Winning Texas (43 page)

She ran down the hall to where her car was parked in her special space around back. She
’
d slip out the secret exit road and be on the highway before anyone realized she
’
d fled.

She
’
d take the money, use her fake ID and escape to the beach house she
’
d secretly purchased on a secluded part of the Brazilian coast. Maybe Kyle could join her there later, maybe not. She
’
d get to the San Antonio Airport within the hour and be on a plane by late afternoon to Brazil.

CHAPTER 49

STRIP CLUB MOGUL ARRESTED IN BABY-SELLING PLOT,

REPORTER SHOT AT RANCH

By Brandon McGill and Travis Dunbar

Houston Times Reporters

FREDERICKSBURG
–
Federal agents and Texas Rangers conducted a joint raid Friday on a 300-acre ranch owned by Houston strip club mogul Kyle Krause and his girlfriend, seizing records and rescuing twenty-three immigrant women allegedly held captive and coerced into bearing babies for sale.

Authorities descended on the ranch after getting a report that a
Houston Times
reporter had been seriously wounded. The journalist, Annie Price, 40, was investigating a tip that an illegal adoption ring was centered there when an unidentified assailant shot her twice.

Price was wounded in the right side and arm, but is in satisfactory condition in Central Hospital and expected to make a full recovery.

Krause, 39, arrested Friday night at his Texas Girls club off the Gulf Freeway, was jailed and held without bond before a preliminary hearing scheduled for Monday in Houston federal court. His lawyer said he wasn
’
t at the ranch, didn
’
t participate in the adoption scheme and had nothing to do with Price
’
s shooting.

A warrant has been issued for Juliana Souza, 36, Krause
’
s girlfriend who allegedly ran the ranch
’
s illegal operations. Officials say she may have fled from Texas to South America. She is a Brazilian national who has lived with Krause in Houston for at least five years.

The immigrant women, ranging in ages from eighteen to thirty-six, were from Mexico, Guatemala, Ukraine, Russia and Albania, according to Mark Ingram, the Austin-based Texas Ranger in charge of the investigation.

“
This was a cold-hearted, profit-making scheme to coerce these women to become pregnant and deliver babies under a false promise of providing immigration documents to allow them to stay in this country,
”
Ingram said.
“
The women were barred from leaving the ranch until they
’
d given birth.
”

Krause and Souza allegedly conspired to bring the women into Texas and transport them to the ranch. The women all were injected with donor sperm and many taken into custody say they are pregnant.

Ingram said authorities believe that the Albanian women were smuggled aboard a ship that landed in Houston nearly two months ago. One woman held on the ship apparently drowned in an incident involving alcohol and an itinerant seaman. Her body was found floating in the ship channel near the Valero refinery on July 22.

The Russian and Ukrainian women also allegedly were smuggled in on cargo ships, Ingram said. Krause and Souza allegedly contracted with Mexican and Central American smugglers to supply them with young Hispanic women.

The Krause Ranch operation allegedly sold the infants through a private lawyer to rich out-of-state couples for prices ranging from $70,000 to $75,000 per baby. Based on records seized in the raid, he estimated that at least 50 infants had changed hands in the illegal scheme, which apparently operated for about three years.

Baby selling is against the law in Texas, and most other states. In Texas, couples are permitted to pay certain of a gestational mother
’
s expenses, but those expenses must pass muster by a judge at the time of adoption. No judges were involved in the transfer of the ranch
’
s babies, Ingram said.

The immigrant women were taken into custody by authorities and placed in a shelter in San Antonio. They will be interviewed and immigration judges will review their cases individually. Many are likely to be deported, Ingram said.

Krause will be arraigned on multiple federal and state charges of violating immigration and adoption laws, according to authorities. South American authorities are cooperating in an international search to locate Souza, Ingram said.

CHAPTER 50

Annie kept running and dodging and trying to hide, but she couldn
’
t escape the people who were hunting her down. They had the faces of strangers and of people she feared
–
Dan Riggins, Alicia Perez, Kyle Krause, even Rob Ryland. They had knives, bows and arrows and guns. They were chasing her all over a large island with mountainous terrain. She heard a voice telling her to run just a little longer, that he
’
d be there to rescue her. She thought at first that it was the voice of Matt Sharpe, but he was stalking her, too. She realized that the man calling for her was Tom Marr.

She ran up the mountain to the top of a precipice, overlooking a waterfall with a lagoon bubbling fifty feet below. Tom Marr was standing in the lagoon, holding out his arms.

“
Jump, Annie, jump. I
’
ll catch you,
”
he said. But she was too frightened to make the leap and her pursuers were close behind.

