Devil in Disguise Read Online Free PDF Page B

stoop only vaguely resembled the pampered princess who had once been Rachel’s friend. She was still the same blond-haired beauty, but she was leaner, and there was a steel to her icy blue eyes that hadn’t been there before. She looked like a cat burglar in her sleek black clothes. Behind her stood a man, also in black; his face was friendly, despite solemn gray-green eyes. Even under the circumstances, some part of Rachel acknowledged what an attractive couple the two made. Startlingly so.
    “Ronnie, thank you so much for coming.” Rachel ushered her old acquaintance in with a hug.
    “Absolutely. Rachel, this is my husband, Rick.” Veronica pulled away to introduce the two. They acknowledged each other with a handshake and a nod of the head.
    Once introductions were made all around, Conrad asked, his voice gentle, “Mrs. Phelps, could you please put on a pot of coffee for us?” Rosemary nodded, moving to do as requested without a word. There was a commanding air about their guests that calmed her need to rant at the current situation. As soon as she was out of earshot, Veronica began talking hurriedly in a low voice.
    “Rachel, I’m going to plunge right in because there’s no way to be delicate about this. The odds are pretty good that your sister has been taken in by a trafficking ring that’s running in the area. We have about a day to find her before she’s lost in the abyss. It’s not a good situation—even the best we can hope for is not good. But you did the right thing to call us so soon. That greatly improves her odds.”
    The room began to spin. Rachel swayed a little. Conrad covered the ground in between them just in time to catch her. She allowed him to pull her against his chest, relying on his strength to anchor her.
    “What do you mean?” She blinked. She knew what trafficking was. She’d just done a piece on the cocoa plantations thriving on slave labor. She’d urged her viewers to buy fair trade chocolate. She’d exposed the horrors of UN Peacekeepers exploiting girls in Eastern Bloc countries and had even started a campaign to hold them accountable. What did that have to do with her sister?
    “I’ll explain in a minute, but I need to know – do you want to break this to your mom your own way, or can she handle this?” Veronica obviously remembered Rosemary Phelps well.
    “I’d better at least lay the groundwork,” Rachel answered slowly. “If you’ll excuse me, I’ll be right back.”
    Conrad loosened his grip, allowing her to step away once she was steady. As if stuck in a nightmare, Rachel went to find her mom in the kitchen.
    “Mom?” Rachel walked over and stood by her mom at the counter. “My friends think Julia is probably in a pretty bad spot, and we have some difficult conversations ahead of us. Do you want me to handle this, or do you want to be there too?”
    Rosemary stopped fumbling with the coffee pot and turned to face her. Pain was etched into her expression as she lifted her gaze heavenward. After a prolonged silence, Rosemary once again looked at her daughter. “I can do this.”
    “We’ll do it together,” Rachel promised, wrapping an arm around Rosemary. They rejoined the group in the living room and sat as one on the couch.
    Rachel spoke for them both. “We’re ready. Can someone please explain what’s going on?”
    Right then, Rick spoke up, and Rachel noticed his thick Scottish accent for the first time. “Ronnie and I are independent contractors. We work for the government — sometimes the U.S., sometimes others — to fight human trafficking. Our partner, Vance, is in Rome at the moment, but he’s promised to help any way he can. For the past few months, Ronnie and I have been trying to knock out a gang that runs girls up and down the East Coast. It’s fed from a pipeline that runs from Canada through Ohio all the way to the seaboard. Gangs along the coast get in on the action because running girls makes a lot of money, and it’s safer