KIDNAP.org

by Peg Herring

  Once the details were agreed upon, Billings said the girls would be brought to the parking lot of a box store outside Tampa. There Em would pay the entire fee in cash and take ownership.

  “Isn’t that an odd place to pick up slaves?” Em asked.

  “Involuntary household staff,” Billings corrected. “And no one pays attention to what happens in those places.”

  “Should I bring someone to help keep them under control?”

  “We give them a little something to calm them down. It will last long enough for you to get them home and secured.”

  “I have a hard time keeping my mouth shut,” Em told her friends. “It’s like she’s peddling Roombas.”

  “We’re going to do what we can,” Robin promised.

  “If we stop Linda, that’s something,” Em agreed. “That is one cold-hearted woman.”

  ***

  Robin stood in the box store parking lot, pretending to be on the phone as she watched Em, who waited in a rental car for the delivery of two slaves. How had they gotten to this point? Robin felt like she’d descended the ladder of depravity, from a low-level shyster to bigger crooks to perhaps the worst type of all, those who sold their fellow human beings without a shred of guilt or pity. She’d been ashamed of her father all her life, but this was worse, a ring of people who profited from the suffering of others. How did a person become involved in something so evil?

  The plan for tonight was simple, which Robin hoped meant it was workable. Em would pick up the girls she’d arranged to buy. Once she had them safely away, Cam and Robin would make a decision, based on who the delivery person turned out to be. If Billings herself showed, they’d take her hostage and demand a ransom. If she sent a flunky or came with an escort, they’d follow them back to their base of operations and wait for a chance to get Billings alone. Em had pressed as hard as she dared for the woman to make the delivery herself, claiming she preferred someone she had seen before.

  Billings was driving the car that pulled up next to the rented Mercedes. Getting out, she came to the window and peered in to assure herself that Em was alone.

  “Have you got it?”

  Em handed over a mailing envelope. Billings reached inside, flipped through the stacks of cash, and nodded satisfaction. “I’ll get them.”

  Going back to her car, she opened a back door. At her gruff command, two girls connected by a zip tie around their wrists exited the vehicle. Clumsily they followed Billings to Em’s car and climbed into the back seat. Though their hair was neatly braided and their clothing was clean, there was a hollowness in their cheeks that indicated poor nutrition.

  “Thank you, Mrs. Billings,” Em said, putting her car into gear. “I hope this works out for me.”

  “I’m sure you’ll do very well together,” Billings replied. “Just don’t be afraid to assert your authority.”

  As the Mercedes left the parking lot and turned onto the street, Billings returned to her car. Before she could start the engine, Robin rose from the back seat and touched a piece of pipe to her neck. “Give me your phone,” she ordered in her metallic voice. After a moment Billings obeyed, glaring at the reflection in her rearview mirror. Robin wore a transparent Halloween mask that blurred her features, and she held the pipe in her left hand, out of view. Billings’ cold eyes made Robin’s heart thump in her chest, and the audacity of what she was doing settled over her like a cloak of doom. This woman was part of a heartless organization responsible for the suffering, even deaths, of many innocent victims. If she screwed up, they would descend on her and her friends with the full weight of their evil. For a few seconds terror took hold of her, and she wanted nothing more than to bolt from the car, escaping Linda Billings’ gaze and the threats it implied.

  “When I get the man to set his package down, you reach in and take the jewelry-store box, Babe.”

  “I don’t want to, Daddy. I’m scared.”

  “Scared doesn’t mean you don’t do something,” Mark said, pinching her arm until she winced. “Now do what I told you to do or I’ll give you something to really be scared of.”

  Saved from panic by the urging of a man she despised, Robin pocketed Billings’ phone. “Drive.”

  ***

  As she left the parking lot, Em assessed the condition of the girls she’d just rescued from slavery. It was obvious which was which, since Mai showed clear signs of Downs Syndrome. Jai had intelligent eyes, high cheekbones, and the look of someone who’d been brave almost longer than she could bear. Despite the drug they’d been given, she met Em’s gaze with angry defiance.

