“Shitty way to travel.” He made the comment light to hide his discomfort, thinking about what the people in the containers had gone through.
She narrowed her eyes. “Charming way to put it. Many don’t survive the trip overseas. They took the risk hoping for a better life and those who did make it faced a living nightmare almost worse than the days at sea.”
Red flag. He was enjoying pricking her temper on light topics but this was getting too close to home for her, if his research on her personal background was on target. Her little sister was a leading researcher on human trafficking in the Hawaiian islands. In fact, her little sister had almost been kidnapped because of it.
“Hey.” Normally he’d let the person go on thinking whatever the hell they wanted about him, but in this case—or maybe with this woman—he wanted to make himself clear. “I get it. I do. These people came from dire circumstances if they’ve made the decision to take the risk. Hell, they even pulled together insane amounts of money to pay for the chance. They were duped and screwed on the other side.”
“If you get it, don’t make light of it.” She was on her feet again and had stepped away from him. It seemed like way more distance than was possible in the single room. Her dog, King, got to his feet and joined her. Whatever the dog was reading from her mood, Jason might be wise to take the hint. The pair of them were looking more distant, unapproachable, with every passing moment of silence.
“You’re right.” He pitched his words quietly, hoping his sincerity would come through. “I try to keep a sense of humor because people like you and me, we’re going to see things that only get worse and worse as we go through our careers. Keeping it light helps me stay sane but sometimes I get carried away. I’m sorry. I’m way out of my comfort zone here and I’m not even sure how I can help any of these people at this point.”
She stared at him, those dark eyes unfathomable. “You came to this island before leaving Hawaii. You could’ve just cleared your conscience by terminating your contract and heading straight to the mainland. Why are you really here?”
It wasn’t as simple a question to answer now as it had been in the hospital room. He wasn’t going to insult her by acting like his initial answer was enough. “I told you; I wanted to try to help some of the people victimized by that godforsaken trafficking ring, and I meant it. A long time ago, I made the decision to leave the place I knew, looking for something better. Hell, at the time I thought nowhere could be worse than where I’d come from. Later, I learned it definitely could.”
He paused. Unpacking the why of it all wasn’t something he did, ever. Introspection was something he tended to avoid. Probably because he didn’t like himself very much. But looking at her, sitting there, waiting and listening… She’d been judging him earlier for the way he made things into a joke. Now, there was no judgment, only listening. She was giving him a chance. If he botched this, she’d cut him out and he wasn’t ready yet, not when these last several hours had been more interesting to him than any number of years he’d spent living. “As far as I know, there is no security that someone else gives you. Not family, not friends. Every company or business goes down over time, every community falls apart.” He let a short laugh loose and swallowed when he heard how bitter it sounded. “You build your security for yourself. No one will wait for you while you do it. Everyone will move on with or without you. And I was okay with that. I was holding my own. But these people? They were trying to find better opportunities for themselves, too. Every possible chance for them to win that for themselves was taken away and I was part of doing that to them. I’ll be going to hell for a lot of reasons, but it won’t be because I contributed to this kind of evil.”
There. He had next to nothing left in his mind but the memories he’d take away from the plantation and how they’d changed him. He remembered the looks on the faces of the captives. They’d been lost and brutalized. And as they’d been stumbling out of the building on that plantation, Arin had been on a rooftop watching over them through the scope of her sniper rifle. Her mission had been completed and she’d lingered, even after he’d confronted her. She’d made sure someone was watching over those people until the police arrived on the scene. Then she’d vanished.
She’d changed him and he didn’t even understand why. This was his chance to find out.
He cleared his throat and lifted his chin at her. “Why don’t you tell me why you’re here. Just the job?”
She blinked and her lips parted, her mask slipping away. He’d caught her off guard. Maybe people didn’t derail her often, or it was possible not many tried. She didn’t barrel ahead with her interrogation of his motives, though.
“I made a promise.” Her statement was short, defensive.
He lifted an eyebrow. There was weight behind those words. Promises meant something significant to her. He filed that thought away for future reference.
“To family? A friend?” If this was loyalty, he could understand it in theory. He wasn’t big on loyalty himself.
She shook her head. “A woman I barely know. She’s an older sister and she doesn’t have the means to find and save her younger sibling. King and I have the skill set. I promised her we would do everything in our power to find her younger brother.”
He stared at her. She was absolutely dedicated to this promise she’d made to a person she barely knew. It’d make more sense if her promise had been made to someone close, but a stranger? Why? “The woman could be lying.”
Arin nodded. “She had a picture or two. There are records. The circumstances around her involvement in this human trafficking ring aren’t what most would expect. This woman wasn’t running from war-torn lands or villages threatened by conflict. The oppression she left behind was more subtle in its iniquity. She was educated. She had student identification and a diploma from back home. We were able to confirm her records with the university overseas. She took what she thought was a job offer to apply her degree in a new career on the mainland and paid extra to relocate her younger brother with her. She was tricked and they were separated. Raul met her in a massage parlor on Oahu during our investigation leading up to the plantation raid, and she provided us with additional intel when we were in the planning stages for this mission. I made the promise because it’s in alignment with the investigation. King and I can do this.”
