Brad clicked on the back arrow button of the search engine and scrolled down the list of Web pages. He saw another link that grabbed his interest. This was a definition of the term snuff-films, from a site called "'Ihe Encyclopedia of Unusual Sex Practices." It defined a snuff film as one that portrays the actual murder and mutilation of one of the actors. Brad hit the back arrow button again and continued his search. The next item that caught his eye froze him. Cops: Snuff films found among child porn. He clicked on it.
It was a Reuters story about a recent raid in Italy. As he read the article, he quickly realized that the APBnews piece had been published a year previously, and that this piece was only a month old. As he read the article in shock and disgust, the words of an FBI agent quoted in the APBnews article kept coming back to him: "Despite 25 years of searching, I have yet to find hard evidence that snuff films exist." Wonder what this guy thinks now? Brad thought, feeling a pit of dread in his stomach.
The news item was about eight Italians who were arrested on charges that they used the Internet to traffic in child pornography, with most of the children coming from Russia. The material, ordered over the Internet, cost anywhere from $300 to $6,000, with the images being burned on CD-ROM. The more horrific the sexual acts the customer wanted, the more costly the price tag. The most gruesome products were coded "Necros Pedo," in which children were tortured and raped until they died.
"Jesus,* Brad said. He couldn't take it anymore, but he had to find more information, as disturbing as it was. He clicked on another link and read on.
The story in question was in direct relation to the Italian case, this one involving a British man belonging to the same international ring. British police reported that Italian detectives, after a lengthy investigation, raided 600 homes and had evidence against 500 people ranging from businessmen to public employees. Many of the suspects were married and had children of their own. One suspect, accused of producing child pornography, was found with a client list that included people from America, England, Germany, and Italy.
Finally tired of the research, and depressed by the subject matter, he turned off his Internet connection, then shut down the computer. He sat in front of the computer, his mind running a mile a minute, everything clicking into place.
Lisa and I are in danger no matter what we do, Brad thought. They know where we live, they'll be able to find us. We've got to get the hell out of here.
Brad rose to his feet and headed to the master bedroom to wake Lisa up.
The only thing Lisa could think of as Detective Orr sat in front of her in the living room was that Brad had betrayed her. After pleading with him not to tell anybody what she'd done, he had gone ahead and done it anyway.
Lisa clutched a tear-sodden handkerchief in her hands and refused to meet Detective Orr's gaze as the detective sat in the chair opposite her. Brad was sitting in another chair, she had shot him a menacing look when he tried to sit on the couch with her, so he'd retreated to give her space. And with Brad in the room, there was no way she could deny the truth to Detective Orr. Brad would simply say, "You didn't deny it to me last night, Lisa. Tell Detective Orr what you told me."
The bastard.
Detective On listened calmly as she told him the harrowing account of what really happened. She thought he would be incredibly angry with her. Instead he listened to her calmly, taking notes