“How is she?” Caroline watched him with eyes full of concern and compassion. “I can’t believe you two met in Florida and then both ended up here. You were staying in Nate’s house, right?”
“That’s right. She was just a girl living in a beach house a few hundred yards away from where I was staying. We got talking and then we met up most mornings to run before the sun got too hot. There wasn’t much more to it than that. A few coffees, or lunch at the diner. A couple of dinners. More than anything, we just talked about everything under the sun, keeping away from personal stuff. She barely mentioned her past and I never asked. I obviously had to hold back on what I do so there was like a silent agreement that we didn’t ask too many questions so neither had to tell any lies. She told me her name was Madison Ward, but apparently, it’s Vanessa. What can I say? I guess nothing she told me was true.”
“Well, actually, her name is Madison Ward. She had it changed about a year ago. Before that, it was Vanessa Fulton. That’s all I could get without going through the boss and I wasn’t sure you wanted me to do that.”
“No, but thanks. At least it wasn’t all a lie and I’d rather hear the rest from her, if she ever wants to tell me. I’m not even sure I want to hear her reasons for being with that scumbag Peeters and watching him sentence those young girls to a fate worse than death. The kind of men that buy women should be skinned alive and made to eat their own… ” Carter stopped. He didn’t want to say out loud what he would like to do to men who took pleasure in raping innocent girls.
“I hear ya’. I wouldn't mind being left alone in a room with a man like that for a few minutes. I’d soon show him how it feels to be on the receiving end for once.” There was a sharp edge to Caroline’s voice as she echoed Carter’s thoughts.
Soon after Caroline left, Carter saw Madison being wheeled back into the small room, hooked up to whirring machines and monitors giving off a green glow. Wires and tubes were coming out from all sides of her frail body and Carter’s chest constricted when he saw how small she looked under the white sheets. He had to produce his badge to get the nurse to tell him how she was doing. Apparently, it wasn’t enough that the agent by the door had given him permission to be in there. The nurse informed him they’d been able to stop the internal bleeding, but Madison had a long road ahead before she’d be fully healed. She had several broken bones including a couple of ribs, her right hand, a cheekbone and a fractured collar bone. The bleeding in her abdomen had been caused by heavy blows to her stomach which had ruptured the spleen. Without surgery she would have died for sure. There was also a skull fracture, swelling on the brain, and a severe concussion. If all that wasn’t enough, she was malnourished, dehydrated and her heart showed signs of physical stress. To add insult to injury they’d found heroin in her system and she would probably go through withdrawal soon enough. Every injury was like a spike hammered into Carter’s chest and he was finding it hard to breathe. After the nurse had left, he stood by Madison’s bed and watched her pale features. Her chest was moving up and down with the help of a breathing machine for now. It was just until she’d regained some of her strength, according to the nurse. She would need all the strength she could get. Carter thought to himself.
For the first time since Carter lost Mira, he felt something more than just sexual desire for a woman. As much as he’d been telling himself he was never going to be in a relationship again, he found himself wondering what it would have been like to be with Madison. Waking up with her every morning, making love to her every night. Again, a certain body part stirred, and he had to will it to calm down. It seemed to have a complete mind of its own and didn’t like to obey orders. Fuck, man. Stop it. You’re not the settling down type, remember? Why would you want to be with a woman who doesn’t trust you? Someone who’d rather lie or change the subject instead of being honest. He was a federal agent, for fuck’s sake. He could have helped. Sure, she didn’t know that at the time, but she did know he worked for the State Department. That had to count for something in the trustworthiness stakes, right? Carter’s inner monologue was driving him crazy and looking at Madison in her hospital bed didn’t help. Even though there was so much conflicting evidence pointing in both directions, he had to admit it was favoring her innocence more than her guilt. Bottom line though, she had misled him during those weeks together with her carefully placed stories, her infectious smile and natural beauty.
