My gaze drifts to the floor for a second, my mind replaying everything she said and everything I saw. The bruises, the patterns, the way she reacted to certain movements. And it suddenly clicks into place. “This isn’t just trafficking,” I acquiesce slowly. “This is… something else layered on top of it.”
“Control,” he replies.
I look back up at him.
“Not just physical,” he adds. “Psychological and systematic.”
My stomach turns. “They’re breaking the victims.”
His jaw squares. “Yeah.” The word is quiet, but it hits hard.
“I documented everything she said,” I tell him after a moment. “It’s in the report. Exact wording.”
He nods once. “That’ll help.” It’s not reassurance. It’s a promise.
And I believe him fully. Even knowing everything we’ve seen and heard. And with everything working against us. I believe him.
I let out a hard breath, my shoulders dropping just slightly. “I can’t get her voice out of my head, Alex,” I admit.
His expression shifts, softening a fraction. “Yeah,” he says. “Me neither.”
My arms tighten around my chest. “She thought she did everything right. That if she just followed the rules, she’d be okay.”
His jaw clenches. “Following the rules doesn’t always work. That’s just how they keep control. Make them believe they have a choice.”
“But they don’t.”
“No.”
I glance up at him again, really looking at him this time. He’s tired. Not just physically, it’s deeper than that. Like this case has carved out a part of him.
And I’m starting to understand how he feels.
Hearing this story and having to carry it after… hurts me. So fucking much.
How many horrible stories has he heard?
The room feels smaller, and uncomfortably full even though it’s just us in here.
“We’re dealing with something worse than we thought,” I say finally.
He nods. “Yeah.” He pauses. “But we’ll stop it.”
Simple and direct.
I want to believe him, but this feels so huge. Like an elephant sitting on an ant.
Can he? Canwe?
Can anyone?
Chapter 22
Liv
After the transfer and then driving back to the scene to drop Alex off, Scott and I headed back to the station in silence with only twenty minutes left in our shift. And thankfully for my sanity, that twenty minutes went by without any calls coming in.
I caught Alice and Jett in passing. They came to work together, something I’ll pick Alice’s brain about another time.
