Scarlett pulled another folding chair over so that she could sit facing Mila. 'Why are you so sure?' she asked softly.

'Who are you?' the girl asked, her eyes narrowing shrewdly.

'My name is Scarlett. Father Trace is my uncle. Marcus is my boyfriend and I'm afraid for him, for his safety, so I came along. We want to help you, but nobody really understands what's happening here.'

Erica continued to study her. 'You're with the police,' she said flatly.

Scarlett blinked, startled. Mila pushed Marcus away, lurching to her feet in panic. Scarlett knew that if she stood up she'd tower over the woman, so she remained seated. 'I'm not Immigration. I'm not calling them. I'm here as my uncle's niece. I'm not going to turn you in to anyone. You have my word.'

Mila looked down at Marcus, seeking confirmation, and he nodded. 'She isn't lying,' he said. 'She really is Father Trace's niece and she really is my girlfriend. And she really wants to help you. I called her two nights ago when I knew I was meeting Tala. I wanted a woman there that I could trust.'

'You trust her?' Mila asked, trembling so hard that Scarlett thought she'd fall down.

'With my life,' Marcus said simply, and Mila slowly sat back down.

Scarlett breathed a silent sigh of relief. 'How did you know?'

Erica shrugged. 'He is Father Trace Bishop. You are Scarlett. The article in the newspaper said that Detective Scarlett Bishop was first on the scene.'

Scarlett winced. 'Oh. I didn't mean to deceive you. Well, yes, I did, but only so I wouldn't scare you. I meant what I said. I'm not going to turn you in.'

'Your partner is with the FBI,' Erica said coldly.

Scarlett mentally reviewed the Ledger article in her mind, then turned to Marcus, puzzled. 'You didn't mention Deacon in that article, did you?'

Erica's eyes rolled. 'I Googled you, Detective. I used the church's computer. I used to use computers all the time before we came here. It's not that hard. Even for someone like me.'

'Someone like you?' Scarlett said gently. 'You mean a victim of a despicable crime perpetrated by evil people who deserve to be locked up for the rest of their lives?'

Erica looked taken aback. 'No. I meant . . .'

'I know what you meant,' Scarlett said. 'I also know your father was a teacher and your mother a nurse. I know you are educated and smart. I just don't like being tripped up so easily.' She smiled at Erica and watched some of the girl's tension drain away. 'Your sister was incredibly brave and sacrificed everything to try to get her family to safety. I won't let her sacrifice be in vain.'

Erica's lips quivered at the mention of her sister, and both she and her mother began to cry. 'We told her not to go,' Erica sobbed. 'We told her it was too dangerous.'

'She was desperate,' Mila added, wiping her eyes. 'Because of Malaya . . . Tala was determined that her baby wouldn't be raised in that house. So she took the chance.' Her fists clenched. 'I want to kill that man for what he did.'

Marcus covered Mila's fists with his hands, a comforting gesture. 'Chip Anders?'

Fire flashed in the eyes of both women. 'Yes,' Mila hissed. 'And his wife and that daughter they spawned.'

'He's missing,' Scarlett said. 'It appears he and his family were taken away by force. Do you know by whom?'

Mila and Erica looked at each other, satisfaction mixing in with their fury and grief. 'Not by name,' Mila said. 'But he was very scared yesterday when he realized Tala was missing.'

'When did he find out?' Scarlett asked.

Mila opened her mouth to speak, but no words came out. Erica leaned her head on her mother's shoulder and answered for her. 'When the tamper alarm went off,' the young woman said. 'Our trackers were wired into the house alarm. Mama and I weren't allowed to leave.'

'But Tala was,' Marcus said. 'Her job was to walk the dog.'

Mila's lips thinned and she looked away. 'No. Walking the dog was Stephanie's job.'

'The Anderses' daughter,' Scarlett said. 'She's home from college.'

'She's a bitch,' Erica snarled.

Mila looked startled. 'Erica! We are in a church.'

Erica didn't look like she cared. 'She is, Mama. You call her a spawn, I'll call her . . . what I called her.' She looked Scarlett in the eye. 'I hope whoever took her makes her suffer like she made Tala suffer. I hate her.' Her fury disintegrated into a choked sob. 'She killed my sister. Her or that boyfriend of hers.'

Scarlett's ears perked up. 'Boyfriend? We don't know about a boyfriend.'

'Drake Connor,' Erica spat.

Scarlett took the girl's hand long enough to give it a brief, encouraging squeeze. She could barely contain her excitement at this new information, which she sensed might be the link they were looking for. 'What did he do?'

