3 The Chain of Lies (18 page)

“Yes, we’ve met a couple of times. Nice to see you again, Chief Nelson.” She extended her hand.

“Nice to see you again, too.” His large hand grasped hers and shook it. “Last time was when you helped solve the Wakefield case, right?”

“Yes, that’s right,” she replied.

“I know you’ve been a big help to Colin and Ernie, and I’ve had my eye on you. Have you ever thought about joining us as a consultant?”

“A consultant? You mean like you pay me to help your department?”

“Yes. Seems crime is on the rise, so we could use you on a case-by-case basis. It would save Paradise Valley some money and we’d have two detectives whenever necessary. Colin speaks very highly of you and your skills. Ernie, too.”

“Hmmm.” She glanced at Colin, who was grinning widely at her, then her gaze moved back to his boss. “I’ll have to give it some thought, Chief. I just might take you up on that.”

“Well, I’m going to grab a coffee and find a seat,” Peter said, reaching for a cup.

Within minutes, Isabel arrived at the Paradise Valley police station with FBI Special Agent Tony Ellis in tow. Ellis had a commanding presence, standing well over six feet tall with neatly trimmed dark hair and the typical FBI dark suit and tie with spit-shined shoes.

Right on their heels, Colin’s friend, Captain Ray Decker, from the nearby Boise SWAT team, strode into the conference room. He was dressed in police blues and his light brown hair was buzzed short, military style. He had been a Marine, like Colin, and appeared to be all about discipline and force.

Introductions were made around the room, and Colin suggested they all have a seat and get down to business.

“Emily, why don’t we begin this meeting with you explaining to us what precipitated this gathering and what you’ve discovered so far,” the Police Chief proposed.

“Of course.” She stood and described everything she had witnessed, from the young Asian woman in the hotel restroom, to the family in Camille’s neighborhood, to her experience with the Jade Thai Spa, including her client’s husband who verified there were sexual favors offered at that massage parlor.

Ellis confirmed there had been numerous complaints of prostitution to the Boise Police Department and the Feds were brought in because of the suspicion of moving prostitutes across state lines.

Colin pointed out the seriousness of this meeting in light of the young Asian woman who was recently found murdered.

“We suspect the dead girl may be tied to what’s going on at the Jade Thai Spa,” Emily added, glancing from Special Agent Ellis to Captain Decker.

“And we’ve had a troubling new development, gentlemen, since we made the arrangements for this joint task force to meet,” Colin informed Ellis and Decker.

Ellis’s head tilted and both his and Decker’s eyes lit up with interest. “What kind of new development, Detective?”

“My friend’s daughter, Molly, has gone missing,” Emily blurted out. She went on to explain Molly’s connection to the case, in detail, and how she had seen what she believed was Molly’s bicycle in the suspects’ garage earlier that day.

“That does put an urgency to our plan,” Captain Decker said, rubbing his jaw.

“If they took the girl because they think she knows too much,” Special Agent Ellis explained, “assuming they really do turn out to be traffickers, she could be whisked out of the country within forty-eight hours.”

Isabel and Emily shot a terrified glance at each other. This was Molly they were talking about.

“Maybe we should nix the joint task force and let my men handle this,” Ellis said. “It sounds to me like it’s clearly a federal case.”

“Sounds to me like the FBI will benefit from having the different agencies involved,” Isabel remarked. “We have a better chance of success that way.”

“I don’t know.” Ellis shook his head.

“Let me remind you, Tony, I’ve had a lot of years of experience—at the CIA and the FBI—so you know, that I know, what I’m talking about. Besides, you can still take all the credit when we take this ring down.”

He stared at Isabel, obviously thinking through the possibilities, and everyone around the table fell silent, waiting for his response.

“All right, Martínez, but if this thing goes south, it’s your butt, not mine.”

“Now that we have that out of the way, how old is Molly?” Decker asked.

“Seventeen,” Peter replied.

“Description?”

“About five five, a hundred and twenty pounds, long red hair, green eyes, very pretty,” Isabel answered.

Decker and Ellis both made notes of her description.

“How long has she been gone?” Ellis questioned.

“Since about six o’clock Saturday night,” Emily responded.

“A girl like that would fetch a good price,” Decker noted.

“Molly’s my niece, Captain. I’ll do whatever I have to, to get her back.” Peter’s voice was serious and determined. “I’ve done some investigative reporting on human trafficking and a bit of undercover work. If you’ll get me a small video camera, I’ll go into the spa as a customer and see if I can get the proof you need to bust these S.O.B.s.”

“I can’t have a reporter in the middle of an operation. I’d rather have one of my agents—”

“She’s my niece! Please, let me do this.”

“You’re asking too much,” Ellis insisted.

“I could just go in there on my own, as a potential customer, and see what I can find out,” Peter suggested.

“Oh, no you don’t,” Ellis responded.

“It’s what I do, Ellis. But with the right equipment, I could be a lot more effective.”

“What do you think, Detective?” Ellis focused on Colin, then turned to Chief Nelson. “Chief?”

“It’s your call, Andrews.” The Chief leaned forward in his seat. “You’ve got more experience with these big city crimes.”

Colin looked at Peter as he thought about it. “I think he can handle it, if you get him wired up and hooked up.” Colin crossed his arms and leaned back in his chair. “Can you provide the equipment we need, Special Agent Ellis?”

“Yeah, I can get it, and more. Make a list. But if something happens to this reporter, it’s on your head. I’m not going to be hung out to dry over this.”

“I’ll take that chance,” Colin replied, standing his ground.

Captain Decker stood and leaned forward over the table. “When are you planning this little shindig?” He looked Colin in the eye first, then Peter.

“This evening, around five o’clock. That’s when the spa opens.”

