Defending Everly (Mountain Mercenaries #5)(35)

Forcing back his bitter thoughts, Ball began another trek across the small office. He and Everly had come to the police station to talk to Detective Ramirez about the case. To learn any new details about the kidnappings. Everly had heard her sister’s side of things, but now they wanted to know what was happening, to find the man responsible.

There had been seven girls in all. Three were being kept in bedrooms on the second floor, one in the attic, one in the living room on the main floor, and even one in the fucking kitchen. They were all chained like Elise had been. But unlike Elise, all the others had been assaulted.

And most of them told versions of the same story—they’d been talking to a guy online who they’d assumed was their age. After several months, they’d agreed to meet him, and when the guy’s “dad” had shown up, they’d gotten into his car.

The oldest girl, though, had simply been in the wrong place at the wrong time. She’d been beaten unconscious and had woken up in the house.

The girl in the attic had been the one responsible for their rescue. That day, in a startling bit of sheer luck, her captor failed to completely engage the lock around the chain on her ankle. When he left, she’d waited a long while before going to the window and breaking it. When the unsuspecting man passed by, walking the dog, she’d screamed her head off and begged him to call the cops.

The girl had heard others in the house, but didn’t know how many were trapped with her. Besides Elise, there was a twelve-year-old, two fourteen-year-olds, two sixteen-year-olds, and an eighteen-year-old. They all looked very different from one another. Some were tall, others were short. There was a blonde, two brunettes, Elise with her red hair, two with black hair, and the eighteen-year-old had dyed her hair pink.

“We think whoever orchestrated this was collecting different types of girls to sell on the black market,” the detective continued.

“And what’s being done about that?” Ball asked.

“Everything possible,” Ramirez said calmly. “The FBI is involved, and we’ve got a description of the man’s car, his physical description, and we’re analyzing all of their interviews to see what other information we can pick up.”

“You do realize that if that girl hadn’t broken that window, we probably wouldn’t have found them, right?” Everly asked.

It was what Ball had been thinking, but wasn’t going to say . . . not in front of Everly. But he should’ve known she wouldn’t back away from the truth.

“You don’t know that,” Ramirez said.

“Had you even connected the other missing girls to Elise?” Everly asked with crazy-good insight. “Did you dismiss them as runaways as well? None of their parents had the connections I did, so they weren’t able to hire someone like my friend Ball here to help investigate and keep the pressure on. There’s something really wrong with our society when a kid goes missing, and the first thing the cops think is that he or she is simply a runaway and they’ll show up eventually.”

“Statistics bear that out, Sergeant Adams,” Ramirez said.

“I know, but I don’t care. I also know that when I get back home, I’m going to sit down and have a talk with my chief of police. Even if three out of four disappearances are a simple case of a disgruntled kid, it’s not fair to that fourth family to dismiss their worry so easily.”

No one said a word for the longest time. Then Ramirez cleared his throat and said, “We might need to talk to Elise again. Sometimes victims can remember more details after some time has passed.”

“If you need to talk to her, she’ll be with me in Colorado Springs,” Everly said.

Ball stopped pacing and turned to stare at Everly. They hadn’t spent a lot of time together over the last two days; she’d mostly been with her sister. They hadn’t discussed what was going to happen next. He figured Everly would spend a bit more time in LA with her family, then go back to Colorado Springs and try to get back to her life, just as Elise would do here. He should’ve known better.

“That might be best,” the detective said.

“Actually, it’s not. It’s gonna suck,” Everly said bluntly. “Her friends are here. Her grandparents. Her school. But I don’t feel she’s safe here, and neither does she. Until you find the man who kidnapped and assaulted her, along with whoever is behind the entire operation, she’ll be as far away from here as I can get her. And that’s Colorado Springs. With me.”

“We’ll need her to be available if we have questions,” Ramirez said.

“Not a problem. We’ve got child advocates at the CSPD, as well as sketch artists.”

“What about school?” Ball asked.

Everly turned to him, and he saw the emotion in her eyes. She was worked up, and he couldn’t blame her. If the situation was different, if Everly was the one who’d been kidnapped, and the man was still on the loose, he wouldn’t be comfortable leaving her here.

The thought should’ve concerned him . . . but instead, rightness settled in his gut.

He also hadn’t known Elise very long, but the little he’d learned had made him extremely protective of the girl. She was hurting and scared, but doing her best to act like she wasn’t. She’d taught him a few signs, and teased him when he’d gotten them completely wrong. She was extremely strong and brave . . . just like her sister.