Victim Statement

Randall Meechum’s POV

Dallas, Texas

I hated sleeping without my mate now.

My whole life, I’d never had an issue sleeping. Out on stakeout and there’s a chance to grab ten minutes of shuteye? Out in seconds. Sleeping alone? No problem, out when I hit the pillow. With some one-night stand in my bed? Out before she gets out of the bathroom.

Last night I tossed and turned for an hour. I finally got up and got the shirt I had worn yesterday out of the hamper and put it around my pillow, because it still held her scent on it. One sniff and I relaxed and fell asleep.

Yesterday Afternoon

I had been driving home when I got a call from my boss, Special Agent-In-Charge Rosalie Martinez of the Dallas FBI Sex Trafficking Unit. “Where are you, Randall?”

“Just hitting Dallas,” I said. “Should be home in thirty minutes.”

“Too bad, looks like we’re heading back up towards your parent’s place again.” She knew I came from an area near Sulphur River. “I got a call from a lawyer in Sulphur Springs. His client is the missing girl from the Budget Inn. He wants immunity for her, and based on what we know the District Attorney will have no issue with it.”

“Was she in on the murders?”

“He says no, but she stole money from the john and ran off. I’m hoping she can give more details on the killer. In any case, she has details on that slave training center we’ve been trying to shut down, as well as previous owners.”

“Good. What’s the plan?”

“Be at the office by seven. The Assistant District Attorney for the case will be driving with us, along with an Assistant US Attorney for federal matters and Detective Carl Anders of the Fort Worth Police. More to the point, you as the junior agent will be driving while we work. We have an appointment with him at one o’clock at his office. He will provide the witnesses’ proffer, we’ll sign the immunity agreement and take her statement and ask questions. I’m sorry to turn you around like this, but you know the area and you’re my lead on this case.”

I knew this was coming. “I don’t mind the drive. Where are we on jurisdiction?”

“No change. The locals have the murders, we have the trafficking. So far, none of the girls we have interviewed have known anything about anyone other than the two dead perps. They were recruited into their ring. None had been with them more than six months and nobody saw nothing.”

“I’m not surprised, they were kept busy with clients in those rooms.” The operation they had was mobile, often moving to cities with lots of tourists or major sporting events. Working through message boards, trusted agents or the Dark Web, they would show up, run for a night and be gone again. The girls might service twenty men a night, never leaving the hotel room. “I guess I’ll get some sleep and see you in the morning.”

I called my Dad back, letting him know it was on. He promised Tania and Snacks would be ready. I talked to Talia for a few minutes, but she had training to do. We’d talk in the morning.

This Morning

My alarm went off at five-thirty, way too early given how I slept. The text message on my phone made my heart drop. It had come in at three in the morning, and I must have slept through the ding. “Baby, I have to go take care of a problem and I can’t bring my phone. I love you and miss you.”

I sent back immediately. “Call me when you can, love you <3” I rolled out of bed and went into the bathroom, emerging and putting on my suit. I tucked my shield into my belt and my Glock into its inside-the-waistband holder, then strapped my backup to my right ankle. I kept a dagger strapped to my left ankle. I went down to the car and stopped at a local diner for breakfast, then rolled into my office ten minutes early.

“About time you came back to work,” Detective Carl said as he got up from my desk chair.

“Well, the pneumonia kicked my ass for a while, after that I was seeing how much I could milk it with my mom and brothers,” I said. “I’m back now, ready to roll.”

“Yeah, I ran out of leads a week ago. I’m hoping we get something new here because that killer didn’t leave me shit for clues. I can’t believe a guy can fire a big-ass forty-five in a hallway, walk out covered in blood, and nobody saw anything.”

“One guy did, and he took a round to the head for it,” I reminded him. “It’s not like any of these degenerates are eager to be heroes.”

I looked over to my boss’s office, where she was walking out with a man in an expensive suit with a University of Texas tie tack, and a woman in a low-end pant suit. “Special Agent Randall Meechum, Detective Carl Anders, this is Assistant State Attorney Albert Frost and Assistant US Attorney Melanie Perkins.” We shook hands as she was heading for the elevator. “Let’s go, people, before the traffic gets too bad.”

