****
Coop looked through the house. No Lori. “She’s disappeared,” he told Matt.
“She has to be here somewhere. We’ll find her.”
“The same way you found the missing thug? He’s gone and so is Lori.”
“According to the records, there are three cars listed in Shafer’s name. The SUV and the Jag are missing. The Mercedes is in the garage, there were keys on the ground next to it.”
“Do you have an APB out on the thug? What about the cars?”
“Done and done.”
“Did you trace her phone?”
“We found it on the east side of town. Obviously, she doesn’t want to be found. She was smart enough to get rid of it.”
“What if the thug took her?”
“Not likely. I’m sure he took the SUV. We have a trace on the GPS now.”
Confused and overwhelmed, Coop worried. Was she safe? Where was she? Did she have friends or family? Endless streams of questions wound through his head.
“You have the flash drive Shafer and Mallory were so upset over. What do you think that’s about?”
“We need to find the matching text. We’ll scrub Shafer’s computer as well as those at The Natane Corp. I have a team in Dallas on it.”
Matt went to do his job.
Coop turned on his phone. There were two calls from Lori’s cell, but no message, several from Doc. He hit her number and waited. The FBI was all over the place, packing boxes to sift through for evidence and cordoning off each space as they finished.
“Where the hell are you? I’ve been trying to reach you for hours. Have you seen Lori? She ran out of here, took my car, and disappeared. What’s going on?”
How could he tell Doc, or the guys at work who cared so much for her, the truth? Hell, he didn’t know the truth. He had to talk to Lori. “It’s a long story. I’ll tell you later.”
“I want to know if she’s all right. And I want to know now.”
“Did you run the tests?”
“No. She ran out of here before we even started.”
“Later, Doc. Promise.” And he hung up.
His cell rang immediately. He didn’t have to look to know it was Doc again. He shut his phone off. He’d deal with her later.
First, he had to find Lori. This was a big house. She could be anywhere. But the only thing the FBI had found so far were two envelopes; one addressed to Shorty, the other to Doc. He was tempted to open them but didn’t, and put them in his pocket with a heavy heart. Deep down he knew they were goodbye notes.
Two hours later, HPD found the missing SUV. It had been abandoned not too far from the bus station downtown. The FBI were involved in the search to find the thug, but without a picture, name, or any other means of identifying him, it was hopeless. The sketchy description Coop gave them was worthless. The FBI was in the process of taking fingerprints at the house. Maybe they’d come up with something.
It didn’t take much longer until HPD stopped the Jag for speeding and realized the FBI was looking for it. The driver yelled to everyone who would listen that the car had been sitting there, the engine running with the keys in the ignition. How did he know it wasn’t his for the taking?
Dumbass!
Still no Lori.
Coop was not only a SEAL, he was a PI; if he couldn’t find her no one could.
He turned his phone on, ignored the calls from Doc, and saw two from Dirk. Just the person he wanted to talk to.
“Where have you been?” Dirk yelled once he had him on the line. “I’ve found my guy and I’m heading for the office.”
“I know who Lori is. We have an urgent problem. She’s disappeared and we can’t find her.”
“Office…fifteen minutes.”
By the time Coop arrived, the break room was full. Everyone was there, including the stranger who had to be Dirk’s missing guy, Allen Harper. Tall, light brown hair, eyes a dark gray.
“What’s this about Lori?” Carrie rose from her seat to confront Coop.
Marshall and Buster chimed in to ask their own questions. Coop couldn’t answer for the bedlam. The only quiet one in the group was Harper who looked at them as if they were nuts.
“Undercover ICE Agent Allen Harper, this is my brother and partner.” Dirk introduced Coop.
“Undercover? We need a little more explanation.”
“Wait until you hear his story.” Dirk turned to Harper. “The floor is yours.”
Harper cleared his throat. “To answer your unasked questions, I am undercover, from the Immigration and Customs Enforcement Agency. I was sent to Caswell and Associates, attorneys-at-law, to dig into The Natane Corporation, as ICE knew several of their clients were Natane operations. We suspected Natane of harboring illegal aliens. One day I hacked into their mainframe and found a file that looked interesting. I put it on a flash drive, but couldn’t make heads or tails of it. It was encrypted and I needed the code.
“I was on my way out the door to take my find to ICE when I saw my handler, Agent Sam Bartram, talking to Caswell. There was no explanation for the meet. I was undercover and had orders to report directly to Bartram. There was no reason for him to meet with Caswell.”
“So you ran.”
“I ran. What else could I do? I didn’t know who I could trust. When I called my wife and found out she’d hired you to find me, I told her to call you off, but she thought that would raise red flags, so I sent her and the kids to her sister’s in Louisiana. They would be safe there and I wouldn’t have to worry about them.”
“Were you worried we’d bring harm to your family?” Dirk looked insulted.
“I was afraid you’d bring attention to them. I had to stay hidden until I knew what the hell was going on, or until I found the information I needed. I didn’t have time to worry about family. Then I was going to the FBI.”
“Our brother is with the FBI. He has the code.”
