3 The Chain of Lies (22 page)

“Where’s your key card?” Colin asked with a drunken slur.

“Shoot!” Emily screeched, stamping one foot for emphasis. “I forgot my purse in the bar.” She giggled then hiccupped like a woman who had had too much bubbly.

“All right, sweetie,” Colin said. “You wait right here and I’ll go down and get it for you.” He stumbled away.

Emily wandered over to the man standing guard and attempted to start up a conversation to distract his attention. “Why are you standing out here? You locked out of your room?” she asked, swaying and slurring her words only inches from his face.

“Go away, lady.”

“Okay,” she sang, before unleashing her fury. In a matter of seconds, Emily stomped hard on his foot with the sharp heel of her boot, then she jerked her knee up into the man’s groin. As he bent over in mind-numbing pain, she jabbed her elbow in his face.

Without giving him a moment to recover from the surprise attack, Colin had the muzzle of his Glock pressed against the man’s neck. “Get your hands up!”

The man did as he was ordered, seething with anger, blood dripping from his nose.

Emily gingerly reached inside the man’s jacket and pulled out the handgun he had in a holster under his arm. “What about his phone?” she asked, pulling it out of his breast pocket.

“Pesani, Cleaver, I need you out in the hallway to take the trash out,” Colin ordered as he grabbed the man’s hands, one at a time, and brought them down and cuffed him. He took the man’s gun from Emily and stuffed it in the back of his belt.

One officer stepped out of Peter’s room and the other came sprinting down the hall from the stairway toward them.

“Take him into room three eighteen and gag him. We can’t have him warning the woman,” Collin called after the cops as they took the man down the hall.

“We make a pretty good team,” Emily said, grinning up at Colin.

“We certainly do, but we ought to get inside, don’t you think?” He tapped on the door.

“Good work Colin and Emily,” Ellis praised through their earpieces.

“Thanks, boss, but it’s not nearly over. We’ve got to find Molly.” Emily entered Peter’s room and Colin followed.

“SWAT has an unmarked surveillance van already in position near the house. I’ve been given word they’re picking up four bodies on the heat sensor, two moving around on the main floor and two stationary upstairs.”

“My man, Mason, is down in the lobby keeping watch over the woman,” Colin reported. “She went in the bar. He’ll let us know when she’s on her way back up.”

“She’s probably in there sipping a mai tai, waiting while her girl does her dirty work.” Emily growled between clenched teeth.

“She said she’d be back in an hour, so we only have to wait until then,” Peter said, checking his watch. “Another twenty-three minutes or so.”

“You do realize she’ll be expecting to see the man she left outside your door?” Ellis pointed out. “You better come up with a plan quick to deal with that.”

“Already thought of it and have it covered.” Emily walked over to the young girl and settled on the edge of the bed next to her. She slipped off her cardigan and pulled the sweater around the girl’s shoulders. “Don’t worry, sweetie, we’re here to help you. Do you understand?”

She nodded, fear still pooling in her dark eyes.

“Her name is Maliwan,” Peter informed Emily.

“I need you to help me, too.”

The girl stared silently into Emily’s eyes.

“Will you help me, Maliwan?” Emily returned her gaze and looked kindly into the girl’s face, hoping to allay her fears.

She nodded again, her eyes brightening a bit.

~*~

After her brief talk with Maliwan, Emily returned to Colin and Peter. She began to tell them that the girl thought she may have caught sight of Molly that very morning at the house.

“You forget you’re mic’d, Emily,” Ellis cut in. “We all heard the whole thing.”

“Then you must have heard her say she saw a girl with long red hair lying on a mattress in the upstairs bonus room.”

“We hope to God one of those four heat spots is Molly.”

Ellis typically sounded professional and by the book, but every once in awhile Emily swore she could hear his voice quiver as he spoke of Molly. “As soon as you have the madam in custody, I’ll give the signal to move on the house and the spa. If we move too soon, someone could text her a short one-word warning and she’s in the wind, guys.”

“One word?” Emily asked.

“Like
run
.”

“Got it.” Emily looked from Colin to Peter. “Now, we don’t have much time, fellas, let’s all get in position. You heard the plan.”

“We’re on it,” Peter replied.

“Maliwan,” she said, casting a glance over her shoulder, “you know what to do, right?”

“Yes,” she replied in a small, nervous voice.

Colin stepped into the closet and Emily went down the hall, just past the elevators, and waited around the corner in a small alcove. “We’re all in place, Ellis.” She reached back and felt her gun snuggly fitted in the back of her waistband, under her shirt.

“Ellis, is my video feed coming through okay?” Emily heard Peter ask.

“A-Okay.”

“The elevator just dinged,” Emily informed everyone. “Open the door, Peter. Cue Maliwan.”

The doors glided open and the madam stepped out, turning toward Peter’s room. She only took a few steps before she halted abruptly. Emily crept out of the alcove and tiptoed behind her, watching as the madam realized the man she’d left there was gone. The woman spun around and took a couple of steps toward the elevator, but Emily stood between Ratana and her escape.

“Oh, I’m so glad I found you,” Emily gasped, her arms spread out to keep the woman from going around her. “There’s a girl in the room down there that’s been crying for her mother.” Emily pointed toward the room. “She looks a lot like you, so I’m assuming that it’s you she’s been calling for?”

“That stupid girl,” the woman spat under her breath, looking down at the floor. Then she raised her head and her expression softened. “Yes, I am her mother. Where is she?”

“Right down here.” Emily laid one hand on the woman’s shoulder and motioned down the hall with the other. She walked her to the room where Peter held the door open.

“I’m so glad you’re back,” Peter said. “Your girl has been crying her eyes out ever since you left.”

The woman marched into the room, past the bathroom and closet. The girl was resting on the edge of the bed, her head bent down, weeping.

