Sins (Vance Davis Dossier #2)

by Heather Huffman

  “I get it. I completely understand.”

  “How bad was it for her? You know we don’t have rehab services here—we’re not a trafficking shelter.”

  “I know. She seems okay. I think she was a pet of sorts. I mean, it was bad, but I think it could have been worse.”

  “At some point, you’ve got to stop bringing me wayward girls. You know that, right?”

  Vance made a face at her before growing serious. “Do you think I’ll ever be normal?”

  “There’s no fun in normal.”

  “But do you think I’ll ever settle down, have a dog and kids and stuff, like you and Gabe do? I know that’s what Allie wants me to do, but even thinking about it gives me hives.”

  “It won’t give you hives when it’s the right one,” Jessie assured him. “Hey, Vance?”

  “Yes?”

  “Is there more to this girl than you’re telling me?”

  “How so?”

  “I don’t know.” She shook her head, clearing away whatever had been nibbling at her. “She just reminds me of you somehow.”

  “She’s tiny, with black hair and blue eyes. How does that remind you of me?”

  “Not that, dork. Her mannerisms, her smile. She reminds me of you. Is there something you want to tell me?”

  “She’s 15—that would have made me, like, 14 when she was born.”

  “It’s possible.”

  “No, it’s not. I was a bad boy, but not quite that bad.”

  “Whatever.” Jessie let it drop, clearly unconvinced.

  “But you’ll take care of her?” Vance redirected.

  “Yes, I’ll take care of her. Lobo and I will walk her over to the dorms after you leave. I’ll fill her in on the rules and find a girl to show her the ropes. If she goes into withdrawal or something, we’ll have to take her to the hospital. We don’t have the facilities for that here.”

  “I know.” He nodded. “And I’ll leave a credit card so you can order her some clothes. Do you mind doing that?”

  “It’s cool. But you don’t have to leave your card. I wrote down the number last time you did this to me.”

  “You kept my card number?”

  Jessie painted on her best angelic expression. “Thanks for the new furniture.”

  “Nice try. I know you better than that.” He went to ruffle her hair and she ducked away from his hand.

  “Is there anything else I need to know about her before you take off on me?”

  “Sorry. I really do need to get back.” He felt guilty for dropping Valentine on Jessie’s doorstep and running away.

  “I know, I know. Allie.”

  “And the mission. But to answer your question, no. There’s nothing else. If she happens to tell you how she ended up where she was, let me know.”

  “You going to track them down, too?” Jessie knew the answer before she asked the question.

  “Maybe. Just let me know if she says anything.”

  It was harder to say goodbye to Valentine than Vance thought it would be. When he would have parted with a casual wave, she flung herself at him, wrapping her arms tightly around his waist. She’d whispered a muffled “thank you” into his chest before tearing herself away from him and running back inside.

  Jessie had given him a look packed with meaning before turning to follow the girl inside. That look followed Vance all the way back to St. Louis. He wondered why he felt so drawn to Valentine. If he was honest, he could see that Jessie was right. There was something in her that was familiar, that reminded him of himself. He told himself it was a passing of the baton—Jessie had shown him great kindness when he’d needed it most, and now he was doing the same for Valentine and that made him feel good.

  But those warm fuzzies flew right out the window when he got back to the hotel and found himself face-to-face with a very unhappy Allie Walker.

  His first approach was feigned obtuseness. “Hey, Allie-girl. Where would you like me to take you to dinner? Or do you want me to pick?”

  “Nice try.” She turned from him to zip the suitcase sitting on the bed. “You’re going to take me to see Emmett and Susie, and then you’re taking me home.”

  “Tonight?” He almost groaned at the prospect of getting back in the truck.

  “Tonight, before you run off again.”

  “I’m not going to run off again.” He scowled. Vance had been prepared to apologize, but now he was just irritated.

  “Sure. Unless something comes up: a lead, a clue, a girl, whatever.” Allie held her ground. “I’m not going to fight about it. I found an apartment for you to rent your friends. Now I miss my kids, and I want to go home.”

