by Kathryn Shay
* * *
Under the cover of darkness Derek walked into the FBI Task Force on Human Trafficking at eight that night. Grant Wilson looked up, brows raised, even though Derek had called him to say he needed to talk. “It must be important for you to risk coming here.”
“It is.” He handed Grant his phone where he’d recorded the series of five numbers and letters. “I think this is a list of kids taken.”
His dark brows formed a vee. “Where did you get this?”
“Off Jane Carlin’s computer.”
“You hacked into it? We tried every which way to get that. It’s encrypted.”
“No, I broke into her office. I called this up from a buried file.”
Grant frowned. “Wasn’t that risky?”
“No, I don’t think so. I thought it was low-risk because she’s out of town for two days.” Grant was still frowning. “I covered my tracks well. Only an IT guy would be able to find out I was there. Besides, what’s she going to do if she figures out somebody broke into the file? Reveal what was stolen?”
“I guess it was worth the chance. But you should have gotten permission first.”
“Agreed. I will next time.”
“This is a new file. They’re getting sloppy by using her office computer.”
Grant stood. “Let’s go to the table. See what we can figure out.”
They started with the first letters alphabetically. ZA, AP, AT, LP, SB. Once in the right frame of mind, they studied the list carefully, then said together, at the same time, “The letters of the captives’ first and last names.”
Grant sighed. “ZA would be Zahra Abdul. We know she’s missing. No clue where she is.”
“So, the rest of the code should give clues to everybody.”
They identified the others, then brainstormed for an hour the first entry. Zahra t 12/19. T means the date she taken, Au is where, and location of the victim. And O means owner?”
“Let’s do Stuart Breed next. Whatever happened to him, he isn’t going to last long.”
SBt1020BYoAv55. Stuart Breed, taken 10/20. B? is the location? What does that mean?”
“Belgium, Brazil, who the hell knows.”
“Let’s stay in the city.”
“Broadway. Bronx. Bellevue Avenue?”
“Wait a sec.” Grant stood, checked something on his desktop. “There was some chatter I didn’t get to read. Something about…” He called up his email. “Jesus, B could mean brothel, Derek?
“Of course, a common place to take victims. Its location reads YoAv. What’s the most famous street with those letters? Yonkers Ave in New York?”
“Maybe but doesn’t seem like a good location. My guess is this is an upscale operation.”
They finally guessed York Ave on the Upper East Side.
“That’s more like it,” Grant told him. “And look, two of these other kids have the same location.”
Grant called up the real estate on the computer. And a huge house rising up five stories came to view, protected by a high wrought iron gate.
“Christ,” Derek said, “They’ve got storefronts on the first floor. Life just goes on below the torture and abuse of young people. Let’s go.”
“Not without a warrant, first, then police back up, vests, and arming properly.”
“I—”
“Shut up, Derek. We’ll do this the right way, let the experts who know how to do an abstraction do it. If you can’t, and you want to go storming in there, you’re not going to be in on the whole bust. Think about it, man.”
“All right, we’ll do this your way.”
“You and I will go scope the place out while we wait to hear from a judge. Meanwhile, headquarters will call up the team.” He watched Derek. “I know how much you want to get these kids out, but there’s bound to be security on the premises. We gotta enlist enough people. And it may take all night. Be patient.”
Derek agreed and drove up to York Ave. They did several drive-bys of the house, then found a parking spot with a good view of it. All the while, Derek pictured slender, sensitive twenty-year-old Stuart as he was when he presented in a required health class. He was soft-spoken and kind to everybody. He’d had a shy smile and blushed when a girl flirted with him after class.
Finally, a limo drove to the front of the building. No one exited and the person inside waited in the car. Eventually the armed guards came. A man got out. Was escorted inside.
“Fuck!” Derek said, heatedly.
“I know it’s hard to see one more go in. But keep the faith.”
The warrant came at one a.m. Soon after, SWAT jeeps arrived. Ten men climbed out. They wore helmets, camo and carried long guns. The first one held a shield, another a ram. In a line, crouching, the officers crept up to the front of the building and one popped the gate lock. Still low, five dropped below the front windows and five headed around back.
Soon, the ones in front stormed the door, using the ram to knock down the main entrance. Loud, “Police, put down your weapons,” was repeated several times. They all disappeared inside.
Derek said, “We’ve got our vests on. I’m going in.”
“Give them time to do their work. That’s an order.” But Grant seemed antsy too.
Finally, he got a beep on his phone, and a text that said, “All Clear.”
Bolting out of the car, Derek and Grant rushed through the gate, and into the house. On the first floor, several men—armed guards—were subdued. The policed headed up to the second floor, but there was no noise so apparently there were no guards up there.
Derek raced to the staircase and took the steps two at a time to floor two. Doors were thrown open and police mostly wrenched naked men off victims. None, he saw, were Stuart. Only when he reached number five did Derek find a woman, who was being wrestled back and cuffed. Then Derek saw Stuart on his knees, hands bound behind him, a spiked collar around his neck. She’d inflicted several wounds on his body, and he was whimpering.
