Page 2 of Rookie Days

Of course, he made them wait for an answer. Ellie balled up her fists behind her back, tension shooting fire in her neck and shoulders. Three missing children were believed to be on site: Carter, eight years old. Belle, ten. And Annalise, whose eleventh birthday was coming up. All the evidence accumulated over weeks of painstaking investigative work pointed to Castro being involved, a bunch of his filthy friends, and this house. Not only was the group running an illegal brothel, but Castro was also up to his eyebrows in the filming and production of porn videos. One of the missing children featured in the last one issued online under his label. The police had probable cause to arrest him, a warrant to seize his assets and search the entire house. And unfortunately, so far, an empty property.

“Be careful what crimes you accuse me of, Lieutenant.” The tip of Castro’s tongue darted out to touch his top lip, Hannibal Lecter-style. “You may not like the repercussions.”

“Are you threatening me, Mr. Castro?”

Quinn spoke calmly but with an edge of steel to her voice. Enough to make him squirm, although he tried to hide it.

“Just a friendly warning, Lieutenant.”

“I don’t think so. Take him to the station,” Quinn instructed her men. “Add threat and intimidation of a police officer to his list of charges and book him. The rest of us, let’s tear this place apart.”

???

After an hour of intensive search, Ethan was the one to finally discover a trap door in one of the downstairs cupboards. It was hidden, not well enough, as he reported, under a rug and a pile of cardboard boxes.

“I knew there’d be something!” Quinn slapped him on the shoulder, her blue eyes glinting ferociously as she examined the camouflaged entrance. “Well done, Eth. Mike?”

“Yeah, Boss.”

“Bust that padlock for us, will you?”

“Be my pleasure,” he grunted, and stepped in front.

Ellie stared at the steel door inside this dark cupboard and she struggled to take a deep, full breath. Imagine being abducted out of school to begin with, then taken down under the floor of a strange house, being told that no one would ever find you there.Like being buried alive... Jesus!Sweat poured down her back. Her heart raced harder. She was too young for hot flushes; this was pure anxiety, warring with ice-cold fury.

“Hey, rookie.” Quinn’s eyes were hot and searching on her face. “You okay?”

Ellie reminded herself that she was not a vulnerable child afraid of the dark anymore. She’d made herself into a cop. Smart. Tough. The sort who chased other people’s nightmares.

“Yes.” She nodded sharply in response. “Just can’t wait to get in there.”

Quinn lingered, as if sensing something else, before turning her attention back to business. Ellie suppressed a sigh of relief. The lieutenant had been her training officer in the past, when Ellie was still in uniform and running patrol around the streets of Lewiston. Quinn was also the one who’d promoted her to the investigative division, and her own team of detectives. She had been, and still was, a mentor and a model of excellence for Ellie. If her commanding officer had known the truth about her, would she have allowed her on this op tonight? Ellie was not entirely sure of it. She chased the thought out of her mind as Mike finished smashing the lock to pieces.

“There you go!” he growled.

“You and Ellie, with me,” Quinn decided. “Ethan, you’re in charge up here until I get back. Make sure the medics are ready for us.”

“Roger that. Standing by.”

Weapon securely in both hands, with every sense on alert, Ellie followed down a steep narrow staircase.

“Be sharp in case they’ve got security down here too,” Quinn warned in a whisper.

Ellie did not need to be told this; she had never been more focused. Behind her, Mike was just the same. She relaxed, falling back on training and comfortable in the knowledge that she was with two of the best here.

“Security cams are on,” she noticed.

“Yeah.” Quinn glared at one as they walked past, looking like she might shoot it off the wall. “Motion-activated. Let’s keep going.”

They soon came upon the first room.

“Wow.” Mike whistled darkly under his breath. “There’s a small fortune in recording equipment here.”

Ellie looked past the expensive lights and cameras to the back of the room, where a King size bed with satin sheets hadbeen placed in front of a white reflective screen. Quinn stared at it too.

“There’s blood on these sheets,” she remarked.

Restraints, sex toys, and whips, were all on a nearby shelf.

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