Stranded (27 page)

Darcy nodded, rubbing her arms, anxious to get back to Abby.

“You okay?” Gage asked, wrapping her in a hug.

“Yeah. I just hope we're able to catch whoever is behind this.”

“I've questioned the men here,” Jake said. “They aren't talking. Period.”

“But we have to discover who's running this network, or all we've managed to do is cut out a few of his players.”

Jake took a seat at the long narrow table. “Why don't you tell me more about what you saw in the lockbox.”

She glanced back at the hall.

“Abby's in good hands,” Gage assured her.

“You're right.” She nodded. Abby was safe now. The medic was treating her, and figuring out who was running this horrific network was vital. Wearily, she pulled out the chair beside Jake and sank into it. “The lockbox . . .”

She raked a hand through her hair. That had seemed so long ago, and yet it had been less than twenty-four hours. “I grabbed the ledger but left the photos and drugs, thinking maybe they wouldn't notice the ledger missing if they checked the box because it had been stuffed in the bottom.”

“This was before we knew Clint was part of the first rescue crew,” Gage said.

“Right. We figured if we pulled the box, Ted would know for certain someone was on to him.”

“The pictures?” Jake asked. “Any of our known victims?”

“None of Abby,” Darcy said, “but I'm pretty sure I recognized Jessica Matthews from the missing-person flyer you gave Gage.”

“I printed off a news article covering the Bowen case earlier.” Landon handed her the printout. “What about her?”

“Yes,” Darcy said. “I definitely saw her in one of the photos.”

“You're positive?” Landon asked.

“As sure as I can be with the time I had, but like I told Gage, I have a knack for faces.”

“That's good.”

“But it hardly helps any. Clint or Mullins has no doubt destroyed the contents of that lockbox. It's probably resting at the bottom of the ocean somewhere.”

“Let's look at what we do have, what you know,” Jake said.

“Not a lot,” Darcy said. “Somebody took the black book off of me while I was knocked out, and I'm sure all the evidence we pointed out to Mullins has been destroyed. I still can't believe she was involved.”

“I can't believe we totally missed that.” Gage shook his head. “I feel like a fool.”

“It doesn't matter now,” Landon said. “I informed the FBI agents of Mullins' involvement, and they are moving to detain her as we speak.”

“Well, that's something,” Darcy said.

“Do you still have copies of Clint, Ted, George, and Jeremy's employee files?” Landon asked.

“They're in Gage's cabin,” Darcy said, “if Mullins hasn't gotten to those as well.”

“Did you find any connections between them?” Jake asked.

“Yes, actually. Alaskan Adventure and Travel Employment Agency.”

“What?” Landon arched a brow.

“Alaskan Adventure is the employment agency that supplied all the men in question.”

“Alaskan Adventure?” Kayden said, shifting in the chair beside Piper. “That sounds more like a travel booking agency than an employment one.”

Landon pulled it up on his SAT phone. “Alaskan Adventure and Travel Employment Agency. A full-service Alaskan travel agency, providing dream vacations as well as Alaskan-travel professionals to inquiring companies and ventures. Fully screened and highly professional personnel.”

“So it books vacations and provides travel personnel?” Jake said.

Landon lifted his chin. “Are you thinking what I'm thinking?”

Jake smiled, then winced. His poor jaw was still swelling. “We may have just found our network source.”

“Alaskan Adventure?” Darcy said.

“It's the perfect cover.” Landon exhaled. “The person running it books vacations for single women, couples, etc. He keeps on the lookout for women he knows will be in demand, books them on the right vacation, keeping in mind to diversify the carrier or locations, and on the flip side, he plants employees at these places—on the ships, in the wilderness lodges, spas, and on excursions, so they can handle the kidnapping and deliveries.”

“From a criminal perspective, it's genius,” Jake said, shaking his head.

“And from a human perspective, utterly terrifying.” Darcy cringed.

“Every woman who has gone missing while vacationing in Alaska now becomes a possible victim of this network,” Landon said.

“Kyle Trent is listed as CEO of Alaskan Adventure,” Jake said, studying the screen over Landon's shoulder. “No photo.”

“I'll make a call.” He stood and stepped from the room.

“How on earth did they pull Mullins in?” Darcy asked, shifting back in the uncomfortable wooden chair, the cold still biting at her.

“Maybe she was tired of working so hard for so little pay. Along comes a man offering her a lot of money to look the other way,” Jake suggested. Clearly he'd seen it before.

“That's disgusting.”

“It's just a theory, but I bet if we search Mullins' file we'll find a connection to Trent.”

“You cold?” Gage said.

He was always so adept at sensing her needs. She nodded.

“Come here.” He scooted her chair beside his, engulfing her in his strong arms.

She reveled in the sheltered protection until Landon returned.

“Turns out Kyle Trent has a record—solicitation and assault. But . . .” Landon rubbed the back of his neck. “It looks like he's been clean since nineteen.”

“Seriously?” With a grunt, Darcy stood to pace, her muscles tight and sore. “Trent's been clean since nineteen, and Clint, George, and Jeremy have no criminal record?”

“Not as adults,” Jake said.

Landon nodded with a smile. “Exactly what I was thinking. I'm going to pull a few strings and call in a couple favors.” He again stepped from the room.

“I don't understand.” Darcy shook her head. She was thrilled Abby was safe, but the man responsible
needed
to be brought to justice, and so far all they had were a few of his players—all without previous criminal records. How could that be?

Jake reclined with a curious expression. “I think we just figured out what ties the men involved together.”

“Huh?”

He stood. “Let me go take another stab at those three.” He headed for the room off the entry.

