Winning Texas (41 page)

Zogu nodded.
“
She drove our girls there, took away their cell phones and we haven
’
t been able to talk to them.
”

“
What do they do at the ranch?
”
Annie said.

“
Ms. Juliana wouldn
’
t tell us why she was sending the girls there,
”
Zogu said.
“
It is supposed to be a big secret, but I have heard whispers from other people who work for Mr. Krause.
”

He paused for maximum effect.
“
They say the girls are forced to make babies for rich people to buy.
”

“
That
’
s terrible.
”
Annie was horrified, but everything Zogu said sounded truthful so far.
“
Have you tried to check this out?
”

“
No, Miss. The ranch is guarded with fences and maybe electricity.
”

He hung his head.
“
I know that I
’
ve done wrong, but please don
’
t let Mr. Krause and Miss Juliana know that I
’
ve told you. They will kill me.
”

“
I understand,
”
she said.
“
We will send a reporter there right away. Give us a few days to check it out. Perhaps you and the girls should go about your business as usual and not let on that anything is different. Can you tell the manager that Betsy just decided to resign?
”

Zogu nodded, and Leka spoke to the girls briefly in Albanian. They all got up to go, looking relieved. Zogu brought in Betsy
’
s suitcase and the girls hugged her goodbye. Betsy and Leka cried and promised to call each other.

After they all left but Betsy, Annie picked up the phone, where she had Marr
’
s number on speed-dial.

“
Are you ready to talk to your dad?
”
Betsy nodded.

“
I
’
ll leave you alone,
”
she said, walking to the spare bedroom to make up a bed for her visitor. She didn
’
t know how long Betsy would be with her, but it would be good to reconnect with the girl she
’
d loved. She couldn
’
t quite believe that Betsy had lived with a man and danced at a topless club. Annie could only hope she wasn
’
t too traumatized to bounce back from her experiences.

She heard Betsy crying again this time with relief.

“
Daddy, I
’
ve missed you so much
…
Yes, I love you too, very, very much.
”

CHAPTER 46

Annie and Travis had spent two days in the Hill Country trying to unravel the mysteries of Kyle Krause
’
s ranch before making a frontal assault. They
’
d done the obligatory courthouse search on the first day, confirming that Krause and his girlfriend Juliana had owned the property for a few years and had added even more acreage since their initial purchase. Construction permits showed plans for additional buildings and Annie and Travis were able to study them. The expansive ranch property included two motel-style structures plus one-story administrative offices and a cafeteria building. The operation had a bed-and-breakfast license, but appeared to accommodate only those travelers who made arrangements privately in advance. Since Fredericksburg was the largest city near its rural location, they
’
d tried to find people in town who
’
d worked there. But they hadn
’
t come up with any.

Next, they studied its security arrangements by driving roads in the ranch
’
s vicinity. The property was heavily wooded and its buildings were set back and hidden by large oak trees and tall rail and wire fences. They couldn
’
t tell for sure, but worried that the fences might be electrified. A manned guard gate off a two-lane rural road and a locked back entrance off a dirt road appeared to be the only entrance and exit. Numerous signs around the property warned: Keep out. Exotic animals. Dangerous!

Lots of Hill Country ranches were getting exotic animals, mostly varieties of deer and antelope to adorn the property around palatial second homes. There
’
d been news stories about a few ranches that stocked rhinoceros, zebras, lions and other safari-type animals that amateur hunters could pay big money to shoot and kill. Annie thought that was a horrid practice, but she knew it was just another way that Texas catered to rich and feckless hunters. There wasn
’
t much anyone could do to stop it. She wondered, though, whether the signs at the Krause ranch were phony. She and Travis had driven around the area a lot and never saw any wildlife near the edges. It could be just a ruse to keep the curious at bay.

Annie had shared with Travis everything she
’
d gleaned from Zogu about the possibility that the ranch forced captive women to produce babies for sale. She and Travis had gone quickly to Fredericksburg with the goal of getting inside the compound. As they worked at night in separate, cheap motel rooms, Annie researched adoption on the Internet and found a long, sad history of legal and illegal practices in Texas. Much was perfectly legal. For instance, she learned that one of the most famous Texas agencies, the Gladney Center for Adoption in Fort Worth, had placed 30,000 babies in its 125-year history, attracting couples from all over the United States. The agency started as a last stop for the infamous orphan trains that traveled west with unwanted children.

In more recent years, infertile couples still flocked to Texas in droves, oddly because of its conservative social and political climate. Large number of teenagers who got pregnant in Texas had been brought up to oppose abortion. They
’
d opt instead to carry an unplanned baby to term and relinquish it for adoption. Plenty of wiggle room in state laws also abetted semi-legal private adoptions, where clandestine amounts of money changed hands between lawyers, couples and expectant mothers. Mothers-to-be could get many expenses legally paid during pregnancy and could postpone school or working for a while. If this tipped over into baby-selling territory, usually all the parties kept quiet.

