information on the homicide you guys are working.”
Orion Project? He asked himself, not finding an answer within. “Okay, get a number, and I’ll call him back.”
The haggard-faced detective left the investigations division and walked through the lobby of the police station where a small throng of media reporters was awaiting a statement. Rankin ducked them but quickly drew the attention of a young, skinny reporter with thick rimmed glasses claiming to be from the Rocky Mountain News. The reporter attempted to gain his attention by putting his hand on the detective’s shoulder. He remembered seeing him at the crime scene some ten hours before. Rankin sloughed him off, ignored him, and walked outside, lighting up a cigarette.
He took a long, slow drag as he felt the warm, autumn sun beaming down on his tired body. He let the smoke fill his lungs and exhaled, enjoying the nicotine fix that he’d been craving. He fished out his cell phone and dialed the number for the guy at the Orion Project, hoping he wasn’t wasting his time. But he remained positive and hopeful about the potential the phone call had, knowing that informational calls such as these, this early in the game, usually meant they were credible.
“Detective Rankin?” a man’s voice asked on the other line.
“Yes. I was told you have information on an investigation I’m working?”
“I believe I have five witnesses to your homicide.”
“Okay, I’m listening.”
Chapter 20
Louis Melton slipped out of the lobby of the Vail Police Department after removing the tiny listening bug from the lapel of the detective’s jacket. With the finesse of a pickpocket, he had snuck the bug on him as he left the crime scene earlier that morning without his noticing. The detective had been too annoyed with the reporter’s questions to notice he was placing a microscopic transmitter under the lapel of his jacket.
Louis found a quiet café within range of the bug and listened to the briefing held by the senior detective. He eavesdropped on Rankin’s briefing, using headphones and giving the appearance he was listening to music. He learned a lot about the investigation and needed to update the team who had left for Denver earlier that morning. As he jumped into the rental car, he placed a call to Alexis who placed him on speaker phone.
Unlike the dingy, bare-walled conference room of the Vail Police Department, Alexis had reserved a much more comfortable board room on the eighth floor of the Coloradan Hotel in downtown Denver for the team to hold conference.
“Hello, Louis?”
“Yes, I’m here.”
“Okay, so what do they know? How bad is it?” Alexis showed her concern as she stood at the head of the table instead of sitting. Instinctively, she bit at her nails, a sure sign she was worried.
Through the speaker phone, Louis’s whiny voice filled the small meeting room as he relayed the facts as they were given by Detective Rankin. He made sure he mentioned the call from someone at the Orion Project just before he left the police station. The team took a collective gasp as they heard about the call. They delivered the human trafficking victims to a safe haven as planned, and that’s what really mattered. For the team to continue to exist and move forward with the mission, this potentially deadly problem must be resolved. While that notion simmered, Louis continued about the evidence left behind and the numerous fingerprints that were found. When he told the team the detective keyed in on the earpiece Rachel lost during her attack by Cortez, she winced at her potential mistake and how it could cost the team.
Alexis excused herself from the meeting to make a phone call to her contact at the Orion Project. The broken deal made her upset. She hissed through the phone at her contact but learned that the contact’s supervisor had gone behind their back after learning about the shooting. They had overheard the interviews of the girls and matched it up with the news coverage on television and put it together. It was out of the contact’s control. They argued briefly about the arrangement they had agreed upon, but ultimately, the damage was done. She blamed the breach of contract on the political aspirations of the supervisor who wanted to make a name on the sensationalistic story surrounding the rescue of the girls. However, the contact reassured her that no names of the team would ever be mentioned. Alexis hoped that was true.
“Remind me to cancel that check,” Alexis said under her breath as she re-entered the meeting.
“So what do we do now?” Beth asked, looking at Alexis.
“Well, we have to keep monitoring the investigation to see how close they get, but we should probably move on like nothing happened,” Alexis offered. She searched the room for any dissidence and read the displeasure of how the operation went down on the faces of Melinda and Beth. She looked at Rachel and excused the rest of the team. She wanted to hear from her first-hand the sequence of events from the rescue in Vail. She would hear from Curt later.
The team left the meeting room to find lunch as Rachel stayed behind. She felt like she was in the principal’s office after being caught smoking in the bathroom.
The shrill of Alexis’s phone came from within the briefcase at her feet. She reached down and pulled it out. She read the caller ID, and her shoulders sagged as she recognized the number.
“Shit!” She said this before answering the phone with the best and the most courteous voice she could manage. Her tone hid the loathsome feelings she had toward the caller.
Rachel and Curt, who now stood outside the room, were both curious as to who the caller was and what he was calling about. Given the timing of the incident the night before and her adverse reaction, they both knew it wasn’t good.
They listened as Alexis seemed to deceive the caller who was asking questions about her visit to Denver and the shooting the night before. Alexis denied the two were related and explained her presence in Denver was to visit a sick friend who had quickly fallen ill and that anything else was merely a coincidence. She managed to sound convincing, but her face held a look of skepticism as to whether or not it was working.
