Primary Valor by Jack Mars (smart books to read .txt) 📕

“Human traffickers,” Trudy said. Thetone of her voice said she was surprised he even had to ask. “Talk to them. Askthem what they’ve heard.”

“Not the most forthcoming people,”Luke said.

“Lean on them,” Don said. “That’spart of your skill set, is it not? You and Ed both have that ability. If youwork together…” Don trailed off and shrugged.

Luke glanced at Ed. Ed looked likea dog that just had spotted a bone. Luke suppressed a smile. Was Don reallysanctioning this? Extralegal interrogations? If so, it couldn’t happen to a nicergroup of people.

“Let me get this straight,” Lukesaid. He looked at Don. “You would like Ed and I to go out and… ahem… questionhuman traffickers as to what, if anything, they know about this missing girl?”

Don stared at Luke. He didn’tsmile at all. “I don’t have a lot of sympathy for people like that. If one ofthem knows something about what happened here, I would like him to share thatinformation with us. It’s a start, and time is against us, as Ed indicated. Thetrail is already going cold.”

There was silence in the room. WhenDon spoke again, his voice was low.

“A couple of points, and they’reimportant. I don’t want to see a typewritten report about this afterwards, andI don’t want to read your names in the newspapers. Otherwise, do what needs tobe done. Is that clear enough to you boys?”

“Clear as a bell,” Ed said.

Luke looked at Trudy. “Can youfind us someone to talk to?”

She shrugged. “I already have. LouisClare, fifty-four-year-old white male. Also known as Louis Clark, also known asLew Clark, also known by the nicknames Spark and Sparky. He spent eighteenyears of a twenty-six-year sentence in federal penitentiaries for kidnappingand trafficking in underage girls. He was paroled for good behavior four yearsago. He’s thought to be rehabilitated, and long out of the game. But as far asI can see, he has no visible means of income or support.”

“He’s doing something for aliving,” Luke said.

Trudy nodded. “Yes, he is.”

“Where is he?”

Trudy glanced at her computer. “Hechecks in with his parole officer in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina, every month.His official address is a motel there. Myrtle Beach is approximately ninetyminutes by car from Wrightsville Beach, where the Richmond girl abduction tookplace.”

Luke looked at Don. “We’ll need somewhereto interview him. Private.”

Luke almost couldn’t believe thewords that had come out of his own mouth. Already they were speaking in code. Theword private carried a great deal of meaning in this kind of work. Privatewas a place away from other people, a place that few people knew existed, aplace where loud noises, like screams, would not reach anyone else’s ears. Whenyou took someone to a private place, you owned that person.

Of course Don knew all this.

He nodded. “Consider it done.”

CHAPTER SEVEN

1:40 p.m. Eastern Standard Time

Myrtle Beach International Airport

Myrtle Beach, South Carolina

They were never here.

They flew in on a private planethat belonged to a company called Apex Digital Management. The plane left froman unmanned airfield just south of Langley, for a flight that took little morethan hour. Ed’s name was Luther Sykes. Luke’s was Sem Goethals. Apparently,Luke was not from this country.

Not that any of it mattered. Noone would hear Luke speak, or see his face. They didn’t check in anywhere, andno one in the Myrtle Beach terminal, crowded with beachgoers and golfersdressed in pastel colors, looked at them twice.

Luke glanced at the Arrivals andDepartures boards. The “international” in Myrtle Beach International Airportseemed to stem from the fact that a handful of flights came in from Canada. Privateflights were not listed.

A car was waiting for them in theparking lot. It was a dark blue Ford sedan stashed in short-term parking. Foldedinside the driver’s side sun visor was a machine-generated terminal parkingstub. The first thirty minutes parking in the terminal were free. This car hadarrived here seventeen minutes ago. They left without incurring any fees, sothey didn’t have to pay anyone anything. The parking lot attendant didn’t care.He barely glanced at them. He was more interested in something that washappening on his computer screen.

“Every time you go away, itterrifies me,” Becca had said before he left.

“I know,” Luke said. “I know that.But this investigation is exactly the kind of thing we’ve talked about. It’swhat you’ve wanted for me. It’s here in the United States. It’s police work. We’regoing down to interview one person, and we’ll see where that goes. The guy isn’teven a suspect, just someone who might have information. Maybe Trudy Wellingtonwill find us more people to talk to. Maybe she won’t. We’re not supposed tointerfere with the local cops, so there’s only so much we can do. It’sbasically a nothing assignment. Easy-peasy. We’ll be down there for a day,maybe two. Then we’ll be back. Heck, it’s an hour away by plane.”

The things he told her were nottechnically lies. They were sins of omission. Everything he said was true. Itwas the things he left out that made the difference. He did not tell her theywere going down under assumed identities. He did not tell her they planned todisappear someone. He did not say a word about alligators.

“Don got us a little shack abouthalf an hour from Myrtle Beach,” Ed had told Luke just before Luke spoke toBecca. “It’s on a swamp.”

Luke thought about that. It onlytook a few seconds.

South Carolina… Swamp…

“Alligators.”

“Yes.”

The way Ed said it was long anddrawn out, almost as if the word yes had several undulating syllables,and very much as if Ed savored each one. Yyye-ehhhh-esssss.

“Is he dangerous?” Becca had asked.

“Who?” Luke really didn’tunderstand the question. “Ed?” Of course Ed was dangerous. Ed might well be oneof the most dangerous people on Earth.

“No. Not Ed. The man you’re goingto interview.”

“Oh.” Luke shook his head. “Nah. He’sfifty-four years old. He spent nearly twenty years in prison. I’m sure he doesn’twant any trouble. And anyway, most people get one look at Ed, and they’re readyto tell us everything that happened since their fifth birthday.”

He paused, then he took her in hisarms.

“We’re not going to have anyproblems at all.”

* * *

“Nice place,” Luke said.

“Yeah,” Ed said. Ed was