Gideon exchanged a glance with Maddox. "And these children who get placed with these families... what happens to them?"
Emily took a deep breath. "At first, nothing unusual. Regular home visits, school attendance, everything by the book. Then, typically three to four months in, there's an incident. Usually blamed on another child, school, new boyfriend, etcetera, and the child runs away.”
Emily continued, her hands clenched tightly in her lap. "It's never immediate."
"How did you discover this?" Walker asked, speaking for the first time.
"It started with one of my cases—Marisol Diaz, fifteen. She was placed with the Wilsons last year. Five months in, she allegedly ran away, only five weeks before I got taken. When I tried to follow up, Susan Martin, who wasn't even my direct supervisor at that point, took over the case on orders from the manager, Richard Kline. She said it was protocol for runaways. But Marisol had left me a voicemail the night before she 'ran away.' She was scared, said Mr. Wilson had visitors who kept looking at her 'in a weird way.' Said they were taking pictures of her."
My stomach turned. I'd seen enough human trafficking operations to know exactly what those pictures were for.
"After Marisol, I started looking at other cases," Emily continued. "Found the pattern. Seven children in the last year alone, all following the same trajectory. I brought my concerns to Susan's supervisor, Richard Kline. He seemed concerned, promised to look into it."
"But he didn't," Gideon surmised.
"Worse. Two days later, I was called into his office. He said my allegations were unfounded and dangerous. Threatened to fire me if I pursued it further. Said I was 'disrupting vital placement relationships,’ and instructed me to follow the proper procedures.'"
Eric was typing furiously. "Richard Kline... his wife is on the board of Oak Development Corporation."
"Jonathan Rice's company," I explained to Emily, watching her face pale.
"Rice?" Her voice shook slightly.
Every one of us knew he was one of her father’s clients, but it looked like she did as well.
"You know him?" I asked gently, but she shrugged. It was clearly a lie, but I wasn't going to call her on it.
"Jonathan Rice is also involved in numerous less legitimate enterprises," Gideon said. "Human trafficking being one of them."
Emily's eyes darted between us. "How do you know all this?"
Gideon leaned forward. "We've been tracking Rice for years. He's careful, well-connected, and extremely dangerous. We believe he uses legitimate businesses to mask his trafficking operations."
"But what does he want with foster children?" Emily asked, her voice breaking slightly. "I mean, isn't that too complicated? Sadly, the statistics make undocumented immigrants the high-risk group, but every one of these children has a paper trail."
Walker pushed away from the wall, his face grim. "That's where Rice's operation differs. We're not talking hundreds of girls or boys forced to work in brothels or on street corners, he picks girls and boys for certain wealthy pedophiles that want to own their new toy."
Emily blanched and I decided she'd been frightened enough and went to stand, but Emily interrupted us. "I've heard my dadmention him, not in great detail because he was actually talking to my sister at the time. Something about re-zoning."
Gideon arched a sardonic eyebrow. It probably had to do with Kingdom.
"First," Gideon said carefully, "we need to gather concrete evidence. Your testimony and observations are invaluable, but we need documentation, recordings—something that would stand up in court."
"I have some things," Emily admitted, her voice small but determined. "Files I copied before my reprimand and hid. Notes from meetings with the families. I keep them at my apartment in a lockbox."
"Well, that's a problem," Maddox interjected. "Your apartment isn't safe."
Emily twisted in her chair to look up at me. "It's hidden. No one will find it."
I squeezed her shoulders gently. "They might."
She nodded, accepting this truth with remarkable composure. "The lockbox is hidden behind a panel in my closet. It has a combination lock."
Eric was already typing. " We'll need to retrieve that lockbox without being noticed."
"I'll go," Walker volunteered, surprising everyone. "I'm the least recognizable face if they're watching the building."
Gideon considered this, then nodded. "Take Maddox as backup but he stays in the car. In and out, no engagement if possible."
