Caribbean Rescue (Coastal Fury Book 16), Matt Lincoln [best book recommendations .txt] 📗

“No, I’m afraid she’s not okay,” Olivia replied gently after a moment of hesitation. “She didn’t survive the trip to the United States. Only Eddy did.”

“No,” the girl gasped as she pressed her hands to her mouth, her eyes immediately welling up with tears. “Don’t say that. Don’t tell me that.”

“I’m sorry,” Olivia replied as the girl started to cry. “Were you and her close?”

“Yeah,” the girl sniffled. “She was really nice. I used to watch Eddy for her sometimes when she was gone with Antonio. You said he’s okay, right?”

“Yes, he’s fine,” Olivia replied hastily. “You just mentioned Antonio. Where would Cat go with him?”

“Oh, I… you don’t know?” The girl looked at her in confusion. “Antonio is Eddy’s dad.”

I felt like a lead weight had fallen into my gut at that bit of information. That piece of remorseless trash was the kid’s father?

“You’re certain about that?” Olivia asked.

“Well, yeah,” the girl scoffed through angry tears. “Why do you think Eddy was allowed to stay around? Cat wasn’t the first to get pregnant, you know. Just usually, we ain’t allowed to keep them. Pregnant girls and babies ain’t good for business.”

It occurred to me suddenly that Antonio’s earlier outburst about her running off with Eddy made more sense now. He wasn’t just angry because she was escaping. He was angry because she was taking off with his kid.

“Ever since Cat got pregnant, she didn’t take no Johns anymore,” the girl continued, her mouth twisted into a disgusted scowl. “Antonio didn’t like sharing. Mostly she just stuck around the house with Eddy until Antonio called for her. Then we’d take turns watching him. We all loved that little boy.”

Several of the other women nodded at her statement. I noticed that a few of them had started crying at some point as well.

“His full name is Edward Jefferson, you know.” She smiled tearfully. “Cat said she wanted him to have a powerful name, the kind of name that important people have. She said ‘Edward’ was the fanciest name for a boy she’d ever heard, and since she didn’t know what her last name was, she chose ‘Jefferson’ for him. Like Thomas Jefferson. She always said that she wanted him to grow up to be somebody. The day she ran off… I knew it was for him. I knew she was just trying to do right by little Eddy.”

“Did you see her the day that she fled?” Olivia asked as the girl started to cry in earnest again.

“Yeah.” The girl nodded as she wiped her eyes dry with the back of her hand. “She almost never left the main house, but Antonio was on guard duty that day, and he wanted her to come, so she came. I didn’t even notice when she left, though. All of a sudden, I just heard Antonio yelling. He was stomping around the bar, screaming her name. Then he ran out the door. We were all so shocked.”

“And that was the last you saw of her?” Olivia asked.

The girl nodded sadly without saying anything.

“Okay,” Olivia replied softly. “We actually spoke with Antonio just yesterday. We have him in custody right now.”

“Jenny told us,” the girl replied. “Thank you for that.”

“It’s my pleasure, believe me,” Olivia scoffed as she slipped her phone out of her pocket. “But I bring it up because he gave us a couple of addresses. I just wanted to confirm with you that he wasn’t lying before we head there. Jenny told us that she wasn’t sure because the men would blindfold you any time you moved, but maybe one of you knows something.”

The girl took the phone from her and stared down at it.

“I’m sorry.” She shook her head slowly. “I’m not sure.”

“Let me see,” Daniela said as she took the phone from the girl. She examined the addresses for just a moment before handing the phone back to Olivia. “They’re correct. At least the one for the house I’m almost certain is right. I know that it’s pretty far toward the southern tip, just off of Lighthouse Road. I’ve been here long enough to know that much. The other address, I’m not sure, though it wouldn’t surprise me. I’ve heard that old bastard Samuel lives in a big, expensive house. The Bajari Beach Club is an expensive tourist area. It would make sense for his house to be there.”

“Thank you,” Olivia replied as she tucked her phone back into her pocket. “One last thing. We’ll likely be executing another mission like the one today. We need to know how many more women are still in the main house, as well as how many men.”

“There are five other girls,” Daniela answered. “They stay behind when they’re on their cycle. They’ll be on the second floor of the house. As for how many men, I’m not sure how many might be there when you arrive.”

“That’s fine,” Olivia replied. “That information is good enough. You’ve all been a huge help, so thank you, everyone. In just a moment, I’m going to make a call to my director and make arrangements so that you all get to wherever you want to be from here. For now, we’ll work something out with the police to get you set up in the same hotel that Jenny was staying in. How does that sound?”

A ripple of chatter broke out among the women at Olivia’s words.

“That will be fine,” Daniela replied for the group. “Thank you, Agent Olivia. And you two, as well.”

I felt a little surprised when she turned to speak to us as well. Olivia had been doing such a good job communicating with them that Holm and I had just decided to keep our mouths shut.

“You don’t have to thank us,” I replied earnestly. “What happened to you should have never happened to begin with. We’re going to do our best to see that you get justice.”

Daniela gave me a small, somber smile in response.

“I’ll come back as soon as I get some news,” Olivia