The others were collected at the kitchen table, drinking coffee and wearing grave expressions.
“You think Lara is back at the compound?” Blanchet asked.
“I’m afraid so. There’s only two reasons I can think of that she hasn’t come back for her daughter. I’m sticking with the first one, which is she’s back at the compound, because that’s the one that has her still breathing.”
“Do you think she killed that guy Hermes found at Nickel’s camp?” Ida Belle asked.
I blew out a breath. “Maybe, but the timing doesn’t work. If she wasn’t caught Monday night, then why didn’t she come back for Mariela? And if she was caught Monday night, and she’s the one who shot the guy, then where has the body been all this time?”
“If we assume it was the same two men who came into Nickel’s camp, then maybe she managed to shoot one and the other one captured her and brought the injured one back to the camp to see if they could help him. Then they dumped the body at Nickel’s camp later on.”
I shook my head. “There’s no way he survived a shot straight through the heart for more than a couple minutes.”
“True,” Blanchet agreed. “So the timing doesn’t work at all.”
“So what do we do?” Ida Belle asked. “If we tell the cops, they’ll insist on taking Mariela and making her talk before they do anything. And if they plan a raid, I’m afraid of what will happen to the women and children in there, especially now that we know they’re locked up like caged animals.”
I already knew the most likely course of action if the men were threatened—they’d eliminate anyone who could identify them or testify against them at a trial.
“You think Spinner’s working with them?” Ida Belle asked.
Blanchet nodded. “Viewed backward through the current lens, it does look like a setup. Spinner claimed he never went in that area anymore and then a day later we see him leaving it with a cell phone. Then he meets Otto somewhere other than the store dock to give him ice chests in exchange for money and that cell phone, probably because he has no way to keep it charged. That spells middleman at the least, active member at worst.”
“It would make sense to have people set up as go-betweens,” I said. “People who were otherwise assumed to be good community members.”
Ida Belle shook her head. “I hate to think that Otto is into something illegal, especially involving those women and girls. He’s been here a long time.”
“So have the Brethren,” I said.
“I wish we knew what they were trafficking,” Blanchet said.
“I don’t think it’s people,” I said. “I think those women are definitely being abused, but with Mariela’s comment about learning how to travel and speak Spanish, my guess is they’re using them as drug mules.”
Blanchet’s face flashed with anger. “No wonder Maya ran. I just wish she’d run farther than Mudbug.”
“I wonder why she didn’t,” Gertie said.
“Probably no funds to do so,” Ida Belle said, “and having a young child along didn’t make that any easier. My guess is she picked up work as soon as possible to put some money together to get farther away.”
“But she could have done that in a couple weeks’ time,” Gertie said. “At least enough to get them to the next place. Her staying doesn’t make sense. Unless we assume she didn’t leave because of Andy.”
He sighed. “I hope that’s not true. Because if she had a chance to get away and lost it over me, I’d feel horrible.”
“I think that could have been part of it,” Ida Belle said. “But I also think she might have stayed because she liked her situation. She’d found a nice town to live in, and a good place to live with a sympathetic landlord. She must have felt safe enough to take the risk of staying.”
“And I’m sure she didn’t have the appropriate documents to move easily in the regular world,” I said. “She might have been trying to find someone who could create those for her and Lara and ran out of time.”
“That’s true,” Blanchet said, “but it still makes my heart ache to think about it all. We have to find a way into that compound to get those women and kids out.”
“Yeah. I’m going to have to dwell on that one for a while. I’ll come up with something by tomorrow.”
“I can stay here tonight,” Blanchet said.
“So can we,” Ida Belle said.
I shook my head. “That guy watching my house is the deputy Blanchet brought in, so we can’t afford to do anything out of the ordinary.”
“But Ida Belle and I stay here all the time,” Gertie argued.
“Yes, but Hermes doesn’t know that and neither does his flunky. So to them, it might look odd.”
“Where are you going to stash Mariela tomorrow?” Gertie asked.
I grinned. “The one place Hermes is certain not to look. With Ronald.”
CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
The next morning, I was up early and headed into the kitchen to put coffee on. Ida Belle had already texted that she and Gertie were on their way and Gertie was bringing fixings for pancakes. She wanted to make something good for Mariela. I had slept light as a cat the entire night, waking every time Mariela made a noise. And I’d kept getting up to check outside and sure enough, I’d spotted a dark blue Honda Accord cruising my block several times, which could potentially make getting Mariela next door to Ronald’s somewhat difficult, especially since I didn’t think taking a ten-year-old across my roof escape route was a good call.
By the time Gertie had a stack of pancakes going, Mariela came into the kitchen. I’d washed her clothes the night before and left them at the foot of the bed, so she was wearing the same thing, but she’d had a shower and her face had more color in it, which was a good sign. She saw the stack of pancakes on the table and smiled.
“I love pancakes, but we almost never get them.”
“Well, you are welcome to as many as you want to eat,” Gertie said. “I’m making enough for an army. And there’s bacon too.”
I grabbed the bacon from the microwave where it had been keeping warm and put it on the table. Ida Belle got us all plates and silverware and we all dug in. I’d texted Ronald to come over when he was up and mostly awake, and we were almost done with breakfast when he waltzed in the back door. Apparently, ‘mostly awake’ didn’t imply dressed for outside because he was wearing a bright purple robe with a matching sequined sash and feather boa. His feet were clad in furry silver boots.
Mariela took one look at him and was enthralled. “That’s the fanciest outfit I’ve ever seen in person.”
Ronald, who’d stopped short in the middle of the kitchen at the sight of the girl, gave her a big smile. “Oh honey, this old thing? It’s so last season that Gertie was a girl when they released it.”
I was pretty sure Mariela didn’t have a clue what he was talking about, but the theatrics made her giggle.
“Mariela, this is my friend and next-door neighbor, Ronald.” I looked over at Ronald. “Mariela got away from the bad man yesterday, and I need to make sure that neither the man nor the sheriff finds her until all the bad men are caught. I was hoping she could stay with you.”