Dangerous Passage (Southern Crimes Book #1): A Novel (23 page)

T
ess was nine the last time Avery had been on the water off Georgia’s sandy coastline. They’d rented a house with an ocean view along one of the barrier islands and spent the week playing in the sand, feasting on shrimp, and searching for sea turtles.

Avery studied the shore through a pair of Coast Guard stabilizing binoculars. Today they were searching for something far more sinister than a wildlife nest. She lowered the binoculars, still gazing out the window of the pilothouse of the Coast Guard’s forty-five-foot response boat. Getting a judge to sign a warrant to search the island property had been difficult. Finding and arresting Mr. Sourn even more difficult.

“How close are we?”

Petty Officer McMillan glanced at the screen of his navigation station. “Looks like the property is just around the bend. You might want to hang on, though. This response boat—or RB-M as we call it—gives a smooth ride most of the time, but the pass between the two islands can get a bit rough.”

Avery wrapped her fingers around the aluminum grab rail beside her as the pilot made his way between the two islands. Many of the islets lining the Georgia seacoast had become exclusive hideaways for the rich and famous as well as cheap vacations for families who wanted to get away from it all. On
any other excursion, she’d have enjoyed the vast marshlands, glimpses of wild horses, and sand dunes glimmering beneath the sunlight in the distance, but for the moment all she could see was that Robert Sourn had found the perfect hideaway to stash his merchandise until he was able to sell and distribute them to the highest bidders.

Avery caught a glimpse of a structure and turned to Petty Officer McMillan. “Looks like there’s a house and outbuilding ahead to the left. That has to be it.”

By the time McMillan and his crew had secured the boat to the dock, they were ready to go in. They split up on the shore into two groups, ready to cover both the front and back of the house and the large shed that sat a good fifty feet from the shore.

Avery could almost touch the eerie quiet that hovered in the afternoon air as she made her way across the sandy beach strewn with driftwood and seashells. Beyond the house, outcrops of pine and oak trees filled the terrain before giving way to the inland watery marshes in the distance. No one would expect to find dozens of stolen girls hidden away on this isolated spot.

God, just don’t let us be too late. Please . . .

She slowed down as she approached the large wooden door of the structure and tried the handle. Unlocked. The hinges creaked as she pushed the door open, weapon in hand.

They spread throughout the open warehouse-like storage space, searching behind the boxes of supplies and large pallets that filled the room.

“Clear.”

“Clear.”

“Clear.”

There was no sign of the girls.

“They’ve got to be inside the house.” Avery signaled her team, and they made their way back into the afternoon sunlight and started toward the house.

“Avery.” Mason dropped his weapon to his side, put his finger to his lips, and jutted his chin toward the shore.

Sourn was escaping toward the dock—and he had a hostage.

Avery glanced toward the small motorboat docked ten feet from the Coast Guard’s RB-M. “I’ll get him talking. See if you can get behind him and block his access to the dock. Carlos, go to the house, make sure it’s secure and that everyone stays back unless I say otherwise. I want this to go down without any bloodshed, but dead or alive, Sourn is not getting off this island. Tory, you’re with me.”

Avery made her way quickly toward the dock and called out Sourn’s name, her gun drawn.

He turned, grasping the girl’s arm with one hand while holding his gun to her temple with his other hand. “Stay back, Detective.”

“You don’t really think we’re going to let you leave this island, do you? Let the girl go and end this before someone gets hurt.”

Avery caught the look of terror in the young girl’s eyes. She couldn’t be more than sixteen or seventeen. An image of Tala flashed in front of her. This had to end. Today. Right now.

Sourn glanced toward the shore, then back to Avery. “Call your men off and let me go.”

“You know I can’t do that.”

“I will kill her.”

“I don’t think you’re going to do that.”

“Don’t be so confident, Detective. I’ve killed before, and I’ll do it again.”

