Eye of the Falcon (Psychic Visions #12)(96)

Eagle hesitated.

She cut him off when he opened his mouth. “I didn’t come all this way for you guys to rush to the rescue and leave me safe and sound back in town. That’ll just get more men killed. Let’s get the detective and whatever bloody team you have pulled together here. I don’t care. But we’re going back and getting to the bottom of this now.” She glared at Eagle, than switched to look at Hawk. “You can’t possibly want to leave your friends in trouble like this.”

*

Eagle watched as Hawk shrugged. “We already have men on-site. They’re prepping to rescue our buddies now. We already told them that we’re on the way.”

“Yes, we are on the way,” she said.

“Let me call the detective,” Eagle said. He took a few steps away and filled him in on the latest info. They talked for at least ten minutes, while Hawk and Issa waited. When Eagle joined them, he said, “He’s getting a team together. He needs at least twenty minutes.”

“They’ve got ten.” She snorted. “We’ll head out but will take our time. They can catch up.”

The men grinned.

“Too many people are involved,” Hawk complained. “It’s hard to keep any of them straight.”

“And yet most are accounted for.”

“Except the girls. No one made mention of the missing girls. The sex slave industry is alive and well in France unfortunately,” Eagle said. “It’s a huge market, and a huge issue for the police over there. The detective is also getting a team to track down the house here in Belfast.”

“That was twenty years ago. They probably move the girls around,” Issa said. Still it warmed her heart to think they might find these poor women.

“Yes. It was twenty years ago for you too. Those women still have a right to some kind of a life if they haven’t already gained their freedom. You also have to consider they might no longer be alive.”

She nodded. “I hope the police can find them—and maybe have already. At the very least they might shut down the trafficking ring.”

“The police will try. They’ll have to backtrack the case to France and see if they can find records of the girls over there. Also where did the women go when everything blew up?”

“Don’t forget not everyone died. For all anyone knows, the remaining smugglers who delivered them took charge of the cargo again and left.”

“We won’t ever know the details, will we?” she asked in a forlorn voice.

“No way to know at this moment.”

The drive back was unsettling. The men discussed multiple options. They pretty much decided the kidnapper had to have been the man injured and spirited away. Too many people were involved, but so few had actual stakes in the process. Families of all the loved ones, yes, they would have an interest as well. But twenty years later it was hard to imagine the drive for revenge was quite the same.

“Any way I can get into the pub without being seen?” Issa asked.

“What good would that do? You were already there. As far as the pub owners know, you’re still there. We paid for several nights, remember?”

She settled back. “Right, they don’t know we left in the middle of the night.”

“And it’s not that late now. We could still be in our rooms.”

“Jesus.” She wrapped her arms around her belly and stared outside the car window. It was hard to stop the fear from taking over her senses. They were still a good fifteen minutes away from the pub when a vehicle pulled off a side street in front of them. At the same time, another one pulled up behind them. Hawk slowed down. She listened to Eagle swear. She glanced in front of them and behind.

“I gather this is a kidnapper’s welcoming party?” She was proud her voice held no tremor. “The detective does understand how important it is to get here fast, right?”

“Oh, yeah. Hawk just texted him to let him know we’re in a standard pincher move. With no place for us to get off the road. We have to go straight in with the escort.”

And, sure enough, the vehicles stayed with them as they drove right to the pub. As they entered the parking lot, the first car drove to the far side exit and parked so they couldn’t get out. Hawk drove in and took a spot as the vehicle behind them blocked their entrance too.

“Well, that answers that,” she said, letting out her breath. “I guess it’s showtime.”

She got out of the vehicle and stopped for a long moment, staring up at the sky. Then she closed her eyes and sent out a call. In her mind her words were a whisper, but she added all the power she could, and she told the wind that they were in trouble and needed help. When she opened her eyes, the clouds moved closer. She had no idea if it had anything to do with her request. It was a game she’d played as a child. Something fun to make the evenings less lonely. She’d talked to the clouds, played with the wind, and laughed as she brought in clouds and wind and rays of sunshine at will. With the men, one on either side of her, she walked toward the back door of the pub.

The drivers of the other vehicles got out, leaning against the vehicles they had driven in. She smiled at them and waved. She felt Eagle start in surprise.

“What was that for?” he asked.

“There is nothing wrong with being friendly. You don’t know what circumstance we’re walking into.”