Erica dropped her gaze to her lap, but not before Scarlett saw the shame in the girl's eyes. 'Whatever he wanted,' she said, her tone gone dead.

Scarlett glanced at Marcus. 'Do you want Father Trace and Marcus to leave?' she asked quietly, and Erica nodded.

'We'll be outside,' Marcus said, giving Scarlett's shoulder a stroke as he walked away.

'We're alone,' Scarlett said. 'You can tell me anything you want without shame.'

'Everyone will know,' Erica whispered miserably. 'They will know anyway because why else would he buy three women?'

'You're talking about Anders now. He bought you. Not Drake, right?'

Erica scoffed. 'Drake was poor. He didn't have any money. Stephanie dated him just to make her father mad. Her father bought us, all of us. He sent my father and brother away to work in his factory and he made my mother take care of his mother.'

'You mean his aunt?'

'Her too, but when we first came, Mama had to take care of his mother. She was bedridden.' Erica faltered. 'She wasn't mean like him. She wanted to tell someone that we were being forced to work for no money, that he was . . . using us. But then . . . she killed her. Mr Anders's wife put a pillow over her face and suffocated her.'

'Marlene Anders,' Scarlett said, and Erica nodded. 'So Chip's mother was killed by his wife?'

'Because she sympathized with us,' Mila whispered. 'Marlene liked nice things. Liked having servants. She just didn't want to pay for them. She liked having control.'

'What about Aunt Tabby?' Scarlett asked.

Mila's eyes filled anew. 'Is she alive? All Father Trace knew was that she was in the hospital. What happened to her?'

'She's unconscious, but still alive,' Scarlett said. 'I called to check on her on my way down here. She's holding on. She was beaten severely by Chip.'

Both women gasped. 'We left her alone there,' Mila whispered, guilt ravaging her face. 'That beast beat her because she cut our trackers and let us go.'

It was true, and Scarlett wasn't going to insult them by denying it. 'Marcus found her under a bed. She told us about you, said we had to find you and keep you safe.'

Mila bowed her head. 'She is a good woman. We didn't want to leave her there, but she made us. We've prayed for her all night.'

Good luck with that, Scarlett thought, startled to realize that there was more hope than sarcasm in her mental voice. 'Can we get back to Drake?' she asked gently, and watched Erica's shoulders tense and her gaze drop back to her lap. 'He could be important to our investigation. You said he was Stephanie's boyfriend. Did he live close by?'

Erica shrugged. 'Close enough to come by several times a week.'

'You said he did anything he wanted.' She gently took Erica's hand. 'Did he rape you,?'

A very small nod. 'Mostly Tala, but sometimes me when Tala was . . .' She covered her face with her hands. Scarlett very gently tugged her wrists, going down on her knees in front of Erica's chair so that she could see the young woman's face. 'You have nothing to be ashamed of,' she whispered urgently. 'I know this is hard for you.'

'How could you know?' Erica flung back bitterly. 'Have you been raped?'

'No. But I've been a police officer for a long time and I've worked with too many women who have been raped. It's hard for them to tell me what happened, but those that have and that can see their rapists come to justice . . . I think it helps them heal.'

'It's an American court,' Erica said, her bitterness unabated. 'They won't listen to me.'

'I'm an American police officer, and I'm listening to you,' Scarlett said. 'I will do everything in my power to find him and bring him to justice. That's all I can promise. But I need your help. I need to know everything about Drake that you can tell me so that I can find him. I also want to know because someone is trying to hurt Marcus. If Drake knows anything about Tala's murder, he could be the one trying to kill Marcus.'

'Because Marcus is still alive,' Erica said, back to that flat, dead voice. 'Because he had on a Kevlar vest. Why did he? Did he know Tala would be killed?'

'Erica!' Mila exclaimed.

'It's all right,' Scarlett said, knowing that part of Erica's question was simply an attempt to change the subject away from her assault. 'Marcus helps a lot of people who are in abusive relationships. He helps them get out. He thought Tala was being abused and wanted to help her too. He's been shot before, so he wears the vest.'

Erica's nod was grudging. 'Okay.' Her head still down, she looked up from beneath her eyelashes to meet Scarlett's eyes. 'Drake forced Tala to have sex with him every time he could. Every time Mr Anders wasn't home and sometimes when he was. But when she was having her . . . monthly . . .'

'Her period,' Scarlett supplied, and Erica nodded again, miserably, but said nothing. 'Drake would force you when Tala had her period?'

