Cold Betrayal

“The search warrants you’ll be carrying specify two things—the first authorizes the collection of family Bibles from each of the residences. The Bibles are thought to contain the names and birth dates of suspected trafficking victims. The second specifies that the men named on the warrants are required to undergo cheek swabbing for DNA testing. If they refuse or put up any resistance, they’re to be taken into custody and individually transported to this location for questioning. By the time they arrive back here, we should have people from the FBI on hand to conduct the interrogations.

“You’ll find that the adult women in the community aren’t named on the warrants primarily because we don’t have legal names on the vast majority of them. The women are welcome to provide DNA samples but ca

“Each family unit may have its own collection of what are commonly referred to as Brought Back girls. These are women who have attempted to run away and who have been returned to their families. These girls—women really—are kept as virtual prisoners. If any of them or any of the other women express a desire to leave the community, let them know that they will be allowed and helped to do so. We’ll have transportation available to bring them back here to Flagstaff, where we’re making arrangements with a local shelter to locate temporary housing.

“I’m not sure how many of you are aware of the incident at Short Creek in the early fifties. There, in an early-morning raid on a polygamous community very similar to this one, every person involved was arrested, minor children included. Many of those children were put into foster care and never reunited with their families. We’re attempting to avoid that outcome here. That’s why Irene’s Place, a local domestic violence shelter, is assisting us in this operation. Where possible, please treat the affected women and children with kindness and consideration, although again, interference on their part in execution of the warrants will not be tolerated.

“You may have noticed that there’s a notable lack of media presence here. That’s a deliberate call on my part. I’ve asked all affected agencies and perso

By the time the governor removed her reading glasses and stepped away from the lectern, Ali was waiting for her at the bottom of the stairway.

“Where’s Alvarado?” Ali asked without greeting. “Other department heads are here. He’s not.”

“You must be Ali,” Governor Dunham said. “I understand there was some kind of delay in his being able to leave town—a family emergency, I believe. Sheriff Alvarado has his own Cessna. He’ll be flying over to Colorado City and meeting up with us and his officers there. Since the Mohave County teams are part of the last group to leave here, he most likely won’t depart Kingman for a while yet. I offered to pick him up in the Sprinter at the airport, but he told me he keeps a vehicle there that he can use as needed.”

Ali shook her head. “This is a major operation due to occur in his jurisdiction. Aren’t you the least bit worried about his not being here for the briefing?”

“He may have missed the briefing,” Governor Dunham said, “but he’ll still be there for the operation. What’s your problem with all this?”

“What if he’s involved?” Ali replied. “If he let Amos Sellers in on the operation, then it’s a good bet The Family is in on it, too.”

“Do not worry about Deputy Sellers,” Governor Dunham assured her. “That situation is being handled, even as we speak. As for The Family’s having been alerted? Our satellite recon shows no unusual activity anywhere inside the compound. As far as we can see, they’re still entirely unaware of our intentions. Now, where are Patricia and Agnes? They’ll be riding along with me in the Sprinter so they’ll be on hand to intercede with other residents, but I’d like to at least meet them before then. You’ll be riding with us, too?”

“I expect so,” Ali said. “Agnes and Patricia are over there with my husband.” As she turned in that direction, a cell phone rang behind her. She looked back at Governor Dunham, who had stopped long enough to answer.

She listened for a moment and then nodded. “Excellent. Deputy Sellers is already here in town? Great. Yes, have him wait there. Put him in an interview room and tell him you’ll bring Patricia and Agnes up from the jail shortly. Once the first of the FBI interview teams arrives, we’ll send one of them right over with the Amos Sellers warrants in hand.”

Ali was astonished. “Deputy Sellers is here in Flagstaff? And what’s this about Patricia and Agnes being in jail? I already told you. They’re right over there.”

“I heeded your earlier warning about Deputy Sellers possibly compromising the operation,” Governor Dunham said, “so I took steps to remove him from the board by simply appealing to his greed. Knowing his bounty-hunter function, I took the liberty of having my chief of staff, Bill Witherspoon, pass along a phony tip about Agnes and Patricia’s supposed whereabouts. Bill told Deputy Sellers that the two runaways had been arrested here in town and charged with shoplifting. He was led to believe that they were being held by the Flagstaff PD and needed someone to post their bail.

“That call didn’t exactly rise to the level of filing a false police report, but it was close, uncomfortably close. Bill was still worried about it, right up until Sellers took the bait. He was on his way here in two shakes of a lamb’s tail, hotfooting it out of Colorado City in his personal vehicle rather than in a patrol car. That’s a pretty good indicator that he wasn’t traveling in any official capacity. As of right now he’s cooling his heels in an interview room at the Flagstaff PD. I trust that puts at least some of your concerns about him to rest. Now, if there’s nothing else . . .”

“There is,” Ali said. “I’d like to talk to him.”

“To Deputy Sellers? Why?”

“Kingman Jane Doe,” Ali answered. “Amos Sellers was already The Family’s enforcer back when A

The governor thought about it. “Anything he tells you won’t be admissible in a court of law, you know,” Governor Dunham warned, “but it might answer a lot of questions. You’re saying what you’re interested in has nothing to do with tonight’s operation?”

“Nothing.”

Governor Dunham shrugged. “Go ahead, then. Since you’re not a cop, I don’t see any harm in asking. Just be back here in plenty of time for us to head north.”

Ali hurried back to where Patricia, Agnes, and B. had been joined by Andrea Rogers. “The governor says we’ll be departing in a little over an hour. If you don’t mind, Patricia and Agnes, B. and I will leave you here with Andrea long enough for us to run an errand.”

“What kind of errand?” B. asked, dutifully following behind as Ali threaded her way through the still packed room.

“We’re going to go talk to Amos Sellers. He’s currently in an interview room at the local cop shop.”

“He’s one of the bad guys, isn’t he? Won’t talking to him be dangerous?”

“No,” Ali assured him. “His weapons will be locked away in a gun locker, and so will mine.”