She heard another, different voice and opened her eyes. Travis Dunbar was standing over her bed in what looked like a hospital room. He took her hand and squeezed it.

“
Are you finally awake?
”
Travis said.
“
How are you feeling? I should get the nurse.
”

“
Travis, I
’
m glad you
’
re here. Where am I? What happened to me?
”

“
Do you remember that we were trying to get away from Kyle Krause
’
s ranch?
”

“
Yeah, I think so,
”
Annie said, trying to prop herself up. Travis put a pillow behind her head to make her more comfortable. Her head pounded and she felt weak and tired.

“
You were shot, apparently from a window at the ranch
’
s administration building. You were trying to get back to Jared
’
s van so we could escape. We found you on the ground and called 911, but it took them a while to get there, through the guard gate and all. We think that Juliana Souza escaped in her car through a secret back entrance. You
’
re at the Fredericksburg hospital.
”

“
Do you know who shot me?
”

“
Probably Juliana,
”
Travis said.
“
We may never find out for sure. Now she
’
s on the lam.
”

“
Will I be all right?
”

“
Yeah, you have a couple of flesh wounds in your side and arm, but nothing that won
’
t heal fairly easily.
”

“
Did you file a story?
”
Annie whispered.

“
Sure thing, boss.
”
Travis broke into a grin.
“
You must feel better to be cracking the whip. Brandon
’
s been helping from Houston. All hell has broken loose. Kyle Krause is in custody. The girls from the ranch are talking to police and immigration.
”

“
Will they be okay? Is Vera with them?
”

“
Yeah. It
’
s a mess, but some good immigration lawyers have stepped up to help those girls. Maybe they
’
ll be allowed to stay in Texas, given what they
’
ve been through.
”

“
When can I go home to Houston?
”

“
Your parents are on the way. I expect you
’
ll be able to leave with them as soon as tomorrow. Tom Marr is on his way here, too.
”

“
Oh, that
’
s nice. Thanks, Trav. Sounds like you did good work.
”

“
Hey, you
’
re the injured heroine here,
”
Travis patted her shoulder.
“
All I had to do was write a couple of stories.
”

CHAPTER 51

A week later, Annie came back to the office for a few hours, the first time since she
’
d been shot. Her arm was still in a sling and her side was bandaged from the bullet that had passed through it, but she was much stronger. Her parents had left today after fussing over her and her cats entirely too much. A bonus was that they
’
d gotten to meet and spend some time with Tom and Betsy Marr. The Marrs had followed her parents to Houston to make sure she
’
d be all right. It had gone pretty well. Her mother thought that Tom was handsome and mannerly and Betsy was beautiful and sweet. Her opinion of Tom had jumped a few notches when she discovered that he owned one of the largest ranches in Texas with a profitable cattle operation. Her father was more reserved. He was suspicious of Tom
’
s secessionist past, but his devotion to Annie was winning her dad over.

Greg stopped by her desk with a broad smile on his face. He liked nothing better than a big story and this one was driving lucrative traffic to the
Times
website. He
’
d been directing and editing new installments every day in Annie
’
s absence. Their success had been a gift to newsroom morale, since the closing of the print newspaper was looming and hard decisions were being announced every day about staffing.

“
Good news,
”
he said.
“
It hasn
’
t been announced yet, but you and Travis will both get jobs with the new website operation. You
’
ll be an investigative producer, working with Travis and a few others.
”

“
Thanks, Greg,
”
she said.
“
I
’
m sure that you had a big hand in that development. I still get my month off, right?
”

“
Of course,
”
he said.
“
It
’
ll be a combination of worker
’
s compensation, since you were injured on the job, and your remaining vacation time. If that
’
s not enough, you can take more.
”

“
Can I let you know in a week about the new job?
”

“
Sure, Annie,
”
he said with a puzzled look.
“
I thought you
’
d be pleased and relieved.
”

“
Appreciate your vote of confidence, but I
’
m not sure what I want to do yet. I guess being shot got me thinking more about the rest of my life. I
’
m not sure I want to spend it in the crazy news business.
”

“
Understand. You
’
ve been through a lot,
”
Greg said.
“
Take a week to think about the job, but don
’
t think too long. We
’
ll be finalizing the new operation soon.
”

“
Thanks, guy,
”
she said.
“
After a few more doctor
’
s appointments, I
’
m heading out to West Texas to enjoy the big skies and empty spaces. I
’
ll get my head on straight, I promise.
”

“
I
’
m not surprised that West Texas and Tom and Betsy Marr figure into your vacation schedule,
”
he smiled.
“
Call me sometime in the next week.
”