* * *
Stuart was confused. One minute he was getting his skin sliced by a whip, then the next, he felt the woman who was his worst nightmare pulled off of him.
“Wha…what’s…” He could barely speak, still hazy from the drugs. And…shit…it looked like Derek Davidson bent over him. He had to be hallucinating.
He blinked several times. It was Derek Davidson.
Derek put a sheet around him, eased Stuart up and undid his cuffs. “You’re safe now, Stuart. We’re all here to take you away from this place.”
“Are you real?”
Derek squeezed his arm. “I am.”
“Did they get you, too?”
“No, no. I’m not a student, Stuart. I’m an FBI agent who was sent into City College to end this human trafficking ring.”
Again, he blinked, but it took a minute to realize that tears pooled in his eyes.
Derek pulled him into a hug. He buried his face in Derek’s chest and began to sob. “It’s okay, son. You’re safe now. No one will be able to hurt you again.
Chapter 8
* * *
The house was too quiet. Alessia sat alone in her living room, thinking about Christmas. Where on earth would she get the energy to handle a holiday? In the last week, the situation with Derek, no matter how she tried to overcome it, had drained her. Luckily, her family was big on non-material gifts, though an occasional one, for a new baby for instance, would be given. Last year, her brothers had gone in on two tickets to an upcoming rock concert for Pete, and for the twins, had built an ice-skating rink in the backyard last summer. Alessia had received a day at a luxury spa that opened up over in Camden Cove.
Mention of the spa gave her an idea: maybe she’d take a bath. That always made her feel better. She stood, grabbed her phone, crossed to the staircase and trudged up the steps. Sad, damn it. She was still so sad. But she had a ten-minute meditation she’d use while taking a bath to help erase her thoughts. She ran water in the soaking tub she’d splurged on, disrobed and st
epped into heavenly warm water. The meditation did the trick and she even dozed some.
When the water chilled, she stepped out of the tub. She dried off, put jasmine-scented lotion on her body—a body that she had hoped to share with Derek—and grabbed the winter pajamas she’d left on the hook of the door. They were fuzzy and warm, perfect for a cold winter morning. She left the bathroom and walked into the bedroom.
And screamed.
A man stretched out on her bed. It took a few seconds to realize that man was Derek. He’d kicked off his shoes, laced his hands in the back of his neck, and was staring at her with that laser blue gaze.
“How’d you get into my house? W-what are you doing here?”
“I’ll answer any questions you have later. But you and I need to talk first.”
“Nothing good ever comes after somebody says that.”
“What I have to say has its pros and cons.” He patted the mattress on the far side of the bed. “Come sit here. I promise I won’t touch you.”
She sat cross legged and he pushed up so his back rested against the headboard. Strangely, he wore expensive looking jeans and a heather blue cashmere sweater. His face was lined with fatigue. And something else. “I’ll give you the pros first, then the cons. I’m in love with you. It’s been happening since I met you.”
She ignored the declaration. “Damn it, Derek, you promised me you’d leave me alone if your affair with Jane didn’t work out.”
“I didn’t have an affair with her. We only saw each other a couple of times, and I didn’t sleep with her.”
“I don’t care.”
“I think you do. But you have to know the downside of what I’ve done.”
She just stared at him, warring within herself whether to listen or ask him to leave.
“I’m not a student at City College. I’m an undercover agent for the FBI. A human trafficking ring to abduct dropouts was suspected. I was there to find out who the contact was at the school.”
Her jaw dropped. James Bond from last week’s movie flashed through her mind. “Are you serious?”
“I’m deadly serious. We rescued three college students in our raid. We lost one on her way to her buyer. The administrator in charge told us the whereabouts of the last one.”
“Let me guess—the administrator was Jane Carlin.”
“Yes. This isn’t all bad news, Alessia. We saved lives last week, but in order to do that, I had to lie to you.”
A deadly calm came over her. Her heart even beat slower. “If this was so important, why did you get close to me? Was I a suspect?”
He chuckled. “Never. You were…accidental. I wasn’t supposed to fall for you. I caught hell for going to the wedding, for spending Thanksgiving with you. But, sweetheart, honestly I couldn’t resist you.”
“I was accidental! You couldn’t resist me!” She slid off the mattress and came around to his side of the bed. “You tricked me into caring about you.”
“I didn’t mean to do that.”
“You deceived me into…” Her hand clapped over her mouth. “Are you even a widower? With two daughters?”
He swung his feet onto the floor, directly in front of her. “No, Alessia, I’m not. That was my cover.”
“Oh, dear God in heaven.”
“I’m incredibly sorry. But don’t you see? We can start over. Know each other as who we really are.”
“You already know who I am.”
“I realize that, but things can be different—”
His explanation halted when she lifted her hand and slapped him across his face. “Get out of my house.” She raised her voice a notch. “And don’t you dare call me again. I’m horrified that you’d think I’d succumb to a man who’d lied to me in every single interaction.”
“Alessia, honey, I’m one of the good guys.”
“No, Derek. Billy was one of the good guys. You can’t hold a candle to him. Now leave.”
