Li’s chin trembled, but she rubbed a hand over her face, then started speaking, distress spilling from her words. She stopped.
Cady waited for Olive to translate the words that impacted Li so deeply, scooting to the edge of her seat as if it would move Olive along.
Olive shifted to the side, allowing her to look between Mina and Li at the same time. “The women left China with their families because of religious persecution and hoped to make a new home in the United States. They boarded a ship with twenty other people wanting new lives too. Men, women, and children. They were put in a smelly cargo area for the ocean voyage. As they neared our coastline, the men who’d arranged their illegal passage came to them and separated the women from their families.”
Olive stopped to listen again, then she cringed before speaking. “They didn’t dock in the Port of Portland as they were told would happen, but the ship anchored off the coast near this shop. The women were hustled into a charter fishing boat that made its way to shore, where three men with guns waited for them.”
“Can they identify the ship or the fishing boat?” Mina asked.
“Or the men with guns?” Detective Lyons added.
Olive asked the question. Li gave a quick answer.
“The ship was called theRed Dragon Voyager,” Olive said. “But they have no idea who owns it. The charter fishing boat was namedOff The Hook. They’d never seen the men before.”
Nolan paused the video.
Hayden shot a look at the team. “TheRed Dragon Voyageris the ship Percy said was involved in trafficking.”
“Not only that,” Nolan said, “butOff The Hookis the name ofWade Collins’s boat.”
“I need to do a deep dive into theRed Dragon Voyagerto see who owns it,” Hayden said.
Nolan started the video again where Mina was facing Olive. “How many women were there?”
Olive asked the question of Li, then said, “Fifteen.”
“Were all fifteen of the women brought to shore?” Detective Lyons asked.
Olive translated, and Li nodded.
“What happened to the other women?” Mina asked.
Olive relayed the question and Li’s expression tightened.
Olive cringed. “After they were unloaded from the boat, they were marched across the beach toward the cliffs and an idling, run-down van. She knew what was waiting for them and was terrified. She was at the back of the line with her two friends here and wanted to run, but they were surrounded by gunmen. One man walked in front, one to the side, and the last one behind them, leaving no avenue of escape.”
Cady studied Li. Fear emanated from her as if it were a stench permeating the room. Imagine the terror she must’ve felt knowing the terrible future awaiting her. Tears flooded Cady’s eyes, and she had to swallow a sob to keep from drawing attention to herself.
Li continued her story, and Olive sat unwavering until she clutched her arms around her waist and faced Mina. “She said everything changed then. The van had a flat tire, so the man in the middle and the one in the back went to change it while the women were forced to sit in a line. Li still brought up the rear, and she saw movement off to the side. It was a man trying his best to conceal himself. She later learned it was Kai. He waved for her to come join him. She wouldn’t leave her friends behind so gave a slight shake of her head and pointed at her two friends. Kai continued to wave frantically. Li touched her friend’s legs and let them know without speaking that they should slip away when the guard was distracted.”
Oh, my goodness! Cady couldn’t even imagine having to make such a life-threatening decision. Escape with a gun-brandishing man standing over you and risk being shot, or go into slavery. Would Cady be brave enough to risk escaping as Li did? She wasn’t sure what she would do.
Li lifted her shoulders, and her words spilled out in an uncertain cadence.
“One by one, they slipped into the darkness unnoticed,” Olive translated. “Kai raced through the landscape and brought them into a tunnel hidden in large rocks below the cliff. It opened into a tiny cave, the space so small they could barely fit. Barely breathe. He spoke to them in broken Mandarin, telling them they had to wait until the men left, and then he would make sure they were properly taken care of.”
Olive listened again, then glanced back. “They could hear the men outside. Searching, looking hard. Cursing. Demanding. Threatening. They clung together, trying not to make a sound as Kai stood guard at the mouth of their cave. They heard the men say they were leaving, and then the van’s engine rumbled as it took off. Still, Kai kept them in the cave for what seemed like eternity, but was probably more like an hour before he slipped out to check for the men.”
Li sighed and released her tightly clutched hands, and her tone cheered up for the next part of her story.
Olive’s shoulders sagged. “At first, Li didn’t believe they’d been rescued. She doubted Kai all the way to his shop and into this cave. Actually, even beyond that because she feared he’d taken them for his own enjoyment. But he continued to care for them until he could make arrangements for sanctuary. And then he promised he would locate the men who did this and make sure they paid.”
Detective Lyons swiped her fingers under her eye. A tear in the woman who had seemed detached? “Was Kai the only man in this cave?”
Olive asked the questions. “Kai only. They haven’t seen the gunmen since the beach.”
“How long have the women been here?” Mina asked.
