Christmas Eve supper would be a warm fruit soup and biscuits from Lena’s family tradition; tamales from Rafael’s family tradition; and a vegetable relish tray and dip, deviled eggs, cheese and crackers from Victoria’s family. They all knew it would make for an unusual combination, but each one would have their own traditional Christmas Eve comfort foods. Rafael’s mother and Lena’s parents were all invited over, and invited to spend the night so they could all be there first thing Christmas morning.
It was a grand holiday. Victoria missed her dad, and Marian, too. Rafael still missed his dad especially at Christmas. Even though he was little when his dad died, he remembered how his dad had made Christmases special. Manuela missed Mateo. But each one was thankful that they were together with the ones who were there.
They spent Christmas Eve eating, listening to Christmas music, and opening one gift each. At one point, they all piled into the Chrysler and went for a drive to look at Christmas lights.
Christmas morning was filled with joy and laughter and gratitude for the gifts given and received, the peace that had finally come after the long storm of the summer and fall, and the love and friendship shared by all. By evening, everyone had eaten way too much, but nobody cared. The parents were all persuaded to spend one more night there before making the drive back to their respective homes.
It’s a true blessing that human beings can’t see into the future to know what lies ahead. Otherwise we would overwhelmed with anxiety to the point of despair. For, even though life was good again for Rafael and Victoria, it wouldn’t always be so. The new year would bring ups and downs such as are common to all. That’s why the good times are to be cherished, as they serve to bolster us up when the storms come.
Work progressed on the Thornton Park after the holidays, but not without headaches and wrestling matches with the authorities. But one by one, each obstacle was overcome, and the utilities were put in, the wells dug (after much haggling with the county), and everything was in place so the buildings could begin to be built.
Victoria and Lena had settled into a routine that suited them both in regards to the household chores. Victoria and Rafael decided to put off inspecting the out of state properties until spring when travel would be safer and more pleasant. But they did revisit the ones in Los Angeles, San Francisco, and San Diego just for general principles.
Rafael’s birthday was January 17, and Victoria planned a nice birthday dinner celebration for him that included his mom and hers. She made reservations at a swanky restaurant near the beach in Malibu. It was just the four of them, and they had a great time. Victoria had arranged it so that, after they had finished their meal, the waiters brought out a birthday cake and sang “Happy Birthday” to him. Most of the other patrons joined in singing, too, and thoroughly embarrassed Rafael. But he loved every minute of it.
It was late afternoon on a Monday the third week of January that they paid a surprise visit to the strip mall in Long Beach where the adult bookstore was located. Before going inside any of the units in the mall, Rafael drove around behind the mall to where the delivery entrances are located. He was just in time to see a man opening the door that they had learned led down under the mall to the underground utility maintenance area.
The man was not a utility worker, nor did he appear to be a plumber or electrician. There was no work truck parked nearby. Now they were curious. Rafael parked down a ways behind one of the other mall units so they wouldn’t be as noticeable. They just sat there and watched for a while.
Around four forty-five, cars began to pull in and park behind the adult bookstore, one after another. Each car held one woman. They were each dressed very skimpily, and each one went into the bookstore through the back door.
“I suppose those are the girls who work the cages,” Victoria said.
“Yeah, I’m sure they are,” Rafael agreed.
By five o’clock, ten girls had gone inside, presumably to work.
“I wish we knew someone sleazy enough to hire to go in there posing as a customer,” Victoria said. “I’d sure like to know if the manager was telling us the truth about how he operates.”
“Would be interesting,” Rafael agreed.
It was growing dark, and they were just about to leave when Rafael spotted a cargo van pull up to the side of the building where the door was that led to the utility basement.
“Wonder what’s happening here,” Rafael mused as he peered intently through the gathering darkness.
They didn’t have long to wait. The driver got out and opened the side doors of the van just as ten women emerged from the basement door. Rafael counted them as they walked to the van and got inside. A man came out last and got into the front seat of the van on the passenger’s side. The van started to drive away.
Rafael quickly started the car and followed the van.
“I want to see where this guy is taking these people,” he explained to Victoria as he pulled out onto the street a reasonable distance behind the van.
“Help me keep it in sight while I try to stay far enough behind so as not to be noticed,” he told her.
They followed the van as it drove all the way into Los Angeles. If the driver was aware that they had a tail, he showed no signs of it. But they were in for the shock of their lives when the van pulled into the back parking lot of one of their buildings. The one that had several basement apartments in it. The one where Antonio Cantu lived alone in a three-bedroom apartment.
“I’m tempted to call the police,” Rafael said. “I don’t like what I’m seeing here.”
“You should,” Victoria encouraged him. “I don’t either.”
“I wish I could follow them inside to see where they are taking those women. If it’s to Mr. Cantu’s apartment, like I suspect,” he said.
“Go around to the front of the building and use your key to get inside,” Victoria suggested.
