Glacier Highway

Chapter 5

Zack had not slept well, so he decided to go to the office early. He was feeling frustrated. The young woman, Teri, had been able to give him little information about the people who had kidn*pped her or where she had been taken. She had been snatched when she got off the bus after work. She thought she recognized a man from the neighborhood, and when he approached, he asked her for directions. The man grabbed her and tossed her into a van, and then she felt something on her face, and there was a terrible smell. She woke up later in a room with three other women. One had told her she had been dating that man, and he convinced her they should take a trip together. She said they had been drinking and taking some drugs, and then he introduced her to another man who gave her some drugs, and when she woke, she was in the room where Teri had been taken.

The other girl had told Teri a similar story. As they compared notes, they found out each of them was estranged from their family, so no one would look for them. Teri noticed that they had similar looks: blonde hair, blue eyes, just over five feet tall, and slender builds. They had come in and taken pictures, and she overheard one of them comment on taking bets on which one the buyer would choose.

They had been given a shot and put into a van. Teri felt herself get tired and could not keep her eyes open. She woke to yell, but she did not open her eyes. The van had broken down. The two men were fighting about what to do. It seemed the van could not be driven. One man said it was not safe to transport them in a car. The other argued that they needed to get them to the buyer, so they would have to use a car. A third man showed up with a car, and they put the girls in the back seat. One man stayed behind with the van.

She was in that car when they had driven into town and she realized her door could be unlocked. She unlocked it, and when they slowed down for a pedestrian, she made her move and jumped out. One man jumped out and grabbed her, but that was when CD went after him, and the man got back into the car, and they sped away.

Teri had not been able to give much of a description of the men. The girl had been drugged most of the time, and she had been so afraid she kept her head down. One of the girls had confronted one of the men, and he beat her up, careful not to hit her face. He later joked he wanted to make sure he got full price for her, and her pretty face needed to stay pretty.

Zack sighed in frustration. He had run the license plate, but it came up stolen. He had shown her the picture of the two men who had attacked Jen. She had not recognized them. He had questioned the two men for four hours, and they had not revealed any association with a human trafficking ring. He got the impression that they had heard that someone paid for women, and they thought they might make some easy cash. He had hopes that when they were arraigned and realized they would probably spend some jail time, it might encourage them to give him some information about who they had heard would buy women.

His frustration had grown since coming to Montana. He had come to Whitefish to be close to his family but also because it was said to be one of the main highways of human trafficking. The victims would be brought through Whitefish and easily transported to Canada and then to whatever their destination was. The last agent had little luck finding out anything, and when he transferred out to go back to the city, Zack took his place.

A few months before Zack left for boot camp, his best friend had been kidn*pped. She was missing for three weeks before they found her body. The authorities who had been assigned the case said it looked like she had been held for a while because she had ligature marks on her wrists. They believed she had gotten caught in human trafficking; something had gone wrong, and they shot her. During his time as a Ranger, he believed that he fought for his country and the people he loved and the assurance they would remain free. When he returned home, he wanted to make a difference. This opportunity had presented itself, and he had taken it.

He read over his report and called his supervisor, John. They discussed Jen’s almost a*******n and Teri’s story. They discussed some strategies. His supervisor promised him some time with the analysts to do a search for similar kidnappings.

Zack was feeling edgy. His office was small, about the size of a walk-in closet, with a desk and two chairs. He didn’t spend much time in it, but when he did, he started feeling claustrophobic. Sometimes he would go work in the conference room when it was free, just to have more space.

It was definitely time to get out for a while. He decided to go grab coffee and maybe a sandwich. He set out for his destination, the Coffee Hut. His steps seemed to lighten. Maybe he would see Jen and have coffee with her. In fact, he walked over to her office, popped his head in, and asked if she could go get coffee. She was waiting for a phone call and for someone to drop something off. He offered to bring her something back.

She smiled. “Coffee and some of their chicken salad would be heaven.”

He nodded and walked toward the Coffee Hut. He found himself whistling as he went.