Page 26

“Everyone has been sent addresses for individuals with disabilities in the area. Let’s see if we can find out who has been contacting these people,” said Luke to the team. “Don’t attempt to do anything on your own. Let’s just make sure no one gets on a boat any time soon.”

As the men began to make their way to the addresses on their phones, Brax drove his team along a narrow highway. Cars were driving too fast, weaving in and out of the path of oncoming cars.

“Jesus, look at this idiot behind me in a car hauler,” he said. The others turned to look and shook their heads. “He’s going to tip those pretty cars over before he gets them to the dealership.”

When the hauler passed him, he looked at the driver, shaking his head. As it moved in front of him in his lane, they all realized it wasn’t a car hauler at all. Instead, it was a boat hauler carrying six boats similar to those that had been used before.

“Are you seeing this?” asked Saint.

“Seeing,” nodded Pax. “Follow him?”

“I say yes,” said Saint.

“Same,” said Brax. The others nodded and followed the boat hauler toward the small town ahead and the marina.

“This doesn’t seem like a community that could afford those boats,” said Pax.

“I couldn’t agree more,” nodded Saint.

They followed until the truck pulled into the marina, where a crane waited to lift the boats off the trailer. One by one, they were lowered into the water and parked along the docks. As darkness fell, the men waited, then went to inspect them further.

“Make sure the trackers are working,” whispered Brax. They nodded, placing the trackers in multiple locations on the boats.

“Hey,” called Moose. “This one already has places for people to be chained. I count thirty on this deck alone.”

“Alright,” nodded Pax. “Let’s make sure that one has extra trackers. Come on. We’ll find a place to stay and get some food.”

With a decent motel, soft beds, and good food, the men were ready to get some sleep. While Pax spoke to Deanna, Moose and Conor stayed at the windows, watching the marina. The boats were tied off, not appearing to go anywhere tonight.

Tomorrow would be another story.

“Anything?” asked Cam, looking at Hex.

“No. This one was a young woman with Downs. She passed away about three months ago from an infection. It had nothing to do with her disability. Her mother said no one had approached her, but she knew of others that had been approached. She was too afraid to speak with me any further.”

“Let’s go. Luke and Eric are down the street,” said Cam. They walked the quiet little street, occasionally a dog barking at them but nothing else. When they approached the house where Luke and Eric were, they noticed an elderly couple seated beside them on the steps of their front porch.

“Oh, hey, guys. Maria and Pietro, these are our friends, Cam and Hex.” The old couple nodded at them. “Their son was born with a rare genetic disorder that caused his bones to break easily. He’d been doing fairly well, staying home and studying from here, when a man knocked on their door making promises.”

“He said he could cure my son,” said Maria. “We were told that no one could cure this disease.”

“I’m afraid it’s not curable,” said Cam. “We asked our medical team back home.”

“But the American said he knew a doctor who would cure him. He promised us that he would be safe and well taken care of. He asked us to travel with him, but my husband and I run a business that provides for our son. We couldn’t leave it.”

“Of course not,” said Eric. “No one blames you.”

“We blame ourselves,” said Pietro. “We should have been there to help our son. Instead, we were told that he was found chained to the boat. Why? Why would someone do such a thing?”

“I don’t know, but we’re going to try and find out,” said Luke. “Can you tell us what this man looked like?”

“He was American,” said Maria. The men frowned at her, looking at one another and then back at the couple. “He was very American. Perhaps fifty or fifty-five, black hair with silver in it. He had dark eyes, very brown. He didn’t wear a wedding ring, but he wore a big gold ring like Americans wear from their universities.”

“A college ring?” asked Hex. She nodded. “Did you happen to see the name of the college or the color of the stone in it?”

“There was no stone. It was all one color with a gold star and a crest on the top of it.”

“Texas A&M,” muttered Eric. “I had a guy on my team once that was a graduate. They all wear the same ring. It’s a ritual thing. We’re looking for someone from Texas.”

“Or at least the university,” said Luke. “Tanner, you read?”

“Loud and clear. I’m looking now for someone in that area from Texas with those features. He sounds like perhaps he has Hispanic heritage.”

“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing, which would make this even worse.” He turned back to the couple. “Did either of you ever meet anyone else?”

“No one,” said Maria.

“How did your son get to the boat?” asked Hex.

“They sent someone for him while we were working. We thought it was all done, that we’d talked him out of this silly idea. We got home, and he’d left a note that he had to do this. He had to try and have a normal life.”

“How were his medical expenses paid?” asked Eric.

“Medical expenses?”

“Yes, his hospital and doctor bills?” he asked.

“We couldn’t get healthcare because of his illness. Everything had to be paid in cash, and even with our business doing well, we struggled at times and had to beg for debt forgiveness from the hospitals.”

“Did you owe them money at the time of his disappearance?” asked Hex.

“Yes. A great deal of money. We haven’t paid any of it because, of course, our son is gone, and they’re partly responsible for this. Their refusals to pay for any of his care forced us to seek other therapy. In the end, it forced our son to seek therapy he knew wouldn’t work.”

“Did you have a life insurance policy?” asked Luke.

“Yes, but the hospital took all of it. The hospital and the doctors. We were left with nothing except our son’s ashes.” Eric reached for her hand, squeezing.

“We’re going to try and change that.”