We pull away from the curb, and I point the vehicle toward our war room and hit the gas. There’s something bigger going on here than we first thought. We need to figure out what it is—and we need to figure it out fast. The clock is ticking on the lives of two kids. And we certainly don’t want our perp to strike again.
FBI Operational Black Site, Foggy Bottom District; Washington DC
“How did you know he was taken?” I ask Nina.
“Just in case Ashley’s abduction wasn’t a one-off, I’ve been keeping an ear to the ground for abductions that involve black panel vans and/or men in smiley-face masks,” she replies.
“Wow. Great work, Nina. Really, outstanding work,” I say.
Her cheeks redden, and she looks away. “Thanks, Boss.”
“Okay, what can you tell us about the victim?” I ask.
“Peter Olange, eighteen years old, a senior at Basil Hill Prep,” Nina says. “He carries a 3.8 GPA, is heavily involved in extracurriculars, is the star first baseman on the school’s baseball team, and has plans to attend Georgetown after graduation. By all accounts, he’s a good kid, doesn’t cause trouble, and keeps his nose clean.”
“No record, sealed or otherwise?” I ask.
“None,” Rick replies. “He’s squeaky clean.”
I frown. “Anything questionable on his socials? Has he aligned himself with any groups that might raise some red flags?”
“Not a thing,” Nina says. “From everything I can see, he’s a pretty normal kid.”
“Well, he caught the eye of a bad guy. I’d like to know how,” I muse.
“Could just be dumb luck. Maybe our smiley-face guy ran across him by chance,” Astra offers.
“Yeah. Maybe,” I reply. “But do Peter and Ashley Barlow have anything in common?”
“On the surface, nothing we can find,” Nina says.
“They go to different schools in different states,” Rick tells me.
On our way back from the Olange house, I called ahead and told Rick and Mo to set up an electronic tap on the Senator’s phones to record any calls that might come in, then decamp from Barlow’s place and hoof it back to the war room in Foggy Bottom. With Peter’s abduction, it makes it increasingly unlikely that a ransom call is going to come in, and I can use the both of them as we delve into this mess that’s growing more tangled.
“And there is zero crossover among friends or groups on their socials,” Nina adds.
My arms folded over my chest, I pace the floor of the war room, trying to figure out what we’re missing. I want to believe there’s a connection between the two—that there is some bit of crossover somewhere in their lives.
“What are you thinking?” Astra asks.
“I’m thinking that if we can’t find the crossover in the lives of these two kids, that we’re dealing with something bad. Really bad,” I reply.
“You’re talking about a trafficking ring,” Paige says.
“Maybe.”
“Aren’t they a little old for trafficking?” Rick asks. “I thought traffickers usually snatched up young, young kids.”
“Not always. Unfortunately, there is a market that caters to every sick appetite out there,” Astra says. “Sixteen-year-old girls are just as in demand as eighteen-year-old boys like Peter Olange.”
“Exactly. So, let’s be proactive about it,” I reply. “Mo, I want you to get with the Bureau’s trafficking task force. I want to find out if there are any known active rings in this area. Get the names of players and anything else you can squeeze out of them. And remember, don’t take no for an answer. Don’t let them off until you get some real answers from them.”
“Copy that,” Mo says.
“Tell me about the Olanges, folks,” I say.
“Susan Olange is the President and CEO of O-Tech Industries, a technology firm her father started, which she has expanded. She’s turned it into a Fortune 500 company that has interests in everything from defense and weapons systems to video games,” Nina reports. “Her husband Dutton owns a construction company that has done very well over the years and has plenty of government contracts too.”
“Okay, so both do business with the government,” I say. “Do any of their interests overlap with Senator Barlow? Is there perhaps a nexus there?”
“Not that I can find,” Rick says. “Barlow doesn’t sit on any of the committees that hand out contracts to either of the Olanges. So far as I can tell, they’ve never been in the same room with each other at the same time.”
“We know Senator Barlow has some detractors out there. Do the Olanges have any public positions that might be considered controversial? Any fringe theories they endorse? Any extreme candidates? Anything that the crazies out there might take umbrage with?” I ask.
“The crazies will take umbrage with anything these days,” Astra offers.
“Fair,” I reply with a dark chuckle. “But are the Olanges associated with anything unusual that might ruffle some feathers?”
“Nothing that I can see,” Nina says. “They don’t seem to endorse any specific political ideology and contribute to a wide range of social causes, but nothing that seems fringe or radical.”
“Ditto that with their political contributions. They donate to candidates of all political stripes,” Rick adds. “The only common thread I can see is their support for politicians who do a lot of important social work that’s mainly centered on the welfare and protection of children. For the most part, though, they seem apolitical.”
“So, nothing crazy, nothing radical, no connection between the kids, and no parental connection to Barlow,” Astra says. “This is looking more and more like the angle we’d all rather not consider might end up being the right one.”
“Yeah,” I mutter darkly. “And the only thing connecting these two kids is the man in the smiley-face mask and that black panel van.”
“Yeah,” Rick says softly. “On the surface, that’s all we can find right now.”
“Okay. Then let’s dig deeper. A lot deeper,” I say. “Get into every aspect of the lives of Senator Barlow and the Olanges. They gave us permission to look through their electronic lives, so do that. Find a connection, no matter how tenuous, between the two families. There has got to be something that links them.”
“Blake, it’s possible there isn’t,” Astra says softly. “I know you don’t want to think so, but it’s possible, if not likely, that these kids were snatched up and trafficked. I think our time would be better spent looking at that angle instead of digging into the lives of the families.”
“I think we can do both. We need to be flexible enough to look at multiple avenues at once simply because we don’t know anything right now,” I say.
“Okay,” Astra says.
“What about the whole sugar baby angle? Could it be somebody from the site—this Joey Bauer guy—who’s behind all this?” Paige chips in. “Kind of seems like the business he’s in might have some potential crossover with trafficking rings.”
“That’s doubtful,” Nina says. “Nothing we’ve found on him so far points to him being involved with anything illegal. There’s absolutely nothing that even hints that he’s connected to a trafficking ring. It’s like Blake said, he seems more like a wannabe mobster than anything.”
“He could be good at covering his tracks,” Paige says.
“Not that good. He’s definitely not better than me,” Nina replies.
