* * * *
Scarlett turned towards the voice in the doorway, startled by the sudden appearance of someone she thought must be Zach Harper, along with several large men. He sure didn't look like any computer nerd she'd ever met. Devastatingly handsome, with light brown hair and piercing green eyes a shade or two lighter than her own, it seemed as if in order to work for whatever security firm they were employed by, you had to look like a model.
"Zach, this is Scarlett Ferguson. Her sister was taken less than an hour ago."
Zach stuck out his hand to shake hers. "Nice to meet you, Scarlett,"
"You, too."
Lucas took the phone off the bar, where he'd laid it minutes ago, and handed it over to Zach with the washcloth still in place. "Here's her phone. We have a voicemail recording of what happened while her phone was still on. She dropped it while fighting to get free."
"Ok, great. I'll get one of the guys to take some prints before we hook it up to the computer. I'm sure they didn't touch the phone, or they probably would have taken it with them, but we'll make sure."
Lucas nodded. "We also have a name. Damon Smith."
And then it hit her. "Damon Smith!"
Lucas jerked his gaze to meet hers. "You know him?"
"Yes—no. I mean, no, I don't know him, but I know his name. I saw a message from him on Em's phone Tuesday night. He was a young man, maybe in his early 20s. He wanted to meet Em tonight and take her to a club. She had agreed. But when I confronted her about it, she promised not to see him unless I approved. Something about his message didn't sit well with me." She looked at Lucas. "I didn't remember until just now." She walked towards the pink and gray couch and sank down into the worn-out cushions.
Lucas knelt beside her, taking her hands in his. "It's fine. You're remembering now. Would you recognize him if you saw him?"
"Yes, I'm sure of it. And he has an Instagram profile. Check her account."
Zach motioned for a forensic guy to come over, and he dusted the phone for fingerprints. After he was done, Zach handed the phone to her. "Can you put in her password?"
"Sure. The passcode is one-one-two-nine—my birthday. She uses it for everything." She blinked back the sting of tears and handed the phone back to Zach.
"Thanks. I'm going to see if I can find his account. My guess is he's already deleted it. But he's not expecting you to have the kind of help that you do. So I'm hoping he didn't do a good job erasing his footprint."
Scarlett turned back to Lucas. "Now what? I feel like I need to be doing something!"
"We'll wait until Zach has retrieved everything he can off the phone. Then we'll call the police if you want to and have them come out here, so you can report her missing. Once that happens, we'll get this door fixed so that you can stay here just in case she gets away and runs back home to you."
Scarlett twisted her hands in her lap. "She's a good runner. If she could get away, they wouldn't catch her."
Lucas squeezed her hands, and Zach laid his hand on her shoulder, then turned to make his way over to the bar. Taking a seat on the stool, he slipped a backpack off his shoulder and opened it, pulling out a sleek laptop. He inserted some kind of black card-looking thing into one of the ports on the side and got to work.
"If I can find out who this guy really is, then I can figure out who took your sister," he said as he typed something on the keyboard.
"It's that easy?" she asked.
"No, it's not easy at all. These guys are good. They're predators. They know how to cover their tracks, but many of them get lazy when it comes to teenagers, thinking they'll never get caught. And most don't. But we're the best, and we'll find her."
Zach gave her a reassuring smile, and she relaxed just a little, grateful to God that Lucas had been at the diner when she’d gotten the call.
Guilt niggled at the back of her mind that if she hadn't been with Lucas, then she would have been home with Emery, and maybe she wouldn't have been taken.
Lucas walked over to stare at the screen over Zach's shoulder. He was connected to Em's profile, and she could see the picture of her and Em after they'd splurged on a shopping spree to a thrift store. The girls had bought cocktail dresses and had done each other's makeup and hair. They had lit some candles that night for their bar, and Scarlett had made spaghetti, Emery's favorite. They’d pretended that they were living back in their parents’ house, with its beautiful hardwood floors and aged, rustic wooden beams on the ceilings. She remembered that night and smiled. Em had been so happy, and for just a moment, they'd been normal girls whose lives hadn't been utterly and irrevocably upturned.
