them.”
“Correct.”
“And it’s pretty hard to leverage statutory rape into a murder confession.”
“Pretty hard,” Jesse said.
“So right now you’re just stirring the mix.”
Jesse nodded.
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“So what do you want with me?”
“I don’t want to lose them.”
“You afraid they’ll run?”
“They know I’m interested,” Jesse said. “They’ve got money. They leave the jurisdiction, I’m going to have trouble getting them back.”
“Maybe you shouldn’t have let them know you were interested.”
“Maybe. But I got no other way to go about this than to keep prying and asking and pushing and poking and looking around. And maybe the pressure will make one of them stupid.”
Healy nodded. “They aren’t charged with a crime,” he said. “They can go where they want to.”
“But they could be charged with statutory rape anytime,”
Jesse said.
“So you want me to help you keep track of them and if they try to depart we arrest them and charge them with the rape of a minor child.”
“Yes.”
“And tell them they have the right to an attorney.”
“Better than losing them,” Jesse said. “I don’t have the resources.”
“We can help you at the airport,” Healy said. “And the train stations.”
“And I need some clout with the Coast Guard. They’re stretched a little thin these days.”
“I can probably do something there. If I can’t, I can prob-1 8 2
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ably get you one of ours. What do you want, a patrol boat at the harbor mouth?”
“Plainly marked,” Jesse said.
“Soon?”
“Now,” Jesse said.
Healy sipped some whiskey.
“Soon,” he said.
They sat quietly.
“You got a theory?” Healy said after a time.
“Some kind of sex ring with these two clucks at the center,” Jesse said. “They bring some girls and recruit others, mostly very young. Florence would have been a bring-along.”
“And you figure something grew out of that scene that caused the death of Horvath?”
“Yes.”
“You figure Darnell did it?”
“Yes.”
“So where’s Ralston fit?”
“I don’t know. Maybe nowhere. Maybe he’s just a pervert and all we get him on is the stat rape charge.”
“Could have been Ralston,” Healy said.
“Could have. They were tight, we know that. Cruz in Fort Lauderdale found that out. Moorings at the outer ring. Side by side.”
“They were doing the same thing there,” Healy said.
“I’d guess,” Jesse said.
“You got anywhere to go now?”
“Nothing beyond the rape charge. Hell, I don’t even know 1 8 3
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if that will stick on Ralston. We got Darnell cold with it on tape. But the girl may not be a good witness against Ralston, and we got no tape.”
“Keep pushing,” Healy said. “These aren’t stand-up guys, I’d guess.”
