to me and stares for a second. Then he says, “It’s Ben.”
05:17:15:12
My heart might actually stop. “What about Ben?” My voice is too breathy, too quiet. It doesn’t sound like my own.
Barclay sits up straighter. “Have you seen him?”
I swallow. Hard. “No, he’s back in his home world.”
Barclay nods. “If you have—”
“I haven’t,” I insist, and I hate the fact that I’ve had to say it again.
He nods. “A couple months ago, I stumbled on a case. It’s big, Tenner,” he says, rubbing his hands together. “People from different universes are disappearing. They’re being kidnapped.”
Kidnapped. As in abducted.
He has my full attention now. I can feel my pulse all over my body, even in the tips of my fingers.
“Everything I’ve uncovered points to a complex organization, one that’s avoided getting caught for a long time,” Barclay continues. “Someone has set up the ultimate human-trafficking ring. They’re going into different universes, kidnapping people, and then selling them into slavery on other earths.”
“Human trafficking? Like sex slaves?”
“It’s bigger than that,” Barclay says with a grimace. “Think about the overall picture. Stealing people from other universes, especially universes that don’t have interverse travel capabilities. No one’s going to come looking for them, and they don’t have anywhere to go. No escape.
“And if there’s no fear of getting caught, someone could turn a huge profit by selling house slaves to the wealthy in every different world. Slaves for cheap labor, slaves that could be soldiers in a war you’re waging, and yes, slaves for sex, too.”
No one’s going to come looking for them, and they don’t have anywhere to go.
I can’t help be stuck on that. I see what he’s saying—that makes it the perfect crime—but there’s something in my brain that’s having trouble computing. How selfish and depraved does a person have to be to put something like this together? I wonder if they watch people and pick them out with a purpose, or if they just grab them at random and figure it out later.
I think of Renee Adams, and I wonder what kind of slave she is right now. The thought makes me want to throw up.
“So that’s what’s happening here—why we have so many missing people?” I ask, even though I already know the answer.
“What?” Barclay asks, before he nods and says, “Oh. Yeah. Any world that has low technology capabilities would be a huge target. A world that’s just gone through a disaster or a war, or any kind of devastating event, of course would become a likely target. More people can be abducted in a shorter period of time before authorities catch on.”
Something in the matter-of-fact way that he says this makes me realize that’s not why he’s here. He doesn’t care about Renee Adams or any of the other hundred thousand missing people we have in San Diego.
“So why are you here?” I ask.
“I need to find Ben,” he says. “And you’re the only one who can help me.”
“I haven’t seen him, Barclay,” I repeat, and I feel my throat tightening and my eyes burning as I have to admit again that he hasn’t come back.
“I know,” he says. “But you can still help me.”
“I’m not going to talk him into doing anything dangerous, if that’s what this is about,” I say, although from the look on Barclay’s face, I can tell that’s not it. “Besides, what does Ben have to do with a human-trafficking ring, unless . . .”
Unless he’s missing.
05:17:11:02
I can’t bring myself to even voice the possibility.
Barclay shakes his head. “It’s complicated. Like I said. This is a big case. Missing persons was never even really on my radar—until a few months ago.”
“And what happened then?”
“The details aren’t important, but I started looking into a standard missing-persons case as a favor to a friend, only it turned out not to be very standard. It’s big, Tenner. A major interverse trafficking ring.”
This all makes sense, but . . . “I still don’t understand what this has to do with Ben.”
Barclay hesitates. He looks at his hands for a second, and I notice he’s biting the inside of his cheek. I’ve never seen him agitated quite like this.
“Tell me,” I say, even though I’m afraid to hear it.
Then he looks up with pity in his face. “Someone with unique abilities—like the ability to open portals and travel universes at will—would have an easier time getting around the strict interverse travel regulations the IA has in place.”
My mind jumps to the logical conclusion, but it takes my