Page 127 of Only the Hunter

We exit onto Constitution Avenue. The January air is sharp and brisk.

We walk half a block before speaking.

“Well?” Brie asks.

“He’s not it.”

“Agreed.”

“He’s political,” I say. “But he’s not operational.”

“And he didn’t know about the timing,” Brie adds. “That reaction was real.”

“Mid-level,” I murmur. “Paper movers.”

“DHS chain,” she says.

“Michael Vrell,” I respond.

Brie nods.

We stop at the corner.

“What about your witness? I’ve reviewed her file. Her descriptions of rape. It’s difficult to read but…did you extract the names?”

“We had names. What we didn’t have was a case.” I don’t need to say more to Brie. She understands, but I explain anyway, because saying it out loud sharpens something in me. “An ID from a trafficking victim, standing alone, doesn’t survive cross-examination—especially not now, with her gone. We needed the subpoenas. Financial records, travel logs, hotel receipts. Something that corroborates her identification independent of her testimony. That’s what the warrants were for. And that’s exactly what we lost the second the case closed and she disappeared in the same breath.”

If we’d had six more weeks, we could have built something that didn’t depend on Lina being alive to testify. When she first entered the US, she was thirteen.

“Any other victims?”

“No one willing to testify. At least three have made bank signing NDAs.”

“Any leads from that angle?”

“No. Nothing usable. We didn’t get far in the investigations before preemptive NDAs were signed.”

“Preemptive.”

“Oh, yes. In all three cases, the lawyers maintained the client’s innocence—said an NDA is easier than a public case—all claim the accuser is an extortionist and paint their client to be the victim.”

“Three different men?”

“Happens all the time. And to be honest, these cases are so brutal in court, I can’t blame the women, or men…it’s not a one-gender issue…for taking the money.”

“Do you ever believe these lawyers? That maybe a friend of a victim is taking advantage?”

“Not for a minute. But in a lot of Safe Passage cases, the accused—the buyers, the men paying for access—are wealthy enough that prosecution becomes expensive fast. Not that we can without a witness. Hence those eagerly offered NDAs.” Lina wanted to help us find the men who raped her—more than anything, she wanted to stop them from doing it to others.

Brie presses her lips together and I find myself liking her—she cares. It’s too damn easy to look the other way.

“Well, the individuals we really want are the ones who are running the ring.”

“And enabling it,” I add. In my mind, they’re all subhuman.

“Right.” Brie checks her wrist for the time. “You ready? Car is this way.”

“I’ll grab an Uber,” I say. “You don’t need to circle back through traffic.”