Avery chose her words carefully. “We got a full confession from your wife today. We know you didn’t kill the other girls, and I don’t think you want to add murder to your list.”

“Does it really matter? If you talked to my wife, I’m sure by now you have enough to put me away for the next hundred years.” Sourn kept walking backward toward the shore, dragging the
girl along with him. “The way I look at it, I don’t have anything else to lose.”

“Think about it, Sourn.” Mason had made his way to the shore and was now slowly moving toward Sourn from the other direction. “Detective North is right. We can tie you to arms dealing and human trafficking, but murder has never been your MO. Let the girl go.”

“So what are you telling me? If I let her go, you’re going to cut a deal so I walk away from all of this?”

“You know that can’t happen, but you don’t want to make things more difficult on yourself. I can promise you that the DA will look at your situation in a different light if you let her go right now rather than kill her in cold blood.”

Avery clicked on her radio while Mason kept talking to the man. “Tell me what you’ve got up there, Carlos.”

“We found the girls. About twenty-five of them locked in one of the bedrooms in the house. Rice, who clearly was working for Sourn, is now in custody. He surrendered without any fight and he’s talking.”

“What’s their physical condition?”

“I’d say the emotional trauma far outweighs the physical, but most seem malnourished and dehydrated.”

After weeks confined on a boat with little food and water, the situation could have been worse. “Have the medic treat the girls. Be ready to move, but stay in the house until this situation is resolved. We’re going to need to call in another boat to transport them back to the mainland.”

“I’m on it.”

Avery turned her attention back to Sourn. Here was a man who had worked hard his whole life to get ahead until he forgot the defining line between right and wrong. The value of human life and dignity. This situation wasn’t the result of a onetime decision; instead, multiple decisions had led him to this moment.

Avery took another step forward. “What’s her name, Sourn?”

Sourn backed toward the dock. “Does it matter?”

“It matters to me.”

Avery turned to Tory. “Ask her what her name is. Tell her we’re going to do everything we can to make sure she’s okay.”

Tory spoke in Vietnamese to the girl, who stood shivering beside Sourn in her thin, pink dress.

She glanced up at her captor with wide, almond eyes, then back to Tory before she finally spoke.

“Her name is Mia,” Tory translated. “She has a family back in Vietnam, and she—”

“Stop.” Sourn waved his gun in front of him. “You’re stupid if you think that this is going to convince me to let her go. I’ve been doing this for too long now to turn back simply because I feel sorry for her. Do you know how much money I can get for each of these girls?”

“Can’t you see it’s already too late, Sourn?” Mason said. “The girl doesn’t have to be involved in this.”

“And what happens if I let her go? You’ll just let me go as well, because you’re so nice?”

Avery held her gun steady. “Like I said, let the girl go, then we can talk about what happens next. No one has to get hurt.”

Sourn took another step toward the water. “I’ll tell you what happens next. I’m going to get on that motorboat docked beside your fancy Coast Guard rig with the girl, and you’re going to let us both go.”

Sourn was now less than six feet from the dock.

Avery evaluated the situation. If Sourn managed to get away, there were a hundred places he could vanish in these chains of islands alone. And Avery had no doubt that he had access to money somewhere offshore. Disappearing wouldn’t be difficult. If they didn’t bring him in now, they might not get a second chance.

“You follow me onto the boat, and I swear I’ll kill her.”

“Don’t let things end this way, Sourn.”

“It’s already over.” Sourn grabbed Mia’s hand, pulled her toward the boat, and untied the line. The motorboat rocked beneath them as they stepped into the bow, but he managed to keep his balance, using her as a shield.

Avery jumped onto the Coast Guard boat in front of Mason and Tory, then addressed Petty Officer McMillan. “Follow as close as you can without putting anyone on this boat in danger.”

A bullet hit a metal post behind them.

