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Vanessa could tell she had lost Karine again.
“Where are you from?” Slowly again. “Where is your home?”
“Estonia.”
Vanessa wasn’t sure where that was. The United States? An entirely different country?
“Is Estonia here in the United States?” Vanessa asked.
“No, it is near Russia.”
Vanessa’s breath whistled through her teeth. Was she understanding correctly?
“Some men came and took you from Estonia and put you on a boat?”
Karine nodded. “First one boat and then the smaller boat with the men who spoke only English.”
Vanessa could see the girl begin to visibly shudder at the thought.
“And there were other girls with you?”
Karine nodded again. “Yes. There are seven more.”
Vanessa felt nausea roll through her stomach. Karine and the other girls were obviously part of a human-trafficking ring right here in the Outer Banks.
“How did you get here, Karine?” Vanessa asked. “How did you get away from the men?”
She held up a hand covered in bruises around her wrist, obviously from handcuffs or other restraints.
“Man tie us when no one is on boat with us. But I got out. And then I jump in water. I rather die from sharks than let them touch me again.” Karine closed her eyes and lowered her hand.
There weren’t any sharks in the Roanoke Sound, Vanessa knew, although there could be painful jellyfish at this time of year. Either way, it had been an amazing feat for the small teenager to undertake. The Sound was more than five miles wide at some parts. There was no way Karine could’ve known how far she would have to swim when she’d jumped in.
Whatever had been waiting for her on that boat had to have been bad enough that Karine was willing to risk her life to get away from it.
Vanessa needed to get the girl to a hospital. Report this to the authorities. Get the cops or National Guard or Marines or all three to start looking for those other girls.
“Karine, you were so brave,” she whispered. “I know it is hard, but do you think you could come with me? I can take you to the hospital. Get you the help you need.”
“I promised other girls I would help them if I lived,” Karine whispered.
“Yes.” Vanessa nodded. “Absolutely. We will go to the police so they can help find the other girls.”
Vanessa thought for a moment that Karine might refuse her help, but she finally nodded and got up off the ground, wrapped in Vanessa’s jacket.
“Okay, I go with you.”
Karine didn’t seem to have many significant injuries. She was able to walk unassisted from the beach to Vanessa’s car. Dehydration was obviously an issue—she gulped down the contents of the water bottle Vanessa offered in seconds—as was hunger. She made short work of a package of crackers. Vanessa wished she had more to offer. She gave Karine a pair of yoga pants to put on, which were too big for the girl but at least were better than nothing.
Vanessa took a direct route to the Nags Head Regional Hospital. She’d brought in enough clients over the years that she was pretty well known there. She walked Karine in through the emergency entrance, relieved to see her friend Judy working the desk.
“Hey, Judy.” Vanessa spoke only loud enough that the other woman could hear her. The last thing Karine needed was the media circus that would come along with anyone finding out she had been part of a probable human-trafficking ring in the area. “I have an assault victim here. Doesn’t speak much English. Probably also suffering from dehydration. She swam a long way to get away from the person or persons who were holding her against her will.”
Judy shook her head and smiled softly at Karine. “I’m so sorry, honey. We’ll help you.” She turned to Vanessa. “It’s crazy busy in here tonight. Can we put her in temp room one? Just until something else opens up. We won’t do any exams there.”
Temporary room one was at the front of the trauma unit. They rarely put assault victims there because it was so busy nearby and was only separated by curtains. Judy wouldn’t put them there if she had another choice.
“Okay, sure. I’ll take Karine in myself.”
She led the girl into the room and helped her to sit. She seemed to stare blankly out the crack in the curtain.
Should Vanessa get her some food? She didn’t want to leave Karine alone, but who knew when she’d last had a decent meal? Maybe Judy could get something for them.
A moment later Karine bounded out of the chair and backed away to the farthest point in the room. Her face was devoid of all color and her eyes were huge.
“Leave. Leave.” The young woman was shuddering so hard that was all she could get out.
Vanessa had no idea what was going on. Why was Karine freaking out now when she had been so docile since they’d arrived? Vanessa looked out through the crack in the curtain to where Karine had been looking.
A uniformed member of the sheriff’s department was talking to Judy at the main desk.
Had Vanessa misunderstood the whole situation? Was Karine running from the law?
She turned back to the young woman and found her slipping under the curtains of the room. Vanessa rushed over, stopping her gently.
“Karine. The policeman out there... Is he looking for you?”
Karine clutched at Vanessa. “Man. Man on boat.”
“That man was on the boat?” A sheriff’s deputy?
“No.” Karine shook her head. “That clothes.”
Not that particular guy, but someone wearing the same uniform. Dear God. Was Karine telling her that someone from the sheriff’s office was part of a trafficking ring?
Vanessa stared at her for a few more moments. She had no idea exactly what was going on, but she was willing to give Karine the benefit of the doubt. If Vanessa was wrong, she’d deal with the consequences later.
“Okay, let’s get you out of here.”
They slipped under the curtain and were out of the hospital in a matter of minutes. Karine was still shuddering, glancing from side to side frantically, obviously searching for anyone who might be following. Vanessa put an arm around her, tentatively, to guide her through the parking lot to her car. Karine stiffened briefly before leaning into her.
Vanessa started the car and pulled to the edge of the parking lot. She didn’t know which way to turn. If someone from the sheriff’s office really was in on this, it wouldn’t take long for them to figure out Karine was with her. She couldn’t take Karine to her house. She needed to get her out of the area.
“Karine.” Vanessa turned to the girl, who was sitting low in her seat so no one could see her. “I’m going to drive you to Norfolk, okay? It’s a city about an hour and a half from here. There are police, FBI, who can help us.”
