Ali reached into her purse, found her wallet, and handed David a fistful of cash. “Thank you for handling this,” she said. “It’s a big help.”
David exited the office, taking Patricia and Agnes with him, and leaving Ali and Andrea alone.
“What’s the real score?” Andrea asked.
“According to Governor Dunham’s estimate, there’s a good chance that, before the evening is over, you’ll have between four and five hundred displaced homemakers and children dropped in your lap. Some are bound to want to stay where they are, but we have to be prepared for the worst. I expect you’ll be hearing from the governor in person. I gave her your name and number.”
“Okay,” Andrea said. “I’ve made a few calls and already have some contingency plans in place. This isn’t an exceptionally busy time for tourists, and I know if there are vacancies, a lot of the hospitality folks will step up until we can make permanent arrangements.”
There was a tap on the door. The receptionist stood in the doorway looking uneasy. “Excuse me, Andrea,” she said. “Sorry to interrupt, but the governor’s office is on the phone.”
As Andrea reached for her phone, Ali headed for the door. “Wait,” Andrea said. “What about that box of floppies? Do you still want them?”
Ali stopped in the doorway. “Thanks, but no thanks,” Ali said. “We don’t need them. I thought if we searched through them, we’d find out how Irene’s phone number ended up in Enid’s pocket. Now, thanks to Patricia and Agnes, we already know. Good luck with Governor Dunham. See you later.”
33
Ali had turned her phone ringer on silent when she finished speaking to Governor Dunham. During her talk with Patricia and Agnes, Ali had felt the buzz of at least three incoming calls and had ignored them all. Now checking the recent call list, she found two calls from B. and one from Sister Anselm. She called B. first.
“It’s a fine mess you’ve gotten us into this time,” he said. “We have two drones in the air with secure feeds going to both the Department of Public Safety and the FBI. One is keeping an eye on the landing strip until a SWAT team shows up, and the other is working its way around the perimeter of The Family’s property, looking for signs of disturbances that would indicate places where anti-intrusion devices might have been installed.”
“Finding any?”
“Not so far. I’ve also had two phone calls from someone who’s apparently a close personal friend of yours—Governor Virginia Dunham. She tells me you’ve been appointed to be some kind of special deputy.”
“The DNA trail has led to twenty human trafficking victims at last count,” Ali told him. “This joint operation is being launched to forestall any attempt to smuggle one last load of girls out of the country. Governor Dunham wants to roll up the operation before that happens rather than after.”
“Does The Family have any idea about what’s coming?”
“I hope not.”
“I’d prefer a straight-out no,” B. said.
“Believe me,” Ali said. “So would I.”
“Even after your meeting this morning, you’re still worried about Alvarado?”
“Very much so, but my opinion on that score doesn’t carry much weight. The governor insists that since Colorado City is inside his jurisdiction, the sheriff and his department must be part of the program.”
“If someone leaks intel to The Family, then anyone going there tonight may be walking into a trap,” B. said. “Please don’t tell me that you’re going, too.”
Obviously B. Simpson knew Ali far too well. “Don’t worry,” she said. “I won’t be on the front lines. I’ll be with the governor as part of a rearguard action. Our job will be to convince members of The Family who are interested in leaving the cult that they are free to do so. Patricia and Agnes, the two Brought Back girls David Upton walked off with last night, have agreed to come along and reason with the others. And guess what? Now, thanks to them, we have a solid lead about the identity of Sister Anselm’s Kingman Jane Doe. I believe DNA comparisons will reveal her to be Anne Lowell, Enid Tower’s birth mother.”
“I don’t understand. Why do you have to be so personally involved?” B. insisted.
“Because Sister Anselm and I are the ones who started this whole saga. We both feel responsible. That’s why she took Enid to Tucson. That’s why I’m going to Colorado City. Don’t worry, B. I’ll be safe.”
“I’d rather you stayed out of it.”
“I still have my bulletproof vest,” Ali said. “It’s in the back of the Cayenne.”
The vest was a relic from her brief stint with the Yavapai County Sheriff’s Department.
“Being safe would mean avoiding places where you might need a bulletproof vest,” B. countered. “Still, the more I say, ‘Do not go in the basement,’ the more likely you are to go there anyway, so why don’t I shut up and save my breath? But here’s the deal. If you’re going to be part of a ‘rearguard action,’ so am I.”
Ali started to argue the point but stopped. If B. wasn’t going to try to talk her out of going, she wouldn’t badger him about it, either.
“Okay,” she agreed. “We’re to meet up at the DPS headquarters here in Flagstaff at six P.M.”
“What are you planning to do between now and then?”
“Do we still have that hotel room we paid for earlier this morning?”
“We paid for it by the day not the hour. Why?”
“Because I think I’m going to go there and grab a nap. I didn’t get much sleep last night. Tonight won’t be much better.”
“Do you still have a key?”
“I never had one to begin with.”
“All right. I’ll call and tell them that you’re coming and that you’ve lost your key.”
“Thanks for throwing me under the bus,” Ali said with a laugh. “See you at six.”
“Wait,” B. said. “Don’t you want to hear Stu’s and my news?”
“What news?”
“He managed to collect some images from the security tapes on those ATMs at the casino in Minnesota. He ran them through a facial recognition program, and we now have a good idea of who’s been lifting the money out of Betsy’s accounts.”
“Who?”
“Her daughter-in-law, Sandra.”
Ali sighed. “I wish I could say I was surprised. Have you told Athena?”
“Nope,” B. said. “This is your investigation. As far as I’m concerned, that means delivering the bad news is your job. After all, as you pointed out to me just a moment ago, you’re the one with the bulletproof vest.”
Ali hung up then and dialed Sister Anselm. “I think we have a possible identity on the Kingman Jane Doe.”
Her announcement was greeted by a sharp intake of breath. “No! Are you serious?”
“I am. I have reason to believe Jane Doe is a girl named Anne Lowell who ran away from The Family compound when her daughter, Enid, was three or four.”
“Jane Doe is Enid’s mother?” Sister Anselm’s shock was audible. “However did you learn all this?”
“Last night, after David Upton left the hospital, he drove up to Colorado City and rescued two of Enid’s friends.”
“Agnes and Patricia, the two Brought Back girls?” Sister Anselm asked. “Enid spent the whole night muttering about them, saying that they might be in danger, but I thought it was just the meds talking. I didn’t pay that much attention.”
“David did,” Ali answered. “They’re the ones who gave Enid Irene’s number. They must have been worried, too, because when David showed up and offered to bring them here, they didn’t hesitate.”
“But how did they get Irene’s number in the first place?”
“Someone from here in Flag—someone who knew Irene—offered Irene’s information to Agnes when she showed up at a grocery store in Colorado City with a crop of fresh bruises showing. When Patricia and Agnes took off a few weeks later, they had Irene’s number with them. They never got this far, but they kept the number. When Anne Lowell was getting ready to run away, they offered the number to her, too, but Anne said she didn’t need it. She claimed someone on the Outside was helping her. Now, all these years later, Patricia and Agnes are the ones who gave Irene’s decade-old information to Enid.”