Jason Baumgartner. Age 24. Motor vehicle theft. Drunken and disorderly conduct. And that was just page one.
Zoe met his hard gaze with one of her own. “Phones, now.”
With the maturity of a spoiled tween, he slid the tub toward her.
“That wasn’t so hard, was it?” she said with a go fuck yourself grin.
“Hurry!” Em called. “We need to get outside.”
Zoe left the guard and his sullen expression and joined Em and Monica at the door.
“But your keyboards?” the director prompted.
“I’ll send for them! Now, please, I need to leave! I need to have my violin checked over as soon as possible!”
“Buzz them out, Baumgartner!” the director called.
The door clicked open, and Em charged out with Monica and Zoe close behind. They got in the car, and Em slid the key into the ignition. “Now we just have to make it past the gate.”
She was right. They weren’t in the clear yet.
Zoe retrieved her phone, the one with all the evidence, and sent copies of all the photos she’d taken to her work email and to Sam’s email address—just as a precaution. If her phone or her email were compromised, she needed that evidence in another safe, secure location. She looked up as the car stopped at the gate. The same guards were still manning their post. Monica rolled down her window and waved.
The tall guard stared a beat then two.
“What are they waiting for?” Em asked.
Monica leaned forward. “We’re in a bit of a hurry. A little help with the gate would be lovely!”
After another few seconds that felt like years, the man walked over to the guard station and pressed the button.
The women released a collective exhale as Em drove through the gates and left the detention center confines.
“Were you able to get anything?” Monica asked.
Zoe nodded. “Oh, yeah! I’ve got evidence of fraud, abuse, and gross negligence. Now I need to go through it and make sure that what I have will stick.”
“And the girls? The pregnant girls? Did you find anything on where they might have sent them after they delivered?” Em asked.
“What?” Monica exclaimed.
Em filled her in on everything they’d learned from Dina.
“Where are they?” Monica asked.
A chill ran down Zoe’s spine. “I found a file called due dates. It looks like they track the girls’ due dates and their delivery dates. Then there was another column listing dollar amounts. The facility has been overcharging and double charging for all sorts of services they don’t provide. I need to look into it more. That number could be what they charged for the care of a pregnant incarcerated minor. I don’t know. But there was also a bus schedule and a one-way ticket to Oklahoma City.”
“Jesus! Do you think they put these girls on a bus right after they’ve delivered?” Em asked.
Zoe swallowed hard. “I’m not sure.”
Monica gasped. “Who could be that cruel?”
Plenty of people.
There was a dark side to this world. As a reporter, Zoe was keenly aware of what people were capable of doing for money and power. These vulnerable girls could be shipped away, and the babies could be sold to the highest bidder for God knows what. The girls who had families probably had a better chance of escaping that fate. But for the teens alone in this world, the orphans, the foster kids, the ones society should do everything to protect, they often became easy victims.
Zoe glanced at her phone and prayed she’d gotten enough evidence.
Monica turned to face her from the passenger seat. “You’re going to figure it out, Zoe. You’re going to help these girls. But we did it, Zoe! We actually got in. I almost can’t believe it.”
Em shook her head. “I don’t know how you did it, Monica. Dwain Q. Leonard made my skin crawl.”
“You can thank my years in the modeling world. Dwain Q. Leonards are a dime a dozen there.”
Zoe turned to look out the window as they continued driving toward downtown Garrett. The sun hung low in the November sky. She clicked the photo icon on her smartphone and began going through the pictures. One by one, she pored over the information. This should be enough to start a formal inquiry. The Garrett Grove Rehabilitation Center for Juvenile Girls couldn’t hide behind their status as a privately owned and operated facility now. Not with this kind of evidence hanging over their head.
She’d just reached the image of the due date spreadsheet when Em’s phone rang.
Monica held up her phone. “It’s Michael.”
Em nodded and pressed a button on the steering wheel. “You’re on speaker, babe.”
