“Quick? As far as I can recall, the name doesn’t come up as part of Allenby’s online network. So, Jaime gets taken within days of these two guys getting killed? What’s going on?”
Danny Cavallo felt a small prick of anxiety. He set his phone back down on the conference room table and tried to focus on the presentation. He was in the first month of a temporary placement with the RCMP. From his role as a detective in the Port Alma PD’s Criminal Investigations Unit, to Operation Ladybird with a national police force? The Royal Canadian Mounted Police? They didn’t actually use horses anymore. But still. Total culture shock. He’d known he’d be working on cross-border crime between Canada and the US, but had been surprised at the immediate assignment to a task force on human trafficking. And the kicker had been the focus on child protection. It had been a challenging introduction to the shadowy world of abuse and exploitation. And now, here he was trapped in a room watching a slide show full of shocking photos and dark statistics, worrying because his own daughter hadn’t checked in after school. His eyes kept wandering from the screen at the front of the room to the screen of his phone. He willed the device to display a cheery text from his 11-year-old. Every so often, he surreptitiously nudged the phone to life, his stomach clenching at the blank screen and the minutes creeping by on the clock.
Once Jaime had turned 10, she’d begged to be allowed to walk home from school by herself. Cavallo and his ex, Charlotte, had agreed, with many conditions. Jaime was proud of her independence, and ecstatic to be leaving the after-school program. With a recent birthday celebrating her 11th, she was growing even more self-reliant. When Danny had thought about the risks, he had to admit there wasn’t too much exposure for the daughter he adored. Charlotte worked from home as a virtual assistant for a law firm and, as they shared custody of Jaime, she picked the girl up from school half the time, anyway. The weeks that Cavallo had Jaime, she had sports team practices on a couple of afternoons, and lots of company from other kids on the walk home from her neighborhood school on the remaining days. Besides, Cavallo’s shifts meant he was home within half an hour of her arrival. Until the new job. Now, instead of heading out of the station in the late afternoon, he was lucky to make it in time for the dinner hour. So far, Jaime had been fine with the schedule. She’d never before forgotten to text him. A voice from his new sergeant penetrated his worry. “Are we boring you, Constable?” It felt strange for Danny to be a constable once again, but his role was comparable to what he’d done in CIU. He didn’t really care much about the title. “No, sir,” he said immediately. But as soon as the boss was focused back on the front of the room, he grabbed his phone and messaged Jaime. ‘Everything OK?’ He honestly expected to get a ‘Yes, dad’ and a bunch of emojis. The longer he waited for the message, the more he could feel his heart rate accelerate. Sweat was beginning to roll down his back. He knew it was an extreme reaction, but after being immersed in Operation Ladybug, his brain was pretty much conditioned to expect the worst. Cavallo no longer cared if the sarge got angry. He grabbed the phone and texted Charlotte. ‘Is Jaime with you?’ ‘Swimming. But it ended an hour ago.’ He leaped to his feet and blurted, “Boss, my daughter’s missing. I have to go.” He looked around wildly, as if someone in this elite group of police officers could magically give him an answer. Of course, he got nothing but startled looks and a couple of shocked expressions. The sarge was all business. “Go ahead. You know what to do. I’m sure she’ll turn up fine, but keep us posted.” Cavallo sprinted out of the new glass and steel RCMP building, and across the large parking lot to his black Jeep, already on the phone with Charlotte and cursing his distance from home and the Port Alma PD. He swept a light dusting of snow off the windshield with the sleeve of his black leather jacket, and hopped in. The RCMP had taken over a new building in the industrial park in Port Alma’s east end. It was large enough for offices, labs, and any other facilities that they needed. But with Cavallo living with his daughter almost at the Gull River on the western edge of Port Alma, it meant a drive across the whole city to get to and from work. At this time of year, it was already completely dark, and this only ratcheted his panic up a notch. “Charlie, it’s me. I’m on my way out of the office. I haven’t heard from her.” “What do you mean? She didn’t text you?” “No. And I texted her, and she never replied. I hope it’s nothing. Maybe she forgot to charge the phone or something. I’m headed to the house to see if she’s there, but it’s going to take me at least 20 minutes. I need you to start calling every friend and teammate you can think of.” “Oh, Danny, what’s happening?” He could hear the tears in her voice, but cut her off. “Just do it. Let me know when you’re done.” He started the car, fastened his seatbelt with one hand, and with the other pushed the speed dial for the Port Alma PD. Before the call connected, he heard the chime for an incoming text. He slammed his foot down on the brake and looked at the screen. Had Jaime finally remembered? His heart sank as he saw it was just a message from a friend. Holly Towns wanted to know if he was free for dinner. At any other time, he would have sent back a heart emoji and an enthusiastic ‘yes.’ But at the moment, he felt like he’d never eat again. In fact, he could hardly breathe, he was so worried. He quickly thumbed a reply. ‘Busy. Emergency.’ In the next second, he heard the voice of the duty sergeant at police HQ. At the same time, he pressed the accelerator. “Sarge, it’s Danny Cavallo.” “Hey Cavallo, how are you doing?” “Bad, sir. I think my daughter, Jaime, is missing. She never got home from school and never texted me like usual. I’m on my way to the house to check, but I haven’t heard from her.” “Slow down, Cavallo. Are you driving?” “Yeah.” “Don’t you have one of those tracking apps on her phone?” Cavallo slammed on the brakes, signaled, and pulled quickly across traffic and into the lot at Memorial Park. He didn’t want to stop, but was kicking himself for not remembering the app. Towns had put it on his and Jaime’s phones a month or two ago and he’d never even looked at it. What was the thing called? Tracker or something. Once the Jeep stopped moving, he said, “Hang on, Sarge. Yeah, I have one, but I’ve never used it. I totally forgot.” He brought up the home screen on his device, and sure enough. Traxsy. There it was. He was almost afraid to look, but took a deep breath and opened it. Jaime, or her phone, was on Lake Street, at the opposite end of the street