In the parking garage we loaded into one of the standard FBI black Chevy Suburban and I drove us out. I didn’t need navigation since I’d made this drive many times. Along the way, the other three were on their cellphones or their laptops the whole time. They didn’t want the radio, so I was able to pick up a lot more information than I thought with my wolf hearing. We made it to Sulphur Springs about eleven thirty, and I picked a good place for lunch. I wanted a place with a varied menu and took them to the Corner Grub House.

Now that they were off their phones, we talked strategy as I devoured my chicken-fried steak and a plate of cheese fries. It was my first time to see the information the lawyer had sent. The proffer stated that she would testify and provide information regarding three separate crimes; her sale to and time at the slave training school, her first owners at an island sex vacation spot, and her past year up to her escape. “Why is she not talking about her kidnapping and rape?” The AUSA was indignant. “She was fourteen, she was taken over state lines which makes it a Federal case, and it resulted in a child.”

“Her family tracked Tania’s son down. The man who took her was known to the family and has since passed away, along with the man who raped her. The wife of her rapist had no idea, she thought he had hired a surrogate who was artificially inseminated. When DNA tests proved Tania was the mother, she waived her parental rights and Tania agreed not to pursue it further. Tania is going through the adoption process to change his birth certificate; at this point, the family believes nothing would be achieved by dragging this into the investigation,” the ADA said. He was the one who had initially been contacted, while AUSA Perkins had just been assigned this morning.

“She got her boy back. If she changes her mind, she can tell us later,” I said. “It says she didn't see the killer in the motel, I don't think she'll give Carl much to work on. I’m more interested in the training facility and the island. We’ve heard rumors of the facility for years.”

“If it is in the United States, I’d love to take it out,” my boss said. “The island is problematic. We haven’t been able to touch it, and the Colombians are not cooperating since it is protected by the druglords. The place is frequented by the powerful and the rich, attracted by unlimited sex with boys and girls of any age. Still…”

“We’ll deal with that when we can,” Melanie said. “Based on the proffer, I have no issue with giving her transactional immunity. It’s not like we’d be able to prosecute her for theft or prostitution when she’s been held in slavery.”

“I agree,” the ADA said. “I’ve already prepared the paperwork, I just want to talk to her before we sign.”

“We better get going then,” I said. We each paid our part, keeping receipts for our expense reports, then loaded back up. Lou Walls and Associates was a small office in the suburbs; we were led into a conference room, where the older lawyer was waiting with a teen girl. Tania was looking better, but I couldn’t tell if they were more shocked by her lack of weight or the size of the wolf dog sitting next to her chair. Bobby’s muzzle was even with her shoulders as she sat down, and her arm was on his neck just above his service dog vest.

Lou made introductions, then we got down to business. The immunity paperwork was signed, then Lou laid out the information Tania was providing. They had done a good job; in each setting, her recollection had been transcribed with as much detail as she could remember. The statements were signed and in a neat pile. I was most excited by the drawings they had come up with, as were the others. “These are very detailed,” Melanie said as they were passed to her. Done with computer software and aided by the images sent from werewolf to werewolf, they were better than any FBI sketch artist.

“My investigators were able to pair her with a skilled computer graphics artist, and we were fortunate Tania has a great memory for faces.” I set up a camera and started the interview. The next four hours were brutal, and I was wiped out by the time we stopped for dinner. Tania’s memory was amazing; she had remembered names, identifying features, sexual proclivities, phone calls, all kinds of things that could corroborate her statement. There wasn’t as much from the training facility as they were careful not to use names, but the people on the island didn’t care. They thought they were above the law, and the list of people who visited and abused her would keep us busy for months.

Actors. Celebrities. Politicians. Idle rich. Businessmen. Judges. It was all there, in great detail, and we hadn’t even gotten halfway through the timeline. When Tania and Snacks left to use the bathroom, I sank back in the chair. “Fuck, if we can prosecute a third of these people it will be the biggest case ever seen,” I said.

