Midnight Crossing (Josie Gray Mysteries #5)(46)

“Why didn’t someone stop him?” Josie asked.

“Because he was the only one that knew anything! He had all our documents, our identification. We were in a foreign country with no ID. He took mine too. I didn’t even know where I was. The women had fake passports that he kept. He told them once they got dropped off in Albuquerque, they’d get all their stuff back. And he’d say things about killing their families all the time. He had their addresses written on a piece of paper, and he’d read the girl’s name and then her family’s address. He let them know, If you don’t do what I say, your family will pay. Then he’d be like, Come take care of me.” Ryan shook his head like he wanted to clear the memory out of his head. Josie wanted to tell him to imagine the nightmares the women who were raped were now having.

“When we’re done here, I need you to write down the women’s names, as much of their addresses as you can remember, and a description of each woman who was on the trip. Hair color, size, and any distinguishing marks. Everything you can think of.”

He nodded.

“You need to do this right,” Josie said. “You need to cooperate, in part to counter the mounting case we have against you. But you also owe these women something in return for the hell you helped put them through.”

“I’ll do it. I’ll write down everything I can remember.”

“Who’s running the transportation ring?” Otto asked.

“I don’t know. While we were on the trip Josh always made it sound like he was the boss. Like he was the mastermind, hooking women up with jobs all over the U.S. I was like, Seriously, dude, I’ve seen the crappy apartment you live in. I know you’re not rich enough or smart enough to do half of what you’re saying.”

Josie put a hand up so she could ask a follow-up question. “Hang on. You said, ‘while we were on the trip.’ Does that mean at other times he made it sound like someone else was his boss?”

“Not him. Macey did. She’s smarter than him, but she gets all coked up and her mouth runs constantly. I can’t stand her.”

“Did she mention someone else?”

“Sort of. She was always talking about somebody being pissed off at them. She never really mentioned anyone in front of me, but she was always freaking out like they were doing something wrong, and someone was going to be pissed. Josh was always trying to talk her down.”

“Talk her down?” she asked.

“Yeah, like, calm her down.”

Josie glanced at Otto and Marta, then at her watch. They were losing critical minutes.

“Here’s the deal. You give me everything you can think of that might help me figure out where Josh and Macey are taking Isabella and those women?” Josie paused and stared at him for a moment. “And I’ll cut you loose.”

He swallowed hard and sat up straighter in the chair. “I’ll do it.”

“I think you finally figured out lying isn’t going to help you. It’ll cause you more trouble. You’ll be intentionally hampering a murder investigation. And you don’t want to go there.”

“I understand.”

She looked at her watch again and then turned to Otto. “It’s almost eleven o’clock. Marta left Isabella at the motel a little before eight. She showered and dressed, even lay down on the bed for at least a short while, because the covers were slightly messed up. I’m guessing she was picked up from the motel at approximately eight-thirty, because when I got there at nine she was gone.”

Josie pointed a finger at Ryan. “Every minute that ticks by means that Josh and Macey are farther down the road with those women. I’m going to give you five minutes to tell me everything you know about where Josh is taking them. If you hold back, I’ll make your life hell.”

“That’s fine. I get it.”

“Let’s start with where they’re headed,” she said.

Otto unfolded the map in front of Ryan. It was a Texas road map the dispatcher had in her files for transporting prisoners.

“I can tell you. I don’t need a map. He said we were going to take the interstate the whole way. He made a big deal about driving the speed limit so we wouldn’t get pulled over. Driving that junked-out van you couldn’t go seventy anyway.”

“What kind of van?”

“One of the big white ones. It had benches in the back. It holds twelve people.”

“An Econoline van?”

“That’s it,” he said, nodding.

“How fast will it go?”

“Sixty max.”

Josie had pulled up a map application on her phone and said, “From here to El Paso takes about four hours. It’s another four hours from El Paso to Albuquerque. You think Josh would drive all night?”

Ryan nodded. “If he went and picked up Isabella, and he had those other women with him, he’d want to get rid of them. He’s freaked out right now. And Macey has to be driving him insane.”

“Why do you say that?” she asked.

“When anything happens that’s not according to plan, she just can’t handle it. When she found out Renata was killed, I bet Macey’s brain about exploded. She has to know you guys think Josh did it. And now they’re driving that crappy van with all those women in it.”