We took Lysha to the nomad camp the next morning at dawn. The camp was just starting to move, camp fires were being built, breakfast was starting. We drove right into camp, down the line to the Kasepo area, receiving many uncertain and even hostile looks as we did so. Oak got out first, then helped Lysha out. The girl was wrapped in a blanket to stave off the morning chill and looked very small indeed. She had slept fitfully last night, Oak had reported, but she had eaten plenty for breakfast this morning and had a nice hot bath as well. Oak had a neighbor who had kids about her age and the woman had kindly given Lysha a few sets of hand me down clothes and a small backpack to keep them in. We had stuffed the pack with water and food as well to make sure she regained her nutrition.
We walked Lysha to where we had met the Kasepos. They were still there much as they had been, with several men around the fire who looked none too friendly.
“Shira,” I called. “Is Shira here?”
For a moment, no one moved. The Shira appeared out the door of a tent, followed by a lad I recognized as Nilo. Shira took one look at us and then at the figure between us and then let out a cry of surprise and joy. She rushed forwards, dropping the linens she had been carrying and pulled Lysha into her arms, sobbing. Nilo too rushed forwards and hugged his sister. Lysha began to cry as her family surrounded her. The sight was almost too much for me to bare, watch sobs that looked too big for that tiny body to produce.
Nilo walked up to use. “You find her?” he asked, his eyes damp.
“Yes. Thanks to your help. Without you, we might not have known where to look.”
“Thank you,” Nilo said bowing to each of us. Then he called over his shoulder to the others.
One by one the men walked forwards, their hostile expressions replaced by looks of gratitude. They each bowed to us the same as Nilo. I stuck out my hand and shook their hands. Last of all to come forward was Shira, who just shook her head, her face shiny, her voice constricted. But we understood her sentiment as she clutched her daughter to her.
By now a good crowd had formed around us at all the commotion all talking and leaning in curiously and I motioned to Oak that we should leave.
“Be safe,” I said to Nilo and Shira.
The assembled watching group parted to let us pass. We smiled at them and waved to show our good intent. The atmosphere about us seemed to have sifted, for some people waved and smiled back. We got in the car and headed towards Burkus. Oak was to go there to help with the other children while I was going to find Bract to help us translate for them. I dropped her and then drove to the intersection where not long ago, Luna had been taken.
I walked the familiar way to his camp and saw that he was there, making coffee.
“Hello,” I called so as not to alarm him.
He stood at the sound of my voice and raised a hand. “Detective. Please sit.” He motioned to the seat opposite his and I took a grateful respite. I felt exhausted from the past three days.
Bract handed me a mug of coffee and I drank deeply. Then I sat up. “We found them last night Bract. Six kids, Luna and Lysha were two of them. We just got Lysha back to her family this morning. It’s over.”
Bract stared at me as though I had declared that I was going to be travelling to space soon. Then he stood, threw back his head and sang some song into the air. I couldn’t help but smile as I watched him do this.
He looked back at me and shook his head. “You are a sogro, savior of the innocent Detective. This is a person who does whatever it is to find the right path. It is one of the highest honors our people have for each other.”
“Then you are a sogro also. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without you.”
Bract shrugged. “I help yes, but it is the one who have the vision, the sight to do it. This is you.”
I raised my cup and cheers him. “Alas, I must ask for your help one more time. The other children are all nomads, they don’t understand us very well. Will you help translate for them so we can find their families?”
Bract agreed with no hesitation, so we drove to Burkus. The other children seemed to be very fearful of us townies, but when Bract entered the bunkhouse where they had been put up and spoke their language, they started to open up. Two were brother and sister. They had been taken around the same time as Lysha, from what we could tell. The eldest girl, about twelve, had been there for about a month. And the youngest girl, nine, had been there for a few weeks. It seemed the need for labor had increased more recently. All of these children had come from Gransu and we made preparations to travel there to find their families. Bract came with us and we spent the rest of the day tracking down the relatives of the children and sending them home.
“I wish there was something more we could do for them,” Oak sighed as the last ones, the brother and sister were reunited with their parents. She hadn’t yet been to Gransu and hadn’t witnessed the extent of the poverty there. “It seems so dismal to send them back to this life.”
“I hope in time this will change,” I agreed. “But it’s best to be with their loved ones, no matter what the circumstances.”
