exactly what I wanted. Thank you all for your hard work; this is excellent! I’ll set up a meeting to present it to the Grand Master tomorrow.”
As the meeting broke up, Alasdair put his hand on Jack’s shoulder and pulled him back. “Are there any new developments in your chop shop case?”
Jack shook his head. “The trail’s gone cold on where the organs went or how the women got to the clinic. It’s still an open investigation, but unless something breaks soon, it’ll be filed as a cold case.”
The next morning, Tom, Emily, Ralph Gardner, Patrick Mills, Max, and Alasdair met in the Grand Master’s office to review the human trafficking proposal. Even though Ralph and Emily had both retired from their training activities for the Order, they were Special Advisors to the Grand Master and often attended strategy meetings like this one. Patrick Mills, who replaced Sam Billingsly as the Chief Intelligence Officer and the Intelligence Analysis Committee Chairman when Sam retired, also attended strategy meetings.
Tom was shocked at how big of a problem and how big of a business human trafficking had become, and when he heard about the chop shop operating in their city, he was visibly disturbed.
When the Lt. Grand Master finished presenting the information, Tom nodded. “I like that the proposals take a realistic view of the problem and of what the Order can accomplish. I agree that this should be a global initiative, but not to try to eradicate human trafficking all at once. The best we can do is to begin chipping away at what has become one of the largest and most profitable criminal enterprises in the world. If every Commandery in the Order makes this a priority, we should be able to make a real difference in the fight against this scourge.”
Tom looked around the room before his eyes settled on Alasdair. “But what about new players who are ready and waiting to step in and replace the ones that we help take down? How quickly can we identify who they are? And what’s our potential exposure when we go after these replacements?”
The group discussed this for a while, but it was clear that they were in uncharted territory, given the scope of the initiative. Constant vigilance was the only effective countermeasure against exposure.
Finally, Tom said, “Very well. Let’s present this to the Grand Magistry as soon as we can set up a special meeting. Then we’ll have a video conference with the Grand Priors to get their Commanderies working on this. After that, we can present it to the Commandery here and begin selecting specific intervention teams.
“But I want one thing made perfectly clear. No member of the Order is to go undercover as a potential victim. These are to be traditional interventions – surveillance and the capture of targets. There’s no safe way to mount a rescue of a member who’s taken by traffickers.”
Turning to Max and Patrick, Tom continued, “I want you two to spearhead this initiative, reporting to both the Lieutenant Grand Master and myself. Max, as head of the Intervention Analysis Committee, you’ll coordinate the various interventions. Patrick, as head of the Intelligence Analysis Committee, you’ll work with the Commanderies to start piecing together a global picture of the players. We need to know who they are, how they operate, who funds them, how money comes in and out, and how they manage to avoid law enforcement. I also want you to work with the Commanderies in the areas where slaves are being bought. We need to start trying to identify victims so that, at some point, we can help law enforcement rescue them from their enslavers. I don’t expect you to have this put together quickly, but we have to start somewhere. It may be the best way to identify the new players as they step in to replace those we help take down. Okay?”
Max and Patrick nodded.
“Good. I’ll have the Grand Secretary set up a meeting of the Grand Magistry. Max and Patrick, you’ll both need to be there and at the video conference with the Grand Priors.”
“Yes, your Excellency.”
Two evenings later, the Grand Magistry met with Ralph, Emily, Max, Patrick, Monroe Patterson, and Terri Ogilvy. Monroe had replaced Ralph as the Chief Training Officer, and Terri had replaced Emily as the Chief Surveillance Training Officer. Tom wanted his training committee chairs in attendance in case there was a training component to the new initiative that needed to be defined.
After Tom opened the meeting, he turned it over to Alasdair to present the human trafficking report and the proposals. Greg Swinton, who had taken the position of Grand Secretary when Liam Douglas retired, took notes of the discussion that followed.
“I can’t believe that this has been going on in our city right under our noses,” Diana Rutherford, the Grand Chancellor, said once Alasdair was finished speaking. “It’s inconceivable that a criminal enterprise of this size could operate in the shadows for this long.”
“Believe it,” Max interjected. “The reason that human trafficking has lasted for so long and become so profitable is because it’s so hard to identify where it’s being done, how it’s being done, and who’s doing it. As a business, it has existed in shadows for more than 150 years, ever since Europe and America agreed to end the slave trade. The fact that there are Americans using fake adoption agencies to purchase children from other countries and use them as domestic slaves is a good indicator that this business is alive and well all over the world.”
“Are we prepared to take on an initiative like this?” Melissa Robertson, the Grand Marshall, asked. “There could be several intervention teams per Commandery that must be coordinated locally, nationally, and globally.”
“We’ve done it before, Mel,” Tom pointed out. “When we brought down Il Nona twenty years ago, all of the Commanderies in Europe and the Americas were involved, and it was all coordinated by Ralph and Sam Billingsly. Granted, this’ll be the first time we’ve included Asia in a global initiative, but it’s long overdue. And since Asia has one of the largest human trafficking problems in the world, according to the report that Alasdair shared with us, it’ll be vital to have them involved. It won’t be easy, but the right things never are.”
“Yes, your Excellency.”
The Grand Magistry voted unanimously to accept human trafficking as the new global initiative of the Order. Greg Swinton committed to set up a video conference with the Grand Priors sometime in the next two days.
After the meeting, Alasdair joined Ralph and Emily in the Grand Master’s office for a drink.
“I thought the meeting went well,” Alasdair commented, accepting a glass of scotch from Tom and taking a seat next to Ralph.
“So did I,” Tom said. Looking at Ralph and Emily, he asked, “What did you two think?”
“I’m terrified,” Ralph said plainly. “This business scares the hell out of me. That it still exists is one thing, but that it’s so well-funded, well-organized, and operating so secretly makes me wonder how long it’ll take before we see any impact of our actions.”
“Would you rather we do nothing?” Tom asked evenly.
Ralph looked at Tom over the rim of his glass. “Of course not,” he replied, putting his glass down. “But since I’ve led two global initiatives like this for you in the past, I know the effort we’re about to undertake. I’m just saying that it could take a while before we start seeing any results. Are you prepared for an initiative that might take decades before we can start seeing the fruits of our labors?”
Tom drained his glass and placed it on the tray next to the scotch bottle. “Thousands of people are ripped from their homes every year because of human traffickers. Some are forced into a life that can hardly be considered a life, and others are killed, either for their organs or because it’s easier to kill them than to discipline the uncooperative. I’d rather make this initiative a permanent part of the Order’s duties than see this abomination go unchecked a minute longer.”
“I agree,” Emily said softly. “As a woman, I’ve had to be constantly vigilant to protect myself, and as a mother, I worry every minute of every day that someone may try to take Jamie away from me. This kind of fear has become normal, but there’s