“Is everyone all right?” he asked.
“We’re fine. But the girls in that God forsaken place aren’t,” Em answered.
“Were you able to find anything, Zoe?”
“Yeah, I was. I think it’s enough to take them down, but I still need to go over it more.”
“Where are you headed now?” he asked.
“Home. We should be back in a couple of hours,” Em answered.
There was a pause on Michael’s end.
“Is something wrong? Is everything okay with the baby?” Em asked.
“Billy’s fine, but there’s something I wanted to discuss with Zoe.”
Zoe looked up from the photos. “Go ahead, Michael.”
“There’s something that struck me as odd with your marriage certificate, Z.”
Zoe furrowed her brow. “I thought the civil ceremony took care of everything?”
“It did, but I still wanted to check out the Intimacy Now officiant.”
“Bud?”
“Yeah, it says Bud Roberts on your certificate. But that’s not his real name.”
“Bud could be his nickname. I don’t see what the problem is?”
“His real name is Robert Riggs. On his application to become a wedding officiant he cited his business as NLR Holdings, not Intimacy Now.”
Zoe gasped as a fresh burst of adrenaline shot through her. “Stop the car!”
Em glanced back at her. “Jesus, Zoe! What is it?”
Zoe looked around. They’d made it to Garrett’s main strip. “You can park in the diner’s lot! Over there,” she said, pointing to the closest restaurant.
“What’s going on, Zoe?” Monica asked.
Zoe grabbed a pen and notebook from her bag. Her mind was spinning. “Michael, are you still there?”
“Yeah, I’m here. I didn’t mean to freak you out, Z. I just wanted you to know that this Bud Roberts, Robert Riggs guy may be bad news. The officiant license is legit, but he’s involved in some lawsuits regarding herbal remedies and supplements. I did a bit of digging into the NLR company, and from a legal standpoint, it looks sketchy. They seem to have their fingers in a lot of pies. Healthcare contracting, mental health clinics. Lots of government stuff. It just struck me as odd.”
Zoe wrote furiously, scribbling down Michael’s information. Intimacy Now and the Garrett Grove Rehabilitation Center for Juvenile Girls were connected through NLR Holdings.
“Michael, can you make hard copies of the documents you’ve seen connecting Bud to NLR Holdings?”
“Sure, but why, Z? Your marriage is completely legal.”
“This doesn’t have anything to do with my marriage. When we were at the detention center, I came across a binder with NLR Holdings on it. It contained what looked like a fraudulent double billing system.”
Michael whistled, the sound cracking over the speakers.
She scanned her notes. “You said Bud’s real name was Robert Riggs. That’s R, I, G, G, S?”
“Yeah, that’s it, Z. Does that ring a bell?”
Zoe circled the name once, then twice. “When I lived in D.C. and worked for Zipline Media, the editor in chief’s last name was Riggs.”
No one said a word.
Zoe looked from Em to Monica.
“It could be a coincidence,” Michael offered, cu
tting through the silence.
Zoe circled the name again. “It could be. Do you have time to dig a little deeper for me?”
“Sure thing, Z. I’ll get back to you as soon as I know more.”
Zoe stared at her notes while Michael and Em said goodbye.
“Do you think there’s a connection between your old boss and the detention facility?” Monica asked after Em ended the call.
“I don’t know,” she answered, but the hairs on the back of her neck said something was there. Something big and dark and possibly dangerous.
Another pocket of silence. She needed some time alone to think.
Zoe glanced at her friends. “Listen, it’s getting late. I know you need to get back to Billy, Em, and I know you’ve got to check on the bakery, Monica. I’m going to stay here in Garrett. I want to go over my notes, plus I need to call Sam and let him know we’re okay. I’ll ride home with him.”
Em pursed her lips. “Are you sure? We can wait with you?”
Monica nodded. “It’s no trouble.”