After a few minutes, Alexis hung the phone up and glared over at Rachel and then on to Curt.
“That was Tony Mason wanting to know why I was in Denver.” She filed her phone away in frustration and then with complete sarcasm asked, “Can this get any better?”
Curt met her look with equal worry on his face, for he knew the name as well. Rachel looked back and forth between Alexis and Curt, trying to figure out who Mason was and why his calling was a bad thing.
Curt answered as he saw Rachel waiting, “He’s a dick reporter from L.A. who has been busting her chops for almost a year now about her possible ties to a secret team of Crusaders who operate outside the law.”
“Holy shit, really?”
Alexis continued biting at her nails as she was lost in thought.
Curt continued, “He managed to get one of our re-connects to talk, but they didn’t say that much initially. But Alexis’ name managed to come up, and he jumped all over that because he knew her through the newspaper circles. Needless to say, we reached out to that family and they managed to get the boy to recant before any real damage was done. He’s smelled blood in the water ever since.”
“So he could blow everything out of the water for us?”
“Pretty much. And the problem is that’s what he wants to do. Totally expose us,” Alexis answered. “However good he is, he has nothing concrete on us. For now. But that could change, so let’s just move on. Rachel, are you ready?”
“Um, yeah.”
With patience afforded to Rachel, Alexis listened as she told her how the operation was put into place on the fly and the reasoning behind such haste. They had moved fast but carefully with each step. Rachel continued explaining about putting Louis Melton undercover posing as a “John” and using Melinda and Beth as a realtor and her client for a distraction while she and Curt snuck the girls out of the house. Rachel emphasized that the only reason she d
ecided to alter the plan and go in the house was because not all girls were accounted for. Rachel backed up her decision for going in and reiterated that she would have done it again given the same circumstance. Rachel cited her experience as a child as motivation and why she wasn’t going to leave those girls in the house, no matter the danger. Alexis nodded, agreeing, as she was well aware of her tragic past.
Rachel divulged to Alexis that she thought she was going to die at the hands of the traffickers if not for Curt. She begged Alexis not to impose any kind of punishment on him and said she would accept all responsibility. It was a gesture not out of her character and one of the prime reasons Alexis had recruited Rachel to the team in the first place.
“I’ll do whatever I need to do to keep the team going.”
“I know, but the violence is what brings the attention, and he knows that.”
Rachel thought about the tortured man she had kissed the night before after he had saved her life. He was no longer a complete mystery, and that made her feel closer to him. It was difficult to look at him when they first arrived in Denver with what happened the night before. As she sat down in the meeting room, Curt made it easy for her as he greeted her with a warm smile, as if to say, “Everything will be okay.”
“Fine. But it was necessary in this case.” Rachel got up and left the meeting room. Curt was waiting just outside, sipping on a hot cup of coffee, and standing anxiously in his trench coat. They locked eyes with the same tension as the night before, but the unanswered question still lingered as to what last night meant.
“Come on in, Curtis,” Alexis said. He walked in the room and took a seat next to hers at the head of the table.
“You know this exposes us, and Mason calling me now proves that. It doesn’t help that the supervisor at the Orion Project is bringing those girls forward. I was hoping there would’ve been a comfortable grace period before that actually occurred, but it doesn’t matter now. Apparently, he got at least one of them to talk about what really happened last night and is putting them in touch with the detectives in Vail. Let’s hope they can’t identify you and Rachel by name. I’m not happy about the prints, and it will take some serious hacker magic from Louis to make that go away. Plus, the thing with the earpiece is unsettling.”
“I’m not going to make an excuse because there is no need. I did the right thing. Those guys were going to kill her, and I don’t have to justify myself to you.”
Alexis’ head snapped up, and she glared at Curt. She had watched him in self-destructive mode for the last two years and gladly cleaned up his messes without question—mainly because he was truly gifted in their pursuit of finding missing children, but his words dug deep into her heart.
Alexis spoke slowly and softly but purposefully at Curt, trying to remain calm. “No, you don’t. And I believe that you had no choice in killing those men. If it had to be Rachel or those men, I’m glad it was Rachel who was spared. But what you fail to realize is that there is a greater good here, and I can’t have you jeopardizing that in any way. I will protect it no matter what, and if that means I have to sever ties with you, then so be it.”
Curt instantly thought about Josh. He had been on a personal rampage looking in all corners of the country for his lost son with nothing to show for it. The hope of finding Josh one day was the only thing keeping him going, and unfortunately, he felt that hope dwindling fast. He knew the best chance of finding Josh was with the help of the team Alexis had put together, and the possibility of his being excused from that team left him empty. The last ounce of control in his life was about to slip away and be lost in the tumultuous whirlwind that surrounded the deaths of two human traffickers. His body started to go numb.
“Don’t take this away from me.” He realized just how much he needed the team.
“I’m not, Curtis. I’m protecting you, and I promise it’s only temporary. Mason will probably be on the hunt soon, so we need to move.”
