“Really?” Agent McCoy stood up from his seat on Kunze’s desk so he could stand in front of the senator. “This is exactly what George is making sure that his people cover up. Because his precious trial is coming up and he doesn’t want any evidence connecting him to human trafficking. So his Iceman is eliminating the evidence.”
“I don’t believe this. Why haven’t I heard about it?” Senator Delanor asked.
“We’ve been trying to keep it under wraps.”
“While you build a case,” O’Dell interrupted. “Who cares if a few kids die in the meantime, as long as you build a strong case.”
This time she was surprised that Kunze didn’t reprimand her. She glanced at him, expecting it, but when he met her eyes she realized he hadn’t signed on for something like this. McCoy, on the other hand, was glaring at her, no longer amused and unable to contain his anger.
“You have no clue what it is that you stepped into, Agent O’Dell,” he told her.
“If it wasn’t for me, it sounds like you’d still be investigating, while the Iceman takes care of everyone on his list.”
“How do you know, Agent McCoy, that George’s cartel has started trafficking children?” The senator seemed to have regained her composure. “Maybe the Bagley couple were doing something illegal with children on their own?”
In that moment, O’Dell was stunned to realize Senator Delanor was still protective of her ex-husband. O’Dell was there the night they arrested him aboard his houseboat. He had taken their two children with him during a raging thunder-and-lightning storm. If that wasn’t dangerous enough, George Ramos didn’t seem to mind bringing his kids along while he picked up a shipment of cocaine in the middle of the Gulf of Mexico.
Now O’Dell wondered if Ramos was delivering messages and packages for his ex-wife because he knew he still had some kind of hold on her. If she was willing to use her political power and influence to ask for help from Assistant Director Kunze, what else was she willing to do?
Agent McCoy, however, wasn’t so willing to appease the senator.
“A week ago, the Coast Guard stopped Captain Robert Díaz’s commercial fishing boat — the Blue Mist—in the Gulf of Mexico,” McCoy continued. “They brought on board a dog and its handler, expecting to sniff out cocaine under the full load of mahi-mahi. You know what they found instead? Five kids — three girls, two boys — all under the age of thirteen. American kids, from the States.”
“But the Bagleys—?”
“For the past year Trevor Bagley has been working as a fisherman off and on, independently contracted to the Blue Mist.”
O’Dell listened to Agent McCoy and couldn’t help thinking he was enjoying making Senator Delanor squirm a bit as he dealt out information piece by piece. She wondered what their past relationship was.
“So potentially everyone who was involved in this raid on the fishing boat could be on Choque Azul’s hit list? Is that correct?” O’Dell asked, but there was only one person she was concerned about. Agent McCoy had mentioned a dog handler. Somehow she knew it had to be Ryder Creed.
“Yes, we think that’s a possibility.”
“Tell me something, Agent McCoy. On the Bagley property there was evidence found that children may have been kidnapped and held against their will.”
“We believe so, yes. In one of the outbuildings there are signs that they may have been keeping several people against their will.”
“Your team that’s taken over — have they found any drugs?”
“Drugs? No, I don’t believe so.”
O’Dell looked at Kunze. “Sir, with all due respect, this isn’t a case for the DEA. This sounds like something the FBI should be in charge of.”
“What?” McCoy asked.
“Actually, Agent O’Dell is right.”
“Sir, I’d like to go back down and finish what I started.”
55
Hannah was surprised that Amanda didn’t argue with her. Either the girl did still have a healthy dose of fear of the people she had run away from, or she was used to taking orders. And doing so with much urgency.
Ryder had convinced Hannah to take the girl and leave. Dr. Avelyn had been able to identify the spiders that had hatched on Hannah’s counter. She had come to tell them the news as soon as she recognized them. Ryder heard that they were poisonous — the most lethal of all spiders — and immediately he had been anxious and pushing for Hannah to leave quickly, as if a hurricane were coming ashore.
It didn’t help matters that Dr. Avelyn said these spiders were rare in the States. According to her, these spiders usually take refuge in clusters of bananas grown in Colombia. She guessed that this bunch hadn’t accidentally made it past inspectors, but rather had been especially picked.
Now Hannah worried that Ryder had something crazy and dangerous in mind, but she realized that staying would not change his plans. This time she knew she wouldn’t be able to talk him out of it. She recognized that look in his eyes when he told her to pack her bags. Actually, she already had one packed and in her car. She had done it the night Amanda arrived. Even then she knew she might need to leave at a moment’s notice.
She had convinced Amanda that they needed to change her appearance before they left. It was a five-hour drive and she didn’t want to take the chance that someone might be looking for the girl or happen to recognize her.
The box of hair color turned her into a brunette, making her look older, which seemed to please them both. Hannah thought she had done a nice job with the haircut — she kept the bangs and cut the rest chin-length to help hide Amanda’s face. As did the large-framed eyeglasses. Then there were the clothes — no more designer jeans. Hannah had borrowed from Andy — from her days as a vet tech — a blue smock uniform top and a pair of khakis. Even Amanda seemed surprised at the transformation. She no longer looked like an emaciated teenager but rather a young woman either coming home from or going to her job.
Hannah promised Ryder that she would call when they arrived at their destination. They had been on the road for only thirty minutes when they crossed the bridge over Escambia Bay. From the minute they’d gotten into the car, Amanda had been slouched in her seat with her earbuds in and her iPod on, but suddenly she sat up straight and asked, “Can we go see Pensacola Beach?”
“No,” Hannah told her. “We don’t have time for any sightseeing.”
“But it’s such a gorgeous day and I’ve been cooped up for forever. What will it matter if we’re a few minutes behind? We’re just going to some stupid hiding place.”
Hannah shouldn’t have been surprised that transforming the girl’s appearance would do nothing to change her attitude. She was still a whiny teenager.
“No,” Hannah said again.
The girl crossed her arms and pouted, staring out the window. Traffic on I-10 was crazy, as usual. No more than five minutes went by when Amanda sat up again.
“I have to pee.”
“Seriously?”
“I’ve done everything you asked me to do. Can’t you just stop and let me pee?”
Hannah checked her rearview mirror. With this much traffic it had been impossible to notice if anyone was following them. She took the exit for the first rest stop and kept her eyes darting back to her mirrors. Two vehicles followed them. She drove down the road designated for cars, slowed to a crawl, and watched as she passed several parking places. Both of the vehicles parked, but Hannah continued past the restrooms and headed back up the entrance ramp to the interstate.
“Hey!” Amanda twisted in her seat. “What are you doing?”
“I have to make sure no one’s following us. Don’t get your panties in a twist. There’s a truck stop just a mile up. I’ll stop there.”