"Ok, I got it!" Zach said.
"What did you find?" Scarlett asked, jumping up off the couch and running to look over Zach's other shoulder.
"Here's his profile. I was able to also look through the deleted files and found some conversations."
"Son of a—" Lucas uttered.
"What?" Zach and Scarlett said at the same time.
"Damon. That's Damon Lopez. Not Damon Smith. And that picture of him is about ten years old. He must have used old pictures to make him look younger to your sister. Which means—"
"He's done this before." Zach finished.
"What do you mean, he's done this before? How do you know that? And how do you know him?" Scarlett asked.
"My guess is that this guy is a human trafficker. He takes the girls and sells them to the highest bidder."
Scarlett's stomach turned, and she suddenly felt as if she would be sick. She tamped down the reaction and pushed forward. "What do they do with them?"
"Well, sometimes they're sold for labor, but with girls as pretty as your sister, I'd say sex trafficking." Lucas reached out his hand towards her. She pushed away, her stomach rebelling as the cheeseburger she'd scarfed down earlier began to rise up the back of her throat. She rushed back to the bathroom and threw up in the toilet. The cold sweat was building on the back of her neck. A wet rag was placed behind her head, and she jerked her gaze up to see Lucas standing there. Mortified, she started to protest, but he just pulled her up to her feet and wrapped her in his arms.
For just a moment she relaxed, feeling the stress leave just a little, and her breathing calmed. He stroked her hair and rubbed her back. She pulled away and went to the counter to find her toothbrush in the mess. She began brushing her teeth and then mumbled around the toothbrush, "How do you know him?"
Lucas pushed his hands through his hair. "We grew up together. Damon was mean. Had a mean older brother and a mean father. Most of us were good kids caught in bad situations. We grew up here in D-town."
She couldn't believe that Lucas, as polished and professional as he looked, had been raised in such a terrible place. She spat in the sink and rinsed her mouth out. He waited for her to finish and then continued.
"Anyway, Damon was a drug dealer. He'd get girls hooked on heroin, and then he'd make more sales. Once the girls couldn't afford it, he'd pimp them out so that they could make enough money to give him for the heroin. I've been looking for him for more than ten years."
Scarlett blanched, putting her hands to her roiling stomach. She didn't know if it could get any worse. She felt like there was more to the story—something Lucas wasn't telling her—but she pushed it aside.
"I'm assuming he's moved on to sex trafficking. We have a small window of time to find your sister, Scarlett. We have to move fast, which means we're going to have to work outside the law." He placed his hands on her upper arms and peered down into her eyes. "This will go a lot quicker if we don't call the police. You ok with that?"
She leaned into his warmth, stealing some strength from him for just a moment. "Do whatever you have to do to find my sister."
Chapter 5
Em's head spun. She was groggy and disoriented. She tried to move her arms, but it felt like they were detached from her body. She tried to open her eyes, but they just wouldn't cooperate. Where was she?
"Scarlett?" Her voice felt foreign, as if
it weren't coming from her.
A man's face, which looked vaguely familiar, appeared above her. He kicked her side, but she couldn't feel it. "Shut up, bitch! You cost me precious time tonight." His voice sounded hollow, as if he were yelling at her through a tunnel.
She tucked her knees up, trying to make herself a smaller target. She couldn't quite put the thoughts together in her mind. Where was Scarlett? And who was the man that didn't like her very much?
She tried to grasp the important thought that was swirling around in her head. She tried to take stock of where she was. A floor. In a car or van of some sort, maybe. She could feel the rocking motion as they drove around. She rested her eyes for just a moment. Maybe she could figure it out after she’d had some sleep.
* * * *
As the team finished up at Scarlett's apartment, Lucas stepped away to call Sullivan and give him an update.
"I'm bringing her back with me."
