Page 82 of The Lost Bones
“Would you like some coffee or water?” Cameron asked. He was sitting on a chair, resting a bandaged leg. He was a stocky man, with a double chin and a large forehead, and even larger elvish ears.
“We’re good,” Mackenzie answered, watching him light a cigarette with palpable disinterest. The former FBI agent had showed no reaction when they arrived.
“How come the Lakemore PD is knocking on my door?” he asked in a scratchy voice damaged over the years by the same habit that had turned his teeth yellow.
“We want to talk about Phoebe Townsend,” Nick said.
An array of emotions flitted across Cameron’s face before only regret remained. “That one. Did you find her?”
“We did,” Nick replied.
Cameron took a long, shaky drag. The smoke spiraled out of his nostrils and dissolved in the stuffy air. “Dead?” He tried to keep his hand steady, but Mackenzie caught the slight falter.
Nick nodded.
The spark in Cameron’s eyes diminished.
“Murdered?”
“Not exactly.” Mackenzie shoved her hands in her pockets. “Why were you interested in her disappearance? That case wasn’t with the FBI.”
Cameron stared at the pair of them as if he was contemplating something. Like he was applying years of training to dissect their characters and intentions. “Maybe I was just curious and bored.”
“She died from syphilis,” Nick shared. Cameron’s face registered surprise. “She and several others.”
“Who told you about me?” Cameron’s gaze turned paranoid.
“Phoebe’s cousin,” Mackenzie said, looking him in the eye. “Nobody else. We know something big is going on.”
Cameron stood up and pushed the cigarette into the ashtray. He limped to the window and opened it, breathing in the salty air. “My name stays out of this. Are we clear?”
Mackenzie and Nick nodded at each other and then at him.
Cameron hesitated before spilling the words. “Around fifteen years ago, a young girl went missing in Colorado. Aria Fields.”
Mackenzie felt electrified. One sentence had crushed all her other thoughts into oblivion. The last name she was expecting to come out of Cameron’s mouth was Aria’s. Nick took a sharp intake of breath.
Cameron didn’t seem to notice their shock and continued speaking while looking out the window at the choppy sea. “It wasn’t my case, but I was helping out on it. It led me to the discovery of a prostitution ring in Washington. It was why I transferred to the office here. And it wasn’t just me. Some fellow agents working on missing persons cases noticed discrepancies, doors being shut, things just not making sense. Their investigations kept hitting a wall. And so we decided to work together unofficially to bring down this ring. It was just the four of us.”
It all sounded too familiar.
“Unfortunately, over a year ago, our efforts must have been spotted. Because conveniently enough, two of us were transferred to the East Coast, one of us was suspended, and I was encouraged to retire early. All within a span of six months.”
“Who was responsible for this? Your boss?” Mackenzie asked.
Cameron shrugged. “These decisions came from different channels. I always knew someone powerful was behind this ring. But I underestimated their reach. Or maybe there’s more than one of them.”
Those men in the house. Hamilton and his friends—from judges and lawyers to businessmen and lobbyists. They had infiltrated all layers of society and positioned themselves to wield a lot of power. Especially together.
“What did you discover about this prostitution ring?” Nick asked.
“Just that young women were tricked into sex acts and secretly recorded. Then the tapes were used to blackmail them into becoming escorts to service rich and powerful people.”
“Did you ever find out what happened to Aria?” Mackenzie asked. She didn’t know what she was hoping his answer would be.
“Two years ago, Aria’s twin found me.”
Mackenzie blanched. Sophie.