  Trying to put them at ease she said, “We’re going somewhere safe. Do you understand?”

  After a moment Jai said in perfect English. “Of course I understand. That doesn’t mean I believe you.”

  The house Hua had rented for them stood on stilts over the gulf shore. Parking on the slab beneath, Em said, “Would you like to come inside?”

  Jai considered for a moment before giving a tight nod, and Mai readily followed her sister’s lead. Leading the way up the stairs and into the house, Em gestured at the zip tie that bound the girls together. “Let’s get rid of that first.” Rummaging noisily in the silverware drawer, she came up with a knife. When Mai’s eyes widened in fear, Em turned the handle toward Jai. “You cut it.”

  When it was done, Jai didn’t return the knife but held it to her side. Em shrugged. “Keep it if it makes you feel better. Would you like some tea?”

  “No.”

  “Suit yourself. I’m having some.” Filling a pitcher with water, she set it in the microwave to heat. As it hummed and counted down the time, Em took an unopened package of cookies from the cupboard. “Hungry?”

  Mai’s eyes said she was. Jai’s revealed nothing.

  “I suppose they kept you half-starved so you’d be easier to handle, but you’re finished with that now. You can eat anytime you want to.” She opened the refrigerator, which Robin had stocked with food, and stood aside so they could see. “Take what you like, now or later.”

  Jai regarded Em with distrust. “What do you want with us?”

  “Nothing, Jai. We want nothing from you.”

  “We? I see one old woman. How will you stop us from leaving here?”

  Em grinned. “I have no intention of stopping you, but you might consider what’s best before you go running off into the dark. Best for you, and best for Mai.”

  Jai seemed ready to cry for a moment, but she regained control. “We must go home.”

  “If that’s what you want, we’ll help you do it.” The microwave dinged its signal, and Em removed the hot water. “In the meantime, wouldn’t you like some cookies and tea?”

  ***

  Robin had steeled herself for this part of the abduction, expecting chillingly specific threats from her captive and even a possible escape attempt. Though Billings blustered like a school-yard bully, she made no attempt to swerve off the road or grab Robin’s “weapon.” She made vague, almost childish statements about how her captor would be sorry he’d “messed with” her, and he was going to “get it.” Robin found her muttered defiance easy to ignore, as long as Billings drove where she told her to and did what she demanded.

  When they pulled up at the unit, Cam came out from the shadows to open the door, the hood of his jacket pulled close around his face. “Drive inside,” Robin ordered. Billings obeyed, and Cam closed the door, shutting out much of the light. When he turned on the trouble lights, Robin ordered, “Get out of the car and take a seat in the chair.”

  Billings moved slowly, as if she were frozen with fear. Switching on the recorder she’d set up earlier Robin began, “Mrs. Billings, we’re aware of how you make your money.”

  Billings seemed to make an effort to pull herself together. “You mean my employment agency.”

  “You traffic in human beings.”

  Billings remained calm, though her face was flushed. “We match workers with employers who need them.” Fingering the collar
of her shirt she added, “We recommend a weekly salary and humane living conditions.”

  “The ‘workers’ are brought here against their will and held as prisoners.”

  Billings shook her head. “We give them a life they could never have imagined.”

  “One where they can be beaten, starved, even killed by their masters.”

  “Things like that seldom happen.”

  Robin tried to steady her voice. “Seldom is good enough for you?”

  Billings rubbed a hand across her forehead. “Can we skip the moralizing? Why am I here?”

  Turning slightly, Robin booted the laptop she’d set on a small stepladder. After some fiddling, Hua’s face appeared on the screen. Though he remained calm, his jaw shifted slightly when he saw Linda Billings.

  “Would you tell us what you know about this woman?” Robin asked.

