“And you didn’t find it necessary to contact and receive authorization of this call from command?”
“I felt, and continue to feel strongly, that I had to make this deal with Dorian or lose her. Her cooperation, finding a way to gain at least some trust from her was and is key to identifying and locating those responsible for Mina Cabot’s murder, for the abductions, forced imprisonment, and sale of dozens of minors.
“Sir, if I could detail the events that led to where we are now.”
“I think you’d better.”
She watched his eyes narrow as she relayed the contact through Mavis, the connection to Sebastian, the unorthodox meeting.
It didn’t do the knots in her stomach any good. She expected the battery of questions, point by point, and he had them and more.
“You believe these initial memory gaps?”
“I do, yes, sir.”
Wandering the streets of Dallas, broken and bloody, mind a blank. Yes, she believed.
“And I believe she came forward, reluctantly, because she remembered Mina. Her attachment and trust in Sebastian came quickly because he helped her, and no one else had. Not the police, not the social workers, not any authority who had the responsibility to do so. If he hadn’t persuaded her to talk to me, we wouldn’t have the information she provided.”
“Which doesn’t include the location of this Academy.”
“No, sir, but it gives us a great deal to work with, details we wouldn’t have otherwise. It’s verified the status of several of the victims on this board. Ones she saw there, and one she states self-terminated. We have knowledge that the woman known as Auntie has a partner, or a financial backer, perhaps a superior. We know the building where the abductees are held consists of at least seven floors. We have a portion of the swipe card she used to access the elevator to the tunnels. The existence of the tunnels narrows our search for the location. The clothes she was wearing when she escaped are now at the lab and may offer more evidence.”
“The end may—may—justify some of your means, Lieutenant. However, by circumventing the chain of command, placing a minor victim and key witness in an unauthorized and civilian location, you’ve left a lot of cleanup.”
“Yes, sir. It’s my responsibility. I made the decisions based on the circumstances of the moment and the emotional state of the minor. She’s also mine, sir. She came to me.”
“And you answer to the department,” he reminded her. “While you’ve given your word to this girl and her—we’ll stick with intermediary for now—I haven’t given mine. We have a network of safe houses, we have trained child protection professionals.”
“Like Truman.” Eve used all her will to push back emotion, to keep it out of her tone. “I’m fully aware Truman doesn’t represent the majority of CPS professionals, Commander, but Dorian Gregg has only that individual in her experience. If I’d called in CPS, we’d have lost her. Rochelle Pickering is also a trained professional, and Dr. Mira has requested at least a session with the minor child.
“I could have given her no choice, pulled her in, installed her in an authorized location with CPS and a few cops. Maybe we’d have gotten this information from her, in time. I wasn’t willing to do more damage to her to get it.
“She’s spent her life being beaten, abused, neglected, and the last several months being forced to submit to physical exams, punished with shock sticks, being forced to perform sexual acts with other girls trapped as she was. She made a friend in Mina Cabot, and now blames herself for her friend’s death. She fell, she couldn’t run, and her friend ran to protect her and died.”
Everything inside her wanted to shake, to break, but she wouldn’t allow it. She’d done the right thing, as a cop, as a human being, and she’d stand by it.
“No, sir, I wasn’t willing to pile onto that, so I used my best judgment, and gave her a choice. If I don’t protect and serve Dorian Gregg and every girl on this board behind me, I don’t deserve the badge. I stand by my actions, Commander, and again, take full responsibility for them.”
“I wonder if she knows the advocate she has in you.”
“It doesn’t matter. Protecting her, finding Mina Cabot’s killer, and busting the organization that exploits and torments, that sells girls like her into slavery is all that matters.”
“When we’re done here, I’ll have a discussion with Dr. Mira. Meanwhile, I’ll need chapter and fucking verse on the security and setup at the location you chose. The chain of command, Lieutenant, doesn’t stop with me.”