She didn’t know what to say.
“Lucy, you there?”
“I don’t know.”
“Mona was the prostitute who helped us last year, right? With my sister?”
“Yes.”
“Okay, and have you or Sean used her information since?”
“I haven’t, I don’t trust her. Didn’t trust her. But Sean has tapped her for information a couple of times, including a missing persons case he was working.”
“He knows you have issues with her.”
“Yeah.”
“Assume he had a legitimate reason to talk to Mona Hill, okay?”
She would, though he should have told her. Just because she didn’t trust Mona didn’t mean she didn’t understand that the woman could have valuable information for a private investigator or law enforcement.
“Is he working on anything for RCK?” she asked.
“Yes, it’s computer security related, and he does that from his desk. He’s scheduled to go to Miami to work on site at a government defense contractor to debug a new program, but that’s not for a couple weeks.”
“This arrest is going to hurt your business, isn’t it?”
“That’s not important right now,” JT said. “I’ll take care of RCK—Duke and I are already running through every conceivable scenario where someone might want to take Sean temporarily off the board. But I suspect he’s working a side project. Duke’s going through the system logs to see what he was doing. Do you know if he had something going outside of RCK?”
“Nothing he’s mentioned to me.” She paused. “He’s been a bit preoccupied this week, and he was talking to someone in Los Angeles named … hold on, it’ll come to me…”
“Nico Villanueva?”
“Yes—that’s it. Who is he?”
“A contractor for RCK, private investigator we use in the L.A. area. I’ll call him, but this is good. Nico served with me in the Navy, I’ve known him for years.”
A warning beep echoed.
“What was that?” JT asked.
She checked the security pad and watched as Brad walked up the front pathway. “Brad’s here. DEA—you met him, right?”
“I know him. Good.”
“Should I search the house?”
“For what?”
“I don’t know—bugs?” That sounded stupid. “I need to do something.”
“You have plenty to do. And I’m certain Sean does regular sweeps for listening devices.”
Of course he did, she thought.
JT continued, “As soon as I wrap up the situation with the lawyers, I’ll call you. Before Sean even arrives in Houston, he’ll have a lawyer on site.”
“I’m worried about him, JT. If he goes to jail tonight—they may not even arraign him until Monday.”
“We’re doing everything we can to make sure he’s released on bond before the end of the day. Hold tight, okay?”
The door chimed.
“Okay.” She hung up and went to let Brad inside. He closed the door and said, “Prick out front actually tried to stop me.”
“He’s just doing his job.”
“He wanted to know my business. I flashed my ID, kept walking.” He put his hands on her shoulders and squeezed. “You okay?”
“I don’t have time not to be okay.”
She led Brad into the kitchen and filled him in on what she knew, which wasn’t much.
“I called a buddy of mine in Houston—a vice detective I know well. He’ll sniff around, knows that it’s sensitive. You can trust him like you do me.”
Lucy made a pot of coffee because she had to do something while she waited for JT to call her about the lawyer. She itched to head to Houston herself, but feared she’d just be sitting around and not be allowed to talk to Sean anyway.
“What?” Brad asked as he watched her pace.
“I’ve grown complacent. Everything has been great for months—honestly, the last few cases I’ve had were interesting but uneventful. It’s been calm. I’ve been able to enjoy my evenings with Sean and Jesse and for the first time I felt normal. Totally, completely normal. And now … oh, shit. Jesse.”
“Where is he?”
“School. I have to tell him.”
“I can go get him for you.”
“That won’t work—there’s a restricted list of who can pick him up during the school day. Nate’s in court and Kane’s out of the country.” She hesitated, then realized she needed someone to confide in. “Kane’s missing. Jack went down to a small village outside Saltillo to find him.”
“Saltillo is a small village. What was he doing? I thought he’d retired.”
“Semi-retired,” Lucy said. “A human trafficker he’s been keeping tabs on was moving young girls. Siobhan is down there with them, they rescued six minors, but now Kane is missing.”
“Can I do anything?”
“Help me with Sean. Nate’s in court and I’ve been sent home, so I’m just waiting for information and it’s driving me bonkers.”
“I’m glad you called. I’ll do anything I can. I wish I could help Kane and Jack, but I don’t have a lot of resources in human trafficking.”
“Jack’s on top of it, but I’m worried about him, too. First Kane goes missing, now Sean is arrested.”
Brad frowned.
“What?” Lucy asked.
“Is there any connection between these two events?”
She thought, shook her head. “I can’t see how. Mona Hill was a prostitute. She didn’t have any connection to human trafficking, and Sean made sure she didn’t use underage girls. She helped us last year, remember?”
“I do. I just don’t buy that whole prostitute with a heart of gold bullshit.”
Lucy laughed. She shouldn’t, but she needed to. “Trust me, she has no heart of gold. It’s all about self-preservation, and Sean made it clear to her that if she crossed that line he would take her down.” She bit her lip. “I shouldn’t have said that.”
“Don’t censor yourself around me. If you want to go get Jesse, I can stay here.”
She did … but what would she tell him? “It’s early. I have no information for him, and he’s going to have questions. I’ll get him when I know something.”
The house phone rang, which was a rarity, and she practically ran to Sean’s office to grab it. “Yes?”
“Sean asked Nico to track Elise Hunt. Why?”
It was JT and he sounded angry.
“She was released from juvie three weeks ago, but she’s in Los Angeles.” And Nico was a PI in L.A. “I don’t know why Sean would keep tabs on her.”
“Has she threatened you?”
“No. I was told about her release. She turned eighteen and they cut her loose. I made my statement when she was arraigned two years ago.”
“Which was?”
“That she’s a danger to society and needs to be tried as an adult, not given a minimum security plea deal. They opted to give her juvie until her eighteenth birthday. You should know all that.”