Fatal Secrets

working side by side for nearly two years, Sonia had wanted to quit. If not for the support and faith that Riley lavished on her through tough love, and the unconditional love of her adoptive family, she would have left Immigration and … done something else. Been miserable. Feeling sorry for herself.

She had gotten over it, and seeing Charlie in her bedroom now hadn’t turned her into a quivering mass of pathetic Jell-O. She’d been thrown off-stride, but she regrouped. He would give her the answers she needed, or she would take him into custody. She glanced again at her gun in his hand. It wasn’t pointed at her. If she could get close enough without him suspecting her intention, she could disarm him.

“You are investigating a known trafficker in my jurisdiction,” she said to Charlie, “and didn’t have the courtesy of calling me?”

“You would have let me go in?”

“Hell no.”

“There you go.”

“You always start a job for the right reasons, but when did finding a missing, presumed dead teenager turn into working as the driver for Xavier Jones for God knows how long?”

“You’ve talked to Rogan.” He frowned.

“Kane is your friend. Your only friend.”

“Rogan is not my friend. Just because he didn’t break my neck after the mishap in New Mexico-”

“Mishap?” She knew she shouldn’t talk about the past with Charlie-it wasn’t good for either of them-but mishap? “You sold me without telling me beforehand. Then you lied to me about having my back. I had to kill him to save my life.”

“Good riddance. I knew you were strong enough to take care of yourself.”

“I don’t believe you!” She ran both hands through her thick, tangled hair. “He almost raped me!”

“But he didn’t.”

“Fuck you.” She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. What Sheldon Rasmussen had done to her haunted her when she didn’t have her guard up. She’d have the scars from his knife for the rest of her life. Because of Rasmussen, she’d never be able to have children.

Because of Charlie she was scarred and barren.

“I am sorry.”

“No, you’re not. Because you were a hero for a day. You saved all those girls while I was attacked by a vile monster thinking you were there to take him down.”

Charlie spoke quietly. “It was a hard choice to make, Sonia, believe me. But they couldn’t save themselves. They’d all be dead by now. But they’re alive and free, and so are you.”

“And if I had died, you would have justified it because you saved fourteen other girls that night.”

He looked pained, and Sonia was glad. She hoped he couldn’t sleep.

“I’ve paid for what happened. I take jobs where I can. Rogan gives me the lost causes, but I know that Ashley Fox is alive.”

Even though she was still angry, Sonia was curious how Charlie had ended up with Jones. She asked, “Did Jones have something to do with her disappearance?”

“Not directly. I found the gang who kidnapped her off the cruise ship. One of the stewards, a Mexican gang member, spilled everything when I tracked him down.”

Bile rose into her throat. She didn’t ask what Charlie had done to get the gangbanger to talk; she didn’t want to know.

“She was shipped to Belize and forced to work at a sex club. They kept her drugged, got her hooked on coke and pills. Uppers and downers. I’m not surprised-when she found out she was trapped, she probably needed the mental escape.”

A familiar strategy-breaking the victim’s will to fight back using drugs, and physical and mental abuse. Sonia put the images out of her head; she had to focus on the facts.

“And then?”

“I’m unclear on why they moved her, but she came up through one of Jones’s major suppliers into America. She may be in Canada now, but she came through here, Sacramento.”

“How do you know?”

“You don’t want to know.”

Sonia slammed her palm against the wall. The picture over her bed slid on its wire and hung crooked. “I’m supposed to trust you?”

“I got the information. I don’t care if you believe me.”

Goose bumps ran down her flesh. She bit back her next scathing comment; she wouldn’t be able to convince Charlie that he was no better than them. But this vigilante campaign had to end, one way or the other.

“Jones knows what happened to her. Where she went. I’m this close to figuring out his codes. I was going to come to you once I saved Ashley.”

Sonia frowned in confusion. “Codes? What codes?”

“I’ll give you everything when I get the answers I need.”

“Tell me now! Are you honestly aiding and abetting a killer? You fucking bastard! Who made you judge and jury? You’re not leaving here, so help me-”

“What are you going to do? I have your gun.” Charlie laughed, then added wistfully, “Oh Sonia, I’ve missed you.”

“Don’t.”

“We were a great team. I don’t blame you for what happened.”

“Blame me? What am I to blame for?” She asked too quickly, realizing that Charlie was deliberately sidetracking her. “No-”

Charlie cut her off. “For having me fired.”

“I’m not going there again.” She couldn’t do it. She was losing her focus: her goal was to gather evidence on Xavier Jones so she could haul his ass into interrogation and get names. “You have information. You can testify. Names, places. What kind of codes? You mean he’s writing everything down?”

“Yes. He has a journal. Every sale, every player, every exchange. How much money he made on the deal and what his expenses were and the threat level. He charges more for higher-risk endeavors. I made a copy of his current journal. But I can’t figure out-yet-how he codes the people he sells. Without that, I don’t know where Ashley is.”

“Why don’t you just torture the information out of him?” she snapped sarcastically.

“Jones wouldn’t rattle under torture.”

So he had actually considered it. Sadly, Sonia was no longer surprised by Charlie’s decisions. “I know you’re the one who contacted me about Andres Zamora’s escape. Where’s Maya?”

“I don’t know.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“I don’t care. She wasn’t with Andres.”

“You should have called the police.”

“Not without blowing my cover.”

“You’re no better than they are. You fit right in with Jones and my father.”

Charlie’s face hardened and he took a step toward her, his knees touching her bed. He shook the gun at her and she involuntarily shivered. Charlie was volatile. He could kill her, even if he didn’t want to. “I’m just the driver.”

“Bullshit. I want Jones’s journal.”

He ignored her demand. “I got Andres out. You found him, didn’t you?”

She wasn’t giving Charlie any information about Andres. “I want the journal and a signed statement detailing everything you know about Jones and his operation. Then maybe you won’t be spending time behind bars.”

He glared at her. “So you’re working with the FBI?”

Sonia saw no reason to give Charlie any information, so she simply said, “Yes. And I need to debrief you. Let’s go.”

He shook his head. “I have-”

“There’s a shipment of girls coming in any day and I need to nail Jones with them. We know that he uses