  “Okay. Fine. Thank you. Can we run by and check out the place you found on our way?”

  “Whatever.”

  This time it was Vance who wanted to roll his eyes. Instead he sighed and grabbed Allie’s suitcase before making a U-turn back out the door.

  CHAPTER SIX

  VANCE RAN HIS HANDS through his hair, stifling the growl of frustration he could feel rising in his throat. He looked to Otis for help, but the man just shrugged and held his hands out in a gesture of helplessness. Allie had buried her disdain for Vance under a cool exterior for their visit, but he could still feel it there, bubbling just under the surface. So he was already struggling to curb his temper when Emmett flat-out rejected his offer of a place to stay. He knew Emmett and Susie were adults; he couldn’t force them to take help if they didn’t want it. He didn’t understand it, but he had no choice but to accept it.

  “I wouldn’t be so worried about us, if I were you,” Susie informed him around a bit of the spaghetti he’d brought her for dinner. “I think you’ll have your hands full keeping yourself alive this week.”

  Of course I will, Vance mentally sighed. “What have you heard?”

  “That you took off with one of Little Z’s pets. Seems like he loaned her out to work a poker game, and she never came back. Anthony’s telling everybody you bailed the game to leave with the girl.”

  Allie’s eyebrows shot up, her head swiveling around to level a glare at Vance. Emmett and Otis exchanged looks.

  “Yeah, well, spread the word that I just meant to rough her up and things got out of hand, that you heard she was dead.” Vance’s voice was calm; inside he was beating his head against the brick wall instead of leaning on it.

  Susie studied him for a minute. “You didn’t really kill that girl, did you?”

  “I need him to believe I did.”

  “He’ll kill you, just like he did Johnny.”

  “I’m a big boy; I can handle it,” Vance promised. “Hey, who’s Johnny?”

  “Some kid that had the bright idea to pretend to be a modeling agency to bring girls in to Little Z. Things got all mucked up, though; a couple of girls died. It cost Little Z a few million in profit and they had to pay a cleanup crew to make the evidence disappear.”

  “I don’t suppose the modeling agency was called Beastly, was it?”

  Susie’s eyes sparked at the mention. “Yeah, that was it.”

  Vance took in what she’d just told him. The man who’d been directly responsible for Nicole’s disappearance was dead. Technically, his work here was done. Still, even if Johnny had been the one to lure Nicole in, it was to feed a pipeline that ran through Little Z. The same Little Z who wanted him dead; so really, his work was just getting started. He was suddenly very eager to deliver Allie safely home so he could follow this new lead.

  “Allie, it’s time to say your goodbyes. I’ve got some work to do.”

  The look on her face did not bode well for the trip back to the Ozarks.

  “It looks like you’d better say goodbyes, too, Vance.” Otis extended his hand to Vance. “If Little Z doesn’t get you, I think Allie’s gonna.”

  “The second one is the one that really scares me, sir,” Vance replied with his typical deadpan style. The two men shook hands and clapped each other on the shoulder. Then it was Emmett’s turn to wi
sh him well, followed by Susie. He got the distinct impression they didn’t expect him to live through the night.

  The drive back to Dallas County was a long one. The fact that he’d already spent 8 hours in the car would have been bad enough, but Allie’s stony silence made the trip downright miserable.

  “You do know I didn’t kill that girl, right?” He finally broke the silence somewhere around the 208 mile marker.

  “It bothers me that I had to debate it at first. I really don’t know you at all, do I, Vance?”

  “No. I’ve been trying to tell you that.” He could see by the look on her face that wasn’t what she wanted to hear. “You want me to be the boy who left here, to reclaim what we had, but I’m not him anymore. I’ve grown up and had a whole world full of experiences that I can’t undo—that I don’t want to undo.” He realized as he said it that he meant it. For the first time in his life, he embraced his past—sins and all. If it hadn’t been for the sins, he wouldn’t have been in a position to save Valentine last night. And saving her mattered.

