The Chain of Lies

CHAPTER 15



“Oh, Em! I’m so glad you’re here.” Camille greeted her at the door and threw her arms around Emily, holding damp tissues in one hand. “Come in, come in.”

“Any word from Molly?” Emily asked as Camille walked her to the open kitchen area.

“None. Not a single word. I’m so worried, Emily.” Camille wiped her nose with a tissue.

Emily glanced from the kitchen to the family room. “Where are Jonathan and Peter?”

“They’re driving around to places Molly might have gone. We’ve phoned all the friends we found in her phone, but no one’s seen her.” Camille’s normally brilliant blue eyes were swollen and almost as red as her hair. “I’m so scared, Em.”

“Colin wants you or Jonathan to fill out a missing person report at the station. Will he be back soon?”

“So Colin thinks she’s missing, too.” That acknowledgement brought a flood of tears to Camille’s eyes. Picking up a box of tissues from the breakfast bar, she went into the family room and plopped down on the sofa.

Emily followed and sat beside her. “It’s just a possibility, Cam, and it has been twenty-four hours since she took off. Let’s go through the appropriate steps—it can’t hurt.”

“I guess you’re right.”

“Make sure you bring a recent photo of her, too.”

Camille and Emily turned their heads at the sound of the front door opening and closing, and they heard voices coming down the hall. Jonathan and Peter had come through the doorway, with Maggie following close behind.

“Did you find her?” Camille shot to her feet as Maggie rushed to hug her.

Jonathan almost spoke, but his eyes grew watery and his lips trembled as he tried to form the words.

“No, no sign of her,” Peter replied, stepping in to answer. “But we’ll keep looking.”

“Emily said Colin wants us to come down to the station and file a missing person report.” Camille went to stand by her husband and he put an arm snugly around her shoulders.

“Then he can put her picture and profile out to all his officers and the state’s law enforcement agencies.” Emily rose from the couch and stepped closer to Camille and Jonathan. “We should move quickly on this.”

“Don’t forget the Amber Alert, too,” Maggie added.

“Sorry, these circumstances wouldn’t qualify,” Emily said. “But law enforcement can’t do anything until the report is filed.”

“Then what are we doing standing here?” Peter asked. “Let’s load up and get down there.”

Emily turned to Maggie and put her hand on her friend’s arm. “Maggs, I think you should stay here in case Molly returns on her own.”

“Would you please, Maggie?” Camille pleaded with sad eyes.

“All right.” Maggie released a sigh of resignation as she crossed her arms and pursed her lips. “I’d rather come with all y’all, but I understand. Whatever I can do, Cam.”

“Staying here is a big help,” Camille assured her.

“Call us if she shows up,” Peter said.

Jonathan and Camille took their car and Emily invited Peter to ride with her. As they drove down the street, away from the Hawthorne house, Emily noticed the garage on the mysterious family’s home going up. The Mercedes was approaching from the opposite direction and beginning to turn into their driveway. Emily caught a glimpse of the inside of the garage before the car obscured her view. It looked like a normal family garage, she thought, fairly empty with a few boxes on shelves along the side wall. She noticed the back end of a bright red and yellow bicycle leaning against the shelving deeper into the space.

“See that house there?” Emily nodded in the direction of the house. “Where that car just pulled in?”

“Yeah.”

“Write this address down.”

Peter pulled a small notepad out of his jacket pocket and Emily handed him a pen.

“Five two three three Somerset Drive.”

He scribbled down the address. “Why did you want me to do that?”

“That’s the house where Molly and I saw the young girl from the hotel restroom. Later I saw that girl in the car that just pulled in, and I followed it down to the Jade Thai Spa. If I’m right about the prostitution ring, the woman who poses as the mother in that house is really the madam at the spa.”

Emily glanced over at him and saw he was furiously scribbling down what she was telling him.

“This will be great info for my story. After we take down this ring, Emily, I want to sit down with you and get all the details, no matter how small.”

“I’d be happy to do that, I just wish Molly hadn’t taken off yesterday. We can’t focus all our energy and resources on nailing these scumbags if we have to find Molly first. She couldn’t have picked a worse time to run off.”

