“The gang’s ringleader, Cano, is a drug dealer. Cano’s original gang got arrested, and sent back to Colombia. Cano wants to start peddling drugs again from inside prison and needs to communicate with his suppliers using cell phones and laptops. But he needs a new gang to push the product for him.”
“So they’re being recruited to be drug dealers,” Daniels said. “How does Dexter Hudson fit in?”
“Dexter is Cano’s lieutenant. His job is to recruit inmates who are ready to be released, which he did with my brother. He dangles a carrot in their faces to get them on board.”
“The carrot being revenge and a job.”
“That’s only part of the offer. There’s a third incentive.”
“Which is what?”
“A big chunk of money. Dexter bragged to his biker buddies about the house he was going to buy. My brother, Logan, also was looking to buy a house. Where were they going to get the money? Not from banks.”
Her coffee cup was empty. She squeezed it so hard that it was crushed in her hand. Her light-brown eyes were burning a hole into his soul. “They were going to sell the victims into slavery, and give each of the gang members a portion of the proceeds.”
“That’s what I’m thinking,” he said. “The victims were going to pay for those houses. That was the third incentive, and it was big enough to get Logan and many other inmates to join.”
She tossed her cup to the floor and cursed under her breath. She was kicking herself for not recognizing these clues, and solving the puzzle herself. It happened to the best investigators, but telling her that wasn’t going to change how she felt.
“Are you sure about this, Jon?” she said.
“One hundred percent sure. The video I saw in Echo’s apartment was the clincher,” he said.
“Why was that?”
“The victims looked well cared for. Their clothes were clean, and none of them were sporting visible bruises. They were preparing food in a large kitchen, with each having a different assignment. Their captors were preparing them for slavery.” He paused, then said, “You’ve busted human traffickers. How much is a woman worth?”
“There’s a scale that traffickers use,” she said. “You would think that pretty young girls fetch the most money, but that’s not the case. Pretty girls are good for sex, and not much else. They usually don’t have any skills, so they sit around all day.
“A middle-aged woman gets more money, especially if she’s educated. Educated women know how to cook, how to clean, and plenty of other useful things.”
“How much would an educated woman go for?”
“The going rate is between three and four hundred thousand dollars. They’re in high demand in Central and South America, which is where most of them end up.”
“Who are the buyers?”
“Wealthy people.”
They fell silent. The conversation had upset her, and he went into the building and purchased a chocolate chunk muffin from the bakery and brought it to her. Sweets were her weakness, and she tore off a piece of muffin and popped it into her mouth.
“Did you get anything for yourself?” she asked.
“I was hoping we could share,” he said.
“Better eat fast. I’m hungry.”
They finished off the muffin in silence. Then he said, “I have another theory for your consideration.”
“Go ahead,” she said.
“I’ve never had experience dealing with human traffickers. Based upon what I’ve read, they’re fairly sophisticated.”
“That would be an understatement. There are several rings that the FBI has been chasing with no success. They use burner phones and always pay in cash. They’re masters at flying under the radar.”
“They sound like real pros.”
“They are. We usually only catch them when they screw up. They don’t make many mistakes.”
“So they’re well trained.”
“Very well trained. So what’s your point?”
“Cano is a drug dealer who got into the kidnapping business in order to lure recruits into his gang. He’s a neophyte when it comes to human trafficking, yet his gang has managed to abduct thirteen women and not get caught. Does that sound right to you?”
There was a spark in Daniels’s eyes that hadn’t been there before. She popped the last crumb into her mouth and stared at him with a burning intensity.
“Finish your thought,” she said.
“Cano isn’t masterminding the abductions. Dexter Hudson is. He got his education when he was running with the Outlaws before he got sent to prison.”
“So you think the Outlaws are the actual traffickers. Can you prove it?”
“I think so. The Outlaws are kidnapping women who dance in strips clubs, and selling them into slavery. A dancer named Lexi is one of their recent victims. I saw her on the YouTube video in Echo’s apartment. Echo told me that other dancers have also disappeared. None of them have families, so people forget about them.”
“So Dexter is the real mastermind.”
“That’s right. It makes sense, when you think about it.”
“How so?”
“It bothered me that Cano used Dexter to recruit for him. Cano is from South America, so it would have made more sense if he asked a Latino. But Cano asked Dexter, who’s a white southern boy. There had to be a reason, don’t you think?”
“You’re saying that Cano asked Dexter because the Outlaws were already running a trafficking ring, and Dexter would know how to hide the victims, and later move them.”
“Yes. The apparatus was already in place. The Outlaws own a building that has sleeping quarters and a large kitchen. The victims are brought there one at a time, then they’re shipped out and sold into slavery. I’m guessing the building is in the Tampa Bay area, because that’s where the gang is.”
“So Cano doesn’t have anything to do with the kidnappings.”
“No. He’s just a low-life drug dealer.”
His cell phone rang. He took it out of his pocket and saw that it was Nicki calling. Daniels saw the screen as well and said, “Is my niece helping you again?”
“She is, indeed.” He hit the answer button. “Hi, Nicki. I’m sitting here with your aunt Beth. Tell me that you have good news.”
“Try great news,” the teenager said excitedly.
Chapter 30
When it came to sleuthing, there was strength in numbers.
Nicki’s CSI class had twenty-two enthusiastic students, each of whom had a laptop computer with high-speed internet access. To find the name of the person who’d testified against Devin Highnote at his trial, the class had visited a website called RapSheets.org.
Lancaster had told the class about this site during his visit. RapSheets.org was the largest crime statistic website in the world, and contained millions of arrest records, along with a local jail inmate search, which he often utilized to see if a suspect was already behind bars.
The site’s arrest records were broken out by state and county. Nicki’s class had gone to the Florida section, and chosen Pinellas County, where Saint Petersburg was located. They’d entered Devin Highnote’s name and done a search that produced his rap sheet. Highnote was not a common last name, and only one felon matched in the database.
Seven years ago, Highnote had been arrested for rape, prosecuted, found guilty, and sent away to prison. The mug shot showed an unshaven brute with soulless eyes and a lump on his temple, which he’d probably gotten during his arrest.
The site had not contained any details from his trial. To get those transcripts would have required a trip to the Pinellas County courthouse, where a formal records request would have to be submitted to a records clerk. If the transcripts were not digitalized, it might take the clerk several days to produce them.