For the next two days, we were kept busy investigating the Kasorsh property. We had gone through every inch of the place and discovered some disturbing results. The living quarters where the children had been kept were the worst. Just a few blankets on the bare ground, a bucket in the corner for their toilet necessities and no sanitation to speak of. From what Luna had said, they had been worked for hours on end, performing the same tasks over and over again. But what exactly they had been doing remained a mystery. We have found no trace of street drugs on any of the laboratory equipment and no sign of the elicit chemicals needed to make crank or anything else. A broken jar on the floor was all that apparently remained of whatever they had been making. It had disappeared along with the three men in the truck.
Meryl insisted on Oak and myself taking the next three days off. I slept for nearly an entire day but felt restless for the next two. I did house projects to keep myself busy, went for runs and reassumed my neglected work out routine.
When I was finally allowed to come back into the office, Meryl immediately corralled me into his office.
“How’s the investigation going?” I asked.
“Good. Well if you can call it that. The boys from Burkus brought in a trained scent dog to see if it could find anything we missed. It zeroed in on a patch of ground. We went digging around and produced a body.”
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My breath hitched and my heart ached. So we hadn’t gotten to all the children in time.
“No, it’s not what you’re thinking. It was Limuel Kasorsh. Bones were pretty old but the coroner said the bullet holes to the skull couldn’t be missed. Looks like someone killed him, probably about a year and a half to two years ago. No one checked up on him in all that time.”
I hated to feel relieved at the death of an old man, but I couldn’t help but be grateful it hadn’t been a child.
“Morton and I questioned the two boys in lockup. They were just foot soldiers, if we’re being honest. They knew some of what saw going on, but they were just idiots drunk on enjoying power. They’ll be doing time, and a lot of it. The two that are in the hospital haven’t been interviewed yet. If you’re up for it, I’d like to interview one of them today.”
I nodded, a bitter taste filling my mouth. “Take me with you sir, please.”
“I think that would be good. Oak’s out at the crime scene, but Ash will hold down the fort for us. Just let me finish up these last emails.”
I waited outside, feeling agitated. Facing one of these fuckers face to face always felt like waking up from a nightmare only to find it had been real life.
“DI Senel,” Ashley said from behind me, making me jump. “Remember those images you sent me? I have the cleaned up versions ready if you want to see.”
“Sure,” I said, walking over to her desk. She pulled up a file and began flipping though portrait shots. Most were too inscrutable to the point where it had been foolish to think even photo enhancement could have helped. But there was one.
“Hang on,” I said, hurrying over to my desk and grabbing a stack of papers, the file on Ulug. I practically ran back over, rifling through them until I came to the one I was looking for. It was an image taken of Ulug and Borsk standing next to each other. I held up the photo next to Ashley’s screen.
“What do you think?” I asked her, because I had already made up my mind. But a second opinion was wise.
“It looks a lot like that guy. Borsk,” Ashley said, staring from face to face.
“I think so too. Send this over to Meryl will you?”
“Sure thing. Um so are you alright?”
I glanced at her, all shining eyes and innocent ambitions and silly crushes. But she had the makings of a good cop underneath all of her inexperience. I could see that.
“I’m alright. How are you?”
She nodded. “I’m ok. I’m just really happy you found those kids.”
“We all found them Ash, I couldn’t have done it without you.”
I squeezed he shoulder briefly as Meryl came out of his office and jerked his head towards the door.
We headed down to the hospital in Burkus, to where the prison ward was. Ward was a bit of an overstatement. There two three rooms and the only two that were occupied were our recent enemies. I took a firm hold on myself and strolled into the room of the man we would be questioning. The guard outside closed the door and locked it again. The room was sparse, unwindowed and cool in temperature. The suspect was abed, his arms handcuffed to the table sides and his leg was splinted and suspended above him. I didn’t wince at the painful looking situation. He deserved every moment of this. If it was up to me, I would disconnect his morphine drip for the duration of his stay.
His attorney shook hands with both of us and took a seat in the corner to observe. The man shifted uncomfortably. He moved his head over to us as we came along side him and then his mouth popped open in recognition. I too recalled these dark pits of eyes only too well. Rifle Guy.
“You,” he said in slack jawed surprise.
I didn’t say anything. He turned to squint at Meryl, but there was no way he could have been mistaken for Bract.
“Mr. Legosk, we have some questions for you. If you cooperate with our investigation, your prison sentence may be reduced by as much as 50%.”
The attorney nodded and Legosk shrugged. “What do you want?”
“I want to know how six children ended up in that cellar, Mr. Legosk. And what part your friend Ulug had to play in the business.”
Legosk shrugged again looking unconcerned. “I don’t know much. I’m just a soldier, just taking orders.”
