"Did he see you?"
She shakes her head. Then hesitates. Writes more.
I don't think so. But I think they knew someone was watching. They moved me the next day.
They knew. Which means the Marshal is paranoid enough, careful enough, to notice when something's off. To take precautions even when he thinks he's safe. That's how he's stayed hidden this long. That level of operational security doesn't come from luck. It comes from experience and ruthless attention to detail.
And now a seventeen-year-old trafficking survivor is the only thing standing between him and continued invisibility.
"Traci, listen to me carefully. What you know makes you incredibly valuable. Not just to them, but to law enforcement. You're the only witness who can put a face to the Marshal." I reach out slowly, let her see my hand coming. "That means they're going to keep hunting you until they eliminate the threat. Do you understand?"
She nods. Writes.
Am I going to die?
The question hits like a physical blow. Written in her careful handwriting, stark and terrifying in its simplicity. This is what trafficking does to children. Makes them ask questions like this with the same matter-of-fact tone someone else might ask about the weather.
"Not if we move you somewhere they can't find you. But it means leaving here. Leaving the cabin. Going somewhere secure until we can take down the network." I pause. "It's going to be hard. Scary. But your uncle will be with you. And I'll come too if that helps."
She looks at me. Really looks. Searching my face for the lie.
I hold her gaze and let her see the truth. I'm not going to patronize her with false promises or sugarcoat the danger. She's survived months of hell by being smart and observant. She deserves honesty.
"I won't let anything happen to you." My jaw tightens. "Not while I'm breathing."
She doesn't write anything. Just nods once.
I stand, give her shoulder a gentle squeeze—the first physical contact I've initiated beyond medical examination. "You're incredibly brave, Traci. What you just told me? That took courage. And it's going to help stop these people from hurting anyone else."
Her eyes shine with tears she won't let fall. She grips her notebook tighter but doesn't pull away from my hand.
"Wait here for a minute. I need to make a phone call and talk to your uncle."
Outside in the hallway, I dial Zeke's number with hands that want to shake.
He answers on the first ring. "Helena."
"She saw the Marshal. Multiple times. Can identify him." The words come fast, urgent. "That's why they're hunting her."
Silence on his end. Then: "You're certain?"
"She wrote it down. He came to inspect the house where they held her. She wasn't supposed to see him but she did. They moved her soon after."
"Christ." I hear him moving, but his voice drops lower. "Listen carefully. Briggs will want to move her to the Anchorage safe house. We're going to let him think that's the plan."
My stomach tightens. "What are you saying?"
"If the network has people inside federal agencies—and we know they do—then any safe house location gets compromised the moment it hits federal systems." His voice goes hard. "We take her to Finn Ashworth's compound instead. Remote, defensible, completely off-grid. Finn's expanded it significantly since he and Cara got together. The kind of place that doesn't exist in any database."
"You're talking about lying to federal agents."
"I'm talking about keeping a seventeen-year-old girl alive." He pauses. "Briggs is a good man, but he has to report through channels. Channels we can't trust. So we smile, nod, agree to their plan, then disappear before transport. Finn's already helping with the investigation. His compound is exactly the kind of terrain Eli will understand."
My mouth goes dry. "That's a lot of trust you're putting in people you barely know."
"I know Finn and I trust Glacier Hollow to protect its own a hell of a lot more than I trust federal bureaucracy right now." His voice softens slightly. "You said she won't talk to anyone else. You willing to come?"
"Yes." No hesitation. "She needs consistency right now more than anything. I'm the closest thing she has to that besides Eli."
