AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Chris hit his intercom. “Hold my calls, Heather.”
“Yes, sir.”
Chris gestured to the chair across from him. “Would you like a drink?”
“No thanks,” Mark Zeller replied, taking a seat and dropping a file folder on the desktop. “Let’s get right to it. What made you call about Nico Amorosi?”
“One of my operatives came to me. The sister of his friend is supposedly involved with him, and she’s not communicating with family or friends. They’re worried.”
“Involved how?”
“She claims she’s engaged to him.”
Mark sighed. “I was afraid of that.”
“Tell me what you can.”
“We’ve been investigating Amorosi.”
“For what? Can you say?”
“He’s suspected of human trafficking, but we haven’t been able to pin it on him.”
“Human trafficking? Women?”
Mark nodded. “The word is he holds private auctions, but none of our team have been able to get close.”
“Wow.”
“Every undercover agent we’ve tried, he turns away. I swear he knows every person in the FBI, ATF, etc. I’m afraid we have a mole in the department somewhere. I suspect someone is tipping him off. That’s why I didn’t want to talk over the phone.”
“Right. I noticed as soon as I dropped his name, you shut me down. Then when I got a call from your wife saying you’d be late for our lunch meeting, I knew that was code for you’d be flying in to meet me. I knew I’d hit on something.”
“Sorry, I had to involve Kathy that way, but I knew you’d understand the message.”
“Of course.”
“This guy is smart, and not someone to underestimate. If this girl is under his control, it’s not going to end well for her.”
“What else do you know?”
“He works with a woman named Giselle Patrick. We think he uses her to befriend the women and then introduce them to him. He takes an interest, they fall under his spell, and once he has their trust, he gains control of them, separates them from family and friends. Then they seem to disappear.”
“The auctions?”
Mark nodded. “Like I said, we haven’t been successful in getting access.”
Chris ran a hand down his face. “If we were to get a man in, where would we go?”
“Look, Chris, the department can’t have anything to do with that.”
“Understood.” They exchanged a long look. Finally, Mark slid a photo and a piece of paper out of the file folder and stood. “Where’s your restroom?”
Chris pointed to the door in the corner.
“Excuse me a moment.”
Mark left the room, and Chris wasted no time pulling his phone out and taking a picture of the document and photo. Then he studied the document. It contained information on how to obtain an invitation to the auction.
