Page 41 of Hawk

“Thought she was?” I shook my head. “She was. That’s brilliant. Is the food any good?”

“Best sandwiches in town. We eat there a lot. Are you hungry?”

It was lunchtime, but my stomach was a little queasy, so I didn’t think I could eat right now. I told him so, and he nodded. “You’re still in fight-or-flight mode so that makes sense. It’ll wear off here in a bit, and you’ll be able to eat then.”

We walked on past the bistro and into the building. He waved at a woman who sat behind the front desk, and she waved back. When we got in the elevator, he pressed his thumb to the panel right above the spot where you selected your floor, then he pressed the button for the seventh floor.

“You have to use your thumbprint to work the elevator? That’s fancy.”

“I’ll be sure and tell Wolfe you think so. That was his idea. If you work here, you use a thumbprint. For more temporary access, we issue cards that can be tracked,” he explained.

A minute later, the door opened up to a huge room that was filled with computers and television screens. I looked around, amazed by the setup. This was some seriously high-tech stuff. “Oh wow, this looks like a military command center.”

“Well, we are all former military. But we call it our ops center, not command center. Come on in and meet everyone.”

I followed him across the room to where a woman was sitting. She was staring at a screen while her fingers flew across the keyboard. She looked up as we approached and smiled at me.

“Mika, this is Kat. She’s the one who found you when your panic button went off.”

“I’m just glad you’re okay,” Kat said. “I’m sorry to say that we didn’t catch the guy who tried to grab you, though. When Maddox got there, he was long gone, and I was focused on getting Hawk to you, so I didn’t see him leave. I didn’t even get a license plate so we could find out who he was.”

“Oh, you don’t need a license plate. I know who he was. He goes by Snake, and he’s a member of the Iron Jackals motorcycle club.”

“Do you know his legal name?” Hawk asked.

I shook my head, but before I could say no, Kat spoke. “Gerald Collins. Fifty-four. Born in Deming, New Mexico.”

“How did you do that?” I asked.

“I told you she’s good.” Hawk pulled a chair over from across the room and motioned for me to sit. “Now let’s go back to what you were telling me about the Iron Jackals before that asshole tried to grab Mika.”

Kat tapped a few keys, and her screen lit up with all kinds of information. “So, they were working security for some guys in New Mexico who got arrested in a human trafficking sting. The authorities didn’t find any evidence that tied the Jackals to the actual ring, and they weren’t charged, but according to the officer who was in charge, he thought they were more involved than they let on.”

“I can’t believe they let them go if they were mixed up in something like that,” I said. “They had the local law in their pocket, but if this was a human trafficking ring, the locals wouldn’t have been in charge, right? Like, that’s a much bigger deal than city police.”

Hawk and Kat exchanged a glance, and Kat nodded. “It is. I checked every open warrant, federal indictment, and sealed filing I could get my hands on. And I’m telling you, there’s nothing. Either they weren’t actually involved… or someone high up doesn’t want anyone to know they’re watching them. My money’s on the second. I think I better give Chance a call.”

“Chance Kelly is an old friend of Wolfe’s. He’s an FBI agent, and we’ve worked with him before,” Hawk explained.

“Human trafficking?” I shook my head. “I knew they were into some bad stuff, but nothing like that.”

I flashed back to the phone call with Snake and Butch. “But you don’t think that’s going on here, do you? Not in a place like Vesper.”

Kat shrugged. “Human trafficking has become a problem all over, and often, they pick smaller cities like Vesper to target. They have smaller police forces, and people tend to be less on guard in towns where they feel safe.”

I looked at Hawk. “Snake said something in that alley. I don’t know if it means anything or not, though.”

“What did he say?” he asked.

“He asked Butch if he should bring me to him or put me with the others. I don’t know what others he was talking about, but now I can’t help but wonder. What if they have a bunch of people being held against their will?”

“I don’t know, mouse. But we’re gonna find out.” Hawk looked at Kat. “I’m going to take Mika up to my place for a little bit. Can you make him a card that’ll give him access to the tenth floor?”

“Sure. Give me just a second.” She went to work on the computer, and I turned to Hawk.

“We’re going up to your condo?” I asked.

“We are. You’ve had quite a morning, and any minute, that adrenaline’s gonna wear off, and you’re gonna crash. I want to make sure you’re safe and comfortable when that happens.”

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