anything left to say. He didn’t want to leave things badly with Allie, but maybe it was best to let things simmer down for a while. Maybe, in time, she’d forgive him and move on. His mind shifted to Valentine and what he was going to do about Little Z. First and foremost, Vance had to convince the man that Valentine was dead—or kill him, but he’d promised himself that wouldn’t be Plan A anymore.
It was 10 p.m. when he pulled into Allie’s driveway. He’d carried her bag to the porch and stayed long enough to see she was inside safely before saying goodbye and climbing back in the truck. It occurred to him he hadn’t eaten since lunch, so he grabbed a bottle of water and a stick of beef jerky when he stopped for gas, figuring a light snack was better than a heavy meal if he was heading into a rumble. Oddly, he’d been itching for a fight just 24 hours prior. Now he’d much rather spend his time looking for Valentine’s family.
He wasn’t in the mood for a finesse operation. He was tired of lying low and building cases. He wanted to butt heads together and move on. To that end, he called his contact at the FBI to touch base on the off chance he could do something more productive than brawling—or dying—on this trip.
“Hey, Jeff. I have a couple of things I need you to look up for me,” Vance said.
“Hello to you, too. I’m fine. How are you?”
“You’re such a girl.”
“Whatever, Batman,” Jeff countered.
“Don’t call me Batman.” Vance had no idea how he’d been straddled with the nickname, but he hated it. “Are you going to help me or not?”
“Only because I’m the better person. Whatchya got for me?”
“First, I need to track down info on a couple of kids. The oldest is Valentine Finegan, she’s about 15. I pulled her out of a trafficking situation yesterday.”
“She okay?”
“Yeah. Surprisingly so,” Vance answered. “I placed her with Jessie for the time being.”
“How did you extract her?”
“Bought her for the night and ran.”
“Her pimp won’t be happy about that,” Jeff commented.
“Yeah, I’m going to pay the piper now. That’s the second thing—but we’re not through with the first. Valentine has siblings; I promised to track them down. Said I’d just check on them but wouldn’t make contact.”
“Got it. What are their names?”
Vance let off the accelerator a bit and set the cruise control as he answered. There was no sense getting a speeding ticket at this point in the night. “Lily, Jasper, and Charlotte—goes by Charlie. Mom’s Adelaide. The only other thing I know about them is they’re probably somewhere in Oklahoma.”
“I’ll see what I can turn up. Is that it on the first thing?”
“Yeah, so the guy I bought Valentine from answers to another guy that goes by the name Little Z. Turns out he already took out Beastly Modeling by killing its proprietor before we could link it to him.”
“Small world.”
“Very. So, please tell me you have some sort of file on this Little Z character. I haven’t slept in two days and I’ve spent the better part of this one in my truck. I just want to throw his ass in jail so I can go home and get some sleep.”
“You sound tired, my friend,” Jeff observed softly.
“I am, thus the desire for sleep.”
Jeff chuckled, letting Vance’s bad mood roll off him. “No, I mean, you sound like you’re running out of steam. Maybe it’s time for you to pass the baton to someone else, to learn to help in different ways.”
“I don’t know if I know how to stop,” Vance admitted. “There’s always another girl, and she deserves my help as much as the last one.”
“Just something to think about, man.” Jeff let it go at that. “So, Little Z. Let’s see what we know about him…Um, wow. I think you’ve stumbled into something bigger than you realized with this one. He’s part of a web that runs girls out of Oklahoma City. They use the trucking corridors to spread them
It was 10 p.m. when he pulled into Allie’s driveway. He’d carried her bag to the porch and stayed long enough to see she was inside safely before saying goodbye and climbing back in the truck. It occurred to him he hadn’t eaten since lunch, so he grabbed a bottle of water and a stick of beef jerky when he stopped for gas, figuring a light snack was better than a heavy meal if he was heading into a rumble. Oddly, he’d been itching for a fight just 24 hours prior. Now he’d much rather spend his time looking for Valentine’s family.
He wasn’t in the mood for a finesse operation. He was tired of lying low and building cases. He wanted to butt heads together and move on. To that end, he called his contact at the FBI to touch base on the off chance he could do something more productive than brawling—or dying—on this trip.
“Hey, Jeff. I have a couple of things I need you to look up for me,” Vance said.
“Hello to you, too. I’m fine. How are you?”
“You’re such a girl.”
“Whatever, Batman,” Jeff countered.
“Don’t call me Batman.” Vance had no idea how he’d been straddled with the nickname, but he hated it. “Are you going to help me or not?”
“Only because I’m the better person. Whatchya got for me?”
“First, I need to track down info on a couple of kids. The oldest is Valentine Finegan, she’s about 15. I pulled her out of a trafficking situation yesterday.”
“She okay?”
“Yeah. Surprisingly so,” Vance answered. “I placed her with Jessie for the time being.”
“How did you extract her?”
“Bought her for the night and ran.”
“Her pimp won’t be happy about that,” Jeff commented.
“Yeah, I’m going to pay the piper now. That’s the second thing—but we’re not through with the first. Valentine has siblings; I promised to track them down. Said I’d just check on them but wouldn’t make contact.”
“Got it. What are their names?”
Vance let off the accelerator a bit and set the cruise control as he answered. There was no sense getting a speeding ticket at this point in the night. “Lily, Jasper, and Charlotte—goes by Charlie. Mom’s Adelaide. The only other thing I know about them is they’re probably somewhere in Oklahoma.”
“I’ll see what I can turn up. Is that it on the first thing?”
“Yeah, so the guy I bought Valentine from answers to another guy that goes by the name Little Z. Turns out he already took out Beastly Modeling by killing its proprietor before we could link it to him.”
“Small world.”
“Very. So, please tell me you have some sort of file on this Little Z character. I haven’t slept in two days and I’ve spent the better part of this one in my truck. I just want to throw his ass in jail so I can go home and get some sleep.”
“You sound tired, my friend,” Jeff observed softly.
“I am, thus the desire for sleep.”
Jeff chuckled, letting Vance’s bad mood roll off him. “No, I mean, you sound like you’re running out of steam. Maybe it’s time for you to pass the baton to someone else, to learn to help in different ways.”
“I don’t know if I know how to stop,” Vance admitted. “There’s always another girl, and she deserves my help as much as the last one.”
“Just something to think about, man.” Jeff let it go at that. “So, Little Z. Let’s see what we know about him…Um, wow. I think you’ve stumbled into something bigger than you realized with this one. He’s part of a web that runs girls out of Oklahoma City. They use the trucking corridors to spread them
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