Page 41 of Unraveled Love

I shrugged. I really had no idea, but the coincidence of them being members of Elusive, which was two hours from where Matthew lived, was too coincidental to be ignored. “Matthew Johannsen sells girls. We know the Mancussos do auctions of them in New York…”

“Auctions?” Addi gasped, and I cringed. I hadn’t seen the point in sharing that with her, and the way her face paled now, I wished I would have kept my mouth shut.

“Auctions,” Briggs confirmed. “They steal girls, young ones—virgins, to be exact, or at least they hope—and then they sell them off to the highest bidder.” He gave me a look. “And I wouldn’t doubt for one second that it’s all connected, not if Banks is giving the guy a few million dollars to help Bancroft represent Matthew when he has the money to give. We’re guessing here, but it makes sense. Our North Carolina senator wants to ensure Bancroft gets him off. He’s obviously motivated to do that anyway, but Banks pays him extra to ensure his name is kept out of anything found by an investigation?”

It was all too messy to believe, too much of a shitshow with powerful men in powerful places.

Mason dipped his chin toward Addi, getting her attention. “You said Bancroft sounded familiar?”

“Yeah.” Her brows knitted together and she frowned. “It does, but I can’t place it.”

He spun his laptop to face her. “Does he look familiar? You ever seen him anywhere?”

On the screen was Roger Bancroft. With graying hair at his temples, he looked to be in his fifties and had taken care of his appearance and physique. Two pictures were on the screen, one a professional headshot of him wearing a black suit, a white dress shirt, and a maroon tie from his law firm’s website, and the other was him in dress slacks and a polo shirt, ready to tee off. The caption beneath that one said it was taken at a fundraiser golf tournament in South Carolina.

I thought of my buddy back home, Jordan, who owned his own golf course and hosted a celebrity golf tournament every year. Doing security at one of those tournaments was what had connected me with Jaxon and led me here.

Addi blew out a breath as she scanned the face, her eyes narrowed with concentration, and then all of a sudden, they jumped wide and she turned ghost white.

“Landon…” She shook her head like she’d surprised herself. “I think that’s Landon’s dad. Of course. That’s why the name was familiar.”

“Who’s Landon?” Jaxon asked, and thank God he could speak because I wasn’t quite yet capable.

She met our gazes, focusing on everyone, curling her hand, and grabbing mine. When she faced Jaxon again, she said, “Landon was one of Daniel’s fraternity brothers. I didn’t…I hated Daniel. I never paid attention to him or his friends or whatever, and I tried not to spend any time with them. I didn’t even think…earlier…I knew it was familiar.”

“Hey.” I let go of her hand and pulled her into my side. “It’s okay, Addi. What can you tell us about him?”

Her eyes were wide and glassy. “He was going to be one of Daniel’s groomsmen, at the wedding. He was there that night, at the rehearsal dinner. He looks just like his dad, only younger.”

“I’m on it,” Briggs muttered, and if I’d thought his fingers were flying across the keyboard earlier, now I was surprised there wasn’t actual smoking coming from them. “Landon Bancroft,” he muttered. “Twenty-nine years old. Lives in…” He gave us all a look. “North Myrtle Beach.”

“Shit,” I cursed as Addi gasped in my hold.

“Addi, come here.” He waved her over, and she pulled out of my embrace like a prisoner set to face a public hanging. “Is this who you’re thinking of?”

She swayed on her feet and licked her lips. “Yeah.” Her voice was dry and raspy, and God how I wanted to soothe all of this for her. “Yeah.” She blinked and met my gaze. “That’s him. I’ve only met him a couple of times. I didn’t…I didn’t even think earlier.”

“It’s okay. You didn’t do anything wrong.” My attempts at soothing her now seemed to do little.

Charlie piped up. “And this helps, because there’s a connection here that we can track. If Banks and Bancroft are members of a club in North Myrtle Beach, is Landon? And if he’s friends with Daniel, that only tightens the connection to Johannsen.”

“And if there’s that close of a personal connection—would that affect his ability to be Matthew’s lawyer? Is it smart for a friend or business acquaintance to represent someone for a crime like this? Maybe we could go after him because of this conflict of interest.”

“It’s not unethical unless he breaches ethical standards in his representation, but he can be his lawyer. It puts his reputation on the line.”

“And why would he do that? Why would he want to be the defense attorney representing someone arrested for sex trafficking?” Mason asked.

“Because,” Charlie said, “he has a vested interest in keeping it as quiet as possible.And…what if he didn’t want to be his lawyer? What if he’s being forced to do it?”

“By Banks,” I filled in. “That’s what the two million dollars is for. Represent him, keep this quiet for all of us or we’ll throw you to the wolves?”

Because my guess would be, if Bancroft was a member of a club that dealt with sex-trafficked minors, he wouldn’t want that news slipping into the wrong hands.

Charlie shrugged. “It’s all a hunch at this point, but if we’re trying to figure it out without knowing everything then yeah…that’s what this looks like to me.”

“Goddamn,” Jaxon growled. “This keeps getting nastier and more twisted.”

“And Daniel isn’t being looked into as a suspect with the sex trafficking?” Mason asked.

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