“I’m going to get a confession out of Iris Beaty.”
“You’re going to have to go through her lawyer. Word is she’s called in big guns.”
“Name.”
“Sampson Merit, great big guns with offices in East Washington, New York, and New L.A.”
“Did she have him on tap?”
“I’d say yes, as he’s already here and consulting with her.”
“Can we freeze her finances?”
“We’d have to analyze and separate what she’d earned legally prior to the Academy, then—”
Eve waved that away, pulled out her comm. “Callendar, whatever you’re doing, stop that and do this. Sampson Merit, lawyer, New York, East Washington, New L.A. Dig in, dig deep. Find me the connection to Iris Beaty and the Academy. Get me the dirt because he’s going to be dirty.”
“Got my shovel right here,” Callendar said before Eve clicked off.
“I’ve heard a lot of things about Merit, Dallas, but never any whiff of this sort of thing.”
Eve shook her head. “She had him on tap, and he jumped. She’s got something on him.” Eve pointed to the board. “This is ugly stuff, and it’ll get uglier in the media, and dragged out. A big deal like that doesn’t need the money, doesn’t need to risk his rep this way. Maybe he’s just a shitbag, and he’ll jump this fast at the idea of a case that’s going to pay big and get him in on-screen. But it’s just as likely the other way. Never caught a whiff? How much do you want to bet plenty will say the same when we start arresting the really rich assholes who buy kids online?”
“That’s a fair point.”
“Catch me up, will you?”
“Doggett, the former Baltimore cop, picked up and being transferred here. Maxine Pryor, picked up and currently being grilled—she settled for a less shiny lawyer, but she’s got some gloss.”
As she ran it down, Eve paced and absorbed.
“Let Beaty stew awhile longer. We’re going to run through as many of the others as we can. I’ve got Dorian Gregg coming in. Plenty of the other victims can ID her, but I want to give this to Dorian first. Mira can decide if any of the others are ready to do the same.
“She’s in three?”
“Last I checked. I should get back, keep it rolling. The boss and two more APAs are observing and serving.”
Eve walked down to the conference room, eased the door open. She saw about a hundred girls, some huddled together, some sitting still and quiet. And she recognized many of the faces from her board.
She signaled to Mira.
“I’m sorry to interrupt,” she began when Mira crossed to her.
“Not at all. We’re making progress—getting names, evaluating, even contacting parents, guardians. The longest held we know of at this point was taken two years ago, the shortest was taken only yesterday.”
“The one we rescued from the infirmary?”
“Yes, nine years old, abducted from outside of Columbus, Ohio, walking back from her piano lesson.”
“I want to put Beaty and some of the others in lineup. I need you to decide which ones can handle that, can handle doing some IDs.”
She spotted the girl who’d fought her in the Academy sitting with her arm around a younger kid. And took a chance by crossing the room, crouching in front of her.
“Remember me, Lottie?”
“Yeah.”
“Carrie. You need anything?”
“I want to go home,” Carrie said.
“We’re working on it.” She looked back at the other girl. “Want to pay them back?”
“Fucking A.”
“Good. I’m going to send for you in a bit. You’re going to take a look at some people. They won’t be able to see or hear you. And if you recognize anybody, you just say so.”
“I don’t leave her.”
“Okay.”
Eve started to straighten up.
“You’ve got blood on your shirt. Is it some of theirs?”
“Yeah, it is.”
“Good.”
Eve walked back. “That one,” she said to Mira. “She can handle it. The one with her, I don’t know.”
“Carrie. We’ve notified her parents, and they’re on their way.”
“You wouldn’t have done that without taking a look at the parents.”
“Everything points to them being good people. They have two other children, older kids.”
“Let them know the one with her? She wouldn’t leave her behind. She wouldn’t leave her and fought to get to her. Let them know that if I don’t get a chance to speak with them.”