  He swallowed before answering. “When the men who took me from my home brought me to this country, she trained me to serve as a houseboy. Then she sold me to Senator Buckram.”

  As Hua spoke, Billings began rubbing her chest. “You got any water?”

  “Um, yeah.” Digging in her backpack, Robin located the water bottle she’d brought along. “Here.”

  She took a long drink, at the same time kneading her chest as if something inside it wanted out. Suddenly her face contorted, and she slumped forward. “Don’t—feel—good.” The bottle clattered to the floor, and a moment later, Billings toppled after it.

  Though her first reaction was concern, Robin had taught herself caution. “Watch her, Cam. It might be a trick.” He nodded, and Robin stepped forward, calling the woman’s name.

  Billings lay prone, her face to the floor and one hand under her. The other hand was limp at her side. Neither had been used to break her fall. Robin felt her neck. No pulse. Linda Billings was dead.

  Chapter Twenty-one

  “Do not be upset,” Hua told his friends from the computer screen. “Mrs. Linda Billings was not a nice person. The world is better without her.”

  “But we killed her, Hua. We scared her to death.” Robin was close to panic. She couldn’t look away from the prone form of the woman whose death she had caused. Her throat felt parched, but her water bottle rolled beside Billings, still in motion from the force of being dropped.

  Cam also stared at the corpse, but he seemed more intrigued than guilty. “When my dad had his heart attack, the doctor said he probably had chest pain for months and didn’t tell anybody. I’ll bet Mrs. Billings did too.”

  “She smoked all the time,” Hua put in. “I remember how her breath smelled when—” He stopped himself. “It’s bad she died tonight, but she would have anyway, tomorrow or the day after.”

  Tomorrow would have been better. I’ve never watched anyone die before.

  Having always thought that in the movies the hero accepted the death of a villain way too easily—one quick check and a sorrowful expression—Robin tested Billings’ pulse again. She was still dead.

  “What are we going to do, Robin?” Cam’s right hand wiped at his shirt front, and his gaze remained two feet to her left, as if she were a stranger he’d just met. This was the ultimate failure of Plan A. Though they’d plotted escape routes and meeting points, they had never discussed what to do if a target died in their custody.

  Cam’s question was like a weight that fastened itself around her ankles, dragging her down, down, under the earth. The voices in her head piled atop her: What now, Robin? What’s the plan, Robin? What should we do, Robin?

  She wanted someone else to say what came next, because she really didn’t know.

  In a tiny, tiny miracle, Hua granted her wish. “Do you have her phone?”

  “Um, yeah.”

  “See if her thumbprint opens it.”

  “Her—?” Panic circled her brain, and she didn’t see what Hua was getting at.

  “Robin! Take Linda’s phone out and open it with her finger. It’s usually the dominant thumb, so start with her right one.”

  Numbly Robin obeyed. Billings’ hand was still warm, and she shivered as she took hold of it. “It worked!” she said a second later. “The main screen is up.”

  “Okay, look for a bank logo. If our luck holds, she will have her password and account login stored.”

  She was beginning to understand what Hua intended. Could it possibly be that easy?

  “I think that’s a bank logo.” She touched the icon, and a screen opened.

  “Type an L,” Hua advised. “If her ID begins with her name, as many do, the rest will fill in automatically.”

  “It didn’t work.”

  “B then.”

  “That’s it! The information came up.”

  “Okay. Click and get into her account. You might need to enter the thumb print a second time.”

  A few seconds later Robin said, “Wow.”

  “Can we get the amount we planned on from there?”

  “And more.”

  “Take $500,000. That’s the maximum one-time transfer allowable under most bank rules.”

  With trembling fingers Robin typed in the amount and the rest of the information required to move Linda Billings’ money from her account to theirs. Her finger hovered for a moment when the Complete this transaction? prompt came up. “Hua, she’s dead. She can’t change now, so is it fair to take her money?”

