The Siren (27 page)

“We leave from the ministry at eleven,” he said.

“Driving what?”

“A big white van with Morning Star on the side.”

Nathan looked at us and then at Rex. “Sit tight.” He grabbed the sock out of Warren’s hand, wadded it up, and shoved it into Rex’s mouth again.
 

Rex groaned and struggled again.

Nathan looked at Warren, then nodded toward the door. The three of us got up and walked outside. Once the door was closed, Nathan leaned against it. “We need to cut him loose,” he said.

“What?” I asked, my voice cracking.

He nodded. “We need to let him make that haul. Once he crosses the state line, he will be in violation of his bond agreement, and it will become a federal offense. We can call in an anonymous tip. Maybe that will get the ball rolling with the FBI and give them enough probable cause to dig into this and bust Abigail and the rest of them,” he explained. “I don’t have anything else we can use. Everything he has said in that room would be inadmissible in court because you freaking kidnapped him.”

Warren folded his arms over his chest. It was obvious he didn’t like the thought of letting Rex go either. Finally, he sighed. “God, I hate it when you’re right.”

“How do we know he’s not going to blab all this to Abigail as soon as you let him go?” I asked.

“I’ll make sure he doesn’t,” Warren said.

When we went inside again, Warren sat down in front of Rex. “Are you listening to me?”

Rex nodded with frightful eyes.

Warren leaned in, inches from his face. “I’m going to let you go, but I’m going to be right on your ass. You’re going to make that transport to Chicago, and I’m going to have my eyes on you the whole time. I have the ability to track you down, so you will not get away from me. Do you understand?”

Rex nodded again.

“I’m going to take down your boss, and if you get in my way or try to warn anyone involved in this, you will no longer have amnesty with me. What you saw me do to Travis fifteen years ago will be merciful compared to what I will do to you,” Warren warned.

Rex’s head furiously bobbed up and down.

Nathan leaned toward me and lowered his voice. “Who’s Travis? What did Warren do to him?”

I just shook my head and closed my eyes.

He sighed and folded his arms over his chest.

Warren ripped the sock out of Rex’s mouth, causing him to gasp for air.
 

“I’ll keep my mouth shut. Swear to God,” Rex said.
 

Warren took out his knife and cut the straps holding him to the chair. “God doesn’t hear you anymore.” He pointed the knife at Rex’s neck. “Where are you supposed to meet them?”

“The van’s already at the ministry.” Frantic, he looked over at the alarm clock on the nightstand. “I’m supposed to be there in half an hour.”
 

Warren stood and stepped out of his way. “Then I suggest you get a move on.”
 

Rex bolted from the room like the devil himself was after him. My eyes settled on the door as it closed in his wake. “Think we can trust him?” I asked.

“Not a chance,” Nathan said.

Warren shook his head. “I should have handled this myself.”

“Ehh.” Nathan shrugged his shoulders. “Even though they’re scum, they’re still entitled to a judge and jury.”

Warren’s gaze could have set the room on fire. “Someday, Nate, you’re going to understand that I see guilt as clearly as you see skin color.” He folded the blade of his knife into its handle. “Some villains don’t need a justice system. They need an executioner.”

20.

Nathan and I stood there, staring in stunned silence until Warren walked over to the window and peeked through the blinds. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Nathan gulp.

“Is there a way to confirm if Abigail was actually in Chicago ten years ago?” Warren asked.

Nathan snapped out of his daze. “I can make some calls this week.”

“Warren,” I said.

He turned to look at me.

“I don’t think he was lying.”

He shook his head. “He wasn’t. The question is, I was in that group home in ‘98. I didn’t leave Chicago until 2002.”

Nathan’s head tilted. “That doesn’t sound like a question.”

Warren tapped his finger on his temple. “The migraines. There’s no way we stayed within thirty miles of each other for that long, especially without me ever seeing her.”

“Thirty miles?” Nathan asked.

Warren nodded toward me. “The migraines seem to start around the thirty mile mark. That’s been roughly the distance we’ve been apart each time it’s happened.”

“What if they don’t work the same with her?” Nathan asked.