Hurt suffused his face. But he said, arrogantly, “What if I don’t?”
“Gideon’s down at my Mom’s house, helping her babysit my kids and Rafe’s. I’ll call him. He’s a police officer and can get you out of here.” He stayed where he was. “I’ll do it too, Derek. I mean it. I never want to be with you again.”
* * *
Leather coat back on—he’d discarded it because he thought he’d be staying—Derek left Alessia’s house through the front door, which she’d unknowingly left unlocked. He’d been scoping out her house, and today, saw all three kids leave with her mother.
Billy was one of the good guys. You can’t hold a candle to him. She’d insulted him in the worst way she could.
Still stinging from that, he’d gotten halfway down the driveway and stopped when someone else came up it. “Hello, Gideon.”
“No pleasantries. I’m pissed as hell at you for hurting my little sister.”
“There were extenuating circumstances.”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Sit in my car with me and I’ll tell you. As a police officer, you’ll get it.”
Her brother’s expression was wary. “Don’t bet on it, but I’ll hear you out.”
Once inside his real car, a sporty-model sedan, he said bluntly, “I’m an FBI agent.”
Gideon’s face blanked.
“I enrolled at City College as a student to ferret out the people involved in a human trafficking ring.”
“Did you? Get them?”
“Yes. We saved four already-captured kids. And prevented a lot more.”
The police officer in him surfaced. “Tell me how.”
Twenty minutes later, Derek finished. Gideon had nodded and asked questions. “You know, I do get it. I’ve been asked to be on a task force and some of the work will involve undercover operations. But Derek, why the hell did you drag my sister into it? You endangered her.”
“I shouldn’t have.”
“What then?”
“I couldn’t resist her.”
“Jesus, Davidson or whoever you are, you’re trained to resist interrogation by terrorists.”
“Not by someone like her.”
Gideon shook his head. “I don’t buy it. You could have left her alone.”
“I know. I’m only stating the facts.”
He glanced toward the house. “How did Ali take it when you told her?”
“She slapped me—hard—and kicked me out.”
“That’s the Casella in her.”
“And you? Are you going to punch me in the face?”
“No. I’m going to talk to Ali, to my family. See what they say.”
Derek cocked his head. “You’re not the hothead I thought you were.”
“I’m mellowing. I hurt my back during that car crash we all were in together and I’m still recuperating. Some other things have happened, to make me more…never mind. I’m going inside.”
He reached for the door handle.
“Know, Gideon, that I’m in love with her.”
“I’m glad to hear that, at least. I’ll be in touch.” With that he slid out of the car.
Derek started the engine, pulled out of the driveway and…where would he go? He had no close friends because of the way he’d lived his life. Grant was pissed as hell at him, still, and had given him furlough.
He glanced at the house. He thought Alessia would take him back. Now, depression threatened. For the first time in his adult life, he didn’t know what to do.
* * *
Early the next morning, the Casella girls walked the track at the Hidden Cove Y, which they did frequently in the winter. Carmella hadn’t joined them, but Kate, even at eight months pregnant, came along. All wore different colored sweat suits.
“Thanks for slowing down for me,” she said patting her stomach which popped out in the tight knit. “I know we used to walk faster.”
Julianne squeezed her hand. “No problem.”
Alessia said, “I’m glad you’re here.”
“Any particular reason?”
Kate asked.
“Did anybody talk to Gideon in the last few days?”
“Briefly,” Kate answered. “When he helped Mama with our kids, that delightful day she took them.” She sighed. “Ah, morning sex.”
Julianne frowned. “Didn’t the doctor tell you no sex?”
“No, he said, no intercourse. Sometimes, that’s…better. It prolongs the session.”
“I vaguely remember.” This from Alessia.
Julianne’s face grew serious. “We saw a snazzy car in your driveway that day.”
“Yeah. It was Derek’s real car.”
Kate and Julianne stopped abruptly. Alessia turned from where she’d kept walking. “What?”
“Why didn’t you tell us right away?” This from Kate.
“I did. We’ve only been here—”
“Never mind. What happened?”
She took her time detailing exactly what he’d done to her. When she finished, Kate sighed. “Honey, he’s a hero. He not only gave up his real life and went undercover, but he was instrumental in the raid of a brothel and saving all those people.”
“I realize that. You know, men can be heroes in their professional lives and shits in their personal dealings. I bought everything he told me.”
“We did, too. The whole family.” Julianne shook her head. “That explains why he was so good during the car rescue.”
“Yeah. But I can’t forget that he lied to me in the most elemental ways.”
“And endangered you.”
“Maybe.”
“So, did he grovel?”
“You know, that was the most maddening part. He came over expecting to sweep me off my feet with his true identity. I think he was confused when I kicked him out.”
“Men can be dense I’ll give you that.” Kate made a disgusted sound. “So, what does he have to do to grovel?”
Tears sprang into her eyes and she stopped walking. “I don’t even want that. I want him to have been telling me the truth all along.”
Kate linked their arms, and Julianne led them to a bench provided for rest. They sat a decent way away from other walkers. “You’re crying.”
