Page 17 of Deliverance

“Mr. Drake…” Alexander leaned forward, preparing to pivot to plan B. “Can I be honest with you?”

Drake nodded, frowning. “Of course.”

“While SDS would be thrilled to be your security company for this project, the real reason we’re here is that we need your help.”

Drake arched his eyebrows. “My help?”

“Yes. Have you heard of the SID?”

“The Special Investigations Division at the Justice Department?” Drake asked.

I bit my lip. I understood where Alexander was going with this, and I had agreed to the plan. We needed access to the rail yard cameras, but was it worth telling Drake and risking the information getting out? I thought of the terrified girls from the other night. Yes, it was worth it. We would just have to manage the risk. I stayed quiet while Alexander continued.

“Yes. Recently, they asked for SDS’s help in an operation at the rail yard. I can’t give you details as it’s still anactive investigation, but I can tell you that it involved human trafficking.”

“My god!” Drake sat up straight in his chair, his mouth slack. “Seriously?”

Alexander nodded. “Yes, I’m afraid so.”

“That’s awful.” Drake rubbed his mouth. “Those poor women.”

“There was an arrest that night, but we don’t think it’s over. We were hoping to continue to monitor the rail yard to make sure there are no more women trafficked through there.”

“Of course. So you want access to the rail yard?” Drake asked.

“Access would be great, or even permission to put up some cameras so we can monitor the situation.”

Drake nodded. “I can do you one better. My security team will be placing cameras all over the rail yard, a precaution we take to make sure none of the construction equipment goes missing. I’ll have them send you a link so you can have access. Will that work?”

“That would be great,” Alexander said.

Alexander looked at me, and I nodded. Honestly, that was more than I thought we would get from Drake. Cameras we didn’t have to procure and could just monitor would be perfect right now.

“Anything I can do to help,” Drake said. He checked his watch. “I’m sorry to cut our meeting short, but I have to get to my next meeting. I’ll reach out to the security team now and get them to send a link to the cameras. They should be live by the end of the day.”

“Thank you. We really appreciate it.” Alexander stood and extended his hand to Nathaniel, who stood and shook it.

“Of course. And if you need anything else, please let me know. I would also appreciate being kept apprised of theinvestigation,” Drake said. “I hate to think that more women could be trafficked through my site.”

“As much as we’re allowed to share, I’ll share it,” Alexander said.

“Of course. Well, thank you for bringing this to my attention. I hope you get the bastards who are involved in this,” he said, looking between me and Alexander.

“Thank you for your help,” Alexander said. He placed a hand on the small of my back and escorted me out of the office. He waited until we got into the car to speak. “Well, that went better than I thought.”

I sagged back in my seat. “I know. I thought it was over when he said he had his own security team.”

“Same,” Alexander agreed as he pulled the car out into traffic. “I figured playing to his philanthropic side couldn’t hurt.”

“No,” I agreed. “And it worked.”

I only hoped that the Kingfisher wouldn’t find out about it and move operations from the rail yard to somewhere else.

“Hey, it’s a win.” Alexander placed a hand on my leg and squeezed lightly.

“You’re right.” I smiled. We needed the win.

My phone dinged, and I fished it out of my pocket. There was an email from Nathaniel Drake’s office with the camera link. I showed it to Alexander, who glanced at it briefly.