She’d made the promise because she was a big sister, too. He didn’t have siblings and he didn’t share a feeling of brotherhood with anyone he’d worked with to date, but he also wasn’t completely lacking in empathy. Maybe what drew him to her was the fact that she didn’t preach what she thought was right or wrong. She didn’t put her opinions into words so much as she executed on them. She took action, and he admired her for that.
He shook his head slowly. “Honestly, I’ve never committed to help a single person the way you are right now. But I met you and haven’t been able to get you out of my head since. Let’s go find this kid.”
Chapter Six
Arin put the Jeep into park, well away from the lighting around the main gate to the Kawaihae Harbor. It was the middle of the night and headed toward the dark hours just before morning. They hadn’t taken the time to wash any clothes, but she’d at least pulled a clean long-sleeve shirt on before pulling her protective vest over it.
Jason sat next to her, back in his dirty clothes. She glanced at him and he had a spark of mischief in his eyes as he gave her a quick smile.
This could be a trap.
Oh, she believed most of what he’d been telling her, even his motives for being here on the island. But believing him and trusting him were two different things. She didn’t trust anyone easily. She’d either seen people live to regret trusting too much, die for that mistake, or experienced the former herself. Too many ingrained lessons in why not to trust anyone made her cautious even as she’d brought Jason along with her to the harbor.
Jason could’ve told her the truth earlier and still be capable of flipping his loyalties. Coming
that close to being eliminated by his former colleagues could induce a change of heart, and he might be tempted to try to get back into their good graces by giving away her movements or the movements of the rest of the Search and Protect team. Whether his intentions remained helpful or turned treacherous, it was better to keep him where she could monitor his activities directly.
She’d checked in via text messages with Raul before leaving her bolt-hole. Raul and his team were searching Hilo Harbor and had turned up nothing so far. The next best option for the human trafficking ring was to try to ship their captives out of Kawaihae. If the boy she was looking for was still alive, he was most likely here for the moment. It would take Raul, the Search and Protect team, and the task force hours to cross the island to get here, and they couldn’t risk taking local law enforcement resources away from the airports, just in case the main perpetrators tried to fly off the island. Huy and the other captives could disappear with the outgoing tide before search and rescue teams could arrive to start looking for them.
So she, King, and Jason were here ahead of the official search. She was also here without explicit orders, which could be all sorts of interesting. Creativity in high-risk situations was her specialty.
“This is unexpected.” Jason rolled his shoulders as they met at the back of the Jeep. He stood back as she opened the trunk to let King out.
“How so?” She double-checked King’s vest and made sure his digital camera was working. Footage caught by the equipment on King’s gear could be valuable evidence later. It was above and beyond what most search and rescue teams might use, but Zu thought using it’d be worthwhile, considering how much they’d been collaborating with local law enforcement lately. Zu’s Buck and Raul’s Taz had been equipped with digital cameras, too.
“I offered to help and I’m glad you accepted, but I honestly thought we’d either be chatting all night, trying to get inside each other’s heads or I’d be secured and tucked under the bed in your little hideaway while you hared off to go save this kid.” Jason continued to warm up his upper body, swinging his arms forward and back in slight arcs.
“You wouldn’t have stayed put.” The image of Jason bound to the underside of the bed tickled her, followed by the very sexy image of him bound to the top of the bed instead. Yeah, no. It probably would’ve taken a while, but she was guessing he was resourceful enough to have gotten out of any number of zip ties eventually. Sure, she could’ve secured him well enough to keep him for a few hours, but this excursion would’ve given him long enough to have a change of heart and flip back to his former team. She wasn’t willing to risk her chance to rescue Huy and the other captives.
“Probably not.” He didn’t seem to have a problem with being equally as candid. “I don’t like to get bored. I also seem to have some people after me, so if you didn’t let me help you then I’d have nothing left to do but get on with my life.”
“Yeah?” Satisfied with King’s gear, she kept him leashed and murmured a soft command to keep him at heel beside her. Then she started toward the gatehouse. “I thought you were working to lighten the load on your conscience.”
“Thus the offer to help you,” Jason responded easily. “If you refused, I couldn’t do much more by myself and there’s obviously an effort to erase me from existence. I like my life, so practicality would indicate I should move on.”
“It’s not too late to go now.” She gave him the out despite her earlier caution. He had every reason to leave if that was the way he was thinking. His staying was weird.
He had no reason to be targeting her specifically, as far as she knew. And she hadn’t missed the way he’d looked at her every once in a while. His interest was very real, and very much in her.
“I’m here.” He was cheerful about it. “Until the rest of your team arrives, I’d like to be sure someone is watching your six.”