"Um, ok. Can I ask why?"
"I can't leave her here alone, and I need to come back and brief the team. Zach's working on finding the guy. You'll never guess who he is—"
"Are you going to tell me, or do you want me to guess, Falco?"
"Damon Lopez."
"No way."
"The one and only. Used a photo of himself from about ten years ago to create his Instagram profile."
"We've been looking for that guy for ten years, and now we have a lead on him?"
"Zach's looking at the messages between Damon and Emery now. We're hoping he slipped up and revealed more than he intended."
"What are those chances?"
"Not real good, I'm afraid. But we can hope."
"Ok, Lucas. You can bring her. But she's your responsibility."
"Roger." Lucas ended the call and walked back inside the apartment. Scarlett was back on her couch, curled into herself. She looked so small and fragile. At that moment, with her hair wild and crazy, and the makeup smeared down her face, he saw a different girl sitting on a threadbare couch. A girl from his past. Laura.
"Promise me you'll never leave me, Lucas," she said, looping her arm through his as they sat on his mother's couch watching some lame chick flick on TV.
"I'll never leave you." Lucas leaned in and took her mouth in a kiss. She responded, always responded.
"Let's go away. Let's get a small house in rural Virginia with a white picket fence and get married and have lots of babies."
"Lots, huh? When would we have time for each other?" He leaned her back against the couch, pressing his body into hers. Her arms came around his neck, and he nuzzled the side of her throat, inhaling her scent. She smelled so damn good all the time. She lived in a craphole, and yet she always smelled like sunshine.
She whispered words of love in his ear as he rained kisses down on her neck and face, capturing her lips once more.
The door flew open.
"What the—" a drunken voice called out across the room.
Lucas sat up, pushing Laura behind him. "Go on home, Leonard. You're drunk. You'll end up doing something you regret later." Lucas tried reasoning with him first, before it came to blows.
"Get out of my way, you no-good son of a bitch! I'll take my daughter out of this house any time I want, and there's not a thing you can do about it." His words slurred together, making it difficult to tell where one word ended and another started.
Lucas raised his hands, walking carefully towards Laura's father. He saw his mom cowering in the hallway of the building they lived in. Her face was red on one side as if she'd hit it.
"Mom, what happened?" Lucas rushed to her side, pushing Leonard out of his way as he cradled her. "Did he hit you?" Lucas asked.
"No, he pushed me aside when I wouldn't move from the door. I fell and hit my face on the wall over there."
Lucas turned to see Leonard making his way towards the couch, where Laura was curled into a small ball. He lifted his hand, striking her across the face. Her head snapped back, and she looked dazed, as if she didn't know where she was.
Red colored Lucas's vision, and he ran towards Leonard, knocking him to the ground. Climbing on top of him, he swung his fists one after the other, causing blood to spew from Leonard’s nose.
"Lucas! Lucas, stop! Lucas!" He heard his mother's pleas, but he couldn't stop. If he stopped, the bastard might kill her next time.
A soft hand touched his shoulder, its warmth familiar. He knew it was her. He stopped, turning to face her. She smiled sadly and held his hand as he stood. "Thank you," she mouthed.
Reaching down, she helped Leonard get to his feet and walked out the door to their apartment.
Lucas snapped out of the past, making his way over to the couch. He pulled Scarlett to him as she laid her head on his chest. He exhaled, knowing that the next few days would leave little time for sleep or rest.
"My door. What am I going to do?" She sat up straight, a worried look crossing her face.
"I'm not leaving you here. You'll need to go with me. I'll have someone fix your door tonight, and I'll post a guard here in case she comes back. But you need to rest in a place that isn't a constant reminder of what went down here today."
Scarlett looked as if she was ready to protest, but as his words sank in and registered, she leaned back onto his chest. "Ok. I'll go with you. But can we sit here for five more minutes and pretend that none of this happened?"
