Pulling back into the station in Cresel empty handed and down one lead, I was sure that our next move would be to investigate a possible connection to Ulug. Feverishly I hurried to Meryl’s door, Oak in tow.

Meryl was taking a phone call when we got there. I used the office printer while we waited before he opened his door and ushered us inside.

“I don’t see a pedophile with you,” he observed.

“Guy was clean, no evidence he took Luna or had anything to do with her,” I explained. “We had no cause to bring him in.”

“He was poaching,” Oak interjected, still bitter about the violated hunting law. “We could have brought him in for that.”

“He killed a wild turkey out of season,” I said impatiently. “That has nothing to do with our case.”

Meryl sighed. “So we’re back to ground zero.”

“Not quite.” I placed the pile of documents on his desk that I had printed while we waited for him to finish his phone call. “I’ve got this information on Kasorsh Ulug. It’s mostly history, but it might help us to find a place to start looking. If he’s got a drug den up north here, it must be somewhere convenient but also isolated. Maybe outside of Burkus, as that’s the largest town in the area.”

Abruptly Meryl held up a hand to silence me. He was wearing an expression of tired resignment which I didn’t like. “Oak, go get yourself a coffee. Give us a minute,” Meryl said, dismissing her from the office.

Oak glanced sideways at me but left without saying a word. I tried not to glare at my boss as I heard the door click shut behind her. I knew what was happening and it wasn’t going to be Meryl giving me the green light.

“Senel, sit down,” Meryl said.

I flinched for a moment before doing as he asked. Meryl glanced down at the documents I had prepared for him and then up at me. “Let me ask you something son. I want you to answer the question completely honestly. Is there a proven connection between Luna Lampour’s kidnapping and this Ulug character?”

I opened my mouth immediately but then closed it. There was a brief silence. “No,” I admitted, feeling heat rise in my face.

“Right. Therefore, there is no cause to investigate this Ulug guy during the course of our case, is there?”

“He’s a criminal who’s used child labor in the past,” I said coolly. “How is it different than investigating a pedophile who has no apparent connections to Luna?”

“A pedophile, who disappeared at the exact same time as the girl was taken. A pedophile who had proximity to the girl. That’s a lead worth following up on. What evidence is there that Ulug was ever in the Wiggins area, let alone that he had any reason to take a child in this remote county?”

“Lysha’s kidnapping,” I said quickly. “If she was taken in a similar area, isn’t it at least worth some investigation?”

Meryl sighed. “I’m concerned that you’re confusing a worthy cause with your…invested interest in your former case.”

I felt more heat enter my face. “This has nothing to do with my former case,” I said, trying to keep my voice even.

“To hell it doesn’t Senel. You’ve been here one month, we have a child go missing and you’re bringing in stacks of documents about drug kingpins from the capital.”

“I’m not-” I began but Meryl talked over me.

“I know you want to make things right with your last case and with your partner. It’s a natural inclination. But you were stationed here for a reason. That’s not your case anymore. And that’s not the sort of crime we get up north here.”

“What, there’s no one doing drugs up here? There’s no one selling or running and turning a nice profit out of the gaze of the capital. Sir, you were in Cannon City at the height of the crank epidemic. You know how those people work. They’ll find any way they can to make their stacks and find the labor to do it. Tell me a group of undocumented, unregulated nomad people wouldn’t be that perfect labor force to feed on.”

“Ok, enough.” Meryl said, and the note of command in his voice was like a whip. “We haven’t been tasked to rid the northern counties of crank dealers Senel. We are trying to find a ten year old girl who may or may not be alive, who may or may not be being abused or tortured. I need you to focus on the case at hand. If you can’t do that, then you can step out of this office and find another line of work. Might I remind you, I took you on out of my respect for Chief Mast and Deputy Melvin. Not many offices would have taken you on after what you pulled. But if you’re going to insist on disregarding my leadership, I’m going to have to ask you to leave.”

I sat back, deflated and frustrated. “What would you like me to investigate then, sir?” I asked, trying to keep the bite out of my tone. “I believe we’re all out of leads.”

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Meryl opened his mouth. There was a slight pause. “It’s getting late, and you and Oak haven’t had a moment to rest since the incident. You’re supposed to be off duty today. Oak and I will monitor the lines and the online forum. Take the rest of the day to recuperate and get some rest. We can start fresh tomorrow.”

My temper punctured a hole through my barely achieved composure. “That’s your suggestion? Do nothing?”

Meryl glared at me. “A well rested mind will be more effective. And less reactionary.”

I stood. This was going nowhere. “Yes sir,” I managed to bite out before turning on my heel and leaving his office.

Oak stood up from her desk when she saw me. “Are we-?” she began but I merely shook my head to stop her. I didn’t trust myself to speak. Angrily I seized the pile of papers, the second copy of the Ulug documents I had printed out and seized my hiking pack and keys. I left the station without another glance. I was in my car and half way home before I allowed myself to let out a roar of frustration and pummeled the steering wheel. I felt so pissed, I was nearly seeing red. I thought Meryl of all people would be supportive of my hypothesis, especially after having worked in Cannon City during those darkest years of rampant drug use and crime. But in those days, child labor hadn’t been nearly as high. It was only in recent years that this type of slavery had skyrocketed.