“No, can’t do that,” he said. “I didn’t bring keys to that building, and besides, it’s probably alarmed, and I would set off the alarm. But I am going to call the police.”
Rafael dialed 911 while Victoria wrote down a description of the van and its license plate number. She listened as Rafael described to the dispatcher what they had been observing, including what they had seen several weeks ago down at the Long Beach docks. The dispatcher agreed to send a unit out to their location and that it would come quietly.
Meanwhile, the people in the van had gone in the rear entrance that was for the basement apartments. Fortunately, the van driver stayed long enough for the police to finally arrive fifteen minutes later. Rafael again explained what they had observed to the officer.
“We have been trying to figure out where these women are coming in at and how they get moved from one location to another,” said Officer Bradshaw. “We know that there is a fair amount of human trafficking going on in the LA area, but we’ve never been able to trace the movement of the people.”
“I don’t know how those women got into the basement of my strip mall over in Long Beach,” Rafael told him. “We sat and watched the women who work in the adult bookstore enter the store by the regular back door. But the women who came out of the basement were not the ones who went in the back door.”
“There couldn’t possibly be an underground tunnel that far, could there?” Victoria wanted to know.
“Not clear from Long Beach, I wouldn’t think,” Rafael said.
“Don’t be too sure about that,” Officer Bradshaw told him. “There are subterranean tunnels running all through this area. And that’s in addition to the sewers. I’d like permission to enter the basement of this building of yours over in Long Beach and take a look around.
“Actually, it won’t be me personally, as I would be out of my jurisdiction, and I’m not a detective, who is more likely to be sent out on a thing like this,” he added. “But if you could come down to the station in the morning, I’ll leave my report with the day shift and tell them you’ll be coming in to give permission to e
nter your premises.”
“I’d be happy to,” Rafael said.
Officer Bradshaw had been running a make on the van parked behind the building, and the report on it finally came back to him. It was registered to one Donald Percival Dottler, who was a registered sex offender.
“Can you get in the building?” the officer asked Rafael. “And do you know where in the building they could be?”
“Yes, I can get into the building,” Rafael replied. “The basement is nothing but apartments. I think we may even know which apartment they entered.”
“If you will let me in and show me where they might have gone, I would appreciate it,” Officer Bradshaw said.
“Sure. You wait here, honey,” Rafael told Victoria. “Lock the car doors and I’ll be back in a little bit.”
The officer told his partner, who was still sitting in the patrol car, to call for backup, and then follow him inside. Then he and Rafael headed for the basement entrance. They slipped quietly inside. It took a bit for Rafael to get his bearings, since he’d only been in this basement one other time and it was from a different entrance. But he soon knew which way to head to get to Antonio Cantu’s apartment.
As they approached the apartment door, they could hear voices coming from inside Cantu’s apartment. Officer Martin, who was Bradshaw’s partner, caught up with them just before they got to the door. He told Officer Bradshaw that backup was on the way and that they were to hold off until the other policemen arrived. So they retreated around a hallway corner out of sight if anyone should open Cantu’s door.
Rafael went back outside to wait for the officers to come so he could show them the way inside. He checked on Victoria while he was out there and told her what was going on.
“Be careful in there,” she warned him. “I don’t want you getting in the middle of anything dangerous.”
“I’ll be careful,” he promised.
Two patrol cars rolled up just then and he went over to them to show them inside the building, and fill them in on what he had observed.
“When we get in there, you go back to your car and go home,” one of the policemen told Rafael. “We’ll take it from here. We appreciate this lead. I just hope it’s the one we’ve been waiting for.”
Just as Rafael and the policemen got to where the first two were waiting for them, Rafael’s cell phone signaled that he had a text message. He looked at it quickly when he saw it was from Victoria.
Three men just drove up and are headed for the basement door, it said.
He relayed the message to the policemen who all stepped around the corner into the cross hallway. They heard the men come in the back door.
“I hope he got some good ones this time,” one voice said.
“Yeah, me, too,” said another.
“A couple of that last bunch were so uncooperative that I had to eliminate them,” First Voice said.
“Wonder where these are from?” Second Voice said.
“Dunno. Thailand, I think,” said First Voice.
Then the men rounded the corner into the hallway that fronted Antonio Cantu’s apartment and were startled to see the hall filled with six police officers. The officers blocked their escape route, and then questioned them as to what they were doing. Rafael hung back behind all the officers.
“Just going to visit a friend,” First Voice said.
“Heard there was a friendly poker game going on here,” said Second Voice.
“I enjoy a good game of poker,” Officer Bradshaw said. “Don’t you?” He directed his question to Officer Martin.
“Oh, yeah,” Martin answered. “Shall we join them?”
“You knock on the door, since they’re your friends,” Officer Bradshaw told the men.
The men looked warily at the policemen, but complied. The policemen stayed back more or less out of sight until Antonio opened the door.
“Welcome, friends,” Antonio Cantu said in a friendly tone when he saw the three men.