Lucas was tempted. So tempted just to hold her, protect her from all the evil in the world—like he hadn't protected Laura. He shook his head to clear the negative thoughts.
Zach looked up from the computer, an eyebrow lifting as he saw Scarlett wrapped around Lucas as if her life depended on him. Lucas gave him the finger behind Scarlett's back, and Zach laughed.
"I've gotten all I can get from this for now. I need to go back to the computer room and run some things, and then we'll talk. You're coming with us, right?" He directed his question to Scarlett.
"It appears so. I need to go pack a bag. I'll still have to go to work tomorrow—"
"I'd really rather you didn't," Lucas interrupted.
"Well, I have to make money, or we won't be able to live in this luxurious place anymore," she said sarcastically, rising from the couch to go to her room. She left him sitting there with his head in his hands.
As she disappeared into her room and closed the door, Zach walked over and sat next to him on the couch.
"Look, I didn't want to freak her out just yet until after I run some other data, but it looks like he didn't just come here tonight for Emery. He came for both of them. And I’m sure he wasn't happy when he learned she wasn't here."
Lucas cursed under his breath and ran his hands through his hair. "What makes you think that?"
"His message to Emery on Tuesday night. He asked about her parents, and she explained they were dead, and she and her sister lived alone. Scarlett's twenty-five, but she could pass for younger. She's beautiful and exotic with her red hair. He'll want her."
"She's not going to work."
"There you go again, Lucas, trying to tell me what to do." Scarlett peered around the corner, her hands on her hips and the color high on her cheeks. "What do you mean, I'm not going to work?"
"Do you have any personal days left? Vacation?"
"Yeah—" she started.
"Take it. Call them tonight and leave a message. Call the diner and get Maggie to cover your shifts. I'll explain more later, but for now, trust me, ok?"
She nodded. "Ok. I trust you." He took the bag from her, reaching for her hand, and pulled her out the door towards his car.
Chapter 6
Scarlett wasn't certain she was doing the right thing. Not calling the police. Leaving the apartment. She didn't really know Lucas, so how did she know she could trust him?
Still, something inside her, some small voice, told her she could. She realized she knew nothing about the firm he worked for. That was one thing she could remedy.
"Who do you work for?"
"Castle
Investigations. Sullivan Castle started the company with a private sponsor several years ago. Everyone in leadership in the firm grew up together except for Ethan Brooks. Anyhow, we've all been friends for years—all grew up right here in D-town."
"What did you do before you worked for Castle Investigations?"
"I was in the Air Force. Pilot. Special ops."
"Sounds exciting."
"It was, sometimes. Other times, it was terrible." A dark expression came over him, his hands gripping the steering wheel so hard that his knuckles turned white. Scarlett reached her hand out and squeezed his. The expression dropped, and a small smile replaced it.
"I'm sorry I brought up something that obviously troubles you."
"I'm good. It's in the past."
But Scarlett didn't know if it really was in the past for Lucas. Anytime he mentioned his life before now, he seemed to go to a dark place. Scarlett wondered what had happened in his life to cause him so much pain.
"So how did you decide to go into the Air Force?"
"That is a long story, so I'll give you the short version. I got into some trouble—actually, all of us at Castle Investigations did. And we had a sponsor who got us off on a plea bargain. The terms were that we had to go into the military. They helped us choose which branch. All of us rose to positions within our respective branches with such speed that there's no other explanation except that we had someone looking out for us."
"Who's the sponsor?"
"We aren't really sure. We've only spoken to him by phone. He goes by The General. We aren't sure if he's an actual general, or if it's a nickname. He's the one who helped Sully get started in this business, and many of our cases come from him."
"Wow, that's fascinating. I guess you guys were lucky he stepped in to help you."
The dark look passed over Lucas's face once again. She wanted to kick herself. Scarlett had no idea why certain seemingly innocuous comments seemed to bring on an instant depression in his mood. She wished she knew so that she could stop bringing the suffering back to the surface.
Castle Investigations Box Set Page 4
