“I’m guessing Skye gave them trouble,” Blake said.
“Yes, but only when they were loading to leave the house. She panicked and freaked out at the thought of never seeing her family again. When she tried to run, she was pushed down a flight of stairs and kicked at the bottom. Hence the broken ribs.” Her gaze flicked to Blake. “She also said that Rachel was the one who was able to calm her down.”
Blake nodded. “What else did she say about Rachel?”
“Just that she wasn’t supposed to be on the truck and was only there because one of the men—Carson, I believe—said they’d already promised a certain number of girls to the buyers and Rachel had to get Skye there.”
“So Rachel went too,” Blake murmured.
“Yes.”
“Skye did say that the guy who pushed her down the stairs was beaten by one of the other guys, and she didn’t know if he was dead or alive when they left the house. The guy who told Rachel to go with Skye also told her not to try anything or think she was going anywhere because she was special and she’d be back at the house before dark.”
Blake frowned. “Because of me. They needed to keep her nearby.”
“So,” Linc said, “they had to deliver the girls—including the wounded Skye. Everything was planned.”
Chloe shook her head. “Skye would have died before they got there. She barely made it as it is.”
“We know they were heading from West Columbia into downtown,” Linc said.
Blake grunted. “Which tells us exactly nothing.”
“Not necessarily,” Jo said. “The fact that Rachel would be back before dark tells us they weren’t going too far. Could be several hours away, but they’d be back that night. At least our radius isn’t the whole country.”
“True,” Chloe said with a nod, “but I think right now our biggest leads are the tractor trailer, the girls we rescued, and the vehicle carrying Rachel.”
“And the two guys Derek took care of.”
Linc checked his iPad. “Right. The truck was registered in the names of Wilson Bowles and Clyde Harrison. They were identified as guns for hire and both had rap sheets as long as the Mississippi River. But nothing that tells us who hired them.”
“And the guy you collared?” Blake asked Chloe.
“Stupid Man? David sent me some information on him.” David Unger, an information specialist with the department who could find just about anything on anyone. Chloe checked her phone. “His real name is Van Stillman. Also a long rap sheet. Also very good at keeping his mouth shut. So far, not even the offer of a deal has unsealed his lips. However, something interesting did come back.”
“What’s that?”
“It took some digging, but David managed to find out that Stillman’s got an association with Alessandro Russo.”
Blake sucked in a breath. “Alessandro Russo?”
“I take it you’re familiar with him,” Chloe said.
“He’s a bandit we’ve been looking for. JoAnn and I trailed him all over South Carolina, then down into Georgia and Florida.” Bandit, the most common name used for a fugitive. “One of the biggest organized crime heads in the state. He’s into all kinds of stuff. Mostly extortion, murder, and gun running. While it’s rare for the Italian mafia to be involved in drug running, it looks like Russo brought them into it too. It’s not surprising that he’s linked to human trafficking now. It was only a matter of time. Last I heard, he was still in Florida, but his trail went completely cold and we turned his case over to the Miami Marshals’ Office. They haven’t been able to track him down yet, either.”
“That’s because there’s evidence he’s returned to South Carolina,” Chloe said. She raised a brow at her brother. “You want to continue?”
“Sure.” Linc pulled up a video and it began to play on the screen on the far wall. “We’ve got him on security footage leaving the Hyatt in downtown Greenville.” A man in a suit and tie walked out of the hotel, followed by his bodyguards. They climbed into a waiting limousine and it drove off. “When agents arrived, he was gone, his trail lost. I ran him by Derek, who said OCN was real interested in having him behind bars as well, due to his drug affiliations. He’s got every branch in law enforcement after him for one reason or another. They suspect he’s behind some bomb activity as well.”
Blake waved a hand. “We’ll come back to him in a minute,” he said. “I want to focus back on the vehicle in the parking garage. Why would Rachel climb in the back of that guy’s car? Did she know him?”
“We couldn’t really get a good angle but ran him through the facial recognition software with what we had. Unfortunately, we got nothing. He could have just been a stranger and she was using him as a way out of the garage quickly,” Linc said.
“But that makes no sense,” Chloe said. “And besides, she seemed so deliberate in her actions. Like she was following him.”
Linc nodded. “I agree with Chloe. I think we need a task force set up ASAP to go after this human trafficking ring.” He looked at Blake. “And if this Alessandro Russo is involved, then we’ll want the US Marshals on this force too.”
“Marshals, DEA, Homeland Security, FBI, Batman, and the Power Rangers too,” Blake said. “Whatever. I don’t care what it takes, I just want this guy found and my daughter—and the other girls—home safe. Jo and I can keep looking for Russo when we’re not on judge duty. And the more minions we capture, the closer we’ll get to him. So, every time there’s a call related to this case, Jo and I need to be there as well—or if we can’t be there, we need to be brought up to speed ASAP.”
“Agreed,” Linc said. “Anything technology related goes to us. We’ve got a new girl in the tech department who’s a genius. Her name’s Annie. So, if you’re all right with that, we can use our resources and add everything to our database as it comes in, which will enable us to keep all the information in one place.”
“Hey, Columbia PD technology is state of the art,” Chloe said. “Maybe better than yours. And David can find information as fast as your bureau flunky.”
Linc smirked and rolled his eyes. Blake now understood Linc’s exasperation with his sister. Chloe knew as well as he did that the bureau’s resources far surpassed anyone else’s, but apparently that wouldn’t stop her from razzing him about it. If he hadn’t been so worried about Rachel, he would have enjoyed the ringside seat to their sibling antics. Something he missed terribly with his own brother.
“We’ll get David and Annie on it, working together so they can compare notes,” Linc said. “I’ll fill them in.”
“That’s a good idea,” Chloe said. “OCN is already involved due to the drugs found at the scene, so you’ve already got them aware of what’s going on. When you set up the task force, can you make sure I’m in on it?”
“I think I can arrange it, sure,” Linc nodded. “You may have to work on other things as well for your department, but yeah.”
“Good. Make sure they know that anything related to drugs that could be connected to human trafficking, Hank and I get the call.” She’d be sleeping with her cell phone on her pillow.
Blake was gratified to see a plan coming together. It would be the best way to handle it. Chloe would see each scene and be able to recognize anything that looked different . . . or the same. If there was a different K-9 team called, something might get overlooked. “Chloe, I’ll see if we can swear you and Hank in as Deputy US Marshals. That way you’ll have federal arrest powers should you come across something—or someone like Alessandro Russo or human traffickers crossing state lines. If we have to chase them, those federal arrest powers will come in handy.”
“Good. That would work.”
“I want Russo,” Blake said softly. “Want him behind bars so bad I can taste it.” And he had for a very long time.
“Yeah.” Linc ran a hand over his jaw. “Okay, I’ll get this taken care of right now.”