I pulled into my driveway much more abruptly than I had intended and jolted to a halt, sending the papers I had neatly stacked in the cab next to me sliding to the floor. Swearing, I parked the car, unbuckled and leaned over the collect the pile. I straightened back up with a grunt, the lot of them amassed in my hands and exited the truck. If Meryl wouldn’t let me work the case during my official hours, I would continue during my off time. I would read until I couldn’t keep my eyes open. I shoved my way through the front door and deposited the papers on my tiny booth style kitchen table and then set about making a pot of coffee. I unpacked a snack from my hiking back and crammed some granola into my mouth. When the coffee was done, I poured myself a generous mug and slid into the little booth, pouring more granola into a bowl.

I seized the first paper that my fingers touched and pulled it towards me. I stared at it for several long moments. It was part of a report on a drug cooking ring from the capital that Ulug had been linked to but never arrested for. Page 7 of 13. I riffled around and managed to locate the other 12 pages. Then I sank into the report. It was slow going. I willed myself to read every word of the depressing report, which detailed horrific conditions that laborers had worked in, chemical fires that had broken out and given people first degree burns and accounts of people on the street who had been found under the influence of the drug. I felt my concentration slipping after half an hour and redoubled my caffeinated efforts.

I flipped to the list of laborers who had been busted in the raid that had taken down the operation. There were over fifty of them. Some had given their names and some had estimated ages next to them. I stared at one name and number in particular. Alla, age 10-12. A little girl in the same age range as Luna and Lysha. Fuck.

I sifted madly through the rest of the documents until I found other lists of busted laborers from drug cleaning operations. Names and ages jumped out at me. Lina, age 12-14. Dalla, age 9-11, Juni, age 10-12. I looked up from the lists, attempting to clear my vision, for tears had abruptly leaked through my defenses. I rubbed them away in a horrified fury. I hadn’t even cried when I had lost my job in the capital.

“Fuck,” I muttered under my breath. Maybe Meryl was right. Maybe the ghost of my last case was haunting me and I was placing Luna in a position that was completely unlikely in my mind. I sat back and ran my hands through my hair. It was greasy from all the hiking earlier today and the lack of a shower. I kept my palms over my forehead, pressing down hard. Unless I eliminated Ulug and a child labor ring from my calculations, Meryl was right, that was all I was going to see.

I stood up abruptly. I needed to clear this lead once and for all. Gransu, this border situation, might be the only place I could figure this out. I looked up directions to the place on my phone. It was about two hours north of Cresel located in Tersol County. I tapped my phone on my knee. This was reckless, even for my recent standards. I was considering crossing a county line, driving two hours to a place that was known to be a shit show as Oak had put it and trying to find information about a possible high level drug lord. This was insane. I sighed and dropped my phone on the table, massaging my temple. This wasn’t my call. Meryl was leading the case, he was supposed to make the decisions. But unless I could give him something to chew on, he wasn’t going to bite.

I tried to consider other options. I looked up the Sherrif’s Office in Tersol County on my phone. Maybe they had a record of Ulug that would support my claim. I dialed the number. It rang for nearly three minutes before someone picked up.

“Tersol County Sheriff, how can I help you?” a male voice on the line inquired.

“Hi, this is DI Senel from Melspol County. Could you patch me through to the investigative branch?”

“Sure thing,” the voice said. I was redirected to anther ringing phone.

Eventually I got through and a deeper voice picked up. “DI Roose. To whom am I speaking?”

“DI Roose, this is DI Senel, I’m over in Melspol County. I had a question for you regarding a current case.”

“What’s on your mind DI Senel?”

“In the course of our investigation regarding a missing child, a name came up, Kasorsh Ulug. It seems he’s a drug kingpin originally from the capital who’s gone dark. Yet he might have just reappeared on the border near Gransu. Do you have any records of such a person?”

There was a long crackling pause. “Gransu you say? Sorry Detective but we steer clear of that area on principle. Those nomad people aren’t our concern. We just try to keep um away from our towns and people, that’s our main concern.”

I drummed my fingers on the table. “Right. Well, about that name then? Any record of Ulug?”

“Well, I’ll check, but we don’t get much drug running up here. Mostly just these damn nomads making every kind of trouble. Ulug, Ulug.”

I heard him typing and I tightened my fingers into a fist.

“Nope, no one in our records by that name I’m afraid.”

I grimaced. “Thanks DI Roose for your time.”

I hung up. Everywhere I looked was another block in the road. I sat still for a moment, wondering what to do. But I already knew. I stood up and quickly repacked my hiking pack. I headed out to my old chevr truck and hopped in, checking the gas gauge as I turned it on. Nearly to empty. I sighed. I drove to the only gas station in Cresel and filled the tank. While I was waiting, my eyes fell on the restaurant across the street. Singh Bou’s. It would be good to have a substantial meal. I headed over and ordered a banh mi, then hesitated and ordered a second. I was going to need assistance on this crazy mission I had set for myself.