“I’ve got her.” He paused for a moment. “You sure can,” he said and held out the phone toward Kate.
While Kate assured Jennifer she was perfectly fine and couldn’t wait to see her, Jake made his way through the happy, chattering Asian girls, to talk to Mike.
“I’ll let you know what my plans are as soon as I talk to Kate,” he told his boss. “If she won’t have me, I’ll have to rethink my resignation.”
“Somehow, I don’t think that’s going to be a problem.” Mike smiled and then added, “Not if Jennifer has anything to do with it.”
As Kate handed the cell phone back to Jake, he smiled at her and held out his hand.
“Let’s go,” he said. “Mike will finish up here.”
Kate felt confused as she looked around and saw the men she had checked into the lodge thinking they had come to Mountain Springs to fish.
“What is going on?” she asked Jake. “Who are these men? I thought they had come here to fish.”
Jake smiled and held out his hand, “I’ll explain everything on the way back to the lodge.”
Kate took his hand and let Jake lead her out of the spa. Was the Mike he had referred to the Mike Barton who had made a reservation at the lodge, she wondered. She was sure Jake would clarify everything for her once they were out of the confusion of the spa.
“Jake, I’m so sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused,” she said as he opened the door on the passenger side of the Jeep.
“And I’m sorry I didn’t tell you I was going up to Salt Lake,” he said. “But that’s all behind us now and I would like to talk to you about the future. But I must tell you again, Kate, you’re going to have to learn to trust me.”
“All right,” she said meekly.
Shutting the door, he walked around the Jeep and climbed in. “Let’s get out of here and then we can talk.”
They passed through the gate and as they started down the road toward the lodge, Jake stopped at the side of the road. Kate turned to him in surprise when he switched off the engine.
“There are some things I need to explain to you before we reach the lodge,” he said. “It won’t take long, but you need to know what is going on. I have already explained everything to Hank and Jennifer and I know Jennifer is anxious to talk to you about it.”
“What is it?” she asked.
“I told you I was an attorney on sabbatical. That isn’t quite true. I am an attorney but I work for the USCIS out of Washington, D.C.”
“What is that?”
“It used to be the INS, which was the Immigration and Naturalization Service that operated under the Department of Justice, but in 2003 the INS was combined with the US Customs Investigations and became the U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service.”
Jake saw he had Kate’s full attention, so he continued with his explanation.
“A few months ago our agency started receiving reports indicating that organizations were offering to find husbands for women in Asian countries. When the women signed up with these organizations, they were brought to the United States, but instead of being presented with a husband, they were told they had to reimburse the organization for the cost of their trip to the US. Then they were placed in health spas throughout small towns in America, health spas which were actually houses of prostitution.”
“How awful,” Kate whispered.
“It became the responsibility of our agency to find these so called health spas, obtain evidence of their owners, and hopefully find the top men of these organizations that are enslaving these women. When we heard about the one here in Mountain Springs, my boss, Mike Barton, sent me here to investigate and find out who the owner of the spa was.”
“So that’s why you were so interested in the Geisha House, and I thought it was because . . .” Kate stopped.
“I understand. But you know now that I was only doing my job.”
She nodded.
“Kate, you know how I feel about you, don’t you?”
“I think so.”
He smiled. “Well, in case all that has happened has made you forget, I’ll refresh your memory. I love you and I want to spend the rest of my life with you and Jennifer.”
“I want that, too,” she said softly, leaning toward him.
“Then you’ll marry me?”
Kate nodded, lifting her face for another kiss.
“Now we need to ask Jennifer how she feels about it,” Jake said after he had kissed her.
“Good idea.”
She could see his smile in the lights from the dashboard, as he started the engine. Before shifting the Jeep into gear, he took her hand.
Remembering her SUV, which was parked on the side street, Jake asked, “Do you want to get your car now?”
“No, I would rather ride with you. I can get it later.”
Shifting into gear, he slowly accelerated. It wasn’t long before they were turning onto the road that ran past the lodge. A minute later, they pulled into the driveway and had barely stopped in front of the lodge when Jennifer came running out on the porch.
