“Sure.” I follow him toward the door. As we walk down the street, I meet his dark eyes. “So... has anything interesting happened?”
He shrugs. “Not much. We raided a fancy hotel last night. I suppose that would qualify as interesting.”
“Oh?” I can barely breathe as I wait for him to tell me more.
“Yeah, we received a tip-off that someone was having illegal parties, so we went to check it out. Arrested a few elite prostitutes. Had to let go two very rich guys because they’re rich, obviously, and they claim they knew nothing about the prostitutes and that they weren’t paying anything.” He gives me a deadpan look.
“Wait, what do you mean two guys? There were only two guys there? Who are they?”
“I can’t tell you that.” His expression is pinched with annoyance. “But at least we busted their party. It’s something.”
“And the prostitutes? Did they tell you anything?” I wonder if Caleb is among them, although I’m suspicious about such a low number of guests.
“Nah.” He shakes his head. “We think there were more of them at that party, but either everyone vanished into thin air or they had another exit and were alerted of our arrival.”
“Will you investigate?” I ask hopefully.
“There’s not much to investigate, really. Those we didn’t get will pop up some other time somewhere. They always do.”
I chew on the insides of my cheek. Raphael must have known the raid would be coming, so he probably let someone stay to cover up for him. I’m almost sure not a single one of the real sex slaves is at the station, or even if they are, Raphael must have made sure they never talk. Shit. “Listen, I have to tell you something, but you can’t let anyone know you heard it from me.”
He stops to look at me. The street is mostly empty, and I’m glad no one is there to overhear us. “All right,” he says, his eyebrows shooting up.
“I found out about a ring of elite prostitution, tied to what you discovered yesterday, but with actual sex slaves,” I say. “Can you do something about it? Their leader goes under the name of Raphael. He’s a tall, lean, dark-haired guy with blue eyes. Maybe one of the people you arrested will know him. His slaves have a distinct tattoo on their hips.”
“And you found that out how exactly?” His face is serious.
“From a friend. She’s kind of involved with them, so she won’t call the cops or anything. She’s afraid for her life.”
His eyebrows draw together. “And she goes around telling people that?”
I grimace. “She told just me. We’ve been friends for a long time and she needed to tell someone. That’s why you mustn’t tell anyone that I told you, but can you at least interrogate those you arrested or try to find something? I’m sure there’s more to this. We could...”
Lloyd raises his hand. “Stop. What you’re saying is a serious matter and I’ll look into it, I promise. But I can’t do anything without evidence. You know that. I can’t chase unknown men based on something you heard.”
“I know, but please be careful. My friend told me some cops are working with Raphael too.”
He presses his lips into a tight line, then sighs. “I’ll see what I can do, but if I don’t find anything and your friend doesn’t step forward with some information, I’m not sure I’ll be able to do much. You should really talk to your friend.”
“I know. Thank you.” I offer him a smile. Evidence. Where could I get some evidence? Damn it. I could ask Katherine for more info, but I don’t want to put her through traumatic memories, so I hope Lloyd will find something; a clue, no matter how small, could lead to Raphael.
I lean my head against the wall, my phone clutched in my hand. Lloyd has just told me there’s nothing he can do, and I’m not sure what to do next.
“You didn’t actually expect your plan to work, did you?” Katherine asks. I turn around to face her. She’s sitting on the sofa, her legs crossed.
“I don’t know. I expected at least something to happen. Lloyd arrested a few people, but everyone claims they were working alone and they denied that they know Raphael. One of them has Raphael’s mark, but she claims it’s just a tattoo. And of course, they didn’t let Lloyd interrogate anyone because that’s not exactly his job, and he couldn’t complain and accuse his coworkers of working for some mysterious man without proof.” I sigh and tuck the phone back into my purse, which I dump onto the couch. “I need a better plan.”
“And all of that because of Caleb? You’re going to lose your life because of him. Is it worth it?” She eyes me carefully. “He could be Raphael’s accomplice or just some drug addict.”
I shake my head. “I saw the look in his eyes when...” The images of that night flash through my head and I feel sick to my stomach. Nothing will ever erase that from my mind. “I can’t just do nothing. I know he didn’t want that. And Raphael... hit him for talking to me the wrong way. Is that how Raphael would treat a free man? You should have heard the tremor in Caleb’s voice... If he were just working for Raphael, I’m sure he wouldn’t let Raphael treat him like that.”
Katherine shrugs. “I wouldn’t know.”
“I saw other people who were enjoying themselves and the looks on their faces were completely different.”
“What are you going to do?”
I scratch my head as I pace up and down the room. Finally, I stop and look at Katherine. “I’m going to talk to Caleb. I already arranged a meeting.”