The three glanced nervously at one another, and then stepped inside the apartment. Antonio’s eyes grew wide as six police officers followed. There were young Asian women all over the small living room. They appeared to be merely teenagers.
“What can I do for you gentlemen?” Antonio asked Officer Bradshaw, who was the first one in the room.
“We had a report of suspicious activity in this apartment,” he replied. “Who are all these girls and what are they doing here?”
The girls had all huddled together when so many men came in all at once. They all looked frightened and seemed to look to one girl in particular for reassurance. She appeared older than the rest and seemed to take charge of the younger ones. She whispered to them in a foreign language. One of the officers, who was Asian, stepped over to the girls and spoke to them.
“Where do you come from?” he asked in Thai.
They relaxed a little when they heard the officer speak in their native tongue.
“You can tell me. I am here to protect you,” he said. “I am a police officer.”
Finally the one who seemed to be the leader of the girls spoke.
“We come from Thailand,” she said softly in Thai. “We were promised good jobs to make money to send home to our families.”
“You have been lied to,” he told them. “You will come with us and we will take care of you.”
“Will you put us in jail?” the Thai girl asked.
“No. No jail. We will take you someplace safe. Then we will send you back to Thailand.”
“No! We can’t go back to Thailand without money. We were promised money and jobs. Our families will be shamed if we come home without money,” she protested.
The officer sighed. He understood their situation. But he also knew that they had entered the country illegally, whether willingly or not. Now there would be a lot of red tape to cut through to get them work visas. Then there would be English lessons before they could possibly get jobs. Decent jobs. He knew what kind of jobs they were facing if they stayed with these sleaze-bags.
Under pressure, and with promises that the law would deal gently with him if he cooperated, Antonio had begun to talk. Rafael, who was lurking in the hallway just because he was so curious to know what was going on in the apartment, heard his confession to being one link in a sex slave trade that began in Thailand and other countries of the Far East, ran through the docks in Long Beach, through a very long series of tunnels that ended at the adult bookstore in Long Beach, and then made another stop at Antonio Cantu’s apartment, where select men were called to come over and choose the girls they wanted.
When the first of the policemen began exiting the apartment, they were surprised that he was still there.
“Go home,” one of them told him. “We’ve got things under control.”
“I also own the building in Long Beach where the girls are passing through,” Rafael said.
Even to him it sounded irrelevant, but he was stalling for time, just to see this thing through.
“How can we contact you if we need to again?” one of the officers asked him.
Rafael handed the officer a business card.
“Call me at this number,” he said.
Men in handcuffs escorted by policemen began coming out of the apartment. The girls were ushered out last by the Asian officer, whose name was Sakda.
“What will happen to these girls,” Rafael asked Officer Bradshaw who stopped to speak with him.
“I’m not sure,” he answered. “There are a couple of agencies that we work with that teach the girls some English, and help them secure work visas. They can’t go home until they have earned some money, or else their families in Thailand are shamed.
“These girls come from villages where the people are mostly uneducated still. The human traffickers prey on these people, promising them more money than they could hope for in a lifetime over there, if they will allow their young daughters to come to America.
“It’s a sick business, but such a huge one
that we can’t seem to even make a dent in it. Hopefully we can save these girls, but there are thousands more just like them out there being used and abused by low life like the ones we just arrested. I read just the other day that there are estimated to be ten thousand sex slaves just right here in LA.”
“You’ve got to be kidding!” Rafael exclaimed. “Ten thousand? In LA? That’s unreal!”
“I know, but unfortunately, it is real. We chip away at it little at a time, like tonight, but it’s like trying to patch a broken dam with chewing gum. If you could take tomorrow and show one of us where you saw the container being unloaded, we could stake out that dock for a while.”
“I will be more than happy to help in any way that I can,” Rafael said emphatically. “I’m just glad that I called you tonight. I was afraid that maybe it was all just an innocent get-together of a group of friends, but it just seemed suspicious to me.”
“We would rather be called out on a suspicion, only to find that nothing is wrong, than to miss an opportunity like this to right one wrong, even if it is a relatively small one,” Officer Bradshaw said. “Thank you for your help. Someone will be in touch with you in the morning. Oh, may I have your phone number please?”
“Here’s my card,” Rafael said, handing him a business card.
Rafael walked outside with Officer Bradshaw trailing the rest of the group. Just as one officer was putting Antonio in handcuffs, Antonio’s cell phone signaled an incoming message.
“May I check that please,” Antonio asked politely.
“Make it quick,” the officer said.
He reached into Antonio’s shirt pocket where the cell phone was, pressed the incoming message icon, and held it so Antonio could read it.
“You might want to read this yourself,” Antonio said, nodding to the officer.
The officer turned the cell phone around so he could read it. Then he hurried over to Officer Bradshaw. Bradshaw was reading the text just as he heard a cry from Rafael.
Chapter Five
“Victoria!” he yelled. “Where are you? Hey! My wife’s gone!”
The Perfect Revenge: The Couplete Series Page 46