Carter turned on his heel and stalked out of the room. He couldn’t stand it anymore. He had to focus on his job, get her out of his head and not lose himself in memories of soft skin, sweet smelling hair and shimmering green eyes. On his way out, a doctor halted him after seeing him stumble and groan in pain and sent him for x-rays on his chest. Sure enough, he had two cracked ribs and soft tissue damage. A helpful nurse bandaged him up, but he refused to stay in overnight for observation. He had work to do and wanted to get away from the hospital as fast as possible.
Over the next two weeks, Carter kept visiting Madison, but only to make sure she wouldn’t disappear from under their noses, he told himself, despite the police officer posted at her door at all times. He knew exactly when she woke up, when she started talking, when she took her first steps out of bed. He always watched from a distance and had the nurses keep him updated on her progress. Towards the end of the second week, he found himself standing by her bed, watching her sleep, when she suddenly opened her eyes and looked at him. She seemed confused at first, but soon recognized who he was and to his annoyance, turned her head away and refused to look at him.
“You’re awake. Want to tell me what the hell happened?” He said after a couple of minutes, unable to keep the anger out of his voice.
“You wouldn’t believe me if I tried. No one else does, so why would you be any different?”
“You could try telling the truth, it usually works. Why were you in Florida and did you help Peeters abduct those young women? Some were only kids! You must have seen their suffering and yet, you said nothing. You must have had opportunities to alert the authorities, but you chose not to. Explain that to me, if you can.” Carter’s hard stare met her gaze. He knew he wasn’t being completely fair as he had serious doubts about her guilt, but it was part of his job to ask difficult questions and put suspects under pressure. He couldn’t help how his heart clenched when he saw her eyes brim with unshed tears. She swiped angrily at her cheeks and looked away again.
“Please, go away. The Feds have already interrogated me, and I’ve told them all I know.”
“So, that’s it? No explanations, no excuses, no ‘I’m sorry’?” Carter could feel the heat of his anger simmering in his belly.
“I don’t owe you anything. I didn’t ask you to come for me. You’d already left and weren’t coming back.” Her voice was still a bit hoarse from being choked by Hugo and the intubation and came out as more of a whisper.
Her hands kept tugging at the hospital gown, trying to pull the sleeves down, but Carter could still see the needle marks on her arms. It was obvious she’d been shooting up heroin, methamphetamines, or some other shit. She was clearly a drug addict on top of everything else or had been made into one. Fucking hell! Had Konrad injected her with the drugs? Was that how he’d kept her so compliant the whole time? That would explain her behavior when he’d seen her in the club. Now she’d have to go through withdrawal which was a real bitch to deal with. You couldn’t go cold turkey and not suffer the consequences. Drug addiction took you by the balls and held on tight until you pried yourself loose from its cold, dead hands. He’d seen enough of it through his work with the DEA.
Carter closed his eyes and gritted his teeth so hard his jaw ached. This was not how he’d intended this conversation to go. He’d always meant to go back to Florida. He’d even sent Nate to check up on her as he hadn’t been able to call her himself during the ops he’d been on. Now he was glad he hadn’t returned and risked developing real feelings for her. Besides, she was the one who’d left without so much as a goodbye
or even a note saying she wasn’t coming back. She clearly didn’t want anything to do with him and had no regrets for what she’d done. He couldn’t deal with someone like that.
“Very well, I hope you recover soon. It was nice knowing you.” He quickly spun on his heels and marched out of the room and didn’t stop until he was outside in the fresh air.
Fuck, fuck, fuck! Carter sank down on a bench outside the entrance and buried his head in his hands. He felt as if a heavy weight was sitting on his chest and slowly crushing him. He’d let her get to him and now he had to deal with the consequences. It was time he returned to Virginia Beach and his job at the DEA. At least there were no memories of her there.
