cell phone. “Are you sure the case he wanted to talk to me about is connected to your human trafficking ring?’
“It just makes sense that it is. An undercover cop discovers Lynch’s organization is dealing in illegal aliens. He’s murdered and left on the riverbank. Then we have no leads for five years, even though we’ve had several unidentified bodies found along the Double Nickel.”
Brad frowned. “Double Nickel? Is that some kind of bureau talk?”
Bill’s laugh rippled into Brad’s ear. “No. We’ve known for years that smugglers are bringing in illegal aliens on ships down on the Gulf coast. Some of them are sent up the Mississippi River on boats and others are transported on trucks up Interstate 55, which is called the Double Nickel by smugglers of both drugs and humans. The sad thing is, the people who are being brought in paid these people good money to get them into the States. What they don’t find out until it’s too late is that the men are bound for big farms in the West where they’ll be treated like slaves, and the women will end up in brothels.”
Brad’s stomach roiled. He’d heard these stories from agents for years, and it sickened him that the smugglers always seemed to be one step ahead of the police. Just like with Nathan Carson. Just when they had what looked like a promising lead, someone beat them to Nathan.
“What do you intend to do now?”
Bill sighed. “I talked to the director of the police department. They don’t have the manpower to keep a guard posted outside Nathan’s room twenty-four hours a day, but we can do that. If Nathan makes it through surgery, we’ll have someone guarding him 24-7. I don’t want anybody getting to him, and I want to know the minute he regains consciousness.”
Brad pushed up from the sofa and raked his hand through his hair. “That sounds good, but I need to tell you something else.”
“What?”
“I told you I’m working on another case right now. I think it may be linked to the Carson case, too.”
When he’d finished relating the facts in the unsolved case of the Webber murders and of Laura’s abduction the night before, Bill gave a low whistle. “The car bombings sound like more than a coincidence. Maybe both cases are tied to Tony Lynch and his organization.”
“That’s what I think. I’m going to look into the Webber case again and see what I can find out. With any luck we may be able to close two cold case files and catch your human traffickers at the same time.”
Bill chuckled. “That sounds like a mighty tall order, but nothing would make me happier. Let’s stay in touch.”
“Okay. Talk with you later.”
Brad ended the call and stared at the phone a moment before he punched in another number. It only rang once before his partner answered. “Detective Crowne speaking.”
“Hi, Alex. It’s Brad.”
“What can I do for you, buddy?”
“I’ve been on the phone with Bill Diamond and wondered if you’d had any word on Nathan Carson’s condition in the past hour.”
“No, I’m in the hospital waiting room right now, and he’s still in surgery. I suppose the longer he hangs on, the better his chances of survival.”
Brad nodded and glanced at his watch. “That surgery sure is taking a long time, but he had a lot of injuries. I’m working on something else right now, so keep me posted.”
“No problem. Seth and I will see you later.”
“Alex?” Brad blurted out in an attempt to keep him from hanging up.
“Yeah. Is there something else?”
Brad bit down on his lip a minute and hesitated. “Nothing really. I thought I’d let you know Laura is back in town.”
There was silence on the other end of the phone for a moment. “She is? Have you seen her?”
“Yeah. That other case I’m working on involves her. I’ll tell you all about it when you get to the office.”
Alex hesitated before he spoke. “Okay. And how did you react when you saw her?”
“I’m all right. She wants us to reopen her parents’ case.”
“Well, it’s officially an active case. What did you tell her?”
“I told her we would.” Brad closed his eyes and rubbed his hand over his face. “Look, we’ll discuss this later. I just wanted to let you know we’re going to take a closer look at it.”
“Sure. I’m up for that.”
“See you later.”
Brad ended the call and sat back down on the sofa. Maybe he could get Alex or Seth to take over the case. Then he wouldn’t have to see Laura. She would probably like that better, too.
It would be more comfortable for them both if they kept their relationship in the past where it belonged. He felt a surge of relief. That’s what he’d do—turn Laura over to Alex and Seth. He would tell her he had too many cases right now to devote the time needed for her parents’ murders.
On the other hand, he had nothing to fear about being around Laura. Their relationship had been over for six years, and there was no way either one of them wanted to resurrect something that was as dead as their feelings for each other. As a detective with the Cold Case unit, though, he owed her his help. But if he was honest with himself, he owed her for another reason.
He couldn’t count the number of hours in the past he’d spent listening to Laura talk about the morning she had watched her parents’ car explode right before her eyes. At times her anger and grief had reduced her to hysterics that were only calmed by his holding her in his arms and telling her he’d always be there for her. He’d meant it when he gave that promise, and he wouldn’t take it back now.
If Laura wanted to find the answers to her parents’ deaths, he would help her. He wanted to be there when they found out the truth.
THREE
Brad didn’t speak as he led Laura down the police station’s basement hallway. Within this part of the building all the evidence in the department’s cold cases sat on shelves, just waiting for someone to find the answers to these unsolved crimes. A feeling of despair washed over Laura at the thought that other families still waited for answers that might never come.
Laura followed quietly behind Brad and stared at his straight back and fists clenched at his side. Did he regret telling her she could look through the evidence in her parents’ case? When he had offered, she could hardly believe it. For years she’d wanted to see what the police had discovered during their investigation, and yet she’d feared seeing it, also.
Brad stopped at a closed door and pushed it open. He turned toward her, and a look of concern flashed across his face. “What’s the matter? You look like you’re having second thoughts.”
She swallowed back the uncertainty that washed over her and took a deep breath. It was time to deal with the past.