from Holly Towns’ condo. The whole street was only three blocks long, but Towns was right near the water and the beacon on his phone was further north. “I see it!” he said. “OK, the closest address is 550 Lake Street.” “I’ll send a car. Don’t kill yourself or anyone else getting there. It won’t help matters.” Cavallo tossed the phone onto the passenger seat, ignored the advice, and took off like a shot. He used voice commands to call Charlotte. She sounded as bad as he felt, but he spoke over her. “Those class and team lists. Do any of the kids live on Lake Street?” “I think so. Just a second. Yes. Victoria. Tori Loewen.” “Did you call them?” “Not yet. I’ll do it now.” “Never mind. I’ll be there in five minutes. What’s their actual address?” “645 Lake Street. Is that where she is? Is Jaime with the Loewens?” “I have no idea,” he shouted. “I have to hang up. I’m driving.” “This better not be because of you, Danny.” There it was. If anything bad was happening, it was because of him or his job. He knew she’d eventually end up at that point, just didn’t expect it so fast. He disconnected. He went as quickly as he dared along Petrie and slowed to make a left onto Belvedere. Then two more quick turns, parking just around the corner on Lake. A cruiser was already there, the light rack splashing blue and red all over the road and the fronts of the houses. He glanced up and saw he’d landed right in front of number 645. Dashing up the walk, taking the stairs two at a time, he rang the doorbell and then pounded on the door because no one answered in the first second. A short, blond woman carrying a toddler on her hip opened the door, taking in the police car outside, and Cavallo’s unsmiling face. “What is it? Is everything all right?” “I’m Danny Cavallo. Is my daughter Jaime here?” “No. Sorry. Is there a problem? I picked the girls up from the pool early. It turns out practice was cancelled for a senior swim meet. Jaime came over for a snack. Then she left to walk home.” Her voice was rising. “What’s wrong? She said it was OK, that you let her walk home alone.” Before Danny could respond, he heard a shout from down the block. “Cavallo, over here.” He turned and ran, his heart in his throat and a wave of dread rushing through him. It was no surprise to see that the constable was standing on the snowy front lawn of 550 Lake Street. At his feet was a square pink backpack. He crouched down, and the cop said, “Wait. I’m sorry. Gloves, Cavallo.” “You’re right,” he muttered. He stood and got a pair of nitrile gloves from his inside jacket pocket, and then knelt to open the zipper on the backpack. His worst fears were realized and desperation hammered them home. Towns had done three things over dinner that night. She installed the app on the phone, gave Jaime an electronic key fob for her house key, and attached a second tracker to her pack. All three were linked to apps on his phone. And all three items were right here in front of him. “Useless. Completely useless,” he said, his voice cracking.
~~~~
Human Trafficking is the most horrendous action that has ever entered the minds of criminals... It has been going on for, it seems like, forever, but continues to this day... The terrible part of it is that, often, like with the Epstein case, others are used to bring potential victims into the situation before it is too late. This book explores every aspect of this situation through a series of cases that are being handled by the Port Alma and spotlights the main character DC Holly Towns. Towns is a character that draws readers in, for a reason. She's empathic and sympathetic, that is part of her being and routinely comes to the fore, often faster than her male counterpoints, in "sensing" the connections. That gift has often led to closing many cases.
But this time, there are many cases that are overwhelming the group. Several murders of young men. A group of younger people who have taken a personal interest in what they see as that the police are not effective enough to solve the cases. A kidnapping of the daughter of an officer. As well as a potential domestic abuse case!
And Anne Shillolo skillfully leads readers through the potential or actual connections to be found, while working each case individually...
Men visiting a certain bar seem to be ending up being poisoned, but they are found on the streets, later... So the search takes time and trying to discover if and what is the connections between them is intensive and time-consuming... A final is discovered mutilated, but that was by a snow plow since a major storm has blown in and slowed traffic and activity down even more.
Jamie Cavallo's disappearance hits hard since she's the daughter of Danny, a member of the Criminal Investigations unit at Port Alma. He and Holly had been somewhat involved, but when Danny was sent to the RCMP, things had slowed down. But Holly was just as concerned when she learned that Jamie had disappeared. Her schoolbag had been found on the way home and later a video by a wonderful 80-year-0ld woman who kept cameras running in the front of her house for helping any way she could, was the one that discovered that a man had been hiding and had snatched her. Thank God for those who try to help any way they can! Even in a book! Danny was allowed to stay in his home office until she was found... at least the first time it happened...
“Sarge, what do you think about motivation? Is the person targeting child abusers and people with kiddie porn? Or taking revenge on greedy scammers? Preventing them from destroying more lives.” “Good question, Holly. But I don’t have an answer.”
And then there was the Amber Crew, named after the Amber alert sent out for missing children. These were young adults who wanted, most to help, but in many ways, caused more trouble than if they had just turned in information they found. Their goal was to protect the innocent, but in trying to do so, other people sometimes got hurt...
This book is character-driven, so much so that it becomes extremely complex, so be prepared. With so many cases being handled, together with the use of computer and video support, it soon was movement between and among cases, and a beginning to make connections at least by type of crimes. Finally, I started following Holly as my focal point--she always seemed to be at least minimally involved with all that was happening...
This is a clear police procedural mystery, with even a high-tech type of evidence board/system that allowed one person to input all evidence from which anything could be then merged, compared, and tracked. This proved to bee especially helpful as the WHO behind the crimes became more and more clear...
But... nothing... could prepare you for the climatic ending! Shocking... But...quite appropriate...
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