Page 61 of Hidden Falls

“Yes, you are. Not to mention, Malia stirred up some real drug-peddling information in her role as a confidential informant. Those leads were legit. There are people on Maui with motive to harm your daughter; all they’d have had to do was find her.”

“And whose fault is that? You’re the one who recruited her as a confidential informant,” Harry flashed.

Cruz cleared his throat. “Ladies. We’re all on the same team.”

A beat went by. Lei breathed in through her nose, out through her mouth. Harry was stressed. Lei was stressed. Only Cruz was cool.

Cruz’s fingers clicked on the keyboard. “Checking in with the FBI is a good idea. I’ll set up a secure video conferencing link so our location can’t be traced while we call her.”

“And I’ll text and see if this is a good time, because that’s what reasonable people do.” Lei wasn’t over Harry’s thoughtlessness, though her friend’s comment about Malia’s role as a CI had stung because of its truthfulness. She took out her phone, made sure the connection was through the encrypted satellite Wi-Fi, and texted Marcella.“We’d like to set up a video call with you. Is this a good time?”

“I’m awake. I have information to share, and I’ve been waiting to hear from you. Send me a video link when you’re ready.”

Lei looked up and met Cruz’s eyes. “Marcella’s able to talk. Generate the video link when you can and send it to her number.”

“Got it.” Cruz’s tanned fingers flew on the console. “Come sit down with us, Harry. The call link is going through now.”

Harry wiped her hands on a dishtowel and pulled up a chair beside Lei, who had moved hers to sit closely beside Cruz so the three of them could be picked up by the computer monitor’s camera.

Marcella’s face, when she appeared in the video, was pale. Purple shadows circled her eyes, and her thick brown hair straggled wildly around her face. They greeted each other briefly, then Marcella asked, “What time is it over there?”

Lei glanced around. “Not a clue. Daytime, though. We’re in an underground bunker.”

“I’m sure there’s a story there. I was hoping to hear from you sooner,” Marcella said.

“We’ve been cut off until we finally got a secure communication channel. There have been a lot of hostiles; we had to stay off-grid,” Cruz said.

“Understood,” Marcella said. “I have updates for you. Most importantly, we’ve found no sign of Malia. I’m still on Maui, and we’ve been chasing down a Dr. Paulson, one of the leads we uncovered through Malia’s Wallflower Diaries blog. He’s the name behind a lot of the prescription drug activity involving the youth on the island. Lei, your old partner Jenkins and I had a wild day that ended in a chase between islands with the Coast Guard and taking his abandoned yacht in Kahului Harbor. Ultimately, he evaded capture, though.” Marcella sighed. “I really hoped that Malia might be in one of his houses or on his yacht, because we found a couple of other underage girls there . . . but so far, there hasn’t been a trace of her.”

Lei should have tried to contact Marcella right away once they had sighted Malia in Mexico, in spite of the risk! She felt terrible for all the wasted stress her friend had experienced, worrying about Malia’s whereabouts. “I’m so sorry we didn’t talk sooner. We know where Malia is. She was taken by a man named Ramirez who is rumored to be her biological father. He’s a cartel boss, and he had professionals grab her and bring her to his compound here in Mexico.”

“So, you were right about why she was taken, Harry.” A short silence as Marcella absorbed the repercussions of this. “Even though I’ve been searching for, and worrying about Malia, the case hasn’t been a waste of time. This drug peddling ring goes way beyond Maui and has sucked hundreds of kids into addiction. It’s very much an FBI matter, and I have had Waxman’s full backing and resources in bringing down Paulson and his associates.”

“That’s good news, at least. Hopefully some larger good comes out of all this.” Lei turned to Harry. “Why don’t you bring Marcella up to speed on what’s going on with your daughter currently?”

Harry’s lips pursed; she rubbed her hands up and down the legs of her jeans. It was clear she was battling the urge for a cigarette. “Malia is a prisoner in her birth father’s compound. Lei and Cruz witnessed an attempt to escape, and her being forcibly returned to the inside of the house. We haven’t seen her since.”

Marcella’s mouth formed an O of dismay. “But he’s her real father, we think, right? He won’t hurt her, will he?”

“There are other forms of abuse than the physical, but I wouldn’t put that past him given his way of making a living,” Harry said dismally. “He has men out hunting us and has not responded to a request for a meeting that Cruz sent.”

“It’s only been a day or so,” Cruz protested. “We have to give the channels time to work.”

Harry shook her head but said nothing further.

“This sounds like a situation that Sophie could help with,” Marcella said. “Her firm might be your best option. Have you called her yet? Because no US agency is going to touch this situation. You know that, right, Harry?”

Harry gave a brief nod, her mouth tight.

“That’s not entirely true,” Cruz smiled his slow, sexy, brilliant grin. “I’m with the CIA, and we’re sitting here in one of the CIA’s seizure properties. The agency still has an interest in destabilizing the drug trade in Mexico. Unfortunately, from where we sit, Ramirez is considered one of the better drug lords: he has humane conditions in his factories, keeps bloodshed to a minimum in his branch of the cartel, and has been known to cooperate with US interests. So, we aren’t planning to—assist with his removal, to put it bluntly.” He glanced at Harry. “I checked with my superiors earlier, Harry. They don’t want to move against him, even if we had cause—and your daughter’s kidnapping isn’t cause.”

“I’m not surprised.” Harry folded her arms.

“I guess it’s the private sector, then,” Lei said.

“Or a custody discussion meeting between the two of you, if Ramirez is open to that,” Cruz said. “I do have an okay to keep assisting you to the extent I have been.”

Harry got up and went back to the kitchen area. The clashing of dishes in the background conveyed her current mood.

---