Chapter 35

THIRTY-FIVE

FRIDAY

Rattlesnake Creek

After working out with Styles and Carter, Beth staggered into the shower. Man, those two were intense. The testosterone in the gym was overpowering, each man wanting to show her new moves. The last thing her bruised ribs needed was two overenthusiastic instructors. Anyway, the workout had actually helped her stiff muscles and the hot shower soon made her feel ready for the day. It had surprised her how easily she'd slipped into the workout routine with Styles. Keeping in shape was essential in her job and she'd always trained alone, enjoying long runs with time to think, but the runs during the cold months just weren't practical. They hurt her lungs way too much. She'd dressed and finished drying her hair when her phone buzzed. It was Kalo and she accepted the video call. "You're up early. I assume you don't work out?"

"When Carter's not around, I let it slide." Kalo grinned. "He treats me like I'm a Navy recruit. I get seasick going on a ferry." He chuckled. "The reason I called is that I've located a family that used one of the agencies to adopt one of Shoebridge's kids. As luck would have it, I followed up on a kid my age on an adoption DNA site and we chatted. I asked where he came from as I was trying to find other siblings. He asked his mom and she told him. She mentioned it wasn't around anymore, but she had the bank account numbers for the transfer of funds and wondered if I could trace the Company owners from there."

Heart racing with anticipation, Beth gripped the phone. "Don't keep me in suspense. What did you find?"

"I found them. Well, I found the group." Kalo's chair squeaked as he moved around. "Man, when they started this racket, they were green. I followed the money. They left a trace when they moved funds offshore. It was a stupid mistake to use an intermediary bank. I used the account number and traced it all over the world. It led to a Bitcoin wallet, sitting out as plain as day. And… it's active and is part of a distribution network. So I followed the money again. Funds were provided for a setup for a company." He grinned at her through the phone. " Long story short, they opened an agency in Helena six months ago. The Big Hearts Adoption Agency. It's by appointment only. I'll send you their details."

Grinning, Beth looked at him. "You are a genius. I'll get onto this right away. I'm thinking money talks, so I'll offer them double just to get an appointment. We'll see how we go." She looked at him. "Send me everything you have on the Bitcoin folder. I'll fake a deposit. I'll need it set up ahead of time."

"You got it." He gave her a long look. "We can't risk encrypted files. I'll forward you invoices for office consumables. I'll add all the info you need to the barcode on the end of the page. It will read using your fingerprint scanner. I adapted them for just this use a few months ago."

Astonished, Beth shook her head. "You never cease to amaze me. I'll give you a heads-up when I make the deposit."

"I'll follow the money trail. It's all on the dark web. It looks legit until you get into the webpage and pull it apart." Kalo's expression turned serious. "This is a massive organization. I know you have Jo and Carter with you, but take care out there now. I don't want to end up running the Snakeskin field office alone."

Beth shook her head. "Don't worry about me. I have Styles to watch my back as well. Thanks for the info. Catch you later." She disconnected and grabbing her jacket headed to the elevator to the office.

Of course Styles was there. He'd already been to TJ's to collect breakfast. They'd decided the night before to grab takeout and eat in the office while they planned the next steps. She went to peer into the bags and grabbed a pastry. Beside her, Styles filled a cup with coffee and slid it toward her. She looked at him. "Thanks. Kalo called just before. We have a lead to an adoption agency out at Helena. This is really happening. We're going to break this ring. Our plans are finally falling into place."

"Whoa." Styles turned to look at her cup in hand. "Not so fast." His brow furrowed. "This is going to take careful planning. First up, we wait for Carter to get here. Being an ex-Navy SEAL, he is very good at strategy. I figure we'll need him to make the call to the adoption agency as well."

Beth folded her arms across her chest and stared at him. "Going undercover is my specialty and I won't have Carter telling me what to do in the field. We're equals here."

"Do I hear my name being spoken in vain?" Carter pushed through the door to the office and looked from one to the other, eyebrows raised. "I have no intention of telling you what to do."

Trying to keep her temper under control, Beth glared at him. "Styles was implying that I wouldn't be able to organize an undercover mission."

"Ah, well I've run a lot of missions in my day. Being a SEAL it comes with the territory." Carter smiled but Zorro's attention was on Beth. The dog lifted his gums, showing his sharp canines, and a low growl rumbled from his chest. Carter didn't move to instruct his dog. His green eyes had fixed on Beth with an interested expression. "Maybe we should discuss some details of this mission you need to deploy, before we fight over who has the best skills?"

To Beth's surprise, Bear, as calm as you like, just walked in front of her and sat down. His large body leaned against her knees with a "you have to get through me first" attitude. She put a hand on his head. Both dogs had felt her aggression and had taken different stances. She turned back to the counter and retrieved her breakfast items. "I guess we can discuss this over breakfast." She sat down at the table Carter and Jo had been using for a desk. Beside her, Bear rested his head on her lap and his big brown eyes searched her face. "It's okay, boy. I'm fine."

"I'm sorry if I gave you the impression that I believed Carter to be more knowledgeable than you when it came to undercover missions." Styles placed his coffee cup on the table and regarded her closely before sitting down. He opened a large box of donuts and selected one with pink frosting. "Do you like donuts, Jo?"

"I like them just fine, but I think a croissant would be better." Jo placed one on a plate and spread it with butter and strawberry jelly. "Now what's got you two so hot under the collar?"

Beth explained the call from Kalo. "I'm not planning on jumping in boots and all. I do know we have to discuss the plans on how to catch these guys in the act. We literally have nothing on paper. Ava is our only real witness and at twelve years old, her testimony is hardly going to stand up in court. Ginny refuses to say one bad word against Shoebridge. If that's his name. At this point in time we have no idea. This organization is better than witness protection. I've been scouring the internet, and once they leave a town they vanish forever. Seems the only thing they leave behind is the DNA in their progeny and we have no idea how many men or young people are involved in the baby rackets. We assume it must be hundreds, but it could be thousands as we know they've been doing this for years." She took a deep breath and looked around at the table at the faces staring at her. "We have no idea how many murders have been committed to keep their secret. We're dealing with not only the biggest pedophile ring in the country, but it's run by a serial killer of the highest degree. We don't know if he is actually killing the people personally or he's paying people to do the deed. Whatever, he is equally responsible for the deaths of people who came a little too close to discovering the truth."

"Okay, I can understand why you're concerned that Styles and I might be a little bit heavy-handed when it comes to dealing with adoption agencies." Carter opened his hands. "The thing is, we've both had a lot of experience in extremely delicate situations. Going into enemy territory to take out a target or to rescue a friendly takes a lot of skill and this isn't really much different. It all comes down to meticulous planning."

"When you went undercover, Beth, you had an entire team planning your every move." Styles gave her a compassionate stare. "Months of planning would have gone in before they risked your life. This is no different. The only thing is we haven't got months to plan if we intend to locate Shiloh before anything happens to her."

"So we split the workload and come to an agreeable mission plan." Carter reached for a donut and took a bite. He looked at her. "There isn't another option, Beth."