“No!” Karine sat straighter in the seat. “I cannot leave. I must stay here to help the other girls. Must find them.”
“Yes, we’ll get help and then come back here.”
“No!” Karine repeated, grabbing for the door handle. “I stay here.”
“No, wait. Don’t get out,” Vanessa said.
Karine was exhausted, traumatized and injured. Vanessa prayed she had been mistaken about the police uniform. Many of the men in the sheriff’s department Vanessa had known most of her life. She couldn’t imagine they would be involved with the victimization of girls.
But she wasn’t about to put Karine out on her own, no matter how unlikely the scenario may be.
“Okay, we’ll stay here in Nags Head,” Vanessa told her, watching her visually relax. “We’ll go to a hotel.”
Karine nodded and eased lower into her seat.
If Karine was going to refuse to leave the area, Vanessa was going to need to see about someone coming here to help them. Contacting the local police was out of the question. She needed someone outside that circle, someone in federal law enforcement.
Liam Goetz.
He was DEA, which maybe didn’t deal with trafficking directly, but at least she knew he wasn’t local. He’d know how to help or tell her who to contact.
Of course, she hadn’t talked to Liam in eight years. Didn’t even know if he would be willing to talk to her now. But he was her best chance in this situation. She had to try.
Vanessa sped to her apartment to get his phone number, which was written on the back of a picture of the two of them. She should’ve thrown it away years ago but hadn’t been able to make herself do it. Now she was glad she hadn’t.
She grabbed a couple changes of clothes from her room, but nothing to make it look as though she wasn’t there, then ran back out to the car. She had no doubt one of the first places the police would start looking for Karine was at Vanessa’s apartment.
As she pulled away, she Bluetoothed the number on the back of the picture. She forced herself not to look at the much younger, more innocent version of herself in the photo. That girl was gone forever.
The phone rang twice before someone answered.
“DEA call center.”
“Um, yes, I’m trying to reach an agent. At least he used to be an agent.” Vanessa wasn’t sure exactly what she should say. Maybe Liam didn’t even work for the DEA anymore. “He gave me this number.”
“Please provide the name of the person you are trying to reach and I’ll direct your call.” The operator was briskly efficient.
“Liam Goetz.” Vanessa had no idea what department he worked for or even what city.
“Please hold.”
Vanessa drove toward some older hotels closer to Nags Head. They weren’t very expensive, which was pretty much all Vanessa could offer Karine right now. Plus, the police were probably less likely to look for her there.
The longer Vanessa was on hold, the more convinced she became that this whole call to Liam was probably useless.
“Hello? You’re trying to reach Liam Goetz?” A briskly efficient female voice this time.
“Yes. But I don’t know which division he’s in—”
“I’m going to connect you to his voice mailbox. Please leave a detailed message. We will make sure he gets it.”
Okay, so evidently he did still work for the DEA. That was good.
“Okay.”
“Please hold. Leave a message when you hear the beep.”
Vanessa was startled, caught off guard, a moment later when she heard the beep. There had been no outgoing message.
“Um, Liam, it’s Vanessa. Vanessa Epperson.”
How much should she tell him?
“I’m still living on the Outer Banks, but I’m actually staying at a hotel at the moment.” She gave him the name and address of the hotel they’d just pulled up to. “I need your help. I have a situation here and believe local police might be involved, so I need federal law enforcement. If you could just point me in the right direction, I would really appreciate it. I wasn’t sure who else I could trust. Just call if you can.”
She was rambling, so she left him her number and then disconnected the call. She’d done all she could do there. She knew she needed to have a backup plan in case Liam didn’t call her back. After all, the last thing she’d heard him say about her eight years ago was that she was a selfish, spoiled brat who didn’t have it in her to care about another person.
Yeah, she definitely better have a backup plan in place.
Chapter Two (#ulink_9fab4a50-9656-536b-bf9e-75273c922cbd)
Liam listened to the voice-mail message for the umpteenth time.
Vanessa Epperson.
He could honestly say he’d never expected to hear her voice ever again. After all, she hadn’t even cared enough to leave him a voice mail eight years ago when she’d decided he wasn’t good enough to marry.
Or a letter. Or an email. Or a face-to-face explanation.
But evidently she’d gotten over her phone aversion. Good for her.
Liam played the message again.
She needed help and was contacting him because she thought he was still DEA. He hadn’t been DEA for more than five years, since Omega Sector’s Critical Response Division had recruited him to lead their hostage rescue team.
Fortunately for Vanessa, since Omega Sector was made up of agents from multiple different law-enforcement agencies—FBI, Interpol, DEA... Hell, Liam had worked a mission with a damn Texas Ranger last month—her message had been recorded and immediately forwarded to him.
She didn’t mention what sort of trouble she was in, just wanted Liam to drop everything and help her. Like how she’d always wanted everyone to drop everything to do what she wanted. Some things didn’t change.
He listened to the message one more time.
Liam should call one of his many friends from the head DEA office in Atlanta and have them send someone to Nags Head. Or he might even know someone at the FBI field office in Norfolk he could call.
It was the logical thing to do; probably the most professional answer to this situation. He could have someone there handling Vanessa’s problem in three or four hours.
But who was Liam kidding? He wasn’t going to make those calls. He was already walking down the hall of the Critical Response Division’s headquarters to his boss’s office.
He wasn’t sure what he was going to tell Steve Drackett. Just that he needed some time off to help an old friend. God knew Liam had enough time off saved up.
He knocked on Steve’s office door, his back office door that led directly to Steve himself, rather than pass through the main office entrance guarded by Steve’s four assistants.
Four young, attractive, quite competent and intelligent female assistants.