Travis regaled Lila Jo with bits of research during his calls to Houston. She naturally had a keen interest. She was excited that her pregnancy at last was becoming visible. She felt good, too, after a few weeks of mild morning sickness. Lila Jo had told her estranged husband, Beebe Lemmons, about the baby and he
’
d been surprisingly gracious. Travis suspected that his goodwill stemmed mostly from the fact that Lila Jo would be willing to divorce him quickly without lobbying for a financial share of his construction business. She just wanted half the proceeds from the sale of the couple
’
s big house in Katy. Lila Jo reported brisk traffic on the property from her marketing efforts, but no offers yet.

Both Travis and Annie were glad to be away from the newsroom because of its suffocating angst. Every day a new crop of rumors emerged, usually bogus, but the inescapable fact remained that after the new owners finished chopping jobs, only about one-quarter of the journalists would remain. This might be their last big story for the
Times
, so they were determined to go out with a bang.

On the third day, they saw their chance. They
’
d noticed that each morning, a truck from the local grocery store arrived at the ranch at 10 a.m. The driver looked barely out of his teens. They went to the store early and hung around until Travis saw the guy, clean-cut in jeans and T-shirt, and struck up a conversation. His name was Jared Wells and it turned out that he and Travis shared a love of fishing, skateboarding and some of the local bands that played in Austin. Travis helped him load the bags and boxes of groceries into the van and it emerged that he was headed to the Krause ranch. Travis told his new friend that he had a girlfriend at the ranch that he and his sister desperately wanted to see. He offered Jared $50 to allow Annie and him to accompany the delivery. Travis assured Jared that he
’
d help unload numerous bags of groceries at the ranch
’
s big kitchen.

“
What does your girlfriend do there?
”
Jared asked.

“
I think she cleans rooms,
”
Travis said.
“
What
’
s the place like?
”

Annie stayed quiet in the back seat, letting her so-called brother do all the talking.

“
Hard to put your finger on it, but there
’
s something strange about it,
”
Jared said.
“
Lots of pregnant women walking around, like it could be a maternity home or something.
”

“
Interesting. How many people are usually around?
”
Travis kept his voice casual, but his skin suddenly prickled. Annie was right. This was going to be a monster of a story if they lived to tell it. Jared was driving like a maniac on the curving country road, but Travis didn
’
t dare say anything.

“
Maybe about thirty, including a few maids and kitchen workers,
”
Jared said.
“
Sometimes visitors come and stay in one of the bunkhouses. I
’
ve seen cars parked with out of state tags.
”

“
Who
’
s in charge?
”

“
All of the bills go to a woman named Juliana Souza. Sometimes she
’
s there and sometimes she
’
s not. I
’
ve seen her and she
’
s a real looker, but I hear she
’
s kind of a bitch.
”

Travis and Annie listened in fully absorbed silence, wishing they could jot it all down in their reporter notebooks. Annie surreptitiously took a few notes in the back seat. They tried to look casual when Jared stopped at the guard gate. The guard was playing some kind of game on his iPad and impatiently waved them through. Inside the ranch, they drove on a ring road and then turned into what appeared to be a pleasant compound of ranch-style buildings. Travis didn
’
t see any exotic animals, but thought the majestic oaks and scrub vegetation likely sheltered plenty of deer. They parked near a central building that appeared to be the cafeteria. He and Jared jumped out and began unpacking boxes and bags of groceries. Annie wandered off toward the barracks-style buildings. Her mission was to find Leka
’
s cousin, Vera.

“
Looks like lunch has started,
”
the ever-helpful Jared told Travis.
“
You might be able to find your girlfriend if you go through the dining room.
”

“
Good idea,
”
Travis said.
“
How about if I carry these two bags through to the kitchen and scope it out?
”

“
Whatever, dude,
”
Jared said.
“
Meet you in the back.
”

Travis grabbed the bags and walked slowly through the dining room. It was nicely appointed with soft green walls and pine tables and chairs, giving it the feel of a summer camp for grownups. Some women trickled in for lunch, several in visible stages of pregnancy, sitting at tables of four to six. He
’
d been shown pictures of two women Annie
’
s informant had given her. He didn
’
t see anyone who looked like them. Maybe they
’
d be in as the lunch hour approached. He carried in more bags and helped Jared put things away in a giant storeroom.

Travis lurked at the edges of the dining room until he felt a sharp tap on his shoulder. He whirled around and saw a heavyset woman wearing a uniform, an old-fashioned hairnet and a stern look on her face. He guessed she was the cafeteria manager.

“
Who are you? What are you doing in my dining room?
”

“
Sorry, ma
’
am. I
’
m just helping Jared with groceries. I
’
m a writer visiting the area to do a story on Texas ranches. Jared said this one was one of the most beautiful places he
’
d ever seen.
”