Chapter 18

EIGHTEEN

Locked inside an interrogation room, Styles held his pounding head in his hands. His muscles ached from the fight. The intruders had known exactly how to do the most damage with the least effort. Who were they and why were they attacking him and Beth? He needed desperately to speak to the man that they had arrested on scene. He wanted answers and couldn't do anything while they had him locked in this room as a suspect in a multiple homicide. The men had all been dressed similarly in black and carried knives rather than guns, which led him to the conclusion that they had intended to get in and out of the motel rooms as fast as possible without being seen or heard. Why had someone sent five trained assassins to the motel to kill them?

His thoughts went to Beth and he slammed the table with his fist. The case had been a mental torment for her from the start and now this. Right now she needed his support. She had taken down four armed intruders and each time, he'd heard her clearly calling out that she was an FBI agent and intended to shoot. She had saved his life and now she was somewhere in this building alone and in shock. He had given his statement to the local sheriff and was informed that they had contacted the FBI to inform them of the incident in their town. That had been hours ago and he'd been sitting here cooling his heels without any idea of what was happening. It had been a righteous kill and the local law enforcement had no right to be holding them. The worst part of all of it is that they'd taken Bear. His dog would be beside himself.

A key turned in the lock and the door swung open to reveal Agent Ty Carter and Agent Jo Wells, a behavioral analyst from Snakeskin Gully. Behind them came Zorro, Carter's dog, and then Bear rushed into the room, almost knocking him from the chair. To his surprise, Carter carried a four-pack of to-go coffee and a takeout bag of sandwiches. Styles looked from one to the other and smiled. "I'm sure glad to see you. I've been unlawfully stuck in this room for the last six hours. Thanks for finding Bear." He rubbed the dog's head.

"Here. Clean up a bit." Jo handed him a packet of wipes. "You've blood on your face and arms. Then I suggest you eat something. You look like shit."

Taking the wipes, Styles nodded. "Thank you, I appreciate it. They allowed me to go to the bathroom, but I wasn't allowed to clean off the blood."

Once he'd cleaned up, he reached for the coffee. "Have you seen Beth?"

"Yeah, we've spoken to her, and we've been out to the crime scene and run through your statements. We wouldn't allow anyone to touch the bodies or anything else until Wolfe had processed the crime scene. Hence the delay." Carter pulled out a chair and sat down. "The director called us at about four this morning and we've been on the case ever since."

Styles bit into an egg salad sandwich and washed it down with a mouthful of coffee. "Is Beth okay?"

"We've determined it was a righteous shoot. Beth seems a little distant, but I believe she's okay to continue working on the case." Jo took a cup of coffee out of the cardboard carrier and took a sip. "I consider it to be a natural reaction after killing four men. Wolfe has examined her as well and she doesn't seem to be carrying any substantial injuries. He'll be dropping by to see you very shortly."

Styles frowned. "Beth didn't kill four men. She shot three as far as I know. I threw one of them out of the window and he broke his neck when he hit the ground. If she hadn't come into the room when she did, I would be lying on the floor of that motel room with my throat slit. She saved my life. In my opinion, it took incredible mental strength and guts to pull the trigger. It was a split-second decision that required absolute accuracy and she pulled it off. She should get a medal."

"That's not the problem." Carter moved a toothpick across his lips and leaned back in the chair with a sigh. "The director wants to know how going to find your missing sister has escalated into a case of epic proportions. Last night, Beth forwarded the images and media files that you discovered and switchboards have lit up all over town. It's all hands on deck to discover who these kids are and where they're keeping them."

Styles finished a second pack of sandwiches and reached for another cup of coffee. "That was the intention. I hope he didn't expect us to hunt down all those children ourselves."

"Nope, he is more interested in the five men who tried to kill you last night." Carter met his gaze. "You see, according to all the records that we have at our disposal, those men don't exist. The intruder we took into custody isn't saying a word. He was taken to County about an hour ago and is on suicide watch. We figure the moment he's left alone he'll try and take his own life."

"We're hoping he'll try and deal his way out of trouble." Jo crossed her legs and leaned back in her chair. "He's refused a lawyer. In fact, he's saying nothing at all. We don't even know if he speaks English."

Surprised, Styles viewed her over the rim of his to-go cup. "They were speaking English well enough when they were threatening to cut my throat. You do know why they're after us, don't you?"

"Do tell." Carter spread his hands wide. "That's why we're here."

Running both hands through his hair, Styles leaned back in his chair and yawned explosively. "The guy who took Ginny and the local doctor are involved in a pedophile ring that spreads at least across the state, more likely the entire country. Beth believes that if we get involved it will stir up an ant's nest. The last thing they want is for the FBI to be aware of them. What Beth wanted to do was to hack into their files and leave a subtle trace behind so that they could track her down." He shrugged. "Although, last night's attack was a complete surprise."

"What? You planned for them to murder you in your sleep?" Carter raised both eyebrows. "That sounds a little extreme."