“There, that’s the girl,” Emily exclaimed, following the woman into the hotel room. Maliwan lifted her head as Ratana approached her.

Ratana barked something to the girl in Thai, motioning for her to leave with her. The girl replied something in her language, shaking her head no. The woman grabbed the girl by the arm and yelled at her again, yanking her to her feet.

Maliwan looked at Emily, pleading for help with her eyes.

Peter leaned against the dresser, watching the events unfold. “Are you getting this?” he whispered.

“Loud and clear,” Ellis responded.

“Let her go!” Emily hollered, stepping toward the woman. “You’re hurting her!”

“Peter, Emily needs a distraction, quick,” Colin whispered into his mic from inside the closet.

The woman dropped her hold on the girl’s arm, reached into her purse and drew out a small handgun. “The girl, she leave with me.” Ratana pointed the weapon at Maliwan.

Peter glanced around. He picked up a glass from the dresser and hurled it against the closest wall, shattering with a loud crash.

The woman’s head jerked toward the sound long enough for Emily to seize her opportunity. She grabbed the woman above the wrist, stepped in, flipped her over her hip and flat on her back on the floor, twisting the gun out of her hand. She dropped down and planted a knee on the woman’s chest. “You’re not going anywhere.”

Colin rushed in and stood over them, his gun drawn, with a slight grin on his face. “Great job, Emily.”

“And we got the whole thing on tape,” Peter exclaimed, positioning himself to record the arrest.

“Paradise Valley Police,” Colin shouted, flashing Ratana his badge while keeping his Glock leveled at her. “You’re under arrest for prostitution and human trafficking, and anything else I can find to charge you with. Roll over on your stomach and put your hands behind your back.”

Emily pulled her knee off the woman and sprang to her feet. “She’s all yours.”

Peter turned to watch as Colin clamped the cuffs on her and pulled the madam up.

“Why is it always my job to take the garbage out?” Colin marched the woman out of the room, reading her her rights as they went. Peter followed to get the whole thing on video.

“Stop complaining, Andrews,” Ellis chided in their ears.

One of the doors across the hall opened and the two officers escorted the stocky man out, as well. The woman screamed a string of indiscernible words at the man in their native tongue and he barked a few back at her as they marched down the hallway.

“You heard all of that, Ellis, right?” Emily asked, touching her ear as she sat beside the girl on the bed.

“I did and I’ve already given the order to storm the spa and the house.”

“I’m heading over to the house right now,” Emily reported. “I’m keeping the girl with me for the time being.”

“Not a good idea,” Ellis said. “Let one of the officers take custody of her.”

“She’s just a kid, Tony, and she’s been through a lot. I can’t simply hand her over to another man she doesn’t know.” Emily thought she’d get some push-back from the Special Agent, but he must have understood she wasn’t backing down. “Besides, we’re already on a fast-track out of the hotel. I’ll turn her over at the house, so have someone meet me, ready to take her. I want to be there when they bring Molly out.”

“You mean
if
they bring Molly out. There’s no guarantees here, Emily,” Ellis said.

“I have to believe she’s there, Tony, because if she’s not, it would be better for her if she were dead.” Emily glanced over at Maliwan, and the girl nodded sadly as she released a long sigh.

“She’s there,” Peter insisted. “We have to believe she’s there.”

“Keep the faith, Emily. I’ll meet you at the house,” Colin assured her.

CHAPTER 19

Emily raced to the house where Molly was suspected to be, with Peter in the passenger seat and Maliwan belted into the back. Special Agent Tony Ellis had stayed in their earpieces and she and Peter could hear, blow by blow, what was happening.

The FBI had raided the Jade Thai Spa, rounding up the girls and the customers. Ellis assured Emily they would all be sorted out and the girls would be held and looked at closely to determine if they had been forced into prostitution.

The SWAT team had surrounded and stormed the house, finding three of the four people who had shown up as hot spots on the infra-red heat sensor. The upstairs was being torn apart, Ellis had reported, trying to find the fourth, hoping it was Molly.

“She must be stuck in some hidden spot, Emily,” Ellis said. “The scanner shows there’s another heat source in the house, in an immobile and reclining position. I just hope it’s the person you’re searching for.”

“We’re about a block away. Where are you, Ellis?” Emily glanced over at Peter, meeting his gaze.

“I’m in the van and we’re headed that direction, but still probably twenty minutes out.”

“This is Colin. I’m just a few blocks away.”

“Let me ask Maliwan if she knows anything.” Emily peered upward, into the rearview mirror, and asked the girl about any hiding places in the house.

“Are you talking to the man in your ear, too?” the girl asked.

“Yes, how did you know?”

“Mr. Peter.”

“Do you know about any hiding places in the house?”

“Bonus Room, there is small door to storage area,” Maliwan replied.

“Did you get that, Tony?”

“The men have been all over that room.”

“Behind big dresser,” Maliwan clarified.

“Tony, ask them if they moved the big dresser. Our young friend says there is a small door behind the dresser. Molly’s got to be there. I’m pulling up to the house now.”

“Hold on, let me ask.”

Emily, Peter, and Maliwan jumped out of the car and the girl stuck close to Emily as she and Peter marched to the front lawn of the house. Two SWAT members faced them from the porch and would not let anyone enter.

Ellis could be heard asking Decker what was happening, then he came back to Emily. “They’re doing it, they’re doing it. They’ve found the door.”

“They found the door,” Emily whispered to Maliwan. The two stood frozen, grasping each other’s hand. Peter stepped closer to the porch to get a better view with the camera.

“Opening, opening, shining flashlight,” Ellis continued. “She’s there! Emily, did you hear me? She’s there!”

“Oh, my God!” Emily gasped.

“What is it?” the girl asked anxiously.