“The shoot-out wasn’t your fault. And look at the bright side—consider all the business those Feds brought to the town. Business is good even for a small town.” He grinned.

“Good point. Casey even sold a record number of books during those two weeks.”

“For two weeks Rogue’s Hollow was on the map.”

“I just want the Hollow on the map for positive reasons: the river, the Stairsteps, our wonderful lodging, not crime and chaos.”

“Keeping this girl safe to testify and putting a predator in jail would be extremely positive. In the national arena.” Oliver held his hand out and Tess put hers in it.

She couldn’t argue with him there.

“The chaos, I trust you to handle,” he said with a smile.

She returned the smile. “All right. I’ll locate Agent Bass and tell him it’s a go.”

–––

Tess didn’t have to look far for Bass. He was waiting for her at the station.

“I hope you have good news for me.”

“I do. The Scaleses have agreed to house your witness. But before you jump for joy, I need to know all the particulars about the case and exactly what Beck is being charged with. And if anything goes right rudder, I’m letting the sheriff in.”

“Fair enough. If you have the time, I’ll show you everything.”

“I’ll make the time.” Tess led the agent into her office and sat while he opened his briefcase and passed her a file.

“First, I’ll admit that this ball got rolling because of a stroke of luck. For the past couple of years, we’ve been conducting training with the airlines on what to look for regarding human trafficking. Traffickers are brazen at times and will fly with girls across country, even out of the country. A flight attendant on a flight from New York to Phoenix noticed something odd about a threesome in first class. She thought the girls looked out of place with the man they were traveling with. She phoned ahead, and Homeland Security in Phoenix met the trio at the gate. Turns out, the girls were being trafficked. One was missing out of Tulsa, and the other from Florida. The man with them couldn’t tell us much—he’d been given the girls by someone else—but he was taking them to the compound in Mesa. That gave us enough probable cause for the raid there.

“At the compound, we found three more girls. Two were Mexican nationals, the other from California. The disturbing thing is, all the girls went to the compound voluntarily.”

Tess nodded. “They were runaways. I bet the person who brought them there promised them work or a better life or something.”

“Exactly, and interestingly enough, they all described being recruited in a way, by a man who promised them high-paying jobs. Once in the compound, they were groomed for something else.”

“This compound, it belonged to Beck?”