Chapter Eleven #2
“Human trafficking,” Billie said the words that had been twisting in his gut since he heard the news. “That’s what we’re looking at here. The ones like the nine we’ve looked at are special orders for specific customers.”
“The blond hair and blue eyes, pale skin,” Charly said, her tone showing her distaste at the prospect. “That’s how you found a pattern.”
“Right.” Billie pushed the remainder of his salad aside. Talking about this and eating just didn’t work. “There are all sorts of requests, as you can imagine. From coloring to age. Height and weight. Even education and employment.”
Charly squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. “What kind of person does this?” She held up a hand. “I know, I just mean it’s unfathomable to me.”
“It’s horrific.” The thought of Briana being snatched and sold like some sort of retail item ripped his insides like a knife thrusting and then twisting in his gut.
Charly pressed a hand to her throat. “I’m sorry. I haven’t even asked how your parents are doing. I’m sure they’re beside themselves. And Martin’s parents.”
Billie scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “There hasn’t really been a good time,” he pointed out. The two of them hadn’t talked about his family until now. When he’d first arrived, sharing information with a stranger was the last thing he’d wanted to do, but Charly wasn’t a stranger anymore.
“True,” she agreed.
“For my family,” he explained, “this is the worst time something like this could happen. Our father is dying. He has MS. His condition started to deteriorate even more rapidly earlier this year, which was why Briana pushed up her wedding date from September to July. She wanted him to be there. We all did. With his condition continuing to deteriorate so rapidly, Mother can’t leave him. Otherwise, she would be here.”
“I am so sorry.” Charly pressed her fingers to her lips for a moment. “This truly is a nightmare on multiple levels for you and your family.”
He tried to smile, failed. “It hasn’t been a good year for sure—other than Briana’s wedding.”
Charly squared her shoulders. “We have to find them.” Something like outrage bloomed on her face. “Tomorrow,” she declared, “we are going to follow Kerrick Rogers until we catch him alone and we’re going to—”
“Talk to him,” Billie interjected.
She gave a little shrug. “Knowing Kerrick it might take a little extra incentive.”
Billie laughed. “I’m sure you mean like the offer of money.”
She blinked. “Well, yeah, sure.” She laughed then. “No, that is not what I mean. I mean…” She shook her head. “Sorry. My father would be ashamed of me suggesting that we torture the truth out of the guy.”
Billie cut her some slack. “Don’t think I haven’t toyed with the idea.” He would love to beat the hell out of whoever was responsible for Briana’s and Martin’s abductions.
“That makes me feel less like a bad person,” she admitted. “But I can’t promise I won’t punch Kerrick if he even hints at the idea he had anything to do with this.”
“You’ll have to get in line,” Billie assured her.
They laughed together and for that one split second, Billie felt an instant of relief.
Silence lingered for a bit, then he remembered her other question. “As for Martin’s parents, they are hanging in there. They wanted to rush down here but I talked them out of it. They’re older and the stress is bad enough without being here.”
“Good point.” She sighed. “I remember how horrible it was after…my parents. The hoping and praying…”
Another stretch of silence. She picked at the salad she had abandoned. He watched her. There was something about the curve of her cheek…the shape of her lips. Funny how he thought of that with all that was happening. But she was different than anyone he’d ever met and he couldn’t help himself.
She glanced up. “If there’s something you want to ask, just ask.”
He didn’t think she was ready to hear what had been on his mind in that moment, so he moved on to something relevant.
“At any time when you were looking into your parents’ murders, did any person—the sheriff, anyone—ever try to warn you off?
Did you receive any threats or warnings like the one we found tonight? ”
“No. Never. I had a good many people offer ideas on what happened but nothing that panned out.”
Billie sipped the tea. Cool, sweet, what wasn’t to like? “Can you give me a couple of examples?”
“The Russians,” she said. “Mr. Hodges, a World War II veteran, suggested my father had been a spy and had to be stopped because he’d learned something he wasn’t supposed to know.”
Billie had to hand it to her; that was one he hadn’t expected. “Certainly an interesting theory.”
“His family said he was never the same after the war. When my parents were murdered he was well into eighty and suffering from dementia. I just listened to whatever he had to say,” Charly explained. “I didn’t want to hurt his feelings.”
Billie imagined her sixteen years younger dealing with all that having a family member—much less two—murdered entailed. He also decided then and there that she was the stronger of the two sisters no matter that Jen was the older one. Charly was brave and damned smart.
“I’m sure his family appreciated your patience.”
“They did. His older daughter, the one who took care of him, lives in one of the houses on the end of Bakers Chapel near the church. Mr. Hodges used to walk from one end of the road to the other every day. He was surprisingly energetic for his age. Sadly that was also the death of him. He was hit by a driver who left the scene. He wouldn’t have survived the injuries, but I don’t know how the driver just rushed away rather than calling for help.
His daughter said she had worried that would happen but there was no containing him other than locking him in a room, and she didn’t want to do that. ”
“Some people are cowards,” Billie said. “Only a coward would leave an elderly man dying on the side of the road rather than call for help.” The idea made Billie ill.
“Definitely a coward,” Charly agreed. “Another anonymous tip about my parents was that the killer was a former deputy my father had fired. Sheriff Malone investigated that one, but the man accused had an airtight alibi.” She shook her head.
“Another one insisted it was a former lover of my mother’s, which was preposterous.
Particularly since the supposed lover was Sheriff Malone.
” She laughed. “My mama was not a fan of the man. She was certain he took every opportunity to undermine my father. Not to mention he was a lot younger than her.”
Billie chose not to point out that because her mother was older or had shown her dislike for Malone didn’t mean she hadn’t been involved with him.
It was always easier to hate on a former lover.
No reason to upset her by suggesting as much.
There was also no reason to believe the murders of Charly’s parents had anything to do with Briana’s and Martin’s disappearances. Yet, anyway.