“There’s never a good time for your kid to go missing,” Peter reminded her.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to sound insensitive, I just meant having one thing on top of another makes succeeding at either a lot more difficult.”

“From what my sister tells me, you’re up to it.”

“What do you mean?” Emily glanced at him with a smirk.

“Camille talks about you like you’re Wonder Woman.”

“Believe me, I’m no Wonder Woman.” Emily rolled her eyes. “I’d say your sister’s a bit prone to exaggeration, Peter.”

“And Maggie? What’s her story?”

“You mean to tell me Camille hasn’t given you every detail of Maggie’s life yet?”

“Not every detail.”

“Why so interested?”

“I like her. She’s beautiful and sweet and smart. I feel something stir when I’m near her.”

“Geez, Peter, I can’t imagine why.” Though Emily’s comment was a bit sarcastic, she was glad to hear he liked her friend, but the timing could be a deal breaker.

“Is she seeing anyone?”

“No. It hasn’t been that long since her last relationship ended—very badly. I’m not sure you should start making advances toward her when you’re leaving town soon.”

“Seattle’s not that far away—an hour and half by plane.”

“So you’d be up for a long-distance relationship?”

“I would if Maggie and I hit it off. Do you think she would?”

“Don’t know. You’d have to ask her.” Emily was pretty sure Maggie would be open to it, eventually. Peter was a great catch, but she wasn’t about to speak for her.

“I think I should ask her out to dinner first, though,” Peter joked.

“Good idea.”

~*~

When Emily and Peter arrived, Colin was ushering Jonathan and Camille into the conference room, balancing his laptop in one hand and a cup of coffee in the other. He set the laptop down on the table and motioned through the glass for the two to join them.

Emily sat on one side of Camille, taking her hand, and Jonathan on the other. Across the table sat Colin and his computer. Peter pulled a chair out next to him and deposited himself.

Jonathan gave Colin the initial information, full name, address, and so on, but when it came to physical description, Camille stepped in.

“Five foot five, a hundred and twenty pounds, long red hair, green eyes. She has a light sprinkling of freckles across her cheeks.” Camille’s fingers fluttered across her own face as she described them.

“Any birthmarks or tattoos?” Colin asked.

“A small birthmark on her right shoulder—looks like a kidney bean,” Camille replied, pointing to the area.

“Tattoos?”

“No,” Jonathan answered.

Camille shook her head.

“Well,” Emily interrupted sheepishly, “she does have a small butterfly on her right hip.”

Molly’s parents both craned their necks and looked at Emily with surprise.

“She does?” Camille asked. She looked over at her husband and shrugged. “I didn’t know.”

“She got it this past summer,” Emily explained. “I’m sorry, Molly didn’t want me to tell you. She showed me the other night when we went shopping. We were trying on clothes, and well, you know.”

“What else did she not want you to tell us?” Jonathan asked, his eyes widening with irritation.

“Oh, Em, was Molly doing things behind our backs?” Camille questioned.

“Not that I know of,” Emily replied with a slight shake of her head. She looked into her friend’s searching eyes. “But you know teenagers. Didn’t you do things you never told your parents?”

“Yeah. There are plenty of things I did that my folks still don’t know anything about,” Peter remarked, “and I plan to keep it that way.”

Colin stifled a chuckle.

Camille shot her brother a quizzical stare. “Like what?”

“You all can sort that out later, let’s get back to the report,” Colin said. “Emily told me Molly’s car is still at the house.”

“Yes,” Camille replied, moving her gaze from Peter to Colin. “She must have gone off on her bike because it’s missing from the garage.”

“Can you describe it?” Colin asked.

“It’s one of those Fat Tire cruiser bikes, bright red with yellow fenders. She loved going on long rides along the green belt,” Camille described, her eyes welling up as she talked about her daughter.

Emily’s thoughts flew to the back end of the bicycle she saw in the garage of the suspicious Asians’ home. She started to open her mouth, almost blurting out that fact, but she bit her lip to keep quiet about it awhile longer.

“Was there something you wanted to add, Emily?” Colin asked, noticing she was about to speak.