He ignored the tear, letting it roll down his cheek and fall to the floor. He was frozen in his chair. He had been to countless towns and cities looking for Josh and ended up finding other lost children in his place. He proudly brought them back to their parents’ loving arms where they belonged. However, it was not enough to wash the stain from his soul.
“So, now what?”
“You lay low. You can help monitor activities from the van, but I don’t want you involved. Where is your gun, the one you used last night?”
“On me. Why?”
“We should secure it someplace safe, don’t you think?”
Curt didn’t see the point of storing it somewhere. If the Vail Police managed to find him for questioning, he would want the gun with him, for he knew he was justified and wouldn’t hide beyond that. He also realized that running from the scene had made him look guilty and thus, was why Alexis wanted to secure the gun.
“I’ll take care of it,” he said, begrudgingly.
“Thank you Curtis.”
***
Louis Melton arrived in Denver shortly after lunchtime and met up with the team, except for Alexis and Curt, at the hotel. After finishing up with their food, they figured the best medicine for the climactic drama hangover from the night before was to move on and continue with the mission. They discussed the next step and how they would head for the lower Midwest, starting with Oklahoma City. They would head out first thing in the morning.
“That’s some serious bullshit, that guy at Orion ratting us out like that. I mean, Alexis gave them a huge donation, and this is the kind of thanks she gets. I think that’s pretty awful,” Beth complained.
Rachel stopped eating her lunch and addressed Beth. “Well, I don’t like it either, but when you think about it, the guy is just looking out for the best interests of the girls.”
“How you figure that?”
“Well, they need that special kind of visa right?”
“Yeah, the T visa.”
“Well, by talking to them and getting the truth, they take the first step toward getting that visa; it assures them the safety they need when you think about it.”
Beth did think about it but still didn’t like it. Melinda looked over at the young girl and her pouty face.
“She’s right Beth; they are only looking out for what’s best for those girls. They don’t really care about what we are doing. So you can’t blame them.”
“Whatever.”
“Do you guys know who Tony Mason is?” Rachel asked.
Beth snapped her head up at the mention of the name. Louis glared wide-eyed in grave concern as Melinda waited for the follow up to the question before reacting.
“Why?” Beth asked.
“He apparently called Alexis just now. He asked about why she was in Denver and if it was related to the shooting in Vail.”
“Shit!” Beth and Louis said in sync with equal amounts of concern.
Melinda chimed in, “He’s been chasing us for the better part of the last year. You stay clear of him no matter what, and we’ll be fine. Alexis is very good at covering her tracks, so let her handle that guy her way.”
Rachel’s head popped up over the table as she caught Curt stepping off the elevator. He saw them in the hotel restaurant and diverted toward the group as he suddenly realized something. Rachel saw sadness. There was an even deeper sadness than normal looming over him.
Curt walked straight up to the table and skipped any pleasantries. He glared down at Louis who was chewing a large bite of his cheeseburger with an unsaid expectation. He looked up, puzzled at what the man in the trench coat wanted.
“Anything come in this morning?” He asked with a degree of desperation.
Melinda and Beth excused themselves from the table and Rachel stayed. Her body was just now feeling the full brunt of the eventful night before, and she didn’t feel like moving unless it was necessary. Louis figured out what he was referring to and rushed his chewing to answer Curt.
“Yes, a white male, but he was too old by l
ike four years,” Louis answered. Curt nodded and the desperation lifted for the moment, and he walked away.
“So, what’s that about?” Rachel asked inquisitively.
Louis had already crammed another oversized bite of his burger in his mouth, so she waited impatiently for him to finish.
“Dead kid report,” he answered with a mouth full of food and between exaggerated chews. He continued stuffing another french fry in his mouth to join the burger.
“Huh? What’s that?”
“Oh, that’s just what I call it.” Louis wiped his mouth and looked around for prying ears. “Basically, I have been able to spy on the NCIC, AP wire, VICAP, and a few other databases to learn when a dead kid’s body is discovered somewhere. You know, like they went missing for so many years and were then found dead somewhere.”
“Okay, I see what you mean now. So he’s waiting to see if his son shows up on the report, right?”
“I guess so. He asked if I could do it shortly after he joined our little merry band of misfits.”
“And you give him the report every morning?”
“Yep. Every morning.” Louis took the last of a gigantic bite of his burger, filling out his cheeks like a nerdy human squirrel.
Rachel thought about the torture each morning must bring in anticipation of the dreaded query and whether or not that would be how he learned of his son being found. It was truly awful, but then she thought of her own hellish past and the anguish she dealt with each day.
“Can you add one more to your search?”
Chapter 21
The next few days were spent trolling around Oklahoma’s capital city and went by at a tortuously slow speed for Curt as he was confined to the back of the Mercedes Sprinter, figuratively handcuffed. He had managed to stay away from alcohol since that fateful night in Vail when he took the advice of Rachel Goodwin. But the liquid escape beckoned his tormented soul when the night grew quiet, and he realized just how alone he was in the world. His body ached as he concentrated on keeping control and not lashing out and destroying everything within reach.