Page 121 of The Girl in the River

Together they crept along the edge of the building, determined to get a look inside. Derrick went to the right, sneaking between the trees until he made his way up behind the guard. Twigs crackled, and the man jerked toward Derrick, but Derrick put the man in a chokehold, squeezing his neck until the man’s legs buckled and he fell limp to the ground. Derrick snatched his shotgun and tossed it into the bushes.

Ellie inched nearer the old building. The windows were all painted over, concealing the interior. Derrick joined her and they flattened themselves against the wall as the door opened and Chester and Lloyd appeared, dragging several young girls from the building. They ranged in ages, anywhere from eleven to late teens, and looked dirty, malnourished, and terrified as the men led them at gunpoint to the cargo van. Some of the girls were crying and clinging to each other, some terrified, while others looked listless as if they’d been drugged or given up all hope of escaping.

Ellie’s stomach plummeted. She’d thought the Moons and Ronnie were money laundering or running drugs, but these girls appeared to be human trafficking victims.

Chester and Lloyd shoved the girls into the van, then locked it and ducked back into the warehouse. Seconds later, they returned, hauling half a dozen more girls with them, piling them into the back of the van as if they were cattle. Ellie counted at least twenty.

One more trip and the count added up to twenty-five. Crickets and night creatures echoed in the tense silence as the van door slammed shut, trapping the young girls inside. Kincaid walked out then, and Ellie steeled herself not to shoot him on the spot.

“Stay here,” Ellie whispered. “I want to see what’s inside the warehouse.” While the men stood with their backs to her in hushed conversation, she edged her way to the doorway and peered inside.

She expected to see cots for sleeping, that the girls might be forced to work at Moondoggy’s, behind those closed curtains. The air was stifling and muggy and smelled of sweat and machine oil. Inside she saw a dark room full of rows of sewing machines, bundles of fabric piled high, boxing the workers in like sardines. With no central air, the interior was like an oven. It was so stifling hot you could barely breathe.

Dear heavens, it was a sweatshop. Anger and shock rolled through her. These girls weren’t sex workers, they were being forced into child labor.

She walked through the inferno, imagining the injustice for the young girls. It was so horrific she vowed to make everyone involved pay. As she passed a room with steam irons, she choked on the hot air.

Another suffocating room was lined with mattresses on the floor where the girls must have slept.

They’d obviously been held prisoners, and no one in the town had known about it. Or if they had, they’d kept their mouths shut out of fear.

Heated voices lured her back to the scene at the van. Knowing she couldn’t allow them to escape, she slipped up beside Derrick and they stepped from the shadows, guns raised. The van was locked with no windows, shutting the girls in again.

“This operation is over,” Ellie said. “Raise your hands and lace them together above your head.”

Kincaid and Ronnie’s boys swung around toward her, stunned. The sheriff’s steely gaze met hers. “I’m on your side, Detective.”

“Sure,” Ellie barked. “Damn you, you wanted to hold me at your jail to give yourself time to move these young girls so we wouldn’t find them.”

Derrick stepped forward. “I’ll be takingyourgun now, Sheriff.”

The sheriff’s jaw went rigid, but he remained still and allowed Derrick to confiscate his weapon.

Chester started to run, but Ellie fired a bullet at his feet. He jumped, squealing like a frightened pig and she swung the gun at his brother. “Don’t even try it.”

Lloyd threw up his hands, shaking in his boots.

“You lowlife coward,” Ellie snarled. “Get on your knees. Now.”

Chester dropped to the ground and so did Lloyd, both sweating and breathing heavily. While Derrick handcuffed the sheriff, she strode to Ronnie’s boys and snapped cuffs on them.

“You’re going to pay for this,” Ellie said.

“We just did what we was told,” Chester whined.

“It was all Mama,” Lloyd cried.

“Shut up.” Ellie bounded toward the van, then opened the door. Gasps of shock and fear rippled from inside. Knowing the young girls were traumatized, she holstered her gun, then eased inside, hands raised to assure them she wasn’t a threat.

“It’s okay now,” she murmured. “We’re here to save you.”

Even as she said it, the girls looked at her with blank stares and whimpers.

“Just stay put and we’ll take care of you.” She lifted her phone. “I’m calling for help now.”

ONE HUNDRED SIXTY-THREE

Ellie wanted to see Mia in the hospital but they’d issued a full-fledged hunt for Ronnie and she had matters to tie up. Bryce and his deputies had shown up to supervise the transportation of the victims and Kevin’s body was on the way to the morgue, his father en route to the hospital.

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