“Cripes!” Harper swiped a hand through his hair. “I should have gone to them right away.”
“Maybe you should have.”
“Are you going to tell me how he got it?”
“Only if you swear a vow of silence. What we tell you goes no further than this room or with my brother at the FBI.”
“I swear. All I want is my life back. Living on the streets is pure hell.”
Coop looked at the confused expressions on his team’s faces. They were going to be stunned. “I want the same promise from you guys.”
“I think you know we can be trusted, Coop,” Carrie said with disdain. “What is said here stays here.”
“I know. But this will blow your minds.”
He told them about following the sisters, how Lori and Thor had shown up at Shafer’s house, finding out she was married to Shafer—learning who captured young girls and sold them for a fortune, how Shafer ended up shot and killed by his boss, Bart Mallory, CEO for The Natane Corporation, and how everyone else was in jail except the thug who escaped and Lori who disappeared.
The room exploded in shocked questions that had no answers.
Harper’s voice was as loud as the others. “I saw Shafer’s name in Natane’s computer, but I didn’t put him with my case.”
“Tell us again what that was?”
“Illegals. Natane brought them in and they disappeared. ICE wanted to know how they got here and where they were.”
“When you put the contents of the two flash drives together, you may have your answer.”
But they still didn’t know where Lori was.
He had to find her.
Starting tomorrow, it would be priority one for Browning Brothers Investigative Services.
It was going to be a long night. “I’ll call Matt. We need to meet.”
Chapter Twenty-One
Coop, Dirk, and Allen Harper met with Matt at the FBI building in downtown Houston.
“Let’s go to my office,” Matt suggested. “It’s crazy out here. I can’t remember when we’ve ever taken down a major sex
-slavery ring. Not on my watch, anyway. One that involves kids makes this high priority and everyone is going a bit crazy.”
Phones were ringing. Men and women scattered throughout the room were either on the phone or at their computer gathering data. There was a controlled eagerness about them that made Coop smile.
This was going to send Matt’s star rising amongst the FBI bigwigs.
They pulled up chairs and surrounded Matt’s desk. His office wasn’t large enough, but it was better than dealing with the chaos outside the closed door. Coop didn’t want to leave Thor in the car, so he had brought him inside. Everyone there was too busy to object. When the Malinois settled next to Coop’s chair, he reached down and ruffled his fur. There was no doubt in Coop’s mind that Thor had saved his life.
“I’m ICE Agent Allen Harper.” He extended a hand, which Matt took. He told Matt the story he’d told Coop and Dirk earlier. “I have the flash drive with the information I took off of Natane’s mainframe. I’ve been told you have the code.”
“We’ll see.” Matt took the flash drive out of a locked drawer. “I put the info on my computer. If you’ll give me yours I’ll see what comes up.”
“Let me,” Harper suggested. “I pretty well know what I need to make sense of this.”
Matt stood to let him sit. The brothers took positions behind him and watched. It didn’t take long. “What was so important it had to be encrypted?”
Harper leaned into the computer, his fingers racing over the keyboard. “It’s a how to run a sex-slavery business for newbies, outlined to the last detail. There is one section regarding adults, another for children.”
“Send it to my tablet. I want to see those details,” Matt ordered.
“So do I,” Dirk and Coop said at the same time.
Matt gave them a look that told them this was FBI business. “This is privileged information, so keep it to yourselves.”
“You wouldn’t have this privileged information if it weren’t for us,” Coop reminded him.
“Go ahead,” Matt nodded to Harper. “Send it.”
“Doing it now.”
After sending the info to each of their devices, they were soon reading the text.
Matt laid his tablet on his desk and picked up the phone. “I’m calling the team in Dallas at The Natane Corp.” In seconds he had them on the line. “Special Agent Montgomery here, close the place down and secure every computer and all of their files.” After getting an okay, he hung up.
“I think that will take care of the sex-slavery business as far as The Natane group is concerned.”
“What about the thug who got away? And Mallory’s kid, what was his name?”
“Ason—being groomed to take over for the old man. That’s why the how-to booklet. We’ll be lucky to find him or the guy who got away.”
“This gives me everything ICE needs,” Harper put in.
“Such as?”
“Names of smugglers, point of pick up, dates. By tomorrow we should have a dozen smugglers in custody and who knows how many illegals we’ll be able to send back where they belong.”
“Are you turning this over to ICE?”
Harper sat back and crossed his arms. “I don’t know who to trust. Sam Bartram’s name is here,” he pointed to the computer. “Who else is involved?”
“Let us handle it?” Matt suggested. “Bartram will be picked up. The FBI will go to the top at ICE and get this taken care of as it should be.”
“Good.”
“Are you going home?” Dirk looked at Harper. “And call your family to join you?”
“Not until Bartram is behind bars. I’ll be all right. I’ll get a low-cost motel room and touch base with you guys tomorrow.”
Coop looked at Dirk. They were thinking the same thing. “We have a bungalow sitting empty at the homestead. You’re welcome to stay there and come in with me in the a.m.”
