Girls In White Dresses: A Detective London McKenna Novel by Alex Gates

Author:Alex Gates
Language: eng
Format: azw3, epub
Published: 2017-04-01T23:00:00+00:00

19

Of course, you want to go home. I understand.

You won’t ever leave, but I understand.

-Him.

“You went on their property?” Adamski slammed the door to his office. “It’s like you’re gunning for a mistrial!”

Oh Lord. “The Goodmans tattled on me?”

Adamski hiked his pants a little higher. Over his navel meant one hell of a lecture. “Pull this shit, and I won’t just kick you off the case. I’ll suspend your ass.”

“I didn’t realize it was their property.”

“You entered their house.”

“That was after Simon Goodman and his family convinced me to stay for pie and coffee.”

“How?”

“Well, the five rifles aiming at my head were real hospitable.”

Adamski’s blood pressure could only take so much. “What the hell happened?”

I dropped the camera equipment on his desk. “I was doing my surveillance, trying to determine who each woman is. I needed decent photos to scan with the FBI’s facial recognition software. I know those women are in the Missing Persons database. This could prove it.” I arched an eyebrow. “But Simon and his brothers and sons found me first.”

“Did they attack you?”

“No. They took me back to their compound.” I smirked. “I ate dessert with Anna Prescott.”

He plopped into his chair, scanning my expression for any doubts. He wouldn’t find them. “Are you sure it’s her?”

“Same features. Identical to her pictures. Portwine birthmark on her neck. It’s Anna.”

“Then why the hell didn’t you bring her with you?”

That question had caused a night’s worth of insomnia. “It’s complicated. Anna acted as if she didn’t know who she really was. She called herself Eve. Talked about the farm as if she belonged there. She, apparently, loves her husband.” Not that he understood the meaning of the word. “If she would verify it, I could prove Jacob Goodman raped her when she was underage. But she’s…”

“What?”

“Brainwashed.”

“London—”

“I’m serious.” I paced the office. Most of the guys had gone home, but if I could have had them here, listening, helping me to free the girls from the farm, I’d have traded all the favors, coffee, and pastries I could find. “We have to get them out of there. As soon as possible.”

“If you’re right…these things take time. We’ve gotta get warrants, SWAT teams organized, briefings, maps of the property—”

“They’re planning a wedding.” The words sickened me. “And the only available girls to wed…they’re kids. Teenagers if they’re lucky, Bruce.”

His knuckles rapped the desk—swollen today. He didn’t wince, only stared into nothing, thinking.

“Did Anna admit to being raped?” he asked.

“No.”

“Did anyone there exhibit any physical, observable signs of abuse?”

“No.”

“Did you see anything that might have implied any sort of misconduct?”

“Goddamn it, no.”

“Then what do you want me to do? We can’t legally go in without probable cause.”

“What about Nina’s baby? Can’t we use her for a search warrant?”

“You have no proof that they’re keeping Nina Martin’s baby on that farm.”

“I heard the baby. She’s the right age. She’s living in Anna’s house. That is Jonah’s child—a child he created with an underage Nina Martin.”

“And the DA will ream your ass from one side of the station to the other if you can’t bring her any evidence of her paternity.

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