First thing Carter did the next morning was to put in a call to his boss. Don Kampeche was tied up in a meeting, according to his PA, but would call him back as soon as he was free. Carter paced the room while he waited. He needed to get out of Seattle, and Washington, fast. For every turn on the hardwood floor he had to shove more memories of Madison down into the darkest recesses of his mind. If only they’d stay there. What he really needed to do was to forget she ever existed. It wasn’t as if he wanted a relationship with her, anyway. That was not for him. Not now, not fucking ever. While he was wearing a groove on the gleaming floor, a ray of sunshine suddenly speared the gloom. He looked out of the window and saw the sun peeking through the clouds for the first time since he got there five months ago. He paused his step and looked out over the backyard. It was amazing how much difference a little bit of sunshine could do to the scenery. It made him wish for Flo— no, Virginia Beach, that much more. With the sun disappearing behind a cloud again, his need to leave increased tenfold. He waited impatiently for nearly half an hour for his boss to call and when his cell finally buzzed, he snatched it up and growled a quick ‘Hello’ down the line.
“Is that how you speak to your superior, Hollis?” Came the gruff voice of Don Kampeche.
“Sorry, boss. It’s been a stressful few months and I can’t wait to get back to normal. I assume I can book a flight straight away?”
“Sorry, but no can do, I need you to stay a bit longer. The Feds have asked for our help in interviewing some of the captured girls and the men Peeters had on his payroll. You were there for months getting to know the routines of the clubs and how Peeters operated. They believe you might get something out of them they haven’t thought to ask.”
“The FBI asking us for help? Has hell frozen over? Can’t Caroline deal with it? Surely, she’s the better choice for talking to the girls? They must be terrified of any man coming within twenty feet of them.” Carter sighed deeply. He was desperate to get out of that rain soaked state and away from Madison.
“I need her as Comms on something else, so she should already be on her way to the airport.”
Fuck this shit! Carter didn’t say it out loud, but the words bounced around inside his head until it hurt. He couldn’t believe he had to stay even longer in this gray, rainy and miserable city. He longed for the sunny beaches of Virginia and his own bed in his own house. He needed time and space to breathe and get his head together.
“Seriously, though, boss. Isn’t there anyone else who can do this? What about that guy, Reeves, from the ATF? He’s been here for three years working with Peeters. He must know a lot more than I do? I really need to get back home for a bit. I’ve barely set foot in my own house since before I got shot in the leg.”
“Stop whining like a little kid, Hollis. You’re staying for as long as I tell you to. Period. After all the time you’ve been away, your cat will already be dead, and your houseplants will look like some fucking modern art pieces in a gallery. Get your shit together and do your job.” The line went dead in Carter’s ear. His boss had hung up on him — again. With an angry grunt he sent his cell flying onto the coffee table. He didn’t have a cat or houseplants for fucks’s sake. He just wanted to get as far away from Seattle as possible. He was still staying in the rented house but had expected to be leaving later that afternoon. Nate had gone back east for more treatment on his leg and according to the boss, Caroline was already on her way to another assignment. That meant he had the whole house to himself. Argh! He had to get out of there, or he would drive himself crazy.
Without thinking, he snatched his car keys off the hook in the hallway and stomped out to his rental truck. It had been sitting mostly unused as he’d been driven around in a limo for the last few months. All part of the cover as the CEO of Titan Industries in the Pacific Northwest. He tore down the driveway with gravel spitting from under his tires.
Chapter Twenty-Six
Carter drove aimlessly through the streets of Seattle for several hours, completely losing track of time, but he eventually found himself in the hospital parking lot. He stayed behind the wheel for a long time, watching the front of the building and the window he thought was Madison’s. Third floor, second window from the right, if his calculations were correct.
A knock on the passenger window made him jump and reach for his gun but when he saw the intense stare of Jackson Reeves, he wound the window down and grunted a greeting.
“Why are you just sitting out here all by yourself? Planning a bust on the drugs being used in there? They’re all legal, you know.” The ATF agent’s lips curled in a barely-there smile.
“Just debating whether to start the debrief now or wait till tomorrow. Why are you here?”
“I had a couple more questions for Vanessa. She’s not real talkative though, not that I can blame her. Peeters did a real number on her. He was even more of a vicious bastard to her than any of the other girls. Not as bad as Hugo Tanz, though. He really hated that girl and took every opportunity to be cruel and knock her around. There were so many times I wanted to jump over that bar counter and beat him to a pulp. Never met a more sadistic fucker. He got off on seeing the pain and fear in her eyes whenever he got his hands on her. He was about the only one Peeters allowed near her, would you believe?” Reeves got in next to Carter and stared out through the windshield.