Tears began to roll down Erica's face. A glance up at Mila showed she'd closed her eyes, her heartache so heavy that Scarlett could feel it too. 'Can you tell me what Drake looks like?'

'Tall,' Erica whispered. 'He was six feet. Big shoulders. Strong. Stronger than me. Blond hair, brown eyes.' Her lips curved grimly. 'A broken tooth.'

'Who broke it?'

'Tala. The first time he forced her.'

'Good for Tala.'

Erica's shoulders moved restlessly. 'Not really, because Drake beat her and Stephanie got mad at him. Said her father would see Tala's bruises and be angry. That Tala was his.'

Scarlett squeezed Erica's hands. 'You're doing great, honey. Can you tell me which tooth Tala broke?'

'His front tooth on the bottom.' She tugged one of her hands loose to point to her own mouth. 'This one.'

'Very good. Did you notice any scars or tattoos?'

'One tattoo on his left upper arm.' Erica slipped her hand back into Scarlett's. 'A snake with its mouth open.' She shivered. 'It scared me.'

'It would scare me too,' Scarlett said ruefully. 'Was he dark-skinned, light-skinned?'

'White. But he's tanned now because it's the summer. For a while he worked for the landscapers that cut the grass at the house.'

'That's very helpful. Do you know the name of the landscaping company?'

'Belle's Bluebells,' Mila said stiffly. 'I remember the truck. It's owned by Drake's sister. He quit in June when Stephanie came home from college. She was supplying him with more money than he could make cutting grass.'

'All right, give me a second.' Scarlett took out her phone and typed a text to Deacon.

Locate Drake Connor, sister owns Belle's Bluebells Landscaping. DC is bf of Stephanie Anders. Maybe Tala's killer.

She showed the text to the two women. 'I'm sending this to my partner, Special Agent Deacon Novak. I want you to see that I didn't mention your names, but we need to find Drake.'

'Your partner knows you're here talking to us?' Erica said suspiciously.

'He doesn't know where "here" is.' Scarlett hit SEND. She almost told them about Kate Coppola and the FBI investigation into human trafficking, but she decided to wait. Her instincts told her that the two women were far from being convinced of their safety.

Scarlett moved from the floor back to her seat. 'Anything more you need to tell me about Drake or Stephanie?'

Mila's jaw tightened. 'Stephanie was abusing my Tala as well. Sexually.'

Erica's head whipped around to stare at her mother in new horror. 'Mama, no.'

'Yes, Erica,' Mila said heavily. 'They also made her buy their drugs.'

'Because Stephanie got in trouble once before for buying drugs at college,' Scarlett said, and Mila blinked at her in surprise.

'This you knew?'

'I guessed.' She didn't want to tell Mila that Tala had been found with drugs in the pocket of her jeans. 'Your daughter was killed in an area known for its drug dealers. I couldn't figure out why she was there or how she got there until I learned of Stephanie's arrest record. You said that it was Stephanie's job to walk the dog. Why was Tala doing it? And how? If your and Erica's trackers were programmed to alarm if you left the house, why wasn't Tala's?'

'Drake was lazy, but good with computers. He and Stephanie wanted to take Tala with them to buy the drugs, so he got into Mr Anders's computer and figured out how to change the settings. I don't know how. Sometimes Stephanie wanted to have Drake to herself, so she told Tala to walk the dog, and that she'd be following her on the computer. Tala didn't know if she would be, but she was afraid not to believe her.'

'I understand. Especially since they could overhear your conversations with the trackers.'

Mila looked ashamed. 'No privacy, even when they let me see my husband for the last time. We knew they were listening, laughing. Like we were animals in a zoo.'

Scarlett sighed, emotionally drained, and she'd only borne witness to their ordeal. They'd lived it. 'When we find the Anderses, they will be punished. What about the people that brought you into this country?'

Mila shook her head. 'My husband managed all the details. He was tricked.'

'He's being taken care of by the FBI now. They're making sure he has nutrition and medical attention both Mr Bautista and John Paul.'

Mila went very, very still. 'Then it's true?' she asked, the words no louder than a breath. 'They really are alive?'

Scarlett felt like she'd taken a physical blow. The woman had been sitting there talking to her while still wondering if her husband and son were alive or dead. 'Yes, they're both alive. Father Trace told you this, didn't he? Did you think he was lying?'

New tears rolled down Mila's face as she embraced Erica, who was also crying. 'No,' Mila sobbed, 'but he had pictures that were old, taken before we came here. I thought he might be wrong.'

'Or that the police were lying to him,' Erica added through her tears. 'The Anderses told us that Papa and John Paul were dead.'