I considered it. “No, she told us she’d have a migraine when we left town. We would have too had we not been together.” I looked at Warren. “You never had migraines before me?”

He laughed with sarcasm. “No. I definitely wouldn’t forget that.”

“Interesting,” Nathan said. “I’ll see what I can dig up when we get home.”

Warren nodded. “OK. How are we going to handle the current mess with the cops?”

Nathan blew out a sigh. “I’m not sure.”

I sank down on the edge of the mattress. “An anonymous tip isn’t going to work. You know Rex is right. The police and the community love her. They’re going to need a solid reason to call her into question.” My breath caught in my chest as I realized what we had to do. “I’m going to have to report this.”

Warren didn’t seem to hear me.

Nathan laughed. “What are you going to say? That the woman who is the same age as you is actually your mother and a demon?”

I frowned. “No, but I can tell them I met her that day at the bust and she invited me over to her house to talk about a job or something. I’ll say I found the paperwork on Mendez by accident. That’s all partially true.”

Warren and Nathan exchanged glances.
 

Nathan pulled off his ball cap and scratched his head. “I don’t know. That’s a pretty unlikely story.”

I smirked. “Not as unlikely as the truth. Do you have a better idea?”

He shook his head.

Warren looked at me. “I don’t like it.”

“We don’t have another choice.” I held out my hand toward Nathan. “Give me the phone number.”

He pulled his phone from his pocket. “I’ll call first and find out where the local office is here. This isn’t the kind of thing you can usually do on the telephone.” He walked out to the hallway.
 

Blood oozed into my mouth, and I realized I had nervously chewed a hole on the inside of my lower lip. I shuddered.

Warren walked over and sat down beside me. “You all right?”

My legs were bouncing. “We need a vacation to recover from this one.”

He squeezed my knee. “I couldn’t agree more, babe.”

After a few minutes, Nathan reentered the room. “I gave them the short version and told them to be on the lookout for the van, but she’s going to need to go in and make a formal statement in person.” He held up a slip of paper. “We’re supposed to ask for Agent Silvers.”

My cheeks puffed out as I exhaled slowly.

Nathan looked at Warren. “I think I should take her. It would probably look weird to have a mercenary tagging along.”

Warren’s eyes narrowed. “I’m not a mercenary.”

Nathan held up his hands in defense. “I’m sorry. It would look weird to have the Angel of Death tagging along.”

We both laughed and it eased the unbearable tension in the room.
 

Warren looked over at me. “He’s probably right, and he knows more about the legal process of this than I do. Will you be OK if I sit this one out?”

I sighed. “I just want to get it over with.”

Nathan motioned toward the door. “Well, I’m ready to go when you are.”

I covered Warren’s hand with mine. “If I wind up in federal prison, I expect you to use your badass recon skills to get me out.”

“I’ll burn the jail down if I have to.” He tucked my hair behind my ears.

I kissed him quickly and stood up. “All right, Detective. I’m all yours.”

Nathan raised his eyebrows and grinned. “Really?”

Warren pointed at him. “Watch it.”

Nathan glanced at the clock. “We should be finished in time to catch them before they leave the ministry at eleven. Do you want to try and follow them to see how this thing plays out?”

Warren shook his head. “As much as I would like to, I’m afraid we would be too conspicuous. All it would take is for one person to recognize us, and the whole thing could fall apart.”

Nathan nodded. “You’re probably right. We’ll come back here once we are finished, then.”

Warren stood up. “Please bring me some food. I forgot to eat today.”

I kissed Warren once more before we walked outside to the car.
 

As we pulled out of the parking lot, Nathan looked over at me. “Are you nervous?”

I held up my hands. They were trembling. “I’m keeping the makers of Xanax in business this year by myself.”
 

He laughed. “I’ll bet. Don’t be nervous though. You’ll be fine.”

“You’d better not leave me,” I warned him.

He shook his head. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”

We rode most of the ten miles in silence. When we finally arrived, there were more lights on in the four story building than I expected for nine o’clock on a Saturday night. I stared out my window until I felt Nathan squeeze the back of my neck.
 

“Take a deep breath, Sloan.”