“It’s going to be getting dark soon. You should head back. Really, I’ll be fine. Sam can’t be too far away.”
Em gave her a reluctant nod. “I’ll make sure Michael calls you the minute he finds anything—and you call us if you need anything. We can go Charlie’s Angels on these jerks anytime you need us.”
“Absolutely! Never underestimate the power of cupcakes and a low-cut blouse,” Monica added with a sly grin.
Em narrowed her gaze. “And don’t do anything stupid. Look at your notes. Call your husband. Head home.”
Zoe threw her notebook and phone into her bag. “Aye, aye, captain,” she said, getting out of the Range Rover.
Zoe waved as her friends set off north toward Langley Park then turned and looked inside the diner. It was a nice enough place, but she didn’t want to go inside. Her time at the detention center had left her skin crawling and her body aching for fresh air and open space.
She sat down on a bench near the entrance and took out her notebook. Could Bud be related to her old boss? And if they were, why would they be mixed up in government fraud? She hadn’t thought of Jack Riggs in years. Was he still a part of Zipline Media? She pulled out her phone. A simple internet search could give her that information. But before she could open the internet browser, a string of texts buzzed through.
The breath caught in her throat.
She knew the number of the incoming messages.
It was the burner phone she’d given Tessa.
She opened the first text. It had been delayed, and sent over an hour ago.
I think I’m in labor.
Next text only minutes later.
I need help. They’re going to take him.
Zoe’s mind raced. She couldn’t text back. She couldn’t risk the phone making any sound. She couldn’t call the police. What would she say? I just conned my way into the girls’ juvey facility, and I’m pretty sure they’re abusing pregnant teenage girls and stealing their babies.
No one would believe her.
She tapped her phone to life, pressed the contacts list, and dialed her husband. Sam picked up on the first ring.
“Where are you? I think Tessa may have gone into labor!”
“Wait! How do you know that? Z, are you okay?”
She took a breath. “Yes, I’m fine. We left the detention center a little while ago. I was able to snoop around, and I found proof that the facility is mired in illegal activity. I emailed you all the files just in case something happened to my phone or my email.”
“Jesus!” he said. “But Tessa? How do you know she’s in labor?”
“A text with that information came in from the burner phone. It was delayed. The coverage out here is shit!”
“Are you sure it’s from her?”
“Good question,” she replied.
She had to consider that Tessa might not have been the sender. But her gut said those frantic texts came from a frightened girl. Zoe shook her head. “I don’t know. The texts sounded panicked. I think it’s her.”
“Where are you, Z?”
She stood up, needing to move, needing to think. She paced the length of the parking lot. “I’m at a diner in Garrett, right off Main Street. I told Monica and Em to head home. I wanted to go over my notes for everything I found at the detention center, and I didn’t want to keep them here.”
“Jesus, Zoe! You’re alone?”
“Yeah, but I’m fine. We all are. Em and I met a girl at the facility who was able to confirm that girls are being abused, and then I snuck into the director’s office and found evidence of fraud and negligence. You name it. These bastards have probably done it.”
“Slow down, Z! I’m trying to keep up with you!”
She was spinning, trying to put all the pieces together. “Where are you, Sam? Are you close?”
A pause.
“I went to the Henshaw family cemetery.”
“You did?”
She wasn’t expecting that.
“And I ran into Conrad.”
She froze. “Are you okay? Does he patrol anywhere else other than his family’s burial ground?”
“I’m fine. We worked some stuff out. But, I’m still with him. His truck has a flat, and I’m helping him change it.”
“When do you think you can get to the diner? We need to figure out what to do next. I think they may have taken Tessa to—”
“Ms. Stein?”
Zoe looked up to see a man. He flashed some sort of badge.
She raised her index finger. “Let me call you back,” she said then ended the call. Her husband wouldn’t be happy, but she needed to figure out who this person was.
