Riley shrugged, her hands clasped in her lap. “OK, so?”
“There’s a large Irish community there. You’re Irish.” Her mother’s cheeks pinkened. “We’re all Irish—the three of us. Your father was a woodworker. He made beautiful furniture. It’s what his father did and his father before him back in Cork.”
“Ry, I worked for a man who ran a large import-export business. He did remarkably well and was well-known in the American-Irish community as well as in communities back home. Families sent their children—kids about your age, maybe a little older—out to Alistair Foley. He gave them jobs, let them earn some money and learn a trade.” Riley’s father’s eyes darkened. “At least that was what he said he was doing.”
“Your father found out that Alistair was bringing kids in, but he wasn’t letting them go back.”
He nodded. “Right. At first we thought he was just making the kids he brought over work in the furniture store for free. That’s what he said; that they worked for free, at first, to pay off his ‘investment’ in them. He paid their airfare over, the kids’ living expenses while they were here, clothing, food. It seemed reasonable. The kids didn’t complain.”
Riley’s mother cleared her throat then shifted her weight on the couch. “But these kids were never able to pay off their debt. In a sense, Alistair owned them. He brought them into this country as his nieces and nephews and then he exploited them.”
Riley cut her eyes to her mother then back to her dad. “So that’s why we moved away? That’s why you changed my name? So your boss wouldn’t make me work for free? That’s—” She wanted to say it was dumb. It was ridiculous to be afraid of your boss. But one look at the consternation and fear on her parents’ faces let Riley know that there was more—so much more.
“Alistair was trafficking in kids and young adults. He made money off them and threatened them if they ever told or tried to escape. He forced them to do illegal things and—he hurt them, Ry. Sometimes—sometimes the kids would just disappear. He’d say a kid that disappeared got a great new job somewhere or that he went back home.”
Riley’s mother crossed herself. “But they never made it home. Your father uncovered this, honey.”
“I didn’t have proof initially. At least not enough that could convict Alistair. But I brought it to the police anyway. I thought I did it without Alistair’s knowledge, but things got out of hand.” Glen pressed his palms against his thighs, and Riley could see that there was a slight tremble in his fingers. It made her nervous. “Alistair had his hands in a lot of pots.”
“The police promised they would take him down.”
Riley gulped. “Did you have to do some kind of sting operation, Dad?”
Glen chuckled. “Nothing so exciting. I knew Alistair was laundering his trafficking money through the furniture store. I was able to get proof that he was embezzling, cooking the books, but still not enough for the trafficking conviction.” He shrugged. “Most of the kids were too scared to talk.”
“So he’s just free? We’re hiding and he’s free?”
Riley’s mother shook her head. “They were able to make some of the embezzling charges stick. But that only gave him a short time in prison.”
“Long enough for us to get most of the kids somewhere safe.”
“Most of them?”
“Alistair had a lot of people working under him, turnip. Even some in the police department.”
Riley felt the dread well up inside her. She shook her head.
“No, no, I don’t believe this. This is crazy. Are you trying to teach me a lesson or something? So I’ll call you every time I—”
“I know it sounds crazy, Ry. And believe me, your mom and I hardly believed it ourselves.”
“Once they had enough evidence, they took Alistair into custody. Your father was a key witness.”
Riley brightened. “Yay, Dad. So you took down the bad guy.”
Her parents exchanged an uncomfortable look. “Sort of. But not everyone was happy. We got death threats.” Her mother drew a hand through Riley’s hair.
“But it’s over, right?”
“Alistair came to see me after he was released. He told me that since I had taken his children, he was going to take mine.”
Her mother was holding back tears. “We wouldn’t even take a chance of that happening, Ry.”
“But couldn’t you just pay him off or get him back in jail?”
“Even if we had the kind of money Alistair was used to making, it wouldn’t have been any help. He didn’t want money. He wanted revenge. He wanted you.”
Her mother looked away. “He came for you one night.”
“Alistair?”