Darcy looked at Gage with confusion. “Are you following this?” She was tired. Hadn't slept since . . . she couldn't remember, but what was she missing? How would juvenile records, if they even existed, help them?

“Still not talking,” Jake said, returning with a grunt.

Darcy balled her fists, wondering if she should take a swing at them, both figuratively and, at the moment, literally—her anger was so riled.

Landon skidded back into the room, nearly breathless, a smile on his rugged face. “Our hunch paid off.”

“Juvie?” Jake sat forward.

Landon nodded. “Clint, Jeremy, and George all served time in the Washington State juvenile system.”

“Washington?” Gage asked.

“Guess they figured Alaska provided better hunting ground—larger area, more remote, no one knows them or their history.”

“Guess who else did time in Juvie?” Landon said.

Jake smiled. “Kyle Trent?”

“Yeah, and his younger brother, Steve, who just happened to share a cell with Jeremy.”

“When the brother had finished serving his stint,” Landon continued, “Clint became Jeremy's new bunkmate.”

“Sounds like Trent started his network way back then. Who knows how far it spreads?” Jake lifted his hand to his chin and grimaced. The medics hadn't had the chance to check out his injury yet.

“I'll see if I can find some ice,” Kayden said.

Had Kayden just offered to do something nice for Jake?

Jake shook his head, then winced again. “It's fine, really. But thanks.”

“And have we figured out a connection to Mullins?” Gage asked, echoing Darcy's thoughts.

She still couldn't figure out how they tied together. She was quite a bit older than the men involved.

“I got the
Bering
's head of security to pull her records while I was waiting to hear back from my colleague,” Landon said. “Guess who was listed as her previous employer?”

Jake smiled, more tentatively this time, paying heed to his injury. “Alaskan Adventure and Travel Employment Agency?”

“You got it,” Landon said. “And Trent's DMV photo should be arriving any minute.” He glanced at his SAT smartphone again. “Well, soonish. Then at least we'll know who we are looking for.”

“So . . . ” Darcy said, running through what they had pieced together. “Mullins works for Kyle Trent. He sees a new opportunity with the launch of Destiny's
Bering
in his own backyard. But he needs to make sure his guys get hired. He figures, why not give her a cut of the profits and get her hired as employee liaison on the
Bering
? And, of course, he provides a stellar recommendation.”

“She gets the job and hires whomever Trent tells her to,” Gage said.

Darcy snapped. “That's how she did it.”

“Did what?” Gage asked.

“Abby's roommate, Pam, said Mullins had a way of filling openings really fast.”

“Of course, she'd just call her boss and get a new employee—sometimes legit, sometimes to increase or fill in their network.”

“How could a woman knowingly be a part of selling other women into sexual slavery?” Piper asked, her expression aghast.

“As horrific as it is, even mothers have sold their own children into prostitution,” Jake said with sorrow. “Happens all the time, particularly in poorer countries.”

Tears spilled down Piper's cheeks, and in an uncharacteristic gesture of physical affection, Kayden clasped her sister's hand tight.

“Sheriff Grainger.” The clean-cut FBI agent stepped forward and shook Landon's hand. “I'm Special Agent Stan Jackson. We spoke on the phone. This is my partner, Special Agent Will Turow.” He gestured to the man beside him.

“Good to meet you.” Landon turned to Darcy. “This is Darcy St. James, the reporter who started this entire investigation.”

“Nice work, ma'am,” Special Agent Turow said.

“Thanks, but it was my former colleague Abigail Tritt who really started the undercover investigation.”

“We've cleared the Coast Guard to transport your friend and the other two women to Dutch Harbor Regional Medical Center.”

“I'd like to go along.”

“We'll get you there, but we have some questions for you first. Please, have a seat.” Agent Turow held out a chair for her.

Darcy started at the beginning, relaying everything she, Gage, Landon, and Jake had learned or speculated.

“Russia has to be the final drop spot,” Agent Turow said to Agent Jackson.

“More likely it's the funnel,” Agent Jackson replied.

“Funnel?” Darcy asked.

“Kind of like the middleman in business. The product . . .” Agent Jackson cleared his throat. “Forgive the crudity of my words, I'm just trying to explain it as the men involved see it and how the business—vulgar and evil as it is—runs.”

Darcy nodded. “I understand.”

“So the product is brought to Russia either directly or via holding locations, like this one. They smuggle the women in, process them through the host house, and then use them locally or sell them throughout Europe and Asia to the highest bidder.”

“It's the reverse of how the sex-slave trade typically works,” Gage said. “Instead of smuggling women into the U.S., they are smuggling them out.”

Agent Turow nodded. “In much smaller numbers, but it makes the practice no less evil.”

The depths of Abby's story were far deeper and uglier than Darcy ever imagined when she'd first answered her friend's plea for help.

“The FBI has been tracking the Bratva in Moscow for years, focusing on its American interests,” Agent Turow said.

Darcy's brow furrowed. “American interests?”

“This trade network across American borders.”

“I'll call our attaché office in Moscow, pass this information along to them,” Agent Jackson said, standing and excusing himself.

“What about Trent and the rest of his network?” Darcy asked. “Is there any chance of finding Clint and George?”

“Don't worry. We'll get them,” Agent Turow assured her.

Landon's phone dinged. “Finally.” He clicked on the attachment and shook his head.

“What is it? What's wrong?” Darcy asked.

“Looks like we've already met Kyle Trent.” He turned the phone to face them all. It was the runner Jake had chased down. The man in charge of the entire operation was sitting bound in the next room. No wonder no one was talking.

Darcy smiled. “Gotcha.”