“Sounds good. I’m sick of cheap motels and leaky faucets.”
Coop clapped Matt’s shoulder. “This is a big one. Congratulations.” Before it was over, Matt would have a dozen cases to take to court and each one would be ironclad. He was that methodical.
Coop was glad for his brother—for both of them. Dirk had found his missing person and in the process helped Matt get enough info to bring down a child sex-slavery ring.
Even the ICE agent, Allen Harper, would have enough facts and data to arrest dozens of smugglers, plus the places they kept the illegals, and where they were sent to work.
Coop had one more loose end to tie up before he could close his case for good. “Where are you keeping the sisters? I want to talk to them.”
It took a two-second phone call. “Second floor. Here’s a note to give Agent Cross, the agent in charge. They’ll give you five minutes.”
“That’s all I need.” He gave Thor the order to stay and went downstairs.
His thoughts went to Lori. He’d fallen for her. Big time. Fallen for her big turquoise eyes, fallen for the Lori who tended the dogs, learned their signals. Fallen for the woman who could whip up the most delicious food he’d ever eaten. And no, he’d never tell that to Shorty, who was no slacker in that department. Now he realized Lori was an entirely different woman than he’d thought. No wonder she had that aloof, princess-of-the-manor look when he found her. She’d had money and prestige. Or rather her husband had. But the man had turned on her. Coop wanted to know the whole story.
He scrubbed a hand over his face, ignored the burn in his belly, and went to greet the FBI agent standing in the hall waiting for him. “Agent Cross, I’m Cooper Browning.”
They shook hands. Agent Cross opened the door to the interrogation room. “I gave them a bottle of water hoping they would calm down. You’d think they’d be cried out by now.”
“They’re afraid they’ll be arrested.”
“They very well may be.”
“Let me talk to them.”
“I’ll be watching and listening,” the agent promised.
Coop walked into the small room. No wonder they were frightened. There wasn’t a thing in the room except a table and four chairs. Not even a window. The women were handcuffed to the table.
He opened the door and called to the agent. “Take the cuffs off.”
“That’s not protocol.”
“To hell with protocol. If you want them to talk, they’re going to have to trust me.”
“It’s on your head if anything happens.”
Coop scoffed. “We have two small women here. I think I can handle them.”
Once the cuffs were removed, they sat there with large frightened eyes and stared at Coop. “My name is Cooper Browning. I’m here to help you.”
They looked at him with distrust. After a minute, they introduced themselves. The oldest was Zia, the younger, Tan.
“We no want go jail,” Zia said. Tan had her hands over her face as if hiding from it all.
Coop spoke softly. He wanted to reassure them he wouldn’t hurt them, that they could trust him. “Then you need to talk to me. Tell me what we need to know. Your boss is dead. His boss is in custody. No one will hurt you. But you have to tell me your story. How you got here, what they made you do, why you chased after the young girl, Christie. It was obvious you wanted to take her somewhere. We need to know where.”
“Long story.”
Coop looked toward the mirror where he knew Agent Cross was listening and recording every word. “We have time.”
Tan, dropped her hands from her eyes and watched wide-eyed as her sister told their story.
They had wanted a better life; not just for themselves, but for their father who needed medical attention for which they had no money. A man Coop presumed was a recruiter promised to get them to America and find them good jobs where they would earn enough money to send home to their father. Eventually, they could bring him to the States.
They believed him.
Once they crossed the border, they realized they would never get out of the clut
ches of the men who brought them here.
“You helped Anie escape.”
Their faces paled. “How you know?”
“She told me. She wanted to help you like you helped her.
“Anie good girl. Too young what they wanted.”
“What did they want?”
Tears leaked from their eyes. “Sex. No good.”
“What was your role in their sex business?”
“We take care girls. We good to them. We know what going to happen and we sad.”
“You were in charge of the girls?”
They nodded.
“Can you tell me where you kept them?”
Another nod. “At work.”
Coop sat up straighter. Work? At the nail salon? “Where at work?”
“Basement. I go check often. Bring food. Wash them. Take good care.”
“How did you keep them quiet?”
Zia hung her head. “Pills. No wake up till night.”
There could be girls there now. Coop jumped from the chair and ran to the door. “Did you hear that?” he asked Agent Cross.
“Already called it in. Men are on their way.”
Coop leaned against the wall.
“Are you all right?”
“Hell no. I have the shakes just thinking about innocent girls being in a dark basement until they’re sold.”
Agent Cross left and came back with a bottle of water. “You look as if you can use this.”
“Thanks.” Coop drank greedily. But the shakes wouldn’t go away. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
When he was once more sitting in front of the sisters, he asked, “How did Christie get away”
“My fault,” Tan spoke up. “I left door unlocked. The babies take pill. I thought they sleep for hours.”
She called them babies. And they were. Young girls from ten to sixteen were nothing but babies. Coop felt sick to his stomach.
“Did you see her leave?” They had to have, otherwise how could they have chased her.
Zia nodded. “We run, but no catch. Then car…” She started crying again. “Not want hurt.”
Wounded at the Lake Page 19
