Rita Y Toews

Body Traffic Rita Y Toews

Sonja Slepsik hoped for a family reunion when an offer came to smuggle her out of Ukraine. Little did she realize she would be sold into the sex trade in Canada to help pay down her addicted brother's debts. His parting gift to her is information that she has an uncle living in Canada. Her hope is that before she is forced to work by her madam, Rosa Sinclair, in Winnipeg she can investigate within the large Ukrainian community to see if anyone knows the whereabouts of her mysterious relative.

When RCMP officer Stan Bolenko's cover is blown in Vancouver he returns to his hometown of Winnipeg to investigate potential criminal activity in the forensic lab. His cover as a down-and-out Ukrainian labourer puts him in contact with Sonja. Stan soon realizes that she is a direct pipeline to James Sinclair, one of the principals of the criminal ring he is investigating. To penetrate that ring he will have to use the young woman who has been deceived by so many in the past.

As the investigation continues, Stan burrows deeper into the underbelly of society. He gains access to the virology lab where he determines that Laurence O'Connor, the director of the lab, is dirty. Laurence is desperate to gain the full trust of his assistant Anel Blondeau. Only with her compliance can he continue shipping the valuable cargo through the virology lab. To do that he would be more than happy to marry her. Why is she playing so hard to get?

When James is forced to kill his wife, Rosa, the dealings at the lab begin to unravel. Anel grows increasingly more suspicious of her boss's activities and begins to examine some of the paperwork she has signed off on. To her horror, she realizes Laurence has used her for his criminal dealings.

To bring the dirty dealings at the lab to closure someone has to die. In fact, more than one person.