Page 38 of The Missing Couple

She nodded. “You’re right. They wouldn’t have wanted us to live in the past. But I will never forget and I will never give up on finding something so I do a little research now and then. Whenever there is a case anywhere near here that has similarities to theirs, I look into it. I follow the social media pages of several people who went to prison because of my father.” She shrugged. “I watch and I listen. Right now, that’s the best I can do.”

“I’ll say it again,” he said, smiling, “you missed your calling, Charly Nix.”

She did a little eye roll. “You want tea or water? Or coke? I’m fresh out of beer.”

“How about some of that sweet tea you Southerners love so much?”

“Hey.” She reached into the fridge. “We all have our vices.”

Salads and glasses of tea on the table, they settled and dug in. For a while they ate without talking. It had been a long day. Billie thought about that note and tried piecing it into the puzzle he was putting together about Briana’s and Martin’s disappearances. The note was clearly a warning about digging into the other missing women, which meant that the note was connected…somehow to Briana and Martin. There was no other conclusion to reach.

“The way I see it,” Charly said after finishing off half her salad, “only one of a very small number of people could have left that warning.”

“Kerrick Rogers,” he suggested.

“Or his mother,” Charly countered. “Sheriff Malone. The only other people we discussed the subject with are Rob Decker and Paul Grant. We’d just left Paul’s home and driven straight here so I don’t think he would have had time to be the one. I can’t see Rob having any reason to be involved.”

“Kerrick could have called whoever he works with—assuming he’s involved with the disappearances,” Billie suggested. “That person may have left the note.”

Charly nodded. “That’s a possibility. I don’t think he would be the primary person running any sort of operation involving…”

She didn’t say the rest but they both recognized what they were talking about.

“Human trafficking,” Billie said the words that had been twisting in his gut since he heard the news. “That’s what we’re looking at here. The ones like the nine we’ve looked at are special orders for specific customers.”

“The blond hair and blue eyes, pale skin,” Charly said, her tone showing her distaste at the prospect. “That’s how you found a pattern.”

“Right.” Billie pushed the remainder of his salad aside. Talking about this and eating just didn’t work. “There are all sorts of requests, as you can imagine. From coloring to age. Height and weight. Even education and employment.”

Charly squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. “What kind of person does this?” She held up a hand. “I know, I just mean it’s unfathomable to me.”

“It’s horrific.” The thought of Briana being snatched and sold like some sort of retail item ripped his insides like a knife thrusting and then twisting in his gut.

Charly pressed a hand to her throat. “I’m sorry. I haven’t even asked how your parents are doing. I’m sure they’re beside themselves. And Martin’s parents.”

Billie scrubbed a hand over his jaw. “There hasn’t really been a good time,” he pointed out. The two of them hadn’t talked about his family until now. When he’d first arrived, sharing information with a stranger was the last thing he’d wanted to do, but Charly wasn’t a stranger anymore.

“True,” she agreed.

“For my family,” he explained, “this is the worst time something like this could happen. Our father is dying. He has MS. His condition started to deteriorate even more rapidly earlier this year, which was why Briana pushed up her wedding date from September to July. She wanted him to be there. We all did. With his condition continuing to deteriorate so rapidly, Mother can’t leave him. Otherwise, she would be here.”

“I am so sorry.” Charly pressed her fingers to her lips for a moment. “This truly is a nightmare on multiple levels for you and your family.”

He tried to smile, failed. “It hasn’t been a good year for sure—other than Briana’s wedding.”

Charly squared her shoulders. “We have to find them.” Something like outrage bloomed on her face. “Tomorrow,” she declared, “we are going to follow Kerrick Rogers until we catch him alone and we’re going to—”

“Talk to him,” Billie interjected.

She gave a little shrug. “Knowing Kerrick it might take a little extra incentive.”

Billie laughed. “I’m sure you mean like the offer of money.”

She blinked. “Well, yeah, sure.” She laughed then. “No, that is not what I mean. I mean…” She shook her head. “Sorry. My father would be ashamed of me suggesting that we torture the truth out of the guy.”

Billie cut her some slack. “Don’t think I haven’t toyed with the idea.” He would love to beat the hell out of whoever was responsible for Briana’s and Martin’s abductions.

“That makes me feel less like a bad person,” she admitted. “But I can’t promise I won’t punch Kerrick if he even hints at the idea he had anything to do with this.”