  “I don’t want you to undo your life,” Allie snapped at him.

  “Yes, you do.” He was patient and gentle but firm. “You want me to be part of a life that doesn’t fit me anymore, that really never did.”

  Allie blinked fiercely and turned to stare out the window. “I still can’t believe you ditched me like that. It was wrong.”

  “But unavoidable. I didn’t mean to be gone all night, but when I had the chance to rescue Valentine, I had to do it.”

  “Valentine. So that’s her name.”

  Vance didn’t answer. There really wasn’t anything left to say. He didn’t want to leave things badly with Allie, but maybe it was best to let things simmer down for a while. Maybe, in time, she’d forgive him and move on. His mind shifted to Valentine and what he was going to do about Little Z. First and foremost, Vance had to convince the man that Valentine was dead—or kill him, but he’d promised himself that wouldn’t be Plan A anymore.

  It was 10 p.m. when he pulled into Allie’s driveway. He’d carried her bag to the porch and stayed long enough to see she was inside safely before saying goodbye and climbing back in the truck. It occurred to him he hadn’t eaten since lunch, so he grabbed a bottle of water and a stick of beef jerky when he stopped for gas, figuring a light snack was better than a heavy meal if he was heading into a rumble. Oddly, he’d been itching for a fight just 24 hours prior. Now he’d much rather spend his time looking for Valentine’s family.

  He wasn’t in the mood for a finesse operation. He was tired of lying low and building cases. He wanted to butt heads together and move on. To that end, he called his contact at the FBI to touch base on the off chance he could do something more productive than brawling—or dying—on this trip.

  “Hey, Jeff. I have a couple of things I need you to look up for me,” Vance said.

  “Hello to you, too. I’m fine. How are you?”

  “You’re such a girl.”

  “Whatever, Batman,” Jeff countered.

  “Don’t call me Batman.” Vance had no idea how he’d been straddled with the nickname, but he hated it. “Are you going to help me or not?”

  “Only because I’m the better person. Whatchya got for me?”

  “First, I need to track down info on a couple of kids. The oldest is Valentine Finegan, she’s about 15. I pulled her out of a trafficking situation yesterday.”

  “She okay?”

  “Yeah. Surprisingly so,” Vance answered. “I placed her with Jessie for the time being.”

  “How did you extract her?”

  “Bought her for the night and ran.”

  “Her pimp won’t be happy about that,” Jeff commented.

  “Yeah, I’m going to pay the piper now. That’s the second thing—but we’re not through with the first. Valentine has siblings; I promised to track them down. Said I’d just check on them but wouldn’t make contact.”

  “Got it. What are their names?”

  Vance let off the accelerator a bit and set the cruise control as he answered. There was no sense getting a speeding ticket at this point in the night. “Lily, Jasper, and Charlotte—goes by Charlie. Mom’s Adelaide. The only other thing I know about them is they’re probably somewhere in Oklahoma.”

  “I’ll see what I can turn up. Is that it on the first thing?”

  “Yeah, so the guy I bought Valentine from answers to another guy that goes by the name Little Z. Turns out he already took out Beastly Modeling by killing its proprietor before we could link it to him.”

  “Small world.”

  “Very. So, please tell me you have some sort of file on this Little Z character. I haven’t slept in two days and I’ve spent the better part of this one in my truck. I just want to throw his ass in jail so I can go home and get some sleep.”

  “You sound tired, my friend,” Jeff observed softly.

  “I am, thus the desire for sleep.”

  Jeff chuckled, letting Vance’s bad mood roll off him. “No, I mean, you sound like you’re running out of steam. Maybe it’s time for you to pass the baton to someone else, to learn to help in different ways.”

  “I don’t know if I know how to stop,” Vance admitted. “There’s always another girl, and she deserves my help as much as the last one.”