  His response came in the softest tone possible. “Was what she did to me fair?”

  Taking a deep breath, Robin pressed the button that affirmed the transfer. She watched in dread for a few seconds before the screen informed her that her transaction was complete. Would she like to do another?

  No. What I’d like to do is lie down for a while.

  Hua had a different idea. “See if there’s another bank icon on the phone.”

  Navigating to the menu she replied. “There is, but—”

  “What is it you often say? ‘In for a penny, in for a pound.’ We should hinder these people as much as possible, yes?”

  Sighing, Robin took up Billings’ rapidly cooling hand. “Yes.”

  The second account had over $400,000, and she took almost all of it, promising herself the whole amount would be spent to fight human trafficking. When that was over, somewhere under all the shock and regret, she felt the scales of justice tilt a tiny bit in the direction of humanity.

  Then she picked up on what Hua was saying. “—so you must find Billings’ house and help them.”

  “What did you say?”

  “The other slaves,” he repeated urgently. “When Linda fails to return, her people will run away. They will not leave anyone behind who knows what they have done.”

  Her nerves felt like they were being squeezed in a vise. “They’ll kill them?”

  “Yes.”

  It was almost too much to comprehend. There was a dead body on the floor beside her. More lives were at risk if she didn’t act quickly. And she had only Cam for help.

  No. Cam is the only one here, but Hua and Em are with us. Sort of.

  “Hua, can you make the records of tonight’s meeting disappear from her devices?”

  “Her people will do that as soon as they realize she’s missing.”

  “Great.” Taking out Billings’ phone, Robin erased all recent calls except one that said Mary’s Nail Shop. Wiping her prints away, she tucked it into the pocket of the woman’s pants. “Cam, here’s what you need to do.” As she explained, his nervous gestures accelerated. When she said, “—move the body,” he ruffled his hair repeatedly, and when she warned, “—stay away from cameras,” he rubbed both hands along his shirt front as if trying to scrub the color out of it.

  “I d-don’t think I can do that, R-Robin,” he said when she finished.

  “You have to.” She glanced around the storage unit. “Talk to Hua until you’re done. He’ll help you remember what to do.” Cam trusted Hua as much as he trusted Robin, and Hua seemed unaffected by Billings’ death. Even from a thousand miles away, h
e could keep Cam calm enough to do what needed to be done.

  “Find her address.” While Cam searched the car, Robin called Em to report what had happened. “I need as much location information on Billings’ house as the girls can provide.”

  “You’re not going out there, Robin.”

  “I have to. Hua says when Billings doesn’t return, her men will kill whoever is left.”

  Em sighed. “At least you have Cam with you.”

  “Um, right.” What you don’t know might hurt me.

  “I’ll put Jai on. She can tell you what you need to know.”

  Jai’s English was good, though Robin strained to understand some of the words. “We are locked in one room—all girls. Linda likes shipments all one kind.” Robin’s resolve hardened at hearing people referred to as “shipments.” If she could get there in time, this shipment would not be dumped like bananas gone bad.

  “How many girls and where is this room?”

  “Without us, six. Our window is by a tall blue light with a metal cover—pretty, you know? But for prison.”

  A grate to prevent escape through the window and a security light to reveal who was outside.

  “What will you do to Luther?” Jai asked.

  “Who’s Luther?”

  “Linda’s son. He says if there is trouble, he will throw a grenade into our room and run.” Her voice turned hard. “He laughs when he says this, like it would be so funny.”

  “Does Luther really have a grenade?”

  “I don’ think so. It is a joke, you know?” Jai added in a hopeful tone, “Perhaps you will surprise him. Luther is very lazy, like—a worm, is it?”

  “Slug,” she corrected absently. “Does someone stand guard outside the house?”

  “I don’ think so.”

  “So Luther will be there alone?”

  Jai considered that. “Sometimes there is Dave and Gary, but I don’ see them today.”