Chapter 29
She recognized James first, but it took her a few seconds to place me in my other wig. Her phone wasn’t in sight.
I slid into the chair across from her. James pulled up a third.
“Okay,” I said. “Let’s see what you’ve got.”
Contempt tightened her mouth. “I still don’t see how you’re gonna hold up your end of this deal.”
“We will,” James said. “You have my word.”
I resisted the urge to shoot him a look. Promising was one thing. Offering his word was another level of accountability, whether Dani believed in honor or not.
To my surprise, she did. Her attention shifted to him. “What are you gonna do with this?”
“If you’re worried it will lead back to you,” he said evenly, “it won’t. We’ll never tell where we got it.” His gaze held hers. “Will anyone at the club suspect you provided it?”
“No.” She sounded exhausted. “Ronnie—the security guard—got so high he won’t remember a thing.”
James nodded once. “Show us.”
She pulled out her phone and set it on the table, then tapped into her videos. At the bottom of the screen were four black-and-white thumbnails. She selected the first and hit play.
The footage was about an hour long. A man walked to a table and sat alone, watching the stage. The image was too grainy and washed out for me to catch his face clearly. Occasionally, he took sips of his drink.
James fast-forwarded. The man didn’t move much. Then, toward the end of the video, he pulled out his phone and made a call.
James slowed it down, and we rewatched the call. It lasted six seconds. Maybe less. After he ended the call, he tossed cash on the table and stood.
When the clip ended, Dani tapped on the next video. Same guy, different angle. His face still wasn’t clear, but we could make out his thick dark hair and glasses.
She opened the next clip. It showed him leaving the club, moving toward the entrance alcove. The video was short, maybe ten seconds, but as he passed closer to the camera, something in my chest went cold.
“I know him.”
James turned toward me.
I didn’t want to tell him who the man was in front of Dani, not if I wanted her to sleep tonight.
“There’s one more?” I asked, keeping my voice steady.
She nodded and tapped the final file.
The man walked into the parking lot, got into a dark sedan, but stayed put.
The video kept going, so James fast-forwarded for nearly an hour until the car door opened and he walked toward the back of the building, out of sight.
About twenty seconds later, he was back in the frame, this time holding a woman’s arm and leading her to his car.
He opened the door to the backseat and shoved her in, then closed the door and got behind the wheel.
Seconds later, he drove away. The license plate was blurry, but we could still make out the numbers and letters.
“Was that woman Wilhemina?” I asked.
She nodded, her gaze still on her phone. Her shoulders were hunched. She looked like she was folding in on herself.
This wasn’t proof Wilhemina had been kidnapped, but it definitely linked her to the man.
I gave Dani a slow, solemn nod. “This is good. You’ve got a deal.”
Given the identity of the man in the video, she wouldn’t just get her charges dropped. Between this video and what we might find in the files, we had enough ammunition to blow up the Little Rock Police Department.
“Who is he?” she whispered. “I can tell he’s somebody.”
“He is,” I said, leaning closer and lowering my voice. “I’m gonna be straight. I have to be careful about who I show this to. I don’t want anyone tracing it back to you.”
Her brow pinched. “Why are you telling me that?” Her voice shook. “You’re scaring the shit out of me. Now I’m not sure I should give it to you at all.”
“I can protect you,” James said quietly. “I’ll get your charges dropped and make sure you’re protected.” His gaze didn’t waver. “Do you trust me?”
She stared at him, tears swimming in her eyes. “How can I? Razor says you’re vicious. Maybe I should just forget about all of this.”
“You could,” I said quietly, “and honestly, I wouldn’t blame you.
This is scary.” I held her gaze. “But this man kidnapped Wilhemina. Now she’s being held prisoner to work at a private sex club.
” My voice dropped. “Who knows what they’re doing to her there—or what they’ll do when they’re finished with her. ”
Dani sucked in a breath.
“And what if they decide they want you next?” I said. “You’re beautiful, and you’re talented. I’m honestly surprised they haven’t tried to grab you already.”
Her eyes flew wide.
“How about you take a vacation?” James said, like he was offering her a latte. “My attorney will make the arrangements for your trip and handle the charges. Once that’s done, we’ll give you some seed money to start over. How does that sound?”
“You’re kiddin’ right?” she whispered, like she wanted it to be true but didn’t dare believe it. “Why would you do that?”
“This is serious,” he said flatly. “You stuck your neck out. I reward loyalty.”
