Page 55 of Enigma (Pros and Cons Mysteries #6)

E lena led them through a maze of industrial streets on the outskirts of a larger town about thirty miles from the ranch house. The area was filled with warehouses, shipping containers, and businesses that looked like they’d been abandoned for years.

She finally stopped at what appeared to be a defunct trucking company—a large building with loading docks and a faded sign that was barely readable in the darkness.

Was this . . . was this the same warehouse that was in one of the photos they found in Lloyd’s old office? It was hard to be certain, but Olive thought it might be.

Jason pulled into the shadows behind a neighboring building.

“Cut the lights,” Mitzi said.

They watched as Elena got out of the van and walked to a side door of the building. She knocked in what looked like a specific pattern, and the door opened immediately.

“Someone was expecting her,” Mitzi observed.

A few minutes later, the loading dock doors began to roll up. Elena backed her van up to one of the docks and opened the back.

Figures emerged from the building. Figures with guns and a tactical style of walking.

Eight of them.

From where she was, Olive could see people being unloaded from Elena’s van.

They weren’t there willingly. Each moved slowly, head down, with the defeated posture of people who’d given up hope. Most were men in work clothes that had seen better days, but there were several women as well.

“No . . .” Jason breathed. “She’s dropping off trafficking victims. They were in that van the whole time.”

Nausea roiled in Olive’s stomach as she watched the scene unfold. “How many people do you think are in there?”

“At least fifteen, maybe twenty,” Mitzi said. “And Elena’s van can’t hold that many people safely.”

“They’re not concerned about safety.” Olive’s voice sounded tight with anger.

They watched as Elena supervised the unloading process. The victims had been packed into the van like cargo, with no regard for their comfort or dignity.

“We should call the police.” Jason reached for his phone.

“Remember—local cops might be on their payroll,” Olive pointed out, though every instinct screamed at her to do something to help those people.

“We can’t just watch this happen,” Mitzi said.

Before they could decide on a course of action, Jason’s phone buzzed.

He answered, and Trick’s voice came through, urgent and clear. “Jason, we found your father.”

The three of them went completely still.

“Is he alive?” Jason’s voice was barely above a whisper.

“He’s alive. But Jason . . . you need to get back here. Now.”

Elena finished unloading the van, and the loading dock doors rolled back down. Then she disappeared inside, and everything went quiet.

Twenty people were living whatever nightmare awaited them.

Olive had to help them. Maybe not right at this moment.

The trafficking operation they’d just witnessed had at least eight armed guards that she’d counted, possibly more inside the building.

Three people—even highly trained investigators—couldn’t take down something that size without getting themselves and the victims killed.

But Olive wouldn’t rest knowing these people were being held captive. She would send backup to help them. It was the wisest choice.

“We have to go.” Jason’s voice carried the same helpless rage Olive felt.

“I know,” Olive said. “But we’re going to come back and help them.”

“We will,” Jason told her.

“And when we bring down this network, we’re going to make sure everyone involved pays for what they’ve done to those people.” Anger sliced her words.

“You’ll get no arguments from me.”

As Jason started the engine and began the drive back to the ranch house, Olive couldn’t shake the image of those defeated men and women being unloaded from Elena’s van like livestock.

Whatever answers they were about to get about Lloyd, she knew the cost of this investigation had just gotten much higher.