Kate jumped out of the Jeep and caught Jennifer in her arms.
“Oh, Mama,” Jennifer cried. “When you first disappeared, I was afraid I was never going to see you again. Then Jake came home and I knew everything was going to be all right.”
Jake walked around the Jeep and gathered mother and daughter into his arms. They hugged each other in silence until Kate drew away.
“Jake and I have something we want to ask you,” she said.
“What is it?” Jennifer asked.
Kate smiled, a bit mischievously. “We want to know if it would be all right for Jake to take care of you and me for the rest of our lives.”
“You mean, you and Jake would get married?” Jennifer asked, her eyes sparkling with excitement.
“That’s exactly what I mean,” Kate said.
“Yes, yes,” Jennifer said. “Can I go tell Hank?”
“Of course.” Kate smiled at her daughter’s enthusiasm.
As Jennifer ran up the steps and into the lodge, Jake took Kate into his arms.
Leaning his head down toward her, he said in a voice hoarse with emotion, “Do you know I’ve waited all my life to find someone like you? And to have Jennifer as well, is a bonus.”
Kate leaned up for his kiss. Their lips had hardly touched when Jennifer came bouncing out onto the porch.
“Hank said you will probably go on a honeymoon. If you do, can I go with you?”
Jake laughed. “It’s going to be a few months before we do that. Your mother has to finish out the season and I have to hand in my resignation to the USCIS and tie up some loose ends I have there.”
“But if you do go on a honeymoon, can I go with you?”
“Your mom and I will talk it over and get back to you,” Jake said. “But it’s definitely a possibility.”
Jennifer danced back into the lodge, calling for Hank.
“What a sweetheart,” Jake said, smiling down at Kate, where she stood in the circle of his arm.
Jake and Mike held a meeting the next morning in Mike’s cabin to tie up all the loose ends. The girls from The Health Spa were in a safe house in Lava Cove, soon to be flown to Washington, D.C. There it would be the responsibility of the agency to ascertain their legal names and decide whether to allow them to remain in the United States or return them to their homeland.
“We did get a confession out of Kuri regarding the murder of Kioko,” Mike said. “Kuri wanted to keep her quiet. She was the only one who was complaining and Kuri was afraid she would blow the whole operation and she would lose her job. She was here illegally and she didn’t want to be sent back to her country, where she was already being sought as a suspect in a killing there. She is on
e tough lady. Pretty scary, in fact. Did you see the knife one of the agents took off of her?”
“No, I didn’t, but Kate told me about it. Kuri had threatened her if she didn’t keep quiet, she was going to use it on her. To be perfectly honest, I’m surprised she didn’t when she caught Kate snooping around.”
“Did you ever find out what Kate was doing up there?” Mike asked. “Did she suspect what was going on?”
“She didn’t suspect a thing. Just thought it was a health spa and the Asian girls worked there.”
“What was she doing up there?” Mike repeated his question.
“Actually, she thought I was spending time there and she had gone looking for me.”
Jake was relieved when his answer seem to satisfy Mike and he didn’t have to go into any more detail. He hated to admit Kate hadn’t totally trusted him. He knew that was his fault because of his past life in D.C. He only hoped he could convince her of his love for her and it would not prove to be a problem in the future.
He would need to go back to D.C. to tie up a few loose ends. The remaining active cases that he had would need to be turned back over to Mike so he could reassign them. He wanted Kate to feel she could trust him while he was gone.
Mike interrupted his thoughts. “When you take me up to Salt Lake to get your Jeep, we can check in with the office up there. I’m sure you’re as interested as I am to hear the results of the arrests of the four owners. They will be questioning them today and we hope by promising them a lighter sentence, they will agree to give us the evidence we need to arrest the top men in the organization behind this white slavery.”
“It’s pretty unbelievable that this is the biggest money-making international crime and it’s going on right here in our own country. How can men frequent these places knowing that these women are being forced into prostitution?”
“You’ve got me,” Mike said as he shook his head. “Maybe they think the girls are doing it of their own free will.”
