“What day was that?”
Cora thought back. “Saturday. Ten days ago. It was very early in the morning, still dark, when we finally delivered the baby. I stayed another night, then my driver picked me up on Sunday. We went to the church there, because I wouldn’t get back to Laredo in time to go to my own parish. Loretta warned me not to talk, and I didn’t, but it has weighed on me. Loretta is a good woman, a good churchgoer. She didn’t come with me to church, though I asked her to. This made me worry for her. Guilt, I saw it, I smelled it on her. The guilty don’t like to step into God’s house. And me … I started to feel guilty. That things were not as Loretta had said. That I may have done something, made a bad decision. Not saving the girl and her baby—that was right. But silence can be a sin. I saw that article, and it was God’s hand. I do not read the paper, not every day, because it’s violent and sad. But I saw it yesterday, I knew I was meant to see it. I called the reporter, and he told me you would want to talk to me. Your presence is divine providence, Siobhan Walsh. God led you to me so I could share my story and ask for forgiveness for not doing something sooner.”
Siobhan took the old woman’s small, frail hand. “Cora, listen to me. Loretta was right about one thing: You can’t trust all the authorities. I was at the house on Sunday, they were moving the last of the girls. The police arrested me, and when I went back on Monday they were all gone. But I have a good friend in the FBI whom I trust with my life. I need to find Loretta, and she needs to tell us what she knows. Mari and Ana disappeared two years ago, and I’ve been looking for them ever since. I have never been this close.”
“I will give you everything I know about Loretta. And”—she pointed to one of the men in the photo with the blonde—“that man is named Raoul. I don’t know his last name, but I will never forget him. He is not a godly man.”
*
When Lucy joined Noah to serve the warrant for the property records at the law firm, a thin file was waiting for them at the desk.
Noah looked at it. There was one sheet on each property that listed basic information such as when the property was acquired, how much was paid, the mortgage, balance, and owner.
Each owner was a business.
“Who is the lawyer in charge of this client?” Noah asked the receptionist.
“I do not have that information. The attorney of record is the law firm—any of our attorneys can work for any of our clients.”
“I’d like a list of the attorneys working for this law firm.”
“I can’t share that information.”
“What do you mean you can’t share that information?” Noah was on the verge of losing his temper—and it took quite a bit to put Noah on edge.
“Sir, I would need to discuss the situation with the office manager, and she is at lunch right now.”
“We’ll wait.”
“Of course.”
“Tell her the FBI is here,” Noah said.
Lucy tried to get Noah to sit, but he didn’t. Her phone rang—it was Sean.
“I have to take this,” she said but didn’t wait for Noah to respond. She stepped out of the office and stood in the quiet hall. Security cameras were mounted at both ends—one over the elevator and one over the staircase. She felt like she was on stage and straightened her spine.
You can do this.
She answered her phone. “Sean.”
“Hey—I just wanted to check in. I can’t talk long, and then we have to go silent.”
“I understand, I just wanted to know how you were. And that you got my messages. You didn’t respond.”
He was silent for a long five seconds. She counted. “I know why Madison came by,” Sean said finally. “I’m sorry she dragged you into the middle of this. She’s in denial that her husband has put their son in danger.”
“Their son?” Lucy asked.
Please tell me the truth. Tell me that it’s your son in danger.
He must have had a good reason for not telling her earlier. He wouldn’t keep something like this from her.
“It’s pretty clear that Spade is laundering money for a drug cartel, and we’ve already identified the key players. Makes me sick that he brought his kid down here. They’re staying at the house of a drug boss.”
His kid.
“She said she spoke to her husband and her son and they were both fine,” Lucy said, surprised that her voice was steady.
“Carson Spade is a money launderer for one of the cartels. He’s here for some reason we don’t know yet, but just the fact that he’s here with a cartel puts both him and Jesse in danger. I told Madison the same, and she chose not to believe me. She’s blinded to the truth, and I’m not going to let her son be caught in the crossfire.”
Her son.