Page 25 of Lost Truth
He turned, but he was too late. Her light beam preceded her into the room. A short cry escaped her mouth, and she flashed a look at Hayden. “Oh my. Is this what I think it is?”
“Probably,” Hayden said, trying to downplay it.
Abby twisted to appraise the women. “We need to call Mina. Get some deputies out here and the women to the hospital for treatment.”
“No!” the woman all but shrieked. “No police. Bad people. Very bad people. No police.”
Her distrust of law enforcement wasn’t unexpected, and she needed reassurance. “Our sheriff is a wonderful woman. She’ll help you.”
The woman’s gaze remained skeptical, but she seemed to calm down a bit. Perhaps knowing a female sheriff would rescue them offered comfort.
Abby had gotten out her phone. “No signal. I’ll step out to make the call and be right back.”
Hayden nodded. He’d come in here, hoping for a lead telling them how to find Kai. Instead, he’d discovered helpless women in captivity, something Kai had to know about and was potentially involved in.
Hayden’s stomach rolled like the waves crashing against the rocky beach outside.
Was this merely the tip of a horrific iceberg their search for Kai would reveal? As they continued their search, what other horrors might they find?
Cady spun as Abby, phone to her ear, raced past her and Ziggy and out the front door. Her face had lost color, and her eyes narrowed as she requested backup and ambulances.
Ziggy stared out the door. “Something’s really wrong.”
Had Hayden been hurt? If so, why more than one ambulance? “Something’s definitely wrong. Wait here, and I’ll check with Hayden.” Cady took off before Ziggy insisted on going in her place. She was too worried about Hayden not to check on him.
In the office, when an open door on the back wall came into view, her footsteps faltered. What in the world? Had it been hidden by the bookshelf? Eager to find out where the opening went, she raced to it and screeched to a halt when she almost tumbled down steps. They led to a stone cave-like structure.
Should she go down the steps? No question. Hayden had to be down there, so of course she would go. She got out her phone to light the way and traversed slick stone steps to a tunnel where she had to duck to follow it.
What could be ahead of her? Something horrific, if Abby’s request for ambulances and law enforcement officers told her anything. Cady’s heart ramped up with each step, and her palms started sweating.
She eased through the opening. Not looking injured, Hayden stood tall, his back to her. She peered around him. Three terrified women gazed up at her.
“Oh. Oh. Oh, no.” The realization of what was happening in front of her hit hard, and she clapped her free hand over her mouth, resisting the urge to gag.
Hayden spun. “No. You don’t want to be here. Turn around and go back.”
“Did Kai do this?” She couldn’t seem to control her voice as it turned shrill and bounced off the walls. “Is he trafficking these women? Or smuggling them into our country?”
“I don’t know. They aren’t talking.”
“Do they speak English?”
“A little, but you don’t need to see all of this.” He took her arm as if he planned to turn her around. “Abby’s calling Mina, and she’ll soon handle it.”
Cady couldn’t take her eyes off the three trembling women. “But they’re terrified. Maybe I can talk to them. They might respond to a woman.”
He released her arm as if conceding her point.
She didn’t wait for his approval, but stepped past him and squatted in front of the women. “I’m Cady.” She pointed at herself, then at them. “Your names?”
The women blinked at her. Did they not understand her, or were they hiding their names? Cady continued to transmit her concern through her expression, mentally willing them to share their names, but they remained silent.
“Did Kai do this to you?” Cady asked quietly.
“Kai. Kai.” The older woman’s eyes lit up. “He gone.”
Not the reaction Cady expected. “Do you know where he went?”