Lack of sleep dragged at Styles and slowed down his mental acuity. The coffee helped some, but in truth, arguing with Carter wasn't on the top of his list. "No. As far as I'm aware, Beth hasn't got into their files yet, so that part of the plan hasn't been executed. It seems to me that just finding Ginny and Ava was enough for them to send in the goons. They sure as heck got the main players out of town fast. We were hunting them down from the moment we found Ginny. They obviously had an escape plan set up well in advance, which makes us believe that they are a very small part of a huge organization. Now you tell me that the men attacked us don't exist. Makes the entire case all the more intriguing."

"Yeah." Carter stared at him. "You've stumbled into a pedophile ring with assassins who are expendable. I'd say, we might be talking about a worldwide organization. And if it is, they won't stop until they've killed you."

Styles took another long gulp of coffee and let out a sigh. "Their knowledge of the FBI is seriously lacking if they believe this all stops with us, and that's going to be their downfall. It seems to me they have no idea that we've already dispersed all the information and that killing us will get them nowhere." He ran a hand down his face and looked at Carter. "What information did you get from the director? Does he want us to continue with the case, or do I have to contact him and get new orders?"

"He is aware that Beth was a little unstable after the homicide she was involved in in DC." Jo gave him a direct stare. "He wants to know if she is capable of continuing. Wolfe and I both gave her the equivalent of a psych test, and as it was only hours after the event and she was very stressed from lack of sleep, she passed it with ease. When I asked her what was troubling her about the case, she continually asked me how you were doing. When I pushed her to concentrate on the case, she told me she was wasting time sitting in an interrogation room rather than being out on the streets preventing pedophiles from molesting children."

Styles smiled and rolled his shoulders. "That's Beth. Her mind is on the job twenty-four/seven. I've seen her work most of the night digging into files to discover perps. You have absolutely no idea how dedicated she is to her job. Sitting on her hands now, while kids are in danger, must be driving her insane."

"Like I said before, she's fine to get back to work." Jo smiled. "In my opinion, so are you, as long as Wolfe passes you as fit. You look a little banged up to me."

"That's nothing to worry about. It's all in a day's work for guys like us, right, Styles?" Carter grinned around his toothpick. "Like us, they both need a solid eight hours and we'll all be good to go." He stood. "I'll speak to the director and sign the necessary paperwork to get you out of here as soon as possible."

Nodding, Styles ran the case through his mind. "Any trace of Shoebridge or the doctor? He has a child living with him."

"No sign of either of them. It seems they vanished into thin air. We looked into the girl you mentioned, and apparently he adopted a young girl a year ago." Carter frowned. "Do you figure he's abusing her as well?"

Anger welling, Styles stared at him. "This doctor organizes illegal adoptions. No one checks on the kids. He could be swapping them out regularly, for all we know. He has a judge in his pocket for sure to push through the adoptions. We have reason to believe he's the doctor involved in a baby-selling racket. From what Ginny told me, he's taken four of her babies at birth. He told her they'd died." He punched the palm of his hand.

"Okay, calm down." Carter frowned. "We're working on it."

Not happy with the situation, Styles stood. "I want to see Beth."

"Sure, grab your coffee and sandwiches and we'll take you to her." Carter banged on the door and a deputy opened it. "We've booked you rooms at the same hotel as us. It's just across the road. Get some rest. We've taken your things there and returned the SUV. I'll drop you by the fire station first thing so you can get back to Rattlesnake Creek. We'll be staying to clean up the mess, but if you need any help, just call."

"You don't need to worry about the case involving your sister." Jo smiled at him. "I was able to speak to Ava and she is doing fine. Wolfe has collected blood samples from her and Ginny to determine what concoction of drugs they had been fed over what period of time. Your sister, unfortunately, will not roll over on Shoebridge. She has compartmentalized the abuse and now is living outside of the box. What she sees is ‘normal,' although it hasn't affected her caring for Billy. Her lawyer allowed her to speak to a social worker about keeping her son and she made all the normal responses of a loving mother but refused to speak about anything else whatsoever. Ava, on the other hand, gave us some information but not enough to use against him. One time after Shoebridge argued with Ginny, Ava was taken to the house for a week or so while Ginny cooled her heels in the root cellar. It was his normal punishment for her if she complained. Ava was left alone in the house for hours when Shoebridge was at work and did a great deal of snooping. She discovered Shoebridge's go bag hidden under the floorboards in the main bedroom. Although she is young, she's astute enough to understand that people do not have driver's licenses and other documentation in a number of names."

Interested, Styles stopped in the passageway and stared at her. "Did she recall any names?"

"She said they all began with E." Jo smiled at him. "The one on the top of the pile was Evan something."

"I guess that's in case he makes a mistake signing something." Carter followed behind them. "It's easier to cover up a slip if the name is similar." He indicated to the door on the left. "Beth's inside. We'll go and spring you from this joint. We won't be long."

Styles handed the coffee and sandwiches to Carter, turned, and picked up a chair outside the room. He pushed open the door and wedged it open with the chair. He looked at him. "I don't appreciate being locked in a room." He took the coffee and sandwiches. "Thanks, I appreciate it."

"My pleasure." Carter followed Jo along the passageway. "Don't kill anyone while I'm gone."