“When should I go?” Her voice trembled. “I mean … if I do this.”
“Tonight.”
He picked up her phone and opened her contacts, tapping quickly.
“This is my attorney, Carter Hale.” He slid the phone closer to her.
“After we transfer the videos, call Carter as you’re leavin’.
Then go home, pack what you can. By the time you finish, Carter will already have your flight booked.
” His eyes lifted to her. “Give him your legal name and birthdate and tell him where you want to go so he can book the ticket.”
“Anywhere?” she asked, still skeptical.
“Anywhere in the U.S.” He paused. “He’ll book the hotel too.”
“Why are you doin’ this?” she asked.
James’s expression didn’t change. “Because this is important. And everyone deserves a fresh start. Do we have a deal?”
She hesitated, then nodded vigorously. “Yes.”
“I’m gonna send these to my email.” He waited for her to object.
“Yeah. Okay.”
Once they were sent, he handed her the phone, “Not many people get a do-over. Don’t waste yours.”
He didn’t wait for a response. He stood and headed for the exit.
I got up too, but Dani grabbed my wrist.
“Harper,” she whispered. “Is he for real?”
“Yeah,” I said softly. “He’s for real.”
Outside, James was already in the car, the engine running. I slid into the passenger seat.
“You were more than generous,” I said as I buckled in. “Especially since I suspect you don’t know who the guy in the video is.”
He pulled out of the parking lot. “I didn’t need to know. Your face told me he’s someone important.” His gaze flicked to mine. “Who is he?”
“Bill Thomsen.” I paused. “A Little Rock detective in the Burglary division.”
James’s jaw tightened.
“Who are we going to take this to?” I asked. “I don’t know who to trust in the Little Rock PD.”
James was silent for several seconds. “I need you to trust me.”
My breath caught. “What does that mean?”
“I need to meet my handler,” he said. “Alone.”
“I didn’t expect to go with you,” I said. “I’m more concerned about whether we can contact someone in the Pulaski County prosecutor’s office, and if so, who we can trust. We have to be damn sure they don’t try to bury this or leak it back to Knox.”
“Agreed.” His gaze stayed on the road. “I need to think on it.” He flashed me a tight smile. “But this might be one of those situations where it’s better to ask forgiveness.”
“Do you think this, added to what we got from Natalie, is enough to fulfill your obligation to your handler?” I asked. “Because this is huge.”
His jaw tensed. “It seems like enough to me. But who knows with those fuckers.”
“Do you want to include the files my mother saved up?”
He hesitated. “I’ll let you make that call.”
I drew in a breath, trying to settle my nerves. “If you hand it over, it implicates my father.”
He didn’t respond.
“I don’t care about that,” I said, mostly meaning it.
“It’s just…” I stopped to collect my thoughts, then turned to him.
“My mother died for that information. I don’t want it to be wasted.
And it feels like it might become an afterthought compared to the other evidence we’ve gathered.
” I was surprised at the lump that formed in my throat.
“We wouldn’t have even been looking at Knox if not for your mother’s file. So, it wasn’t for nothing.” He glanced over at me. “Your mother made this possible. She helped save countless numbers of people.”
Funny, I hadn’t seen it that way.
“Include it,” I said.
“You sure?”
“Yeah.”
He flipped on his turn signal and turned a corner.
“For now, I think we should go back to the hotel and start digging through the files we got today.” He paused.
“But first, we need a couple more hard drives. I’ll have to turn this one over, so I want two copies for us.
We’ll keep one close. The other we’ll stash somewhere safe.
Like my office safe. Just a little insurance. ”
“Yeah.” He was right. We needed our own copy, and a backup made sense. “Will you ask your contact how they plan to handle the cop? I know I keep bringing it up, but this is important.”
“I know,” he said, giving me a reassuring glance. “I won’t let it get swept under the rug.”
“Thank you.”
He gave me that same tight smile.
We stopped at an office supply store and bought two hard drives and cords, plus a stack of sticky notes and pens.
“I want to start building a case too,” I said. “I know Homeland Security is going to take over, but this way we can hold the local authorities accountable.”
“Good idea,” he agreed.
Back at the hotel, we went up to the room. I set the laptop on the coffee table and connected the original hard drive. Then I connected the other two drives and began transferring the data. I’d just begun when something hit me.
“We only needed one more,” I said, more to myself than James.
“What?” he asked absently from the edge of the bed, tapping on his phone.