the gist is that multiple arrests have been made, including Richard ‘Rico’ Carter. We’re en route to the station so Hannah can provide a statement.”
“Regarding what?”
When the response came it wasn’t from Gattis.
“Jessie, we did it!” Hannah shouted through the phone.
“Please,” Jessie begged. “Someone tell me what is going on before I completely lose it.”
“Don’t be mad at me but I went with Rico. It’s a long story but he took me to the house you talked about, the one by the ocean. Marie and the other officers raided the place. They arrested a bunch of guys. There were girls being kept there, like nine or ten. We stopped them, Jessie!”
Listening to the excitement in Hannah’s voice, Jessie decided to go with it. She could press her or Officer Gattis for the details later. Right now wasn’t about that.
“That’s fantastic,” Jessie said. “And you’re sure that you’re okay?”
“Yeah. It was a little scary there for a while. Rico tried to rape me. But the cops came before he could.”
“He tried to what?”
“I’m okay, Jessie. Really, I wasn’t hurt.”
“All right,” Jessie replied, willing herself to remain calm. “I’m glad you’re okay. I have to take a colleague to the hospital but I’ll meet you at the station a little later. Just stay close to Captain Decker, understand?”
When she hung up, Jessie saw that Karen was looking at her with a goofy grin.
“What?”
“You were a good parent there,” Karen said, her voice cloudy. “You cared about how she was, not what she did.”
“Karen, I’m not her parent. I’m her sister.”
“I promise you. That’s not what she thinks.”
CHAPTER THIRTY SIX
Beto Estrada sounded scared.
It was Wednesday, a day after the raid on the Otis Estate. Jessie was in the Central Police Station conference room, waiting for everyone else to arrive, when she got the call. It came through over the conference room phone via the station front desk.
“Are you all right?” she asked.
“I’m not sure,” Estrada said. “Is everything I saw on the news last night true? Did you really break up that trafficking ring?”
“Part of it,” she said. “We haven’t rolled everyone up yet. I’m actually a little surprised to hear from you. Should you be calling me?”
“I’m using the cell phone of a colleague at the firm,” he said.
“So you’re still worried?”
“Shouldn’t I be?” he asked. “I didn’t see anything about our mogul friend being arrested.”
“It hasn’t happened yet,” she admitted. “We’ve got lots of people in the chain of command rolling over on their higher-ups. But no one’s turned on him yet. In fact, right now he’s got a lot of sympathy because of Gilliard’s attack on him.”
“Maybe I can help change that,” Estrada said.
“What do you mean?”
“Like I said, I watched the news,” he said. “For days, that man hid the guy who murdered Milly. He knew what Gilliard did. He needs to pay, and not just as some accessory after the fact.”
Jessie, despite what he was saying, refused to allow herself to get too excited.
“What did you have in mind—would you like me to drop off Milly’s personal effects?” she asked, referencing the coded phrase she’d suggested he use if he wanted help.
There was a long silence in which Jessie knew the man was deciding whether he was really ready to pull the trigger on a choice that would change his life forever.
“I think we can dispense with the euphemisms, Ms. Hunt. Do you still have that friend in the FBI, the one who could help protect me?”
“Of course,” Jessie said.
“Could he protect someone else too?”
“Who would that be?” she asked, keeping her voice level.
“The source who gave me that audio file.”
“I think that could be arranged,” Jessie promised. “Shall I have your source picked up?”
“No need. She’s here with me now. We’re currently in a secure office at the firm. Ajax and three of his closest friends are with us.”
“That seems wise,” Jessie said, finally allowing herself to get keyed up. “Did you say ‘she’?”
“Yes,” Estrada replied. “I think it’s safe to tell you now. My source is Maura Shore, the widow of Detective Brian Shore. We met a few months ago at a charity function to help find housing for young girls who’d been snuck across the border to serve as sexual slaves. When she learned that I was an attorney, she entrusted me with the file. She had no idea my firm represented some of Otis’s business interests. I never told anyone about the file, not even Milly.”
“So Milly getting killed at Otis’s home was unrelated