Caribbean Rescue (Coastal Fury Book 16) - Matt Lincoln (reading tree .TXT) 📗

sound like a friendly and caring person, but the way that Jenny was now sitting hunched and stiff just at the mention of her appeared to indicate otherwise. I’d need to keep that in mind going forward.

“Can you tell us more about the men?” I asked. I noticed that she kept referring to them with that phrase.

“They’re the ones keeping us here.” She shrugged. She looked down and shifted uncomfortably on the couch as she replied. “I don’t know all their names. I only know Antonio since he’s the one who brings us over from Cockburn Town. He stays with us most of the time.”

“Cockburn Town?” Olivia asked. “Is that where you live?”

“Most of the time.” She nodded. “Sometimes we stay out for a few days at a time, though. There’s a house there where they keep all the girls until we get assigned to a bar or hotel.”

“Do you know where the house is?” I asked.

“Not exactly,” she mumbled, her voice cracking as her eyes filled with tears again. “I could recognize it, but I’m not really sure about how to get there. They make us wear blindfolds while we’re in the car. We can’t take them off until we’re on the boat.”

“A boat?” Crowley suddenly chimed in. Jenny jumped a little at the deep timbre of his voice. Honestly, even I was a bit surprised to hear him speak for the first time during the conversation. “There aren’t any ferries from Cockburn to the Western Island.”

“It must be a privately owned vessel, then,” I concluded before turning to look at Holm. “We should look into boat owners here on the Island.”

“That’s going to be a long list,” Crowley remarked before turning to address Jenny. “Do you know exactly what kind of boat it is?”

“N-no,” she stuttered. “I’m sorry. It’s usually dark when we get on it. Um… it’s pretty big? And white? I’m sorry, I’m not being helpful.”

“It’s okay, Jenny,” Olivia assured her as she began to cry again. She rubbed a soothing hand along the girl’s back and waited until she’d calmed down before speaking again. “You’re doing amazing. This is plenty for us to go off of. You’ve already given us a ton of useful information.”

“Really?” she muttered through tears. “Okay… I’m fine. I can keep going.”

“Thank you, Jenny.” I smiled at her. “We’ve heard that the name of the leader of the group who was holding you is named Samuel. Do you know anything about that?”

“I’ve heard that name.” She nodded slowly. “I’ve never met him before. I don’t think so, anyway, but I’ve heard the men talking about him.”

“I see,” I replied, a little disappointed that she didn’t know more. I couldn’t show that, though. The poor girl kept breaking into tears every time she thought she did something wrong, so I definitely couldn’t look like I was displeased by her answer.

“I know you said you’re not sure where the main house is,” I continued. “But do you know the addresses of the other locations? You mentioned that there were several bars and hotels that you’ve been sent to, right?”

“Yes, I do,” she replied. “I know one for sure because it’s the only bar in the whole town.”

“Where is it?” I asked eagerly.

“We’re in Grace Bay right now, right?” she asked as she looked around the room, as though she’d be able to recognize the town just from the inside of the police station.

“Yes, we are,” I replied, my brows furrowed in confusion. “Why?”

“It’s right here,” she replied.

23

Ethan

As soon as Jenny revealed that one of the bars where the women were being forced to work was here in Grace Bay, all the weariness I’d felt before evaporated. I’d been ready to head back to the hotel and call it a night after finishing our interview with Jenny, but there was no way I’d be able to sleep now, knowing how close we were.

After wrapping up the interview, Holm, Crowley, and I headed over to Morris’s office to relay everything we had learned. Olivia had stayed behind to make sure that Jenny wouldn’t feel scared being alone in the police station by herself. Morris had been aghast to discover that one of the prostitution hot spots was right here in his own town.

“This is unbelievable,” Captain Morris growled as he paced back and forth in front of his desk. “It must be the Oasis Lounge. That’s the biggest bar in all of Grace Bay. Right on the beach and a magnet for tourists.”

“She did say that it was the biggest bar in town,” I replied from where I was leaning against the wall beside the door.

“There aren’t very many bars here as it is,” Crowley added. “I think three in total. The Oasis definitely gets the most foot traffic.”

“Which means it would be the most ideal for moving around undetected,” I concluded. “When it comes to human trafficking, it’s easier to hide in plain sight.”

“So, do we do now?” Olivia asked before turning to look at Holm and me. “Will you go in undercover again? Pose as prospective clients?”

“I don’t know if that will work again,” Holm argued. “We just caused a pretty big stir back at the bar in Kew Town, didn’t we? You don’t think they’ll have their guard up now?”

Holm did have a point. It had been a few hours since the shootout in the bar already, and there was a good chance that word about what had happened in Kew had already made its way over to Grace Bay. If that were the case, then the traffickers would be on the lookout for us anyway, so there was no point in trying to be sneaky.

“He’s right,” Morris replied as he came to an abrupt stop from his pacing. His face was scrunched into a scowl, and his fists were clenched. “It’s possible they’re already aware that you’re investigating. I think it would be best if we approached this more officially.”

“What do you mean?” I asked.

“I mean, we should forego