Stanson just shook his head. “Look, I’m in much the same position as you. The Feds are now involved and we’ve basically been shoved aside. Since they discovered all these girls were illegals they’ve been all over this. And some of them really are young. The youngest is fourteen. She’s been there over a year.”
“Sick bastards,” Tiny spat out.
“Yeah,” Stanson agreed. “Laurenson still isn’t talking, but some of the girls told us there was definitely a big boss, someone Laurenson answered to. They called him Master M. A couple of them saw him, we have a description. Enough to I.D. him.” Stanson nodded at Connor who tapped something on his computer. A couple of photos appeared on the wide screen set up at the end of the room.
“Malcolm O’Keen. Head of the O’Keen family,” Gray said.
“You know him?” Stanson said with surprise.
“I know of him. He’s based in Chicago, though.”
“He’s got ties to Dallas,” Stanson said. “A cousin, Christopher O’Keen.”
“Let me guess, he goes by the name of Cris Laurenson now,” Curt said.
“Got it in one,” Stanson replied. “Laurenson is so arrogant that he made mistakes and he wasn’t always careful about who he talked in front of. Worthington was up to his neck in this. He helped the O’Keens find these women. He told the girls that if they didn’t do exactly what he wanted then he would alert the authorities and their families would be deported. Most of these girls are terrified of the authorities; they would have gone with him quietly.”
“What will happen to those women now?” Cady asked.
Stanson looked tired. “They’ll be reunited with their families. Beyond that, I don’t know.”
Cady couldn’t help but feel furious on their behalf. They’d gone through hell to enable their families to stay in this country and now it could all be for nothing.
“As you already know Connor found an old email between Laurenson and Worthington.” Stanson looked straight at Hunter. “In it they talk about the fact that Angie knew too much. Worthington said he would take care of it.”
Hunter nodded.
He hadn’t slept the night that Connor had found that email. She knew he still blamed himself, thinking that he should have known what was going on with Angie.
She’d tried to convince him otherwise, but she figured he had to work through his guilt, much like she’d had to with Rusty’s death.
“Like I said, Feds have taken this over now. They’ve got Malcolm O’Keen in custody.”
“Let’s hope they’ve got an airtight case, O’Keen is a slippery bastard,” Gray said.
Stanson ran his hand over his face, looking exhausted. They all sat talking for another twenty minutes before Stanson stood up to leave.
Cady cleared her throat as the others went to leave. “Before you all go, I need to talk to you about something.”
“I’ll see myself out,” Stanson said.
Everyone stared at her curiously.
“What’s going on?” Hunter asked her.
She reached around and grabbed the bag she’d brought in. She dragged out the envelope and spread the photos out of the desk where everyone could see them.
Hunter stiffened beside her. “What the fuck are these?” he asked.
“Nine days ago, I went to my apartment to grab the mail. This envelope was there and these photos were in it.”
“And I’m only just hearing about this now because…” Hunter said, glaring at her with cold eyes.
Cady swallowed heavily. “I was going to tell you right away, but it was the same day you stormed The House. Then, well, the moment never seemed to be right.”
Jaron whistled. “Someone’s stalking you.”
Gray cleared his throat, turning their attention to him. “Do you have any idea who might have taken these photos, Cady?”