“Yeah, that’s right.” Ellis sat back. “We’ve been watching that place for a few weeks, working on gathering evidence of interstate prostitution. My people were actually planning a raid when Isabel called me.”

“But human trafficking, Ellis, that’ll be a much more significant collar for you than simply interstate prostitution,” Isabel reasoned.

“I can’t argue with that,” he agreed. “All I need to do is say the word and my people will jump into action.”

“Okay, then. Let’s stop wasting time and nail this plan down,” Decker ordered.

Emily began, “My idea was that—”

“Whoa, little lady,” Special Agent Ellis cut in. “We can’t have a civilian running the show.”

“Not a civilian,” Chief Nelson corrected, “a consultant.”

Emily flashed a slight grin in gratitude at the Chief for standing up for her before she turned her attention back to the smug FBI special agent. “I’m only sharing my thoughts, sir.”

“Well, consultant or not, I want to make one thing perfectly clear to all of you. The FBI is in charge of this operation and everything goes through me. Agreed?”

“Yes, everything goes through you,” Emily concurred.

With nodding of heads, everyone around the table agreed to Ellis taking the lead.

“Now, let Emily explain, Special Agent,” the Chief ordered, rising to his feet, “then you all can decide on the best plan of attack, but hear her out.” He glared around the table, almost daring anyone to contest his words. “Emily, proceed.” He motioned toward her with his hand and sat back down.

“All right. What do you got?” Ellis asked.

“Colin goes in first as a customer, wired and with a tiny video camera,” Emily explained. “He’ll try to get as many faces on that video as he can. If and when they offer sexual favors, he will decline.”

“I decline?”

“Yes, just listen,” she said before proceeding with her plan. “Then, a little while later, Peter goes in, also wired with a video camera, going through the same routine, but this time, when sex is offered, he’ll tell them he would like sex, but not there. He only wants it to be at a nice hotel. If she can bring the girl to him, he’ll pay more.”

“Explain how that makes them bring Molly to me?” Peter asked.

“Tell the woman you’re partial to American girls, especially redheads and blondes, and you’d be willing to pay more for one of them, especially if she’s young.”

“Why not just a redhead?”

“Don’t you think that would make them suspicious?” she asked.

“I guess, assuming they don’t also have a blonde hidden somewhere too.”

“I hadn’t thought of that.” Emily grimaced. “Geez, I hope not.”

“No, I don’t think you should say anything about blondes or redheads,” Decker disagreed. “That’ll make them suspicious and scare them off. Just tell them something like no offense to Asians, but I prefer Caucasian girls. It’s doubtful they’ll have any other white girls on hand.”

“I agree with Decker. This ring seems to keep with Asian girls, particularly Thai.” Special Agent Ellis glanced around the table. “But getting back to the plan, if they’re keeping girls at the house and at the spa, we’ll have to execute this plan with split-second accuracy. We’ll need to take down all three locations simultaneously so they don’t have time to warn the others.”

“Good idea,” the Chief agreed.

“Decker, your team can take the house,” Ellis asserted. “The FBI will take the spa, since we’ve been getting ready to move on it anyway, and Colin and his team can handle the arrests at the Paradise Valley Hotel.”

“What about the warrants?” the Chief asked.

“I’ve already got federal warrants in the works for the spa and the house,” Isabel declared.

“Sounds like a plan,” Decker agreed.

“Yeah, it all sounds good to me, too,” Colin said.

“I’m all in,” Peter added. “Let’s do it for Molly.”

“But what if it turns out Molly’s not at
any
of those places?” Emily asked, nervously considering that might be the case.

“We’ll have to figure that out when we come to it,” Decker said. “For now, let’s stay positive and hope we can rescue her in one of the sweeps.”

Before ducking out, the Chief praised Emily for her insight and plan, and he said he was looking forward to working with her as a consultant. She hadn’t given him an answer yet, but she figured he said it to give her more credibility with the other agencies, particularly Special Agent Ellis.

After hammering out a few more of the finer points of the plan, they all agreed to meet back at the Paradise Valley police station in two hours. Ellis confirmed he and his team would bring all the technical equipment they would need to pull off the plan, including the media van to monitor the audio, video, and radio contact.

“Let’s do this thing!” Decker hollered with a loud clap of his hands.

CHAPTER 16

Emily squirmed in her seat inside the FBI van, parked half a block from the Jade Thai Spa, as she and Isabel watched the monitor with anticipation. Special Agent Ellis ably ran the equipment.

He had outfitted Colin with a tiny video camera embedded in the button of a vest the FBI provided, complete with a microphone woven into the fabric. Colin was dressed down, jeans and a button-down shirt with his cuffs rolled up to complement the vest.

Ellis had provided Colin an earbud for two-way communication in case Emily recognized any of the girls on the video monitor. After doing a test run to make sure the equipment was working and the camera was pointed in the right direction, Ellis turned Colin loose.

Peter was also wired and given a micro-video camera. He was dressed in a suit, with his necktie loosened and the top button of his shirt undone, as if he had just come from a long, exhausting business meeting. His shtick would be that he was a business man from out of town, in Boise for a series of high-level meetings. He wanted a massage to unwind and de-stress from his tiring day.

Waiting for his turn to go in, Peter took a seat on the other side of Emily.

“I’m walking up to the front door,” they all heard Colin say as they watched the monitor, seeing him approach the front door of the massage parlor. It was five fifteen in the late afternoon on a crisp, sunny fall day.

He pushed open the door and casually strolled up to the reception desk. The monitor showed there was a middle-aged Asian woman with shoulder-length black hair behind the counter. She was looking down at the desk when Colin entered. The name plate on her lapel read
Ratana
. She raised her head when he came in.

“That’s the woman! That’s the woman! I think she’s the madam,” Emily excitedly exclaimed into the microphone so Colin could hear her.