Someone in law enforcement approaching her immediately after she’d just infiltrated a secure juvenile detention center did not seem coincidental.
She met the man’s gaze. “Yes, I’m Zoe Stein.”
“Ms. Stein, I’m an agent with the FBI. We’ve been monitoring the Garrett Grove Rehabilitation Center. I need you to come with me.”
What?
“Who are you? I need to see your badge again.”
“I’m Agent Tobin. I’ve been working alongside the Garrett Police monitoring the Garrett Grove Rehabilitation Center.”
“You have?” Zoe asked.
“Yes, you were spotted entering and leaving the facility. I’d like you to come with me to the Garrett police station. We’re hoping you might have evidence that can help us advance our investigation.”
She watched the man for a beat.
His features softened. “Please, Ms. Stein, girls’ lives are at stake.”
She nodded. “Yes, I do have information. Let me get my bag. I left it on the bench.”
The man nodded, and she walked back toward the diner. She picked up her purse then remembered Sam. Quickly, she tapped her phone to life and sent him a text. She hit send then turned to find the agent but startled when she was met by a young man with a cold hazel gaze.
“Zoe Stein, hand over your phone. Both of them. You’re coming with us.”
21
“That was my wife calling,” Sam said, passing Conrad the jack.
Conrad looked up and shielded his eyes from the last rays of the late fall sunlight. “Is everything all right?”
“She’s in Garrett.”
Conrad placed the jack under the truck then paused. “Is she looking into the juvenile detention center?”
Sam schooled his features. His wife had just conned her way into a girls’ detention facility, found evidence of criminal activity, and just received a text from the burner phone she’d given to Tessa. Things were moving fast. And knowing Zoe, she’d want to move faster.
He crossed his arms. “If we’re going to talk about this, I need you not to go all protect and serve on me.”
Conrad huffed an amused chuckle. “It’s never a good sign when somebody asks me to pretend I’m not a cop.”
“I’m trusting you with this, Conra
d.”
The man rested the jack on the gravel road and came to his feet. “I told you. I have a bad feeling about that place. But my hands have been tied as to how much I can do.”
Sam met the man’s gaze. “They might not be tied anymore.”
“What happened?”
“She was able to get inside and found evidence of illegal activity.”
Conrad took a step back, eyes wide. “How’d she get inside and where’d she find evidence?”
“This is the part where I need you to—”
“I get it. Go on.”
Sam explained their connection to Em and Monica, and how they’d cooked up a plan to show up for a bogus community service project, hoping to gain access to the facility.
“Jesus, Sam! They need to be more careful! We’ve had an uptick in drug-related crime in the county. I think the detention center may be connected to it.”
Sam’s jaw muscles tightened. “Let me call her back. She got off suddenly. I’m guessing her friends came back. I don’t know who else she’d know in Garrett.”
He tapped the screen, brought up Zoe’s contact information, and made the call.
It rang straight to voicemail.
“She’s not picking up,” he said, trying again.
Conrad wiped his hands. “Coverage can be spotty out here.”
Sam shook his head. “But she just got through.”
He tried again.
Voicemail.
He clicked on his contacts and rang Em.
She picked up right away. “Hey! Are you and Zoe heading back to Langley Park?”
“No, I haven’t gotten to the diner yet. I’m trying to get ahold of Z now. We were talking, but she jumped off the call suddenly.”
“Did you try calling her back?” Em asked.
“I did. The calls went straight to voicemail. I thought maybe you and Monica went back to the diner. Last I spoke to her, she’d just gotten a text from Tessa.”
“Oh my god! From that burner phone?”
His gut twisted. If Zoe didn’t get off the phone with him for Em and Monica, who the hell was she with? He wouldn’t put it past her to thumb a ride out to the detention center if it meant trying to help Tessa. But he didn’t have much to go on. If he wanted to figure her next move, he’d need more information about what the women uncovered today.
The Complete Langley Park Series (Books 1-5) Page 129