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She had thought at that moment that he'd known about her earlier raid, the one where she'd freed the blond woman two days ago. That word had spread. But now, she was wondering if he’d meant something different.
She hoped the stolen computer, or the files, would provide the answers to the questions that now burned in her mind.
CHAPTER THIRTY THREE
"So, in the past year, they've lost four different men," Cora said.
Back in the hotel room, she and Gabe were huddled together on the bed, on their stomachs and elbows, checking out the stolen computer.
"Four different men, in separate incidents. And they've lost eight women who've been taken from the different sites by someone unknown and presumably freed," Gabe agreed.
"It says here, in this email, that they've been bleeding money and their profits have taken a knock. They've had to move premises twice. They've lost some of their best recruiters in random murder incidents. From the email that Rodic was writing, the brothel we raided was their last profitable arm of the business, the last one that was still in full operation and under high security, with the last good recruiter."
"Until we came along," Gabe said. “Now they don’t have any.”
Cora felt certain that her hunch was correct.
"Gabe, I think it's Rose. I think she’s doing this."
He stared at her, eyes wide. "What? You sure, Cora?" He paused. "Look, I don't want for you to start hoping and to find down the line that all you get is disappointment. I know it's a comforting thought, But do you really think it's true?"
"It was the way he looked at me," she said. "The way he said, 'You, again?' It was not just as if he knew about me from before; it was as if he'd seen me before. And Rose and I are very similar. We're like twins - or we used to be."
She could see Gabe thinking hard about what she'd said.
"So you reckon she escaped?"
"Yes. I reckon she escaped. I reckon she learned a lot when she was with Mario. He was a mob worker. He would have taught Rose a huge amount about survival and weapons. I'm sure he knew that she needed to know those things." Cora paused. Her mind was racing frantically.
"It's the hints of her that we're seeing. Like when someone's behind a tree, and you see a shadow there? Someone's working behind the scenes. Someone's been eroding their personnel and slowly destroying their setup. It's her. I'm sure of it."
"I see there are references to 'the woman' in some of the emails talking about the killings and the problems," Gabe said thoughtfully. "But there are no records of who's who and where in the setup. No descriptions of the women. So there's no way of tracking if she did escape."
Cora shook her head. "I know she did. I know she's out there. I can feel it. She's doing exactly what I would do. She's working to free the women, and she's staying deep undercover."
"Why wouldn't she have called, messaged, gotten in contact with you by now?" Gabe asked.
Cora thought about that. "I think she might feel ashamed, too," she said. "Because her life went so wrong. Ever since - ever since she was abducted. Being taken by an older man. Escaping with a Mob worker. Then being trafficked. How would you go back to your old life after that? After everything that happened? I think she chose to move on instead. She's a different person now. But she's still alive. I know it."
Gabe nodded thoughtfully. "I guess you're right. So, how do we go about finding her?"
"I don't know," Cora said. "I don't know if she even wants to be found. If she did, then she'd have gotten in touch. She's had the chance to do that. My parents still live in the same place; they have the same phone number. My details are online. She could look them up."
"But she hasn't," Gabe said.
"No," Cora agreed. "She hasn't. But there's one thing she might need help with."
"What's that?" Gabe asked.
"Getting rid of all the traffickers who captured her and brought her here," Cora replied. "The ones who took her and made her go through all of this. Some of them are still here, Gabe. One escaped just now. And they're dangerous. There’s still work to do. Still, a few of them at large who'll try to get things going again. If she's going to be truly free, she needs to take them down."
Gabe nodded. "And you want to help her do that?"
Cora looked at him seriously. "Yes," she said. "I do. I owe her that much."
Gabe smiled. "Well, then. We'll do it together. But it might be a long job. Not quick. So, when?"
"Whenever we have time," Cora said. "When we have a chance. We have two stolen guns. We can stash them somewhere safe. We have a bunch of cash to use. So, whenever we can, we come back here. We target the trafficking nodes. We do exactly what Rose is doing. We help eradicate this slowly. One bad guy at a time, one bad place at a time."
