In the end, she knew she had no choice. Unless she got in the car with Rico, there was no chance hed lead her to his boss and no chance of stopping the trafficking ring that had Jessie so upset. Her sister was counting on her, so she moved.

She waited until she was out of Elodies sight before texting the undercover cops at the numbers shed been given. Marie, the female cop, had instructed her not to text her or Brian, the male cop, unless it was an emergency.

She typed an innocuous message, one that Rico wouldnt find odd if he insisted on looking at her phone, as quickly as she could and sent it just to Marie. It read: Cant meet for lunch. Going off campus to see a friend. Later.

Only seconds later, she got a call. It was Marie.

Dont, the woman said emphatically. Its not safe. This could be a trap.

I dont have a choice, Hannah hissed back. If I dont go, we miss our chance. Ill do my part. You do yours. Follow us. Bust them when we get there.

Im pulling you out, Marie said. Well just arrest Rico and go from there.

Hannah was about to round the last corner to get to the side street where he was waiting. If he saw her on the phone, she feared shed spook him.

No, she said forcefully, nearly shouting. You do that and girls will die. We have a chance to stop that. Ill be fine. Follow me. Call for backup. Do whatever you have to do. But dont ruin this. And stay way back. Hes already paranoid. You can be the hero or goat, Marie. If you dont let this play out, youll get the blame. Ill make sure of it.

She hung up without waiting for Maries reply, put her phone on silent, and stuffed it in her pocket. As she rounded the corner to meet Rico, she made sure she had the right expression on her face: anxious but not scared.

It helped that it was exactly how she felt.

CHAPTER THIRTY THREE

We are not permitted to allow entrance without a valid warrant, the security guard said over the speaker beside the gate.

Theyd only been waiting at the gate for twenty seconds but each one was precious, an opportunity for Jasper Otis to hide Paul Gilliard or sneak him off the estate. Jessie was about to respond but Karen beat her to it.

We have a valid warrant, which well show you at the front door of the house. You can open the gate right now or well have the truck behind us knock it down. Its your call. You have five seconds to hit that button.