dead.”
“He didn’t say much,” Sam added, “but he told us you gave him information. They were bringing them in from the north. What does that mean?”
“You don’t even know? You’re swimming with the sharks, boys, and you think you’re still in the kiddie pool.” Juliana stretched, cracking her back, and said, “You said Heckler tried to kill you?”
Rufus nodded. “What the fuck is going on in Major Cases?”
“A cop tried to kill you, and you’re still scooting around the city? Jesus Christ, boy, get your butt on a bus. Take strong, dark, and beautiful with you. You’re walking around with a death sentence on your head.”
“No. I’m not running without understanding why.”
“He’s just as dumb as he looks, isn’t he?” Juliana said, glancing up at Sam.
Rufus didn’t look back, couldn’t see the smile, but he heard it in Sam’s voice when he said, “He has his moments. But he’s right about this: we’re not leaving until we know why they killed Jake and how high this goes.”
“Men: obstinate, ornery, and impossible, the whole lot of you.” Juliana resumed the slow massage of her leg as she spoke quietly, “Jake told you about bringing them in from the north? Those poor kids. They don’t have any idea what they’ve gotten themselves into. And then they’re here, and it’s too late. I… I wouldn’t have said anything if I hadn’t seen it myself. The look on their faces as they started to figure it out. That’s hell, pure and simple. I wouldn’t have said a single word if I hadn’t seen it myself; you can’t shake something like that.”
Rufus shifted, angled himself more toward Juliana as she spoke. “Sex work, then? Girls? Boys? Both? How old were they?”
“Both. Teens, mostly, although a few that might be in their twenties. Can’t understand a word they’re saying. Most of them are Asian, don’t know what countries, can’t tell the languages apart, but one time I heard Spanish and I can recognize that.”
Rufus asked, while his brain sped to catalogue every word, every detail, “Would you be able to describe who was overseeing them? Or know how Heckler ties into this?”
“I saw her once, and it was… it was after what happened to Jake. I think something must have gone wrong, because she was shouting, raising hell, handing everybody their asses. They’ve got a place out in Queens, this brick duplex, and that’s where they keep the kids. Upstairs, I think, so it’s harder for them to escape. I know I shouldn’t call them kids, but that’s what they look like—poor things.” She shook her head. “I just happened to be walking the block. It was late, really late, and there was the van, Maine license plates, kids coming out of it like it was a clown car. You could tell they had no idea where they were. One of the boys had a big bruise on the side of his face—I could see it from a distance, even with just the porch light. This many years walking the street, I know when something’s hinky, and that stuff, those kids getting out of the van, it was hinky as shit.”
“Jesus Christ,” Rufus swore. He ran both hands through his hair, making it stick up. “Where in Queens?”
“Flushing? I wrote it down for Jake. The address, I mean.”
“Have you talked to anyone else about this?” Rufus continued. “I mean, fucking anyone. Your girlfriend? The mailman? Pet cat?”
“I haven’t told anyone else.” Her hand moved to the waistband of her skirt, her fingers playing with the elastic. “But a guy’s been asking around about me. He got pretty close, actually. I was zipping Mr. Hoover up when I saw him waiting for me, and… and I freaked. He tried to talk me down, but—” She flashed them a smile. “I guess he wasn’t as charming as my little redheaded prince.”
“Charming,” Sam said. “Exactly the word I would have chosen.”
Rufus ignored Sam’s interjection. Those crackers he’d eaten at Jake’s had been hours ago, and the combination of renewed hunger and growing fear was churning stomach acid and creating a nauseating flip-flop feeling in his gut. “Did you get this guy’s name?”
“Detective Lampo,” Juliana said. “Jake’s partner, the one who needs to invest in a hair piece.”
“You know Lampo?” Sam asked.
Rufus glanced up at Sam, still standing all the while. “It makes sense. They were working together on whatever this shit is.”
“Baby boy, I don’t want any deeper in this than I already am.” Her fingers twisted in the