Sarah felt the pieces clicking together. "They're keeping them sedated with INA protocol, housed in individual rooms, monitored by medical staff who administer regular doses. It's a detention facility disguised as an abandoned building."
"Exactly. And it's brilliant in its simplicity. The neighborhood's declining, so residents don't pay attention to another supposedly vacant building. The police rarely patrol this area. And even if someone did report suspicious activity, it would take weeks to get a warrant to search property owned by a legitimate healthcare company."
"Assuming the warrant didn't get blocked by someone on Meridian's payroll."
"Right." Alex gathered the photos, organizing them back into the folder. "Which is why we're not waiting for warrants. We're going in tonight."
Sarah looked at him sharply. "Breaking and entering. Trespassing. Potentially destroying evidence that would be inadmissible in court."
"Also potentially saving six women who are being drugged and trafficked." Alex met her eyes steadily. "I know what I'm asking. I know the legal and professional consequences. But Sarah, we're running out of time. Carmen Delgado has been missing for twenty-one days. If she's in that building, if she's being dosed with INA protocol for three weeks straight, we need to get her out before…"
He trailed off, but Sarah understood. Before she becomes another Maria Martinez. Before she's posed in a warehouse with a rose on her chest.
"If we do this," Sarah said slowly, thinking through every angle, "we need to do it right. Not just break in and hope for the best—we need a plan that gets us in, documents everything, and gets us out without being caught or killed."
"I've been planning for six days." Alex pulled out more documents guard schedules, vehicle patterns, detailed timelines. "The guard change happens at midnight. There's a seven-minute window when the lot is empty old guard leaves, new guard arrives. That's our entry point. The blind spot on the north side has a weak section in the fence, easily cut. We go in dark, use the stairwell on the east side to access the second floor, document everything we can, and exit the same way."
"What about interior security? Cameras, alarms, staff?"
"The cameras I can disable simple wireless system, probably monitored from that third-floor office. I can jam the signal for up to thirty minutes before someone realizes there's a problem." Alex showed her a small device that looked like a phone. "As for staff, I've observed one person on the second floor during night hours. Probably a nurse or orderly responsible for administering medications. We'll need to avoid them or neutralize them if necessary."
"Neutralize," Sarah repeated. "You mean assault."
"I mean do whatever's necessary to save those women." Alex's expression was hard. "I'm not going to apologize for that. If someone's in that building drugging and imprisoning trafficking victims, they're not an innocent bystander they're part of the crime."
Sarah wanted to argue, wanted to insist on proper procedure and rules of engagement. But she was no longer a cop with the authority to make arrests or use reasonable force. She was a civilian on administrative leave, about to commit multiple felonies for the chance to expose a trafficking network.
The old rules didn't apply anymore.
"I need to see the location first," she said. "Assess the security myself, verify your observations, make sure we're not walking into a trap."
"Fair enough. We can drive by right now I've got a good vantage point two blocks north where we can observe without being obvious." Alex started gathering his materials. "But Sarah, you need to understand something. If we do this, if we break into that building and find what I think we're going to find, there's no going back. Your career is over. You'll be arrested for breaking and entering, potentially tampering with evidence, possibly assault if we have to subdue anyone. The best-case scenario is you get fired and avoid jail time. Worst case"
"Worst case, we end up like Maria Martinez. I know." Sarah stood, feeling the weight of the decision settle over her. "But if we don't do this, if we wait for proper warrants and official investigations, those women die. Carmen Delgado dies. And the network keeps operating, keeps destroying lives, because people like Dr. Chen know the system will protect them."
"So you're in?"
Sarah thought about her brother Marcus. About standing at his grave, seventeen years old and full of potential, buried because the system had decided his life wasn't worth a thorough investigation. About every case she'd worked where the victim was poor or brown or undocumented, where justice moved slowly if it moved at all.
"I'm in," she said. "But we need insurance. Before we go in tonight, I'm sending everything we have all the evidence, all the photos, all your surveillance to three different people with instructions to release it if we don't check in by tomorrow morning."
"Who?"
"Captain Webb. My roommate Rachel. And a reporter I trust at the Tribune." Sarah pulled out her phone. "If this goes wrong, if we get killed or disappeared, at least the truth gets out."
Alex nodded slowly. "That's smart. Probably smarter than I've been."
"You've been working alone for five years. I've got the advantage of partners, backup, and a very healthy fear of ending up like Jennifer Walsh." Sarah checked her watch 10:52 AM. "Show me this location. Let me verify your assessment. Then we'll decide if we're really doing this."
They walked toward Sarah's car, both of them aware this was the point of no return. Once they committed to breaking into that nursing home, everything changed. Careers ended. Lives potentially ended. But women might be saved.
Sarah was halfway to her car when her phone rang. Unknown number.
She almost didn't answer probably another threat, another attempt to intimidate her into backing down. But something made her pick up.
"Detective Morrison." The voice was male, cultured, with the precise diction of expensive education and years of practice projecting authority. "Or should I say former Detective Morrison, given your recent administrative difficulties?"
Sarah's blood went cold. She gestured to Alex, who immediately pulled out his phone and started recording.
"Who is this?" Sarah kept her voice level, professional, giving nothing away.
"Someone who's been watching your investigation with considerable interest. Someone who appreciates your dedication, even as I regret the necessity of stopping you." A pause, deliberately theatrical. "You've been looking for missing women, Detective. I can help you find them."
"Why would you do that?"
"Because despite what you might think, not everyone involved in this situation is a monster. Some of us have… reservations about how certain operations are being conducted." The voice held a hint of amusement, like this was all a game. "And because I believe you're intelligent enough to understand when you're being offered a genuine opportunity."
Sarah's mind raced. This was either a trap or a defection. Someone inside the organization reaching out, possibly looking to flip, possibly luring her into a situation where she could be eliminated permanently.
"What kind of opportunity?" she asked, stalling, letting Alex record every word.
"A conversation. Face to face, where I can provide you with information that will answer many of your questions. Information about the missing women, about the organization you're investigating, and about what really happened to Maria Martinez." The caller's tone shifted, becoming more businesslike. "Come to the Meridian Wellness Center on Oakwood Avenue. Today, at noon. Come alone, unarmed, and willing to have an honest discussion about your future."
"My future?"
"Your future as it relates to this investigation. Your future as it relates to your career. Your future in general." Another deliberate pause. "I'm offering you choices, Detective Morrison. The option to walk away with your life intact. The option to continue your investigation with proper support and resources. Or the option to end up like the women you're trying to save. Which future you get depends entirely on what you decide in the next ninety minutes."
Sarah felt her pulse quicken, but she kept her voice steady. "And if I don't come?"
"Then we'll be forced to assume you're not interested in reasonable solutions. And we'll proceed with alternative methods for resolving your interference."