She strode toward the gate. They’d been in the parking lot long enough to be spotted by any cameras in the area. Unless the whole harbor was under the payroll of this human trafficking ring, any security should be fairly straightforward to talk to. She slipped through the closed gate—mostly meant to keep vehicles out rather than individuals on foot—and proceeded as if she was absolutely supposed to be there. Any attempt at stealth would make explaining her presence on premises harder later. Best to be open and obvious about her intent to the nice security cameras.
Jason kept up with her, staying on her right to give King room ahead and slightly to the left of her. The man’s head turned as he kept an eye out for any movement in the darkness. Presumably, he wanted to warn of any trouble. He moved with assurance and an air of competence. There was no sign of his concussion impeding his perception or motor function.
It’d been her impulse to bring Jason along and he hadn’t argued when she’d told him where they were going. He’d even agreed that this was the likely location to ship out the missing captives. She needed to decide whether to work with him or treat him like an extra liability—along for the ride only because it’d made more sense than leaving him behind. After all, even if he was being completely up front, she was twisting herself into knots anticipating the worst—and honestly hoping for the best. “I do fine on my own.”
“I believe you do,” Jason murmured. “But I’m here anyway.”
His statement could’ve creeped her out. Instead, the tightness in her gut eased a little. For this action, here at the harbor, she’d work with him. It still wasn’t proof she could trust him, though.
Jason kept pace with Arin as she continued through the harbor area. She walked with confidence, and with King next to her she looked like law enforcement even if neither of them was wearing a uniform. King was equipped with a military-quality vest, and the camera definitely made it impossible for someone to think of him as just a service dog. To be honest, service dogs weren’t incredibly common on the island anyway, particularly at night, walking around a shipping harbor.
They reached the container terminal and Arin stopped, kneeling to whisper to King.
“Can’t you just tell him to search for humans?” He couldn’t hear what she was saying to the dog but he’d listened when she’d given commands. When it was time to do actual work, she spoke in concise, short phrases or single words.
Arin looked up, though she still had her hands buried in the dog’s fur around his face. The overhead lamps produced catchlights in her eyes and he didn’t think he’d get tired of the different ways light caught in her eyes, ever. She shook her head once. “Mmm. Not King. He needs a specific scent to track.”
She shrugged out of the small backpack she’d been wearing and reached into the main compartment. Drawing out a gallon-sized ziplock bag, she held it low and opened it. King immediately stuck his nose inside, took a few short sniffs and one long one.
“The boy’s sister had a T-shirt or two from their journey before they were separated.” Arin shook her head. “It has her scent on it as well. There’s a chance it’ll confuse King, but I can give him another check if we get through the terminal here without him detecting anything.”
She sealed the shirt away, tucked it into her backpack, and swung the backpack into place over her shoulders. “Ready?”
King was sitting, watching her, ears up and alert. He was visibly eager, almost trembling, and he looked happy. Jason wasn’t sure how a dog looked happy when it was just sitting there, not wagging its tail or barking or hopping around in the middle of play. King was as intense as Arin and he projected sheer joy working with his mistress.
Damn. What was it like to enjoy the work you do the way this dog did?
“Such.” She delivered the command in the barest of whispers. Really, only the dog had to hear it. Jason caught it because he’d been listening for it. He was going to guess it was German. He could be wrong, though.
Arin and King started forward together, systematically making their way down the rows of forty-foot containers.
“Sure he’ll be able to catch a scent if wha
t he’s looking for is inside one of these?” He tried to give them room, but stayed close enough for conversation. He also paid attention to the direction of the wind and did his best to remain downwind to avoid adding his scent to the many others the dog was probably sifting through in search of the one he was set to find.
“Shipping containers aren’t airtight.” She was watching where King was going and also remaining vigilant to their surroundings.
He’d been doing visual sweeps of the area as well. He wasn’t worried about someone who belonged at the harbor. A security guard or employee would approach them openly. It was more an issue of someone left to guard the human cargo. Whoever it was would be tucked away somewhere inconspicuous, easily missed by security. It could even be a member of his former team. Considering the shots they’d taken at Jason already, he wasn’t eager to let them catch him by surprise again. He also didn’t want Arin hurt by someone trying to get at him.
“So scent from inside could be detected from the outside.” The rapport between Arin and her GSD was interesting. He hadn’t had much experience on a mission with a handler and a working dog in the past. The sheer level of awareness she had for every nuance of her dog’s posture and body language blew Jason away.
“They wouldn’t have been loaded here, so there’s no trail for him to follow to a container,” she said almost absentmindedly. “He literally has to sniff each container on as many corners as he can reach for detection.”
She delivered the explanation in a matter-of-fact tone, clipped and maybe even abrupt to some people’s ears. It didn’t bother him, especially after having spent the better part of the day listening to her. The edge always seemed to be on her words, but she didn’t sound more irritable than any of their conversations earlier. She was…focused and driven.
Fierce Justice Page 6
