Page 44 of Lost Truth
“County forensics techs will be here in the morning.”
“Have you considered using Sierra at the Veritas Center?” Abby asked as she joined them at the table.
Hayden leaned close to Cady. “The forensics team in Portland I told you about where Nick works. Their skills are exemplary, and if anyone can recover forensics, it’s them. They’ve supported us on a past investigation.”
Mina took a sip of water and eyed Abby. “You know the expense would prohibit that.”
“Sure, I get that.” Abby uncapped her water bottle. “You have a budget to keep, but they could do the work pro bono.”
“Right.” Mina let the word hang in the air. “But it’s a big job, and I can’t imagine them offering to handle it.”
“I’d be happy to talk to Sierra after the meeting to see if she’s free and willing to do the work pro bono,” Nolan said.
“I’d appreciate that.” Mina smiled at him. “But until I hear back from you, we’ll move ahead with County techs.”
Hayden’s phone rang from the table. Aha! His friend Adam was calling back. He pushed to his feet and grabbed the phone. “I need to take this. It’s my source at ICE.”
He didn’t wait for anyone to agree with him, but strode out of the room and closed the door behind him. “Thanks for calling me back, bro.”
“Like I could even consider ignoring you after you left such a cryptic message.” Adam laughed.
“I didn’t think it was safe to leave details on your voicemail.”
“Oka-a-y.” His drawn-out word was followed by silence. “Now youreallyhave my attention.”
Adam responded best to plain talking, so Hayden came right out with it. “We’ve encountered a human smuggling and trafficking ring here on the coast in Lost Lake, Oregon.”
“No way, dude!” His deep voice rumbled over the phone, sounding like one of the guys who recorded movie trailers. “That’s odd, for sure. Definitely not a route commonly used by traffickers.”
“That’s what I thought, too, but we rescued three women who shared their story of travel from China on a ship to a charter fishing boat on our coast, where they were offloaded and put into vans.”
“Interesting.” Adam fell silent. “Sounds like an investigation we’d pursue. I’ll run it up the flagpole. I?—”
“No, wait,” Hayden jumped in. “Your agency should already have an active investigation. Ernie Sutton, the former mayor here, reported the situation a few months back.”
“Odd. I haven’t heard anything about it. Hang on, and I’ll check our records.” The rapid click of fingers racing over a keyboard came through the phone. “Nothing here, man. Nothing comes up. Could be a classified investigation, but I doubt it.”
Hayden could’ve been hit over the head with a baseball bat and not have been more shocked. “Is there any chance the mayor reported it, and the case has already been closed?”
“No chance.” The forcefulness in his friend’s tone took Hayden by surprise. “I looked at active, inactive, and closed investigations. Nothing under any classification.”
Weird. But Hayden wouldn’t give up. “Is there any way you can ask about it being classified?”
“Will do when I check with my supervisor. You can be sure now that I know about this, we’ll open an investigation.”
“Excellent,” Hayden said. “We need this smuggling to end.”
“Amen to that, bro.” The strength behind his words spoke volumes as to his feelings on trafficking. “Let me ask some questions, and I’ll call you back. Since you brought this to me, I’ll do my best to take lead if a new investigation is warranted.”
“Sounds good.” Hayden could count on Adam to do a thorough job. “Also, I need to let you know how we happened upon the trafficking ring.” He explained about Kai’s disappearance.
A rustling noise came through the phone. “Making a note of his name now. I’ll be sure to keep it on top of my mind if we start an investigation.”
“Get back to me as soon as you can.”
The call ended, and Hayden shoved his phone in his pocket to go back to the meeting. Everyone raised expectant gazes to him. He remained standing at the head of the table and explained the situation. “So it’s possible Mayor Sutton didn’t report the trafficking.”
“How can that be?” Cady cried out. “What in the world could he have to gain by not reporting such a horrible thing and then turn around to use his own money to save some of the women?”
