Pale, trembling, she took a seat at the table. “Oh my.” She glanced over her shoulder then back at them. “Oh dear. And they let you continue to stay near my husband?”
“I’m not committing murder, ma’am.” He rubbed his eyes and looked at her. “No matter the . . . cost.”
Chloe’s heart lurched. He knew they were going to kill Rachel regardless. The only way to get her back was to outsmart them and rescue her or pray she could find a way to escape again.
After studying Blake’s dark eyes for a moment, Lucy bit her bottom lip and she sat there for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, she sighed. “All right. Ben’s father left when he was ten and his sister was fourteen. Things were tough. He had no other family that could help—or would help. His mother slipped into a depression and started prostituting herself to make ends meet. And then . . .” She paused with another look over her shoulder.
“Then?” Chloe asked.
Deep breath. Her eyes slid to the stairs where her husband had vanished moments before. “Then, she started selling his sister.”
Chloe swallowed a gasp. She’d seen a lot in her years in law enforcement. The fact that she could still be shocked surprised her. “How old was he when he figured this out?”
“Close to three years ago.”
“What?” Linc blurted.
“But how?”
“Vicky committed suicide and left a note detailing everything. Including the fact that she’d only cooperated with their mother because if she didn’t, she’d sell Ben instead. So Vicky cooperated. Three years ago, Vicky didn’t show up for dinner one night and her phone kept going to voicemail. Ben went over to her house and found her. She’d swallowed a bottle of pills. The note was on the end table beside her.”
“How horrible,” Chloe whispered.
“It’s changed everything around here. Changed him, changed us.” She shook her head. “He won’t talk about it. To anyone. Even now, three years later.”
Linc sighed. “Where’s his mother now?”
“I don’t know. Probably shacked up with her latest. Ben hasn’t talked to her in years. She didn’t even come to Vicky’s funeral.” Lucy cleared her throat. “But it sparked something in him. Once he recovered from his shock and grief, he decided to do something about the human trafficking business around here. Not just in South Carolina, but nationwide. Every time he had a trafficking case come into his courtroom, he would come home depressed—and more determined than ever. Seeing the scumbags get a slap on the wrist for selling someone into slavery or the sex trade fired him up. Seeing the victims, those who were able to, gather their courage and put aside their trauma to come testify in court would stay with him for weeks. Their stories broke his heart. Because every one of them was his sister. And every time he put a guilty person away, he was getting justice for Vicky.”
“Wow,” Chloe said.
Linc nodded. “It certainly explains the motivation behind his passion, but not the who behind the threats.”
“I don’t know. He’s a good husband and good father. His past haunts his dreams sometimes, but he never let that bleed over into our family. And he was always determined that our kids understand that exploiting others was wrong. That money wasn’t to be gained by using others. We raised our kids to work for everything and not expect handouts just because we could give it to them. As a result, they both worked and put themselves through college and have good jobs, doing their best to give back to those less fortunate.”
“Mom? Dad?”
Lucy’s brows rose. “That’s Paula.” She stood and went into the den. Chloe and Hank followed her.
Lucy hugged her daughter. “Honey, what are you doing here? I thought you’d be in court?”
“We’re recessed right now. The defense attorney had some kind of medical issue. We reconvene in two hours. I wanted to come by and check on Dad. I . . . said some pretty harsh things to him and want to apologize.”
“No wonder he’s been in such a bad mood.”
Paula grimaced. “Yeah.”
“Have you seen your brother lately? He’s being evasive and not answering my calls.”
“I talked to him earlier. He said he was coming by to see Dad too. That he was worried about him.”
“Good. I’ll talk to him when he stops in.”
“Miles sends his love as well.”
“Does he plan to join us tonight for dinner?”
“We’ll see. He’s meeting a client who’s interested in the new drug that’s being marketed for dementia.”
“Does it really work?”
“Miles says it does. If he didn’t think it was worth it, he wouldn’t bother.”
“Good to know they’re making progress in treating that horrible disease.” She sighed and waved a hand toward the back of the house. “Now, go see your father. He’s in the bedroom.”
Paula turned and noticed Chloe and Hank for the first time. “Oh. Hi.”
“Hello.”
“I’m just here to see my dad.” Her gaze landed on the file folders spread across the table. “What’s going on?”
“Just looking for someone who would have a reason to want your father dead.”
“I thought it was because of his stance on human trafficking.”
“It is, but we need a name to put to the person behind the threats. Someone willing to kill to make sure your dad is silenced. Someone who has a lot at stake.”
“I see. Of course.”
“Can you think of anyone like that?”
Paula shook her head, but pulled file after file from the stack to glance through it. Chloe raised a brow at Blake, who nodded at the folder.
“Any of those ring any bells for you?” he said.
“No. I don’t think so.” Paula frowned. Studied one of the files a little closer, then set it aside to pick up the next. “It’s like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack.”
“No kidding,” Blake said.
With a deep breath, she set the file she was holding back on the table. “I’m procrastinating. It’s time to face the music.”
“Good luck,” her mother said.
Paula grimaced and headed down the hall toward the master bedroom.
Lucy shook her head. “She’s always had a bad temper. And then she regrets it and has to apologize. Sometimes I wonder if my future son-in-law isn’t slated for sainthood.”
Chloe smiled. “I understand. I know a few people like that myself.”
“I’m sure.”
Linc waved her back into the kitchen even as he spoke into the phone. She walked toward him. “What is it?”
“Annie called. She and David got a hit on Ethan Wright’s whereabouts.”
“Where?” Blake asked.
“Not too far from here. Looks like he moved into his aunt’s house after his apartment building was scheduled for demolition. He’s still using his old address, which was why it was so hard to track him down. Yesterday, he applied for a credit card with this current address and we got an alert. I’ve got a team meeting me there. We still don’t know what his role is in everything, so we’re just going to question him. But because we don’t know his role, I want backup in place.” He looked at Chloe. “Bring Hank.”
“Why?”
“I just want him there. We have the video showing Rachel getting into the back of his vehicle. She was following him for a reason. I want to take every precaution to ensure he doesn’t get away from us.”
“All right.”
Blake rose. “I want to come too. Just let me find someone to cover for me here.”
“It’s already been taken care of. Parker and Justin are on the way.” Linc scowled. “And I only took care of that because I knew you’d insist on it.”
“Thanks, man.”
Linc grunted his acknowledgment of the gratitude. “All right. Things are moving fast. As soon as we know the judge is covered, we’ll head out.”
Blake’s heart pounded. He could only pray that Wright could give them a clue as to why Rachel would have been in the back of his car. Why she’d followed him.