The Chain of Lies

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.

“Ow.” Colin winced, apparently at Emily’s loud voice in his ear.

“Hello, mister. Can I help you?” she asked in a thick accent.

“Yes, I need a massage. I have this terrible pain in my neck.” He grimaced and rubbed a hand on the back of his neck.

“Happy to help. We have Thai neck and shoulder massage, twenty-five dollar, or full body massage for sixty dollar. Which you like?”

“Which one do you recommend?”

“Ooh, full body is very relaxing. I think you like.”

“Full body it is, then.”

“You pay first, then we go. Cash only.”

“I thought you took credit cards.”

“No. We used to, but change policy. Now, only cash.”

“I wonder if that’s a clue they suspect the FBI is onto them,” Ellis commented.

Colin pulled his wallet out of his back pocket and handed her three twenties. “Your name badge says Ratana. That’s a pretty name. What country are you from?”

“I am from Thailand,” she answered with a smile.

She unlocked the cash drawer, laid the money inside, and relocked it before walking away from it. “Follow me. This way.”

The four of them watched as the monitor showed Colin following the woman down a dimly lit hallway. It was clear this establishment had been a house at one time and the massage rooms had been bedrooms.

A young woman with long black hair came out of one of the rooms and turned toward Colin. She scurried past him and the older woman. The girl had looked at Colin ever so briefly then lowered her face toward the floor as she dashed past him.

“I think that’s the girl from the hotel!” Emily exclaimed into the microphone.

“Ow,” Colin muttered, putting his hand up to his neck to cover.

“Massage will take care of that,” the woman said, opening the door to one of the rooms.

“You sure, Emily?” the special agent asked.

“Not totally sure. She only looked up for a second. It could be her, though. Can you rewind it?”

“We might miss something crucial if I do. We’ll replay it in slow motion when he’s out of there.”

Colin turned his body, keeping it in line with his eyes, as he scanned around the room. On the monitor, a massage table could be seen in the middle of the room with a couple of large white towels folded and stacked on one end of it. A twin-sized bed, covered with a red satin comforter and an array of colorful pillows in daybed fashion, was pushed against one wall. A straight-backed wooden chair sat next to it.

“You have a few minutes to get undressed. Put your clothes over there.” She motioned to the wooden chair. “Climb on table, face down, and put towel over yourself, if you like.”

“Thank you, ma’am.”

The woman left the room and closed the door after herself.

“Colin, this is Special Agent Ellis. Can you see any video cameras?” He could tell by the movement on the screen that Colin looked around the room for any signs that what happened in the room was being recorded.

“Nope.” He spoke softly as he grabbed a towel off the table. “Now to get undressed and climb on the table without exposing myself to the world.” He walked over to the chair, took the vest off first, and pointed the buttons away. “I’m taking the rest of my clothes off and leaving them on the chair. After I wrap the towel around myself, I’ll reposition the vest.”

“Got it,” Ellis replied.

“How’s that?” Colin whispered.

“That’s good. I can see the whole table clearly.”

“Since I know you’re all watching, I’ll try to climb on this table as modestly as I can. You might want to look away until I get in position.”

“Not a chance,” Isabel muttered.

“Isabel!” Emily scolded possessively under her breath.

“Nice abs,” Isabel remarked.

“All right, I’m in position.”

There was a knock at the door.

“Come in,” Colin called out.

The door opened slowly and a young Asian girl, likely late teens, came in wearing her jet-black hair down past her shoulders, a tight white smock over black short shorts, and obviously little else. “I start with your shoulders.”

“Okay,” Colin replied.

“Is that the same girl?” Isabel asked Emily.

“No, looks like a different one.” Emily squinted at the screen. “But she may have been in the car when I saw the three of them.”

The masseuse applied a light layer of oil and began working it in as she massaged his back and shoulders, then worked on his neck.

“That feel good?” she asked.

“Yeah…great.”

“You have tension in your neck and shoulder.” She continued to knead the muscles.

“It’s my job, gives me a lot of stress.”

“What your job?”

“My job?” he asked, as if he suddenly realized he couldn’t say he was a cop and he fumbled for an answer.

“Tell her you’re a construction worker,” Emily suggested into the mic.

“I’m a construction foreman. Lots of stress running a crew.”

