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“Youagreed,” Jade amended.
“…Is because I too hate to see shit on this nasty, inconceivable scale happening. When I was a part of the police, I dealt with alotof human trafficking cases. Week after week I had to console women and children that they weren’t really caught between a rock and a hard place. Just because they were being deported, arrested, whatever, didn’t mean that the lives they were living before were somehow better. Part of the reason I got out was because I kept seeing too much shit with my own eyes. I didn’t want to become so desensitized that I lost my own humanity. Because the FBI didn’t help with that, either. Especially doing undercover work… I only did it for so long because I can compartmentalize well.”
“The amount of evidence the FBI has to have for someone like Candace Lister,” Jade said, “is astronomical. Obviously, we are not privy to how much they have yet, but Candace showed how well we’re all doing when she sent that poor girl home with you and Richards. We didn’t get any of it on recording, but we haveherwitness testimony now.”
That was something else making Mitch more than uncomfortable. “We were told that if we did this well enough, Lister would have no idea we were there undercover even after being arrested. Shit. We don’t want to have to go back into hiding.”
Stella pulled down her feet and slapped the table with her hand. “I bet it all comes crashing down on her soon enough.”
Not soon enough.Mitch had to find a way to end this. Now.
Marcela had to return to Candace’s house the day after Christmas. Mitch and Vanessa drove her themselves, and Mitch insisted on escorting her up to the door, where an older maid with a stoic expression answered.
“Ms. Lister trusts that everything went well,” the maid gruffly said.
“Is Ms. Lister in right now?” Mitch asked.
The maid bowed her brow. “No. She is out of the country through the weekend, at least.”
Marcela showed herself inside the house. She did not look back at Mitch, who could only silently wish her the best.
I’m sorry.
“If you can remember,” Mitch said before stepping away from the door, “tell Ms. Lister that I would love to see her. Personally.”
She returned to the car, where Vanessa still sat in the back seat.
“Let’s go somewhere nice,” Vanessa said, rain pattering against the windows. “I wonder what’s playing at the movies.”
Mitch was not in the mood for a date, but she also didn’t say no. Deep down, she knew the benefit of forgetting about the world for a while.
Mitch didn’t hear from Thalia. Which didn’t concern her at first, since it was the week of Christmas, and even Thalia had some time off to spend with whatever family she had in the area.
Still, she decided to text Thalia to check in with her. What Mitch did not expect was to get one back late Thursday night.
“Sorry, I’m not in town! You’ll never guess where I am! THAILAND!!! WITH MS LISTER!! SHE TOOK ME WITH HER!!!! <3”
Mitch, who had been winding down for bed, could only stare at her phone in shock.
“What?”
She continued to watch her texting app for a few minutes, not wanting to miss the reply. Yet when it was apparent that Thalia wasn’t going to respond on time, Mitch got off the couch and poured herself some soda from the kitchen fridge.
She nearly leaped out of her skin when WhatsApp rang her for a voice call.
“Oh my God!” Thalia squealed over the line. “You’ll never believe what’s happened to me since last weekend!”
Mitch braced herself against the island counter, all of the blinds drawn on the kitchen windows and only the dim setting of the wall nightlight showing her where her glass of soda was. “Sounds like good news?” she tentatively asked. “What time is it there?”
“Early afternoon. Ms. Lister went out to do some business and I’m sitting by thisamazingpool at this resort near the ocean. My God, Michelle, you’ve never seen anything like it! I’d send you a picture, but Ms. Lister forbade me from sending pictures to anyone I know. She says she has to keep the location secret, otherwise all of her competitors will be staying near this town to do international business.”
Do you really believe that?“This must be a dream come true for you…”
Thalia’s excited giggles would have amused Mitch, even this late at night, but she knew the truth about Candace. A truth that Thalia either willfully ignored for her own gain or was so blind to that Mitch could only feel sorry for her.
“I wasn’t expecting it, that’s for sure! She asked me back to her placethat night.You know, at the club. After everyone left and I was helping clean up, she told me I’d been doing such a great job and standing out. I thought she was being nice, or maybe gearing me up for a financial bonus, but then…”
“Then?”