AUSA Michelle agreed. “She wasn’t sixteen for almost every session she’s described thus far, and that makes these acts felony sex tourism with minors. Under the Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to End the Exploitation of Children Today, the PROTECT act, plus the Trafficking Victim’s Protection Reauthorization Act, they are each facing up to thirty years in prison.”

ADA Albert whistled. “That’ll leave a mark. I bet they’ll be shocked to find they can go all the way to South America and still get hit for sexual assault of a child. Do you think you can get indictments based on her statement?”

“Not just on that, but she has given us a lot of information on the people there. That pilot they use can fill in some holes for us if we flip him,” Rosalie said. “We get the flights and passenger lists. Add in travel information, credit cards and other witnesses...”

I could sense the AUSA’s excitement; she was seeing this as the case that would make her career, and she was probably right. “Can Tania file a case in civil court against them? I mean, if we don’t have enough evidence to convict, can she file a lawsuit?”

Albert nodded. “I’d personally recommend a dozen lawyers who would love to get these cases. None of these people will want to go through discovery, they’ll be eager to settle and have a non-disclosure agreement. If they go to court, any evidence is admissible for us.”

The door opened and Tania walked back in, Snacks right at her side. “I hope you don’t mind but I ordered some pizzas so we can keep working,” Lou said.

“I just want to get this done and go home to my boy,” Tania said as she sat down. “I’ve already missed so much with him.”

“Where is home,” Rosalie asked.

“It’s an undisclosed location,” Lou said. “If you need to get in contact with my client after tonight, you’ll do it through me.” We continued the interview, and she described in detail the last client she had on the island, the man who almost beat her to death, who left her scarred and broken. I wanted this bastard bad. He was a famous film director who lived in France but spent a lot of time in the United States. After she described how he destroyed her and paid a fine to the owners for the damage, she started to cry. “We need a break,” Lou said.

“Men leave,” Tania said instead. “You need to see something, Ms. Perkins. Do you have a camera?”

“I do,” Rosalie said, pulling it out of her briefcase. She looked at us and we got up and left.

I knew exactly what she was going to show them, I just hoped my brother was calm enough about it now. ”You going to be all right with this, Bobby?”

“I’ve seen the scars and I love her all the more for it,” he replied. “You catch this fucker yourself, Randall. You and Talia make it a priority. He’s going to suffer under Werewolf law, not human.”

I walked away from the others towards the bathroom so they wouldn’t see how pissed I was. “You can count on it. He might bounce down a few stairs on the way to our cells, though.” She was my mate’s sister, MY family too. I knew Talia would be all for a road trip for this asshole.

We didn’t stop until eleven at night. We had pages and pages of suspects. As Tania stood up to leave, I came towards her. “I know it was very hard to go through all this again, and I can’t tell you how sorry I am this happened. I promise you that we will use every resource available to find the men who did these things to you and bring them to justice.”

Michelle came up and impulsive hugged her. “You’re so brave, Tania. I have already talked to my boss, and we are putting together a team right now to build cases against these men. These criminal organizations are going to be shut down and girls like you freed, I promise you that.”

“Thank you.” She had her hand gripping Snack’s fur. “Put them all away.” With that, she walked out with her lawyer.

“Great job, Tania, you did so much more than I had hoped for,” I sent to her as she left. “Give Talia a hug for me.”

”I will when I see her,” she said.

“Randall, you need to call your father after you get them to a hotel,” Lou sent to me. “A lot has gone down while we were talking.”

“Let him know I’ll call him when I can. I don’t know if they are going to want to get a hotel or head back home.” It turned out they were too excited to sleep. I ended up driving us back to Dallas, getting there at four-thirty in the morning. I dropped them at the office and went home with instructions to be back at one for a meeting.

My office was going to strike a blow for justice. I knew they wouldn’t give up on this, even if I had to leave the FBI.