“A crew? What that?”

“My workers,” Colin replied. “By the way, my name is Colin. What’s yours?”

Emily and the gang in the van leaned forward, waiting for her answer.

“I cannot say.”

“Really? Why not? What if I want to ask for you the next time I come?”

“No, sorry, you cannot. Madam will bring you the girl available.”

“That’s too bad. I’d like to ask for you. You’re doing a very good job. Can’t I at least get a first name?”

“No,” she whispered.

“The way she glanced around, she must suspect she’s being watched,” Ellis noted.

The girl massaged down his back and his extremities. “You want to turn over and I do the front.”

“This should be interesting,” Isabel remarked, glancing around to the others in the van.

Emily held her tongue, wondering what he would do to keep from giving her and her fellow van members a peep show.

“I think I’d like to stay on my stomach. I’m so relaxed that I feel like going to sleep.”

Emily and the others watched the monitor, seeing the girl look at the door, then look around the room.

“Mr. Colin—”

“No, just Colin.”

“If you turn over, I can do much more for you.”

“What do you mean?” Colin asked.

Emily and Isabel held their breaths as their attention was glued to the monitor. The men also seemed to be silent and drawn to the video.

“If you let me massage the front too, I think you will have much pleasure.” She glanced toward the door again.

“She’s trying to excite him sexually, isn’t she?” Emily squirmed in her seat.

“It appears to be what she’s expected to do before offering him—”

“Sex?” Emily cut Isabel off. A little embarrassed by her outburst, realizing Colin probably heard her. She lowered her voice. “Poor girl looks nervous.”

“No, I’m happy with the back massage,” Colin responded.

“There seems to be a thought-out plan the madam enforces for her girls to stimulate clients toward wanting sex, at a price of course,” the special agent remarked.

“Are we done?” Colin asked.

“I do good job. Please, Mr. Colin. You will like it.”

Emily felt a knot twisting in her stomach at the girl’s pleading. She reached out and grabbed Isabel’s hand to steady herself. It was clear this young girl was expected to push the male clients to have sex with them. She wondered what the consequence was for failing. Was this what Molly could be facing if they can’t find her in time?

“Guess that’s what I have to look forward to.” Peter sat back and crossed his arms, an uneasy smile quivered on his lips. “Glad I got to observe what I’m getting myself into.”

“I thought you had undercover experience.” Ellis shot a questioning glance at Peter.

“Undercover investigating, not investigating under the covers.”

“Sorry, no,” Colin replied. “Not this time. But don’t worry, I will be back.”

The masseuse wiped her oily hands on a white towel, her head hanging down as if she had failed somehow. “Thank you, Mr. Colin. You very nice. Please, come back. Please.” She turned, her shoulders slumped, and she walked out the door.

Colin pulled the towel around his waist and carefully climbed down off the massage table. Turning the buttons on the vest away, he grabbed his clothes off the chair and quickly pulled them on. As he was buttoning the vest, there came a knock at the door.

The four in the van watched the screen intently.

“Come in.”

The door opened and the madam stepped into the room, leaving the door open. “I just want to make sure you are happy with your massage?”

“Yes, very happy.” Colin faced her and his camera caught one of the young masseuses walking past. The girl briefly looked toward the open door.

“That’s definitely the one from the hotel.” Emily gasped as she lunged forward, toward Special Agent Ellis and the microphone.

“Are you sure?” Ellis turned to face her.

Emily nodded.

The older woman moved farther into the room. “You still have time you already pay for, but you are leaving early. I want to make sure everything okay?”

“Yes, great.” Colin fastened the last button on his vest.

Emily instructed Colin, through the earpiece, to make sure the woman knew the girl did everything she could for him.

“Your girl did an awesome job. I feel very relaxed.”

“But you have more time. She can do more for you.”

“I have to get to an appointment, ma’am, so I’ve used all the time I can spare. But I will come back again another time.” Colin skirted around her and backed toward the door. “She was very good with her hands. I simply need to get going.”

“Okay. I want to make sure you are happy.”

“Very happy.” Colin backed all the way out the door. “Thank you.” He turned and made his way to the front area.

