“You must be Detective Kline.” He stuck his hand out, soft brown eyes locked on her. When she didn’t take his hand, he chuckled and dug in his back pocket. “I should know better than that. I’m Special Agent Clay Lockwood. I’m with ACTeam.”
“ACTeam?” She scanned the credentials he produced and handed them back to him.
“Anti-Trafficking Coordination Team. It’s a multi-agency task force committed to ending human trafficking. I’m handling the launch at the FBI field office here in Charleston.” His accent told her he was from Texas, though it was slight.
Ellie’s back muscles stiffened. “Charleston PD has this handled.”
“I’m sure they do. Listen, I know you don’t want us encroaching on your cases, and that’s fine, but I promise, we’re here to provide support. Nothing more.”
“Not like we haven’t heard that before.” She crossed her arms, intent on standing her ground no matter how charismatic Agent Lockwood was. It was hard not to want to like him, as friendly and good-looking as he was, but she knew when the feds assisted that usually meant a complete takeover. She wasn’t about to let that happen without a fight. “I’ve worked far too hard on these cases to just hand them over. How do I know once I give you the evidence I’ve gathered you won’t shut me out?”
His smile remained wide, eyes crinkled slightly at the corners. “I get it, I really do. That’s why Chief Johnson asked me to come talk to you personally.”
“I work alone.”
“I’ve heard.” He placed his hand on his chest in the universal gesture of honesty. “I promise I’m not looking to take over your entire operation. But I know you’ve got a court case pending, and I’m here to offer resources and support. Local law enforcement is our greatest asset. ACTeam won’t risk burning that bridge.”
Ellie glanced at Gabe, who’d gone quiet since Agent Lockwood entered. From across the room, he seemed frailer than he had before. Dark circles under his eyes revealed his exhaustion beneath eyelids that drooped every few seconds as he struggled to stay awake. Her duty to protect him won over her resistance to working with the FBI. She couldn’t keep him safe forever.
“So, you’re just support. Completely hands off?”
This time, Special Agent Lockwood’s smile faltered. “Not exactly. There will be some aspects I’ll handle, but I’ll still need your input.”
“What aspects?” The words shot from her lips, rapid-fire.
“Namely the protection of Gabe here. Like Valerie Price, he’s privy to information we couldn’t get anywhere else.” His smile faded completely as he cast his eyes in Gabe’s direction and back to Ellie. Gabe had fallen asleep, head tilted to one side. Agent Lockwood lowered his voice to a near whisper. “I don’t think you need to be told that people who have seen what they have don’t usually live to tell about it.”
“I’m protecting Valerie.” She straightened her shoulders, daring him to challenge her.
“No one is disputing that, but we can’t have both our star witnesses holed up in your boyfriend’s lake cabin.”
Her stomach dropped. Glaring at him, she expected to be met with arrogance, but Agent Lockwood’s expression remained calm and relaxed. His ego wasn’t in play here, just the truth. Infuriating. “How did you figure that out?”
“When I asked Chief Johnson if I could speak to his witness in protective custody, he admitted he had no way of getting in contact with her because he had no idea where she was.” One side of his mouth lifted, brown eyes glinting with amusement. “I have to admit, that was a first for me. He did give me your name, and after a bit of digging, I found out your longtime boyfriend Nick Connor had purchased a secluded cabin outside the city. The cabin is the perfect setup. Close enough to Charleston to be accessible, but remote and easily protected.” He smiled, lifting one shoulder. “In your shoes, the cabin is where I would’ve put Valerie if I couldn’t trust my colleagues with her whereabouts. It was a smart choice.”
Ellie shook her head. “How safe is the cabin when you just made finding it sound so easy?”
“Like I said, ACTeam is a task force made up of multiple agencies. I have access to databases I wouldn’t have otherwise, even at the FBI. No safe house is one-hundred-percent safe, but you have guards in place to offer another layer of protection. You have a good head for this type of work, which is why I broached the subject of making you the official liaison between ACTeam and Charleston PD. Chief Johnson is on board with the idea.”
Ellie’s head was reeling. Official liaison? It was so much to take in, but when Clay Lockwood spoke about ACTeam and his work to end human trafficking, he was so engaging, it was hard not to get excited. Still, she had some reservations.
“This all sounds great in theory, but what’s in it for Charleston PD? It seems like we’ll be sharing information to help ACTeam out. I just want to make sure it goes both ways.”
If her blunt nature had bothered him, he hid it well, answering as if she hadn’t just questioned his motivation. “There’s a lot we can offer this partnership. That includes access to all our resources. The ACTeam database, personnel support, and top-of-the-line surveillance equipment to begin with. I know this might seem like it’s coming out of nowhere, but I’ve had my eye on your work for some time. You’re a good fit for this partnership, and I can’t stress enough that it is a partnership, not a takeover. We can’t do this without you.” A soft laugh rose from deep in his chest. “Well, that’s not entirely true. We can, it’s just more efficient if we all work together.”
Ellie nodded, then froze, narrowing her eyes at him. “You said ‘couldn’t get anywhere else,’ not can’t. Does that mean?” Shooting a glance over her shoulder, she was shocked when Gabe offered a small shrug, a look of
