Page 47 of Two Hearts' Accidental Heroes

“I know. I’m going to be thinking about her constantly, but what we’re doing is going to be important to the investigation. I never want anyone to go through what I did. The thing is, I didn’t even have it hard like so many other victims did. I was taken care of,” Shanna said gently, glancing down at her daughter, who was nursing from her breast.

Johnny had just fallen asleep, and Rick and Shanna were in the master bedroom, where there was a small crib set up. They wanted to spend as much time as possible with their daughter and Johnny. They had until Christmas, and then they would be leaving on a journey, following the map that Wes had handed over to Jake. There were at least a dozen locations that Wes had highlighted on the map, and Jake was cross-referencing the locations with the names that were listed in the notebooks.

“Thank you for helping me with my classes,” Shanna said.

Rick nodded. “You’ll have your GED in no time, if you keep on studying as hard as you have. I’m so proud of you, Shanna. I wish I could shout out to the world that you’re my wife. Jake is proud of you too. He claims that we’re his accidental heroes.”

She laughed. “I love you, Rick.”

“I love you too, Shanna,” he said softly, bending over and kissing the baby first before his lips covered hers.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Three days before Christmas, Rick got an unexpected call from Jake.

“I hate to screw up your holidays, since we were already planning on travelling after the first of the year anyway. But when we were able to detain and question one of the men listed in that notebook, he was able to give us a very important update about the trafficking ring in exchange for a deal on his prosecution. The only problem is, we’d have to move fast. Can I speak with Shanna, Rick?”

“She’s right here. I’m putting the phone on speaker.”

Since both Johnny and Grace were already asleep, Shanna and Rick had been watching a movie on TV.

“Shanna? Didn’t you say that Wes traveled with you as far as Lake Superior?” Jake asked. “We’ve got a tip that there’s a ship with human cargo coming in somewhere along the coast. It’s pretty late in the season, and I imagine that this will be the last chance to smuggle these individuals into the States, since the Lakes will soon start icing over.”

“He did, Jake. We always drove. There used to be an abandoned resort that they used, but someone reopened the place for some kind of military training exercises. At this time of year, there’s only one place I can think of that would be even remotely warm enough to house them. I’m not sure that I could point it out on a map, but I know I’d be able to recognize the road signs since I’ve been there more than once. To get there, we drove along a road that led to a town called Eagle River.”

“That’s one of the places that’s marked out on your map, Shanna, isn’t it?” Jake asked.

“It is,” she replied. “But no one would ever be able to find it. Wes said that the place was on private property, anyway. There’s an inlet, that can’t be seen from Lake Superior unless you know exactly where to look. Wes said that everyone has to be brought in by cruiser since there’s nowhere to dock.”

“Are you sure you can remember where it is?” Rick asked, looking concerned.

“I clocked the mileage from the town of Houghton on my watch. I doubt that Wes realized that the watch he gave me had that kind of feature. And if he did, he probably figured that it wouldn’t be something I’d use anyway. It was exactly thirty-two miles.”

“That’s kind of amazing that you’d remember something like that,” Jake admitted, sounding impressed. “Let’s see. I’m looking at the detailed map right now, and there’s a road that heads north right around that mileage marker.”

“There are lots of twists and turns after turning onto that road. Hopefully, I’ll be able to remember the way,” Shanna said.

“So I guess we’re doing this then?” Rick asked.

“We might have to lie in wait, but yes. We’ll go by plane to Houghton and drive on from there. The problem is, there may be someone waiting for their ship to come in, so to speak. We’ll have to figure a way to survey the place without being detected. Something tells me there might be some tighter security there since Wes passed away.”

Shanna pursed her lips. “Yes. You could be right. There might be surveillance. They always seemed to know when I accompanied Wes to each site. One thing I do remember was there was some kind of large clearing outside of the cabin built near the cave.”

“I’m thinking that maybe they’re moving their victims by air. Choppers are used pretty commonly up north for search and rescue because of all the parks and timber,” Jake admitted.

“When would you like us to be ready, Jake? I’ve actually got nearly everything packed for Anya, so I’ll just need to have Grace pick up some extra formula that I can send along with her.”

When Shanna swallowed hard, Rick could see how difficult it was going to be for her to leave the baby, albeit in trustworthy hands, so he wrapped an arm around her. It was going to be tough for him too.

And darn it, they’d have to miss Christmas.

“How about we head out tomorrow night by plane to Houghton? There was something said about the traffickers moving in on Christmas Eve or Christmas day because of less law enforcement supposedly on duty during the holidays,” Jake answered.

“Just let us know what time,” Rick said. “Shanna and I will probably celebrate Christmas tomorrow with Johnny and Anya, so the later, the better.”

“We can work with that,” Jake said, sounding reassuring. “It’s just as important not to get there too soon. So, I thought we’d set out the following morning before first light so we can arrive before daybreak to see the layout. The longer we’re hanging around doing surveillance, the more likely they’ll discover we’re onto them.” Jake heaved a sigh. “And after that, hopefully, we won’t be on the road more than a month. If we find a way to stop the traffickers this time around, it might even be sooner – especially if we can get someone to talk.”

“Okay, Jake. We’ll go along with whatever you think is best,” Rick said.

---