“As you can all see, I’m out of that place and on my way to you.” The monitor showed Colin climbing back in his car and driving around the corner to the media van. Opening the door, he climbed into the increasingly cramped space.

“Nice abs,” Isabel commented.

Colin looked at her, then at Emily. “Thanks.”

Special Agent Ellis stood at the front of the van, speaking to Captain Decker on his cell phone. He reported on the operation so far and directed him to get his SWAT team together and stand by, ready to raid the home at twenty-one hundred hours, assuring him they would be in close radio contact. The timing of the operation would hinge on what happened at the hotel.

“Nice work, Detective,” Ellis praised as he stuck his phone in his pocket and walked back toward Colin and the others. “Good legwork, so now Peter here has a better handle on his role.”

While the men discussed what they’d discovered so far and what the objective of Peter’s performance would be, Emily leaned over to speak quietly to Isabel. “How’s Jethro doing?”

“He’s pretty sick, pancreatic cancer.”

“I thought he looked different at lunch the other day, thinner than the first time I met him.”

“Funny thing, though. I saw Delia at the hospital, too. She’s got to be related to him in some way.”

Emily looked into Isabel’s deep brown eyes. “You think she’s his other daughter?”

“Could be. She’s probably too young to be one of his ex-wives.”

“I hadn’t thought of that. He did say he’d been married five times. When I read Delia Banderas McCall, I assumed Banderas was her maiden name, but it could have been a previous married name.”

“Maybe she was the Las Vegas party girl he was married to briefly.” Isabel covered her mouth to stifle a chuckle.

“Can you imagine sophisticated and demure Delia McCall as a party girl?”

“What are you girls laughing at?” Colin stood behind Emily’s chair.

“Just girl talk,” Isabel replied.

Emily rose and turned to him, lacing her hands around his waist. “Good job.” Standing on her tiptoes, she gave him a soft peck on the cheek. “Now, it’s Peter’s turn.”

Emily’s phone chimed in her pocket. Pulling it out, she saw it was Camille. “Hello,” she answered, glancing from Colin to Isabel.

“Emily, I’m so glad I reached you. Any word yet?” Camille pleaded in a tone filled with desperation.

“No, hon, sorry not yet.” Emily could hear the high anxiety behind each of Camille’s words and her chest felt heavy and tight at having to tell her no.

“But it’s been several hours. No word at all?”

“Camille, sweetie, listen to me. We are doing all we can to find Molly.” Emily couldn’t tell her she had seen her daughter’s bike and she was, in all probability, being held by sex traffickers. She fought against the desire to blurt out the truth, needing to keep that news from her for now. “It’ll take some time. I promise to call you as soon as we have anything at all to tell you.”

“Okay.” Camille backed off. Her voice was weak and shaky.

“Is Maggie still there with you?”

“Yes, she’s been here since we got back, but I haven’t seen Isabel.”

“Isabel’s helping Colin find Molly. She’ll be in touch. Can you put Maggie on the phone?”

“She wants to talk to you,” Emily overheard Camille say.

“Hello.”

“Maggie, I need you to listen carefully. I know Camille and Jonathan are beside themselves with fear. I’m counting on you to be strong for them and try to keep them calm.”

“I will.”

“When they start playing the blame game, and you know they will, make sure they know this was not their fault. Can you do that for me?”

“I’ll take care of them. They’ve taken care of me plenty of times. Don’t you worry yourself, I’m here for ’em.”

Emily couldn’t help but agree that Maggie was right about their having taken care of her. Camille and Jonathan had stepped up numerous times over the years to help Maggie and her son, Josh.

Maggie had grown up dirt-poor in Texas and had dragged her toddler to Hollywood seeking fame and fortune. When things didn’t turn out the way she had planned, she took her little boy and moved to Paradise Valley where her brother and his family lived.

Most recently, in the months previous, Maggie had endured a life-shattering event, and it was Camille, with Jonathan’s help, who became a regular fixture at Maggie’s house until she could get back on her feet. Though she appeared to be a soft and lovely Southern belle, she had forged a backbone of steel as she fought to leave poverty behind and make a better life for herself and her son.

“That takes a load off my mind, knowing you’re there, Maggs. Tell Jonathan and Camille that it’ll probably be hours before we know anything, but I will call as soon as I have something.”

“Got it.”