Page 42 of Lost Truth
Li leaned back and pointed to Roman numerals scratched into the wall, marking seven days.
A week!These poor women had been living in the tiny cave for a week. They must’ve been frightened. At least they could start to believe Kai was trying to help them, but honestly, if Cady had been in their situation, she might not have trusted him.
Li started talking again, her words coming out fast.
Olive held up a hand, stopping her. “Then Kai came to them and said he had a lead on the men, and he had to leave. He left them with enough food, water, and other supplies for a week and told them to be quiet until he returned. She begged him not to go, but he said if he didn’t, he might miss the opportunity to prove who’d abducted them and bring the men to justice. He couldn’t risk them going free and trying to hunt them down. And hopefully he could find out where the women’s families had been taken.”
Their families!Cady hadn’t even thought about what had happened to them. They’d been separated on the ship. That’s all they knew. Were their families placed into forced labor somewhere, and if so, would anyone be able to locate them?
“Did Kai give any detail about where he was going?” Mina asked.
Olive repeated the question, then shook her head.
Mina closed her eyes and stopped speaking for a moment, then she looked at her detective. “I don’t have any other questions. Do you?”
The detective solemnly shook her head.
Mina turned to Olive. “Please tell them we have ambulances here to take them to the hospital for a checkup. Then we’ll escort them to a house where they’ll stay until we’re certain it’s safe for them to relocate.”
“What if they ask what happens after that?” Olive asked.
Mina frowned. “Tell them I don’t know. I’ll do my best to find and reunite them with their families, but that’ll be a challenge. I can’t guarantee anything.”
“I’ll tell them.” Olive gritted her teeth. “Some days I really hate this job.”
“Same,” Detective Lyons said, her voice cracking.
Olive gave the women the bad news. They took it stoically and gripped hands. Cady couldn’t imagine being in their position to then find out they might or might never be reunited with their families. How horrible. No one deserved such treatment.No one.
The video went black, and Hayden stood, his face a mask of anger. “So Kaiisinvolved, but not in the way we first suspected.”
“I’m really glad to see that.” Abby might have been trying to be positive, but her eyes were damp. “From everything other people told us, him being involved in human trafficking didn’t fit who he was.”
“I agree.” Cady tried to sound in control of her emotions as she would as a reporter, but it was difficult when her heart was shattered for these women. “I know my dad could never have been friends with someone who could do something so appalling.”
“But his journals tell us he found out about it and didn’t report it to the sheriff,” Gabe said, a challenge in his tone. “So maybe he didn’t tell you everything.”
“Don’t take any offense, Cady,” Hayden was quick to say. “Gabe loves to call our theories and facts into question.”
She nodded, but she couldn’t say Gabe’s comment didn’t sting. “Maybe my dad would’ve reported it in time if his memory hadn’t been taken from him.”
“Maybe,” Gabe said, now sounding disbelieving. “But we need to keep watching for anything to suggest his involvement.”
He had a good point, and if they weren’t talking about her father, she would agree with him. She needed to set aside her personal feelings and look at the situation objectively. “I can understand that.”
Hayden met her gaze, and she didn’t like the thread of worry in his expression. “Equally, if not more important, we need to question if we’re the only ones who know he had this secret. Because it doesn’t sound like these are the kind of people you keep a secret from.”
Abby’s expression tightened, her eyes narrowing in concern. “In my experience, people who engage in such heinous crimes are quite capable of committing murder. They wouldn’t hesitate to act if they fear being reported to the authorities.”
Cady almost gasped at the blunt statement, but Abby was right. The traffickers could have been afraid her father would talk, and they’d thought their only option was to end his life.
She already knew everyone had to watch their backs, but how much more so if the traffickers learned not only Cady knew the secret her dad had been hiding, but this entire room of professionals knew the secret too?