The Coast Guard boat veered to the right as McMillan moved away from the dock and out of range from another bullet. Avery’s shoulder slammed against the aluminum pole, the boat’s movement almost knocking her off her feet, but she blocked out the pain. She’d deal with it later. For now, they had a girl’s life to save.

Sourn pushed the electric start button on his outboard motor, his left arm wrapped around Mia while still gripping the gun. The boat had already drifted a dozen feet into the water, but the motor wouldn’t catch.

Avery shouted across the water. “It’s over, Sourn. Let the girl go.”

“Let me take a shot, Avery.”

She glanced at Mason, knowing if anyone could make the shot, he could. “Wait until you can guarantee you won’t hit the hostage.”

Their RB-M kept its distance but was still close enough for Mason to hit his target. Sourn continued to drift away from the shore as they hit the rougher waters between the two islands. A swell hit the side of Sourn’s boat. He reached for something to grab on to and lost his grip on Mia.

“Now,” Avery ordered.

Mason fired, hitting Sourn in the shoulder. The boat hit
another swell, but this time Sourn couldn’t absorb the jolt. He grabbed for Mia. His gun dropped onto the floor of the boat as he fell backward, pulling her into the Atlantic with him.

Avery watched them plunge into the water, arms flailing, and a trail of blood from Sourn’s wound drifted to the surface. The petty officer maneuvered the RB-M into the water beside them. Time clicked by in slow motion, frame by frame, but it only took Avery a fraction of a second to react. Mia floundered in the water, gasping for breath. She had no idea how to swim.

Avery set her weapon down and dove over the side of the boat into the ocean. As she surfaced, she saw Mason and one of the Coast Guard crew members swimming toward Sourn’s body. Avery felt the searing pain of the stitches in her arm rip as she reached for the girl. Panicked, Mia pushed Avery away, then went under again. Avery grabbed for the life preserver someone had thrown into the water. Holding on to it, Avery coughed up a mouthful of seawater, then pulled Mia into her arms.

A moment later, it was all over. The RB-M was beside her. Someone pulled them out of the water. Wrapped blankets around them. Told her to lie still and breathe.

Tory hovered over her. “Mia is going to be okay.”

Avery felt the movement of the boat beneath her as the RB-M headed back toward the shore. “What about Sourn?”

“He’ll live. And I just heard from Carlos. He said Rice is squealing to make a deal. Which means that along with Sourn’s wife’s testimony, we have enough hard evidence to put Sourn away for a very long time.”

Avery struggled to sit up, then started wringing the water out of her hair, her arm still throbbing. “Why bring the girls here?”

“According to Rice, new boats arrive with weapons or young girls. From here they can split up their cargo, then transport them to different landing sites on the mainland, making it easier for them to reach their final destination.”

Avery pressed her hand against her chest, waiting for her heartbeat to return to normal. Waiting for her mind to believe that it was all finally over.

Mason sat down beside her. “You okay?”

“Yeah.”

“You did a good job out there today.”

“Thanks. You didn’t do too bad yourself.”

“I guess it’s too much to think we could be friends again.”

“Today was a start.”

“That’ll have to be good enough for now.”

Avery looked up at him. “Why does it matter to you if we become friends or not?”

“Because losing Michael changed me like it changed you. I think we have more in common than you think.”

She wasn’t ready for the comparison but knew at the same time that her father had been right. She might not be able to forget, but not forgiving would only hurt herself in the end.

“Your arm’s bleeding.” Mason grabbed a long strip of gauze from the medical kit sitting on the bench beside him as the RB-M stopped alongside the dock. He pressed it against her arm. “You’re officially off duty, Detective North. I want you to go see a medic.”

Avery looked toward the house. “I will, but first I want to see where he kept them.”

Officers were already transporting the girls to the second RB-M that had arrived moments before. The scene was being processed as Avery walked into the house where twenty-five girls had been crammed into a room not much bigger than her bedroom. Besides a small kitchen and a few chairs, the house was empty.