Siobhan said, “No one else is going to die. Eloise had preeclampsia. She delivered her baby after suffering a seizure. Her body was left in a Dumpster. You have to help us find these people before anyone else dies. For Eloise. For all of them.”
“They’re all gone.” Shaking, Loretta drank more water. It dribbled down her chin and she didn’t seem to notice.
“When did you last see Marisol and Ana?” Lucy asked.
She didn’t say anything.
“Please, Loretta,” Siobhan pleaded, “I’ve been looking for Mari and Ana for two years. Their family needs them. They have a younger brother and a grandmother who are worried about them. Their mother was my best friend, I have to find them!”
Siobhan was appealing to emotion, but Loretta wasn’t biting. She was too old, too jaded, too guilty to say anything.
Lucy cleared her throat. She motioned for Siobhan to move. Siobhan didn’t want to, but Loretta understood only one thing-survival-and Lucy was going to push.
Siobhan stood and walked several feet away. Lucy stood over the beaten woman and said, “Loretta, let me explain what is going to happen from this moment forward. You are at best a material witness to a felony and at worst a co-conspirator. We have a witness who places you in the same house as a woman we later found dead in a Dumpster, her infant ripped out of her womb. We have a witness who identified Eloise at a house on El Gato Street in Freer Sunday night; early Tuesday morning, Eloise was found murdered. Not in Freer, but here, in Laredo. A person with medical training-such as yourself-cut Eloise’s baby boy out of her womb, then shot Eloise in the back of the head. They left her body in a trash can.”
Lucy used the most blunt, clear language that she could. Every sentence caused Loretta to shrink back, as if slapped. Though recounting the facts sickened Lucy, she put enough venom in her voice to make sure that Loretta Martinez knew that she was deadly serious about this case and that Loretta was not getting a pass on her complicity to kidnapping and murder.
“Three days-they have three days on us. We will find them. We have already identified three of the key players-Jasmine, her bodyguard Lance Dobleman, and the man responsible for keeping these pregnant women locked up, Raoul. We have identified four of the women who were held against their will. We will identify the others. And you have two choices. You can either help us and beg the court for leniency, or hinder us and spend the rest of your life in prison. Those are your choices.”
Siobhan stared at Lucy. “Lucy, we agreed-”
“No, Siobhan, you thought, big difference. You care, I get it. But we’re beyond coddling accessories to murder. If we don’t find Mari and Ana soon, we won’t find them. These people know how to move their victims in and out of the county, the state, the country. The longer we play these games, the more time they have to disappear.”
The pain pill had kicked in; Loretta’s eyes were becoming glassy. Lucy frowned. This woman was seriously ill. She pulled down the afghan and Loretta hit her hand. Lucy ignored her and pulled up her nightgown. Her stomach was dark purple. Lucy was stunned that Loretta was still alive.
“Loretta-you have internal bleeding. You need immediate medical attention.”
“Go away,” Loretta said.
Siobhan was on the phone and Lucy shook her head.
“We have to call an ambulance!” Siobhan said.
“Agent Dunning already called,” Lucy said. “I knew she was gravely injured when she opened the door.”
Lucy put the blanket back on Loretta. “You’re dying, Loretta. Please, if you want to help those girls-if you want to punish the men who beat you-help us. Now.”
Loretta was close to talking. Lucy sat on the floor and took her shaking hand. “We know Marisol disappeared with her baby. Did she come back? Where is she? Where is Ana?”
“I didn’t know she left it… we didn’t know. She never came back. I didn’t think she’d leave her sister.”
She didn’t leave her by choice. She must have had a plan… it was the only thing that Lucy could think of. But maybe she didn’t expect their captors to move the girls so quickly. Maybe she was getting help… just not from the authorities.
Or maybe they found her and killed her.
“Why would she leave Ana?” Siobhan asked.
“Ana… they were all safe while they were pregnant,” Loretta said.
Marisol must have thought she had time, at least enough time to save Ana.
“Raoul was so angry.”
“Where would Marisol go?” Lucy asked.
“I don’t know.”
“You must have an idea.”
“She talked about an Angelo. Always, Angelo. I don’t know who he is, I don’t know anything about him, but she thought he would save her.”
Siobhan gasped. “Angelo? Angelo Zapelli?”
“I don’t know,” Loretta said, her voice weak.
Lucy looked at the pills that Loretta had been taking. Oxycodone, prescribed to someone else. She had no idea how many the woman had taken, but she was loopy and fading rapidly. She heard the ambulance in the distance. She texted Nate to bring them in immediately.
“Who’s Angelo Zapelli?” Lucy asked Siobhan.
“Marisol’s employer in Monterrey was Antonio Zapelli-his son is Angelo. RCK ran a background on both of them, said the family had no ties to any drug cartels or human trafficking.”
“We need to talk to both of them.”
“I have his information. I’ll call him.”
“Not without me,” Lucy said. “Siobhan, this has always been serious, but it’s gotten much more dangerous. If Loretta is to be believed, Marisol gave birth and left the baby at the church, sought help, and is now looking to get her sister back. She must have an idea of where they are. We have to find her, find these people. They will kill her. They killed Eloise, they’ve been selling babies, we have no idea how many-”
“Seventy-two,” Loretta whispered.
Lucy and Siobhan both looked at the woman. “What?” Lucy said.
“I’ve delivered seventy-two babies in the last two years. You’ll never find them all. Too many women, they’re foolish, believe anything because they want to believe.”
“Eloise was chained to a bed!” Siobhan said.
“Only after Marisol ran away. Raoul chained them all. But I haven’t seen them… I came home. Came home to die.” Loretta’s voice trailed off.
Nate opened the door and escorted the two paramedics inside. Lucy talked to them, showed them the pills that Loretta had been taking, and informed them that the beating happened six to seven days ago, probably on Thursday.
The day Marisol ran away.
While Siobhan was making calls trying to locate Angelo Zapelli in Monterrey, Lucy pulled Nate aside. “I want to place her in custody. Anything to keep her safe and to keep her from running, if she survives. She knows more than what she’s said.”
“I called the assistant sheriff,” Nate said. “Villines.”
“Good.” She glanced over as the paramedics lifted Loretta onto the gurney. “Seventy-two babies, Nate. She said she delivered seventy-two babies in two years. She wasn’t threatened or imprisoned or exploited, she did it for money. Maybe she didn’t start out being a criminal, but she figured out what was going on and she remained silent and continued to participate in criminal behavior.”
“Did she admit that they were selling babies?” Noah asked.
“No, she didn’t. If she survives-and honestly, I don’t know that she will, she’s in bad shape made worse by the fact that she’s been popping pills all week-she needs to confess to everything and face consequences for her actions. Let the powers that be decide what to do with her.”
Noah asked the paramedics what hospital they were going to, then returned to Lucy. “We don’t have a warrant to search her house. Possibly probable cause, but depends on what judge we get. Still, if something is in plain sight-we need to search and clear the house anyway.”