“I’ve been thinking,” Jake said. “I think I will fly back with you to D.C. We can discuss my other cases on the plane and I’ll turn all my files over to you. You can look through them and if you have any questions, I’ll be there to answer them for you. Then I’ll clear out my desk, and I’m out of there.”
“You’re sure that’s what you want to do?”
“You bet. I’ve never been surer about anything in my life.”
“What are you going to do with all your free time?”
“For starters, I’ve picked out a house to buy and I want to do a certain amount of work on it. Then if Kate will let me buy into the lodge, I have some ideas for it, if she’ll agree to them.”
“Well, I certainly wish you the best of luck,” Mike said. “You know you’ll always have a job with the agency if things don’t work out as you hope.”
They will. They have to, Jake thought.
A few days later, with everything wrapped up with the USCIS, Jake flew into Salt Lake. He was happy his last big mission had been successful. The girls from the Health Spa in Mountain Springs were now in Washington, D.C., Kuri was in prison until she could be extradited back to her homeland, and the white slavery organization with headquarters out of New York City, which had been run by a group of Russian mobsters, had been broken up and everyone involved had been arrested.
As he climbed into his Jeep, he took his cell phone out of his pocket and dialed. When he heard Kate’s voice, he was overwhelmed with happiness.
“Where are you?” she asked.
“Just landed in Salt Lake thirty minutes ago and I’m climbing into my Jeep, as we speak.”
“Don’t tell me you have a cell phone now,” she teased.
“I do and I intend to have one from now on. I will be able to keep track of you every minute.”
She laughed. “Back at you.”
“See you in five hours,” Jake said, and flipped the phone shut.
It was exactly five hours later that Jake drove into the driveway of the lodge and stopped beside the porch. Before he could climb out Jennifer was running down the hill toward him. For a minute, he didn’t recognize her with her bright red hair.
Climbing out of the Jeep, he caught her in his arms.
“If you aren’t a sight for sore eyes,” he said. “Let me get my camera.”
“Do you like it? Do you really like it?” she asked, her eyes shining with excitement.
“Love it. Where’s your Mom? I want her to take a picture of you and me together, so I can send it to my niece. I saw her while I was in D.C. and she’s dying to meet you.”
“Really? Is she coming for the wedding?”
“She is.”
At that moment, Kate stepped out on the porch, a welcoming smile on her face.
“Jennifer has been sitting up on the hill for the last hour watching for your Jeep,” she said.
“Mom, guess what? Jake’s niece, Patty, is coming for the wedding. Isn’t that cool?”
“Yes, it is. Now, all we have to do is set the date.”
“How about tomorrow?” Jake asked.
“In your dreams,” Kate said, leaning up for a kiss.
“I have an idea,” Jennifer said suddenly, excitement lighting her eyes. “Patty and I can go on your honeymoon with you.”
When Jake saw the horrified look on Kate’s face, he laughed. “That might not be such a bad idea,” he said, then whispered into Kate’s ear.
“Patty would certainly keep Jennifer occupied.”
Also from Soul Mate Publishing and Alene Anderson:
EXPERIMENT IN TERROR
Matt Koehler
His assignment is to go undercover as a homeless man in a university town in order to catch a serial killer who has raped and killed three girls.
Amanda Barton
She is successful businesswoman who finds herself attracted to a homeless man, not knowing he is an undercover officer. When she is kidnapped by the serial killer, can Matt find her in time to prevent her from being raped and murdered?
Available on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/hmmwock
SEAMS OF DESTRUCTION
When model Jade McDermott stumbles over the dead body of the production manager of Sorrento’s House of Fashion, the police suspect her of the murder. Scheduled to go on a trip to Milan, Italy, where she will be participating in a fashion show, she is told she will be accompanied by a policeman since she is considered a flight risk.
Mitch Koehler is the man the chief of the LAPD has chosen for the trip to Milan because of his dislike of women. But he has a wonderful time with Jade in Italy and begins to believe that she isn’t a murderer. When they return to Los Angeles, can Mitch save Jade when she is threatened by the real murderer?
Available on Amazon: http://tinyurl.com/h7ze2bg
Murder in Mountain Springs Page 17