“No.” Emily noticed how he was getting good at reading her, picking up on the slightest facial expression, seeing the gears moving in her mind. She hoped he’d let it drop until she was ready to share what she was thinking.

“Do you have the photo?” Colin’s gaze bounced from Camille to Jonathan and back.

She scooted it across the table to him.

“Okay, then. I think I have all I need to file this report in the National Crime Information Center and get Molly’s picture out to the media. That way the whole country will be on the lookout for her.” Colin stuck the photo in his file before pushing back from the table.

Emily patted Camille’s hand and smiled weakly at her.

“Why don’t you guys go home?” Colin stood and picked up his laptop. “We’ll let you know the second we find out anything.”

“We’d appreciate that, Colin.” Jonathan rose and helped Camille up. “The very second you know anything.”

“Peter, are you coming?” Camille asked her brother, as he remained seated.

“No, I have a meeting here in a little while, so I’ll catch a ride home with someone.”

“Oh, yeah, I almost forgot—the all-important sting.” Camille rolled her eyes and her sarcastic voice cut like a razor blade, as she pulled another tissue out of her purse to blot the tears from her eyes.

Is she blaming us?

“Don’t worry.” Emily put her arm sympathetically around her friend, knowing her suggestion was futile. “We’ll get Molly home.”

Camille looked Emily in the eye and paused, as if she wanted to say something but thought better of it. Jonathan took Camille’s hand and led her out of the room.

Emily stood in the conference room doorway and watched as the couple meandered down the hall. She couldn’t remember ever having seen her friends so upset or worried. She didn’t have children of her own, but she could imagine how terrifying it would be if one of them was missing. Her heart broke for them as she thought of their frightening situation.

Colin stood beside Emily as she watched them go. He laid his arm warmly around her shoulder and she leaned into him. He lightly kissed the side of her head. “It’s best if you don’t make promises you might not be able to keep.”

“Agreed, but there’s something you should know.” She pulled away from him and walked back to the table.

“What?” Colin followed her.

“I didn’t want to say anything while they were here, but I think I saw Molly’s bike.”

“Where?” Peter and Colin asked simultaneously.

“Peter, the house.” Emily and Peter’s eyes met.

“What house?” he questioned.

“You know…the house down the street from Camille and Jonathan’s. I had you write down the address.”

“That house?” Peter’s brow furrowed.

“Emily, explain to me what you’re talking about.” Colin crossed his arms and shifted his weight to face her.

Emily looked at Colin with eyebrows raised, giving him clues as to what she was talking about. “The house where Molly and I saw the Asian girls in the backseat of the car…the girl from the hotel…the vehicle I followed down to the Jade Thai Spa.”

He nodded. “When did you see it?”

“Just a little while ago, after we left Camille and Jonathan’s.”

“I don’t understand. How were you able to see the bike at their house?” Colin asked.

“When Peter and I drove past, the garage door was up. I saw a red Fat Tire bike near the back of the garage. It was leaning against the shelves and it had bright yellow fenders.”

“I don’t want to be the party pooper here, but it could belong to someone who lives in the house, couldn’t it?” Peter asked.

Colin’s gaze locked on Emily’s and she knew they were thinking the same thing—if she was right about what was going on, it was highly unlikely anyone in that house ever went on a bike ride for pleasure.

“It’s possible,” Colin replied. “Assuming—”

“Assuming Emily’s wrong about her suspicions.” Peter finished the detective’s sentence. He glanced at Emily, whose eyes were narrowing at him. “But that’s not likely, is it?”

“It seems to me the more we discover, the more it looks like I’m right.”

“It’s beginning to look that way,” Colin agreed.

Emily turned her wrist and looked at her watch. “The others should be here pretty soon for our next meeting, so I’m going to make a quick coffee run. Anybody want anything?”

~*~

When Emily returned, Colin’s superior was standing near the conference table talking with him and Peter. They all turned in her direction as she walked in, carrying a cardboard tray full of coffees.

“Emily,” Colin said as he put his hand out to her to draw her in, “you remember the Chief of Police, don’t you?”

The Chief was a tall man with dark skin, dressed in a navy blue suit, with curly gray hair clipped short and neat.

“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.