Carter kept his eyes on his hands gripping the steering wheel. He really didn’t want to hear about Madison right now, but he didn’t know how to say it without sounding like a jealous asshole. Especially since he wasn’t jealous.
“Why was Peeters so hard on her? What did she do?”
“I’m not sure. All I know is that she’d been away for a while. When she came back, he treated her like something the cat dragged in but still wouldn’t let her out of his sight unless she was back at the warehouse. In the club, he kept her by his side or in a room with the other girls. They seemed almost afraid of her for some weird reason. Their whole relationship was fucked up. I never understood why he kept her around when all he did was tell her how much of a piece of trash she was. I can only guess she served some other purpose to him than looking pretty.”
“Did you ever go inside the warehouse in the years you worked for Peeters?”
“Yeah, a couple of times, but I only saw the storage rooms on the first floor where some of the liquor was kept. I never went into the main part of the building. I didn’t even see much when we went in as I headed straight for the stairs and then had my hands full stopping Hugo from bleeding out. Once the EMTs took over, I stayed in the office searching for proof of any arms deals Peeters might have been involved in. I used a fire exit when I left, so I never went back down into the warehouse. It was bad, wasn’t it?”
“Yeah.” Carter dragged air through his teeth and stared out of the windshield. “They were kept in cages. Steel-fucking-bar cages. Like animals in a zoo. It was freezing cold, filthy and stank of mold and rotting food. It was disgusting and revolting. How anyone could do that to another human being is just beyond me. They were just kids really, the youngest had only recently turned fourteen. Fuck! There were even a couple of women working for him to look after the girls and make sure they were presentable for his customers. We were lucky to find ledgers with information on dozens of other girls that had already been
sold and to whom. They’re being tracked down and will hopefully be able to return to their families. Shit, I wish I could kill that slimy, evil bastard right now with my bare hands!” Carter’s voice shook and his hands clenched until his knuckles were white, trying to control the anger he felt at how those girls had been treated.
“I only caught a quick glimpse of the cages from the upstairs before I left which was bad enough. I will never forget it. I think the image has seared itself onto my brain. I get what you’re saying, though. From what little I heard from the other girls, he treated Vanessa differently when in there as well. She was kept separate as if she was special, but at the same time Konrad was always much harder on her. It didn’t seem to matter how careful she was, he always found something to smack her around for. I just don’t get why she came back? Peeters must have had some kind of hold over her, or she loved him in some fucked up way. What do I know? I’m done here for now, anyway. Thank the fuck. This has been one of the worst assignments of my career and that’s saying something.” Jackson rubbed his jaw before opening the car door and walking away with just a wave of his hand. Carter shook his head before returning his attention to the window on the third floor.
In his head, he went over what Jackson had said. It seemed to confirm what he’d previously thought. Madison had returned of her own free will and was most likely the one who’d been finding the girls for Peeters. That would explain why they were afraid of her. She wasn’t one of them. She worked for him and had helped put them where they were in the worst kind of hell imaginable.
It took Carter three weeks before the FBI were satisfied they had all the information they needed from Konrad’s victims and the employees in his nightclubs.
He’d hated every second of the interviews with the girls. They’d shrunk away from him as soon as he entered the room and cowered in fear of being hurt by yet another man. He’d had to spend hours with each woman to gain their trust before they were able to tell him anything. Thankfully, some of Peeters’ employees had been much easier as they were only too happy to spill their guts in return for leniency at sentencing. By the end, the FBI and DEA were able to roll up a sizable portion of the trafficking and drugs network in the Pacific Northwest. They even found large stashes of illegal arms intended for sale abroad. The network extended as far south as Oregon and only stopped at the border with California where other gangs took over. Several well-known businessmen, and a few politicians, were incriminated as having bought either drugs or girls, in some cases both, and were being investigated further. Carter was happy to leave that part to the Feds to sort out, though. It was nothing to do with him or the DEA, and luckily his boss agreed.
Agent Undone Page 25
