Page 50 of Operation: Integrity

Sam opened Connor’s pickup truck door and waited for Zeus to jump in, then climbed in after him. As soon as Connor got in, his phone rang.

“Hello?” He turned the speakerphone on.

“This is Nixon. I’ve sent Edwyn to help you and Sam. You’ll need backup, and I don’t have jurisdiction there. I’ve also called the police in Cheyenne to see if they’ve spotted anything on traffic cameras that’s out of the ordinary. Any vehicles in places they don’t belong. They got a hit almost right away, especially when I told them the car may have come from that inn you mentioned.”

Sam wanted to hope. Could this be the break they were hoping for? Would Kelly still be alive? These types didn’t mess around when they’d been cheated. “Okay, where do we go?”

“There’s a warehouse on the west end of town. I’ll text the address. Edwyn will be headed right there. The car they saw going to that abandoned warehouse was a limo. Not the kind of vehicle people usually take and park out in dangerous neighborhoods.”

“Does Cheyenne have dangerous neighborhoods?” Connor frowned. “Seems pretty quiet to me.”

Nixon snorted. “Every time you mention Cheyenne we either end up at a crime scene or getting shot at, so I can only assume you’re joking.”

“I’m not very good at humor,” Connor deadpanned. “I’ll be waiting for the text. What do we need to know going in?”

“The pictures from the traffic camera only show one male driving, but I would assume there are multiple people in the back. I wouldn’t even take a guess at how many.”

“Thanks for the help.” Connor hung up the phone and bowed his head. Connor didn’t pray out loud, but Sam knew that was exactly what he was doing.

Sam took the moment to do the same and, as he said his mental Amen, Nixon’s text came through. Connor opened it and had his phone pull up driving directions. Within seconds, they had a route.

“Let’s go get this guy. I don’t know if it’s just that people are getting more brazen about trafficking, feeling they’re entitled to take advantage of people, or if we’re just so immune to caring that they aren’t hiding it anymore, but it feels like we can’t just let people heal. We have to actively protect them. It’s all new territory.” He shifted the truck into reverse and backed it out of the spot.

“Shouldn’t there be a great big limo sitting outside if they’re here?” Sam looked at his watch as they pulled into the parking lot. “Did the police get here before us? We couldn’t possibly be too late. Could we?”

Connor shook his head. “I don’t see police tape for a crime scene.” He glanced at his phone. “Maybe he sent usthe wrong address. Could there be more than one abandoned warehouse?”

They got out of the truck and closed the doors quietly. Sitting in the vast, cracked parking lot left Sam feeling exposed. If anyone was inside, they would know they weren’t alone. There was no element of surprise. “I don’t feel right about this. She isn’t here. I don’t think she ever was here.”

Zeus sniffed the ground, and reality dawned. “The snow. It’s undisturbed. They couldn’t have been here.” He pointed all around them. There are no tracks in this lot. If they are in this building, then there’s another way to get to it.”

Connor jumped back in the pickup and Sam followed. He quickly turned the truck around and headed further down the road. “It’s hard to see if that’s a different building or the same one.” Connor pointed into the trees surrounding the aging buildings.

“I think it’s the same. Look, there’s someone plowing that lot. Odd, since that warehouse looked completely abandoned. Is that person clearing the lot because they’re paid to cover the tracks of anyone who might be using it?” Sam asked.

“Good question. Let’s check it out. Message Edwyn and tell him there’s a change of plans.”

Sam whipped out his phone and typed up the fastest text of his life as Connor pulled into the lot. A large loader pushed snow in great swaths to a center pile near a tall security light. He seemed oblivious to Connor’s truck and just kept plowing.

“Connor, there’s the car.” He pointed to a car port near the front of the building. This was obviously the side that had, at one time, been the reception area of the business.They both headed for the front door. Sam looked for cameras outside the building, but nothing looked like one.

“It’s going to be locked, isn’t it?” Sam sighed. “Where are the police? They should’ve been here before now. Nixon said he sent over the information.” Sam looked at his watch and wished it wasn’t the two of them against unknown odds.

“If Edwyn just left, he’s at least forty-five minutes from here. We can’t wait. If they’ve had her this long, we don’t know what could’ve happened.” Connor tugged on the door, surprised when it opened.

As soon as they passed the entry, they heard a gong noise pulse through the building, alerting whoever was there that someone had just come through the front door.

“So much for our element of surprise . . .” Connor ducked toward a nearby door.

Zeus followed, and Sam took up the tail end. The sound of rushing feet headed toward their location was a big motivation. Connor pointed the direction he was headed a few steps before he would take the turn, so they didn’t have to speak. Sam kept up, but this didn’t feel right. Where would they keep Kelly in a building like this? It made no sense. What would they want from her? She was a victim, not anyone who knew anything about the way the operation was run.

Unless . . . Sam gripped Connor and pulled him into a room. He closed the door and held his hand to his lips for quiet. Zeus held his position, barely even breathing. No one made a sound. One set of footfalls passed the door on the other side. Sam held his breath when the person on the other side shook the knob but didn’t turn it.

After they’d passed and a few minutes had gone by,Sam risked speaking quietly. “They wouldn’t expend so many resources on Kelly if she didn’t know something. She must have seen someone and not realized who she saw, or she had to know something that she didn’t realize was big. Very big.”

“Viceroy big?” Connor asked.

“I don’t know. You were just saying in the truck how things have changed. So many of our guests aren’t really free even after they escape and come to stay with us. Their traffickers come to find them now. Well, in all those cases, it was because the victim knew something. What could Kelly know?”

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