Fatal Secrets by Allison Brennan

sounded surprised.
    “I might have.” She took a deep breath and said with a smile, “I think we should both admit that we have small, manageable, unobtrusive egos.”
    Dean couldn’t stifle his own chuckle. “I think I can agree with that.”
    Diplomacy was never something Sonia cared much about, but right now, working with the FBI on the Jones case was critical. There was too much at stake. And Sonia would do anything—perhaps even make a deal with the devil himself—to find Maya Zamora alive and reunite her with Andres.
    “Let’s regroup this afternoon.” She glanced at her watch. “It’s two, as soon as I get a guard on my victim, I’ll leave—”
    “Victim? What happened?”
    “This isn’t connected to Jones.” At least she didn’t think it was. Jones was a middleman; he wasn’t suspected of killing any of the people he traded in. Still, the FBI could help. “However, I was hoping to get some assistance.” She quickly explained to Dean what happened to “Ann” and her likelihood of being forced into prostitution. “The tattoos are a dead giveaway that she’s a victim of human trafficking. We have DNA from her rapist, and it’s clear that he intended to kill her when he threw her in the river. How she survived the ordeal is a miracle. Simone Charles from forensics is sending DNA samples to the DHS lab for processing and comparisonswith foreign CODIS databases. I was hoping you could clear the way of bureaucratic obstacles and help process the evidence on your end.”
    “I can help. Sometimes being an assistant director has huge advantages. I’ll email Ms. Charles my secretary’s contact information and put in a few calls.”
    “Thank you, Dean. I really appreciate your help.” Sonia gave him the details, then hung up.
    Simone approached when she saw that Sonia was off the phone. “I spoke to Detective Black. He’s getting a twenty-four-hour guard approved right now. We’ll have someone within an hour.”
    “The FBI is pulling out the stops on DNA. Dean Hooper is going to email you with instructions.” She wrote down Dean’s contact information for Simone.
    Dr. Miller returned with a nurse and a table of equipment, including an X-ray machine. Sonia was relieved that the doctor was taking Ann’s condition seriously. “I’ll personally see to it that if there is a damn computer chip in my patient’s neck no one can track her down.”
    “Thank you, Doctor. Do you know when you’ll take her into surgery?”
    “She’s stable right now and she’ll be taken down for a CAT scan shortly. I’ll know more after that.”
    “Please wait until the guard shows,” Sonia said. “Or I can go with her.” Sonia needed to get back to the Jones investigation, but she couldn’t leave Ann vulnerable. She was torn between the two cases.
    “It’ll be at least thirty minutes.”
    “When you remove the GPS chip, I want it. We might be able to trace it.” A long shot, but Sonia was willing to go down any path to find everyone responsible for Ann’s condition. It wasn’t only the rapist who was culpable.Who tattooed her? Who put the numbers on her? Who brought her to this country in the first place—or kidnapped her? How long had she been forced to prostitute herself? Where? Were there more like her in Sacramento? Sonia knew the answer was yes, but she didn’t know where to start other than getting Xavier Jones to talk.
    Sonia stared at Ann’s door, willing the girl to recover. She was another key; like Andres a victim, but she’d also been part of the organization. She could testify, she could lead Sonia to where she’d been imprisoned. Describe her attacker. Ann was a key witness, another reason they needed to protect her.
    Most victims of human trafficking were dead when Sonia found them. Or they’d been rescued before they learned anything about the illegal underground. Ann was rare and her survival paramount.
    Riley, Sonia’s brother, stepped out of the nearby elevator. He was