  “Just something to think about, man.” Jeff let it go at that. “So, Little Z. Let’s see what we know about him…Um, wow. I think you’ve stumbled into something bigger than you realized with this one. He’s part of a web that runs girls out of Oklahoma City. They use the trucking corridors to spread them cross-country. We got a tip from the Truckers Against Trafficking hotline that has us looking into a truck stop in OK City that might double as a meat market.”

  “Valentine came from Oklahoma. I wonder if she was part of that ring,” Vance mused. “And why is it always something bigger? Why can I never just put one in jail and be done?”

  “The nature of the beast,” Jeff answered the second question before addressing the first. “If she could tell you anything about it, it would be helpful.”

  “I’ll call Jessie next. See if Valentine said anything. Maybe she can give me enough to know what I’m looking for with Little Z. Either way, I’ll see what information I can get out of him. I’m putting a tracker in my shoe. If it goes too close to the river, maybe send in some help.”

  “Remember, if you kill him, we can’t use him to build a case against the next link in the chain.”

  “Given my plan, I’m more worried about him killing me.” Vance hung up the phone before Jeff could talk him out of anything.

  CHAPTER SEVEN

  EVERY PART OF VANCE HURT. He was on his knees, his hands bound behind his back. It would have been infinitely more enjoyable to be the one doing the beating, but he’d come to learn that being on the receiving end was far more effective at loosening lips. So when he’d stumbled into the little diner on 7th and let it “slip” that he’d left Valentine for dead, he’d swiftly found himself right where he wanted to be—carried off by Little Z’s goons to mete out the kind of justice he’d have delivered once upon a time.

  When their point had been made, they loaded Vance into a van and drove him to a spot along the river—not unlike his favorite dumping ground in the day—and rolled him out of the van before roaring off. Through swollen eyelids, he could make out the moonlight on the muddy shore. They’d left him in a remote enough spot that if Jeff wasn’t making good on his promise to track Vance, the information he’d gleaned would be worthless.

  Some part of Vance wanted to drift into the oblivion that was beckoning, that piece of him that was tired of fighting. He’d done his part. He’d done all he could to atone for his sins, and it was never enough. He was tired of trying.

  Somewhere in his mind’s eye, he could see Jessie walking towards him just as she’d done years ago. He imagined her leaning down, a kind smile reassuring him it would be okay, encouraging him to get up out of the mud and the muck. It was the m
emory of her that spurred him to shake off the siren song of sleep, to dig deep within himself to find the will to struggle to his feet.

  When he’d won the battle to be upright, Vance allowed himself a moment to catch his breath and orient himself before stumbling back to the pavement. It was a lonely road this time of night. He wasn’t sure how long he tripped along the blacktop before a car came his way. Any hope he had that they were there to save him was dashed when they honked and threw a beer can at him on their way by.

  Eventually, he managed to make it back to civilization, though he applied the term loosely. It was a terrible neighborhood. He didn’t care, though. He sat at an abandoned bus stop, resting his head against the graffitied shelter. Even his ghost-Jessie couldn’t coax him to go further. He wondered what would be so terribly wrong with allowing himself to drift into another world. Maybe Harmony would be there, waiting for him.

  “Vance?” A familiar voice broke through the haze; a face peered closely at him.

  Vance groaned and tried to crack open one eye.

  “What the hell happened to you? You look terrible.”

  “Working,” Vance croaked, finally recognizing Otis.

  “You have a terrible job.”

  Vance began a chuckle but ended with a wince.

  “Come on.” Otis began to lift Vance to his feet. “Let’s get you back to my place.”

  Vance shook his head, sandbagging Otis. “No. Can’t go to your place.”

  “It’s humble, but it’s better than here.” Otis misunderstood.

  “I have a tracker in my shoe,” Vance explained.

  “We could leave your shoe.”

  “I like my shoe. I’ll be fine.” Vance batted away the help.

  Otis stood back and regarded him a moment before giving in and sitting down next to Vance. “I’m not leaving you alone like this.”

  “Help is coming.”

  “How do you know?”

  Vance didn’t, not really. “Because Jeff won’t let me down.”