I white hot nerve of hatred sizzled to life in my brain. Before Meryl could stop me I had come within inches of the man’s face. I looked him up and down.
“You abducted Luna Lampour. Admit it. Or rot in prison the rest of your life.”
Legosk licked his cracked lips. Then he smiled, a serene, unconcerned smile. I knew that look only too well. It told me all I needed to know. I turned around, ripping the tube of morphine off the drip bag behind him.
“Whoops, I tripped,” I said. “Someone better call a nurse to get this put back into place.”
“Actually the nurses are extremely busy,” Meryl said. “I doubt one will be back for another half an hour.”
Legosk’s smile faltered. I eyed him coolly as the pain began to set in. At first he tried to ignore it. But quickly, I saw the sweat forming on his brow.
“That looks pretty painful,” I commented. “It was hard to aim in the dark. I mean to hit your leg, but it seems I got the inside of your groin instead.”
Legosk hissed in anger but could do nothing to retaliate.
“You think he’d get the death penalty if he was tried in federal court?” I asked the attorney and Meryl over my shoulder. “I’m sure I can make that happen.”
“Fine,” Legosk called out suddenly. “Call the nurse. I’ll tell you.”
I shrugged, my hand hovering over the call for assistance button at the end of the bed. “Then talk.”
“I took this girl. Ulug told me to be in this area and to grab a child. But when I come back with this girl he is freaked out because she is a local girl, not one of the nomad filths.” He coughed, moaning slightly. “Then it is all over the news, this girl who is missing. Ulug say that we should prepare to abandon the farmhouse. We pack everything into the truck to go.”
“What were you making?” I asked.
“I don’t know, some drug, Ulug not say.”
“The capa, the shipment that night. It was for this drug?”
Legosk nodded. “That’s all I know.”
I ground my teeth in frustration but I didn’t doubt he was telling the truth, at least about the drugs. “Ok, final chance. Who is Ulug working for?”
I saw his eyes flash and I knew I had something here.
“I don’t know,” he started but slammed my hand down on the bedside table.
“Senel,” Meryl said quietly but I ignored him.
“Yes you do. Come on Legosk. I already know who it is, you just need to say the name.”
Legosk was panting now from the combination of pain and nerves. “Borsk,” he said and then grimaced.
“Good. I think that’s all we need for now.”
Meryl and I stood to leave.
“The nurse!” Legosk called.
“She’ll be back. Eventually.”
Back outside of the hospital, we hopped in the car and headed back to the station. Meryl, who was driving, glanced sideways at me. “You’re taking a holiday after this Senel. You’re supposed to be learning your limits here.”
“Great. I can follow up on all the loose ends of this case while drinking martinis at the beach.”
Meryl snorted. “Not the relaxation type are you?”
We drove in silence for a few minutes.
“It’s all due to you, that those kids are saved,” Meryl said abruptly. “I wouldn’t have caught on to what you did. You’re a value to your team, even if you are a crazy bastard.”
I took a deep breath. “I can’t sleep, you know, when shit like this happens,” I said, pulling the words out with difficulty. “I fucking see their faces, the tear their families cry. I can’t live with it, not until it’s over.”
Meryl huffed softly. “Hate to break it to ya son, but if there’s one thing I’ve learned in this line of duty, it’s never over.”
“I know.”
“Go home and visit your family for the holiday Senel. Harvest Festival is just around the corner. That’ll do you right.”
I swallowed. “I would sir, if I had any family that wanted to see me.”
Meryl nodded slowly. “Well in that case, do what I did the year I was a rebellious 20 year old and go hike the Coast Trail.”
“Sir?”
“Yeah, it’s a little hippie and stuff, but seriously, it’s good for the brain. Ten days of hiking along the seaside, camping next to the waves. It’ll be the offseason, but that’s all to the better, fewer yuppies.”
“A hiking trip? Seriously?”
“I know, I know, I was skeptical when my wife suggested it three years ago. But in the end, it was really pretty fantastic. I think you’ll find some peace out there, and if not that, you can make it into a challenge.”
“I don’t know,” I said.
“That’s an order, Sergeant.”
“If you insist,” I said, shrugging. Then I did a double take. “Sergeant?”
“It’s a promotion in name only. We don’t exactly have the funds to give you a raise, though I’ll see to some overtime for you for all this. At the very least it’ll allow you to be on an equal footing to me in terms of getting warrants and making team decisions. So if there’s anything you want to change or add to our team, just let me know.”
I stared at my hands, touched by this. “Thank you sir.”
We drove on in silence for a few more moments. “Actually,” I said, straightening in my seat. “I did have one idea.”