I turned to face him and sucked in a huge gulp of air and blew it out slowly.

The confidence on his face was only mildly reassuring. “Remember, we’re here for the weekend so you could talk to Abigail about a job.”

I nodded and picked at my fingernail. “A job doing what?”
 

“I don’t know. Publicity. That’s what you do,” he said.
 

It had been so long since I’d gone to work that I’d almost forgotten my job description. “Oh yeah.”

“Just tell enough of the truth to make this all sound believable without bringing up the angels and demons stuff.”

I swallowed the lump in my throat.

He smiled to ease the tension. “I’m going to tell them I’m your boyfriend if they ask.”

I rolled my eyes. “Of course you are.” I pointed a finger at him. “You’d better not let me wind up in jail.”

He reached over and wrapped his hand around mine. “You’re not going to wind up in jail. I promise.”
 

I wasn’t so sure I believed him.

When we walked in the front door, an armed security guard in the lobby stopped us. “Can I help you?” he asked.

I looked down at the notes Nathan had scribbled during his phone conversation earlier. “We’re here to see Agent Silvers,” I said.

He nodded and walked behind the desk. “Your name?”

“Sloan Jordan,” I answered, but the name Praea came to mind.

He motioned toward an empty row of plastic gray chairs along the wall. “Have a seat.”
 

When we sat down, Nathan put his arm around me and curled his body toward mine.
 

“What are you doing?” I whispered.

He smiled. “Playing the part.”

“You said, ‘if they ask,’” I reminded him.

He winked at me. “Gotta make it believable.”

I shook my head. “I’m going to tell on you.”

He chuckled but didn’t remove his arm. Instead, he leaned in closer. “I have some news, but I didn’t want to call you last week in the middle of everything with your mom.”

“What is it?” I asked.

His eyes were fixed on the carpet. “They are finally releasing my sister’s body to our family.”
 

“Wow. Are you OK?”

After a second, he nodded. “Yeah. It’s good to have some closure.”

“Is there going to be a service?”

“Yeah. Mom is talking about doing it around Thanksgiving while the family is in town.” He was still staring at the floor. “It will be small.”

I nudged him with my shoulder. “Well, if you want me to come, I will.”

He looked at me and smiled. “Thank you.”

There was a loud buzz and the door behind the desk opened. A black woman in khaki pants and a blue polo shirt walked through it. She had a neatly edged bob and the most perfect, full red lips I had ever seen on another human. A blue and white lanyard hung around her neck with her FBI credentials.

She extended her hand as she approached. “I’m Agent Sharvel Silvers. Are you Sloan?”

I stood up and shook her hand. “Yes, ma’am.”

She offered her hand to Nathan.
 

“Detective Nathan McNamara, her boyfriend,” he said.

In any other situation, I would have rolled my eyes. Or maybe punched him.

Agent Silvers offered a polite smile. “Nice to meet you both. Let’s go to my office.”

We followed her through the door, down a bleak hallway lit up with painfully bright fluorescent lights. The walls were white and covered in plaques and department photographs. My stomach felt queasy, and I hugged my arms to my chest.

Agent Silvers’ office was bland and impersonal. A half-dead plant was shedding its brown and shriveled leaves on the corner of her desk near the chairs where she motioned for us to sit. She sat down in her padded office chair, and the wheels squeaked as she rolled across the floor. “Detective McNamara, I read the report you called in earlier,” she began. “We’ve alerted the state highway patrol to be looking for the van you described on the phone. If, in fact, it does cross into Oklahoma, they will stop it and see if the suspects are driving.”

I sighed with relief. “Good.”

She looked carefully at both of us. “I am very curious to know why you believe Morning Star Ministries is involved with human trafficking across state lines.”

I looked at Nathan, and he reached over and wrapped his hand around mine. I cleared my throat. “I met Abigail Smith during a sting operation that we sort of fell into the middle of a few weeks ago.”

“Fell into?” she asked.

Nathan leaned forward. “We helped capture a couple of guys who were escaping from a raid during a prostitution bust.”

Agent Silvers was making notes. “Why were you at a prostitution bust? This says you’re an officer in North Carolina.”