Tess bit back a response. The shelter was supposed to be a secret, but she’d quickly learned that in a small valley, it was impossible to keep any secrets, especially a big one. While it was irritating that this outsider had easily discovered the place, she knew there wasn’t a lot she could do, short of moving the shelter, and that wouldn’t happen.

“Yes, we do.”

“With your permission, I’d like to contact the couple who run the place and ask if they’re willing to provide shelter for the girl, our witness, while we provide security.”

“Why do you need my permission?”

He took a photo and slid it across her desk. Tess picked it up. She recognized the man but said nothing.

“This is the man we believe headed up the trafficking ring. The man I want to bring down.”

Tess brought a hand to her mouth, hoping she controlled the shock that she felt. To say that Cyrus Beck was a well-known public figure was an understatement. He was middle-aged, sixty at most, but his face was smooth and unlined. In the picture, he was wearing casual clothes and still appeared trim and fit. At least six feet tall, with his sandy-brown hair perfectly trimmed, Beck might be considered a handsome man by some, Tess supposed. But to her, his eyes were insolent, and there was a cruel smirk to the turn of his lips. Maybe she read what she knew about him into her perusal, but she’d never be attracted in any way to a man like Cyrus Beck.

In shock she asked, “He’s not unknown to me, but human trafficking?”

“I intend to prove that his legal activities and outspoken activism provide cover for his baser hobbies,” Bass said.

Tess took a deep breath. This was big. Among other things, Beck was a vocal environmentalist and one of the richest men in the country, maybe the world. In law enforcement circles he was what was considered a high-profile agitator. He would hire protesters to vocalize his beliefs, and he didn’t care if his hires got violent—which they did, more often than not. She’d worked a couple of those incidents years ago, with Long Beach PD, and faced rioters behind riot shields.

One particular day stood out, a protest she’d worked down in the Long Beach harbor. Beck wasn’t there, but it was well known he’d financed the activity. The group was protesting a Chinese company Beck accused of using manufacturing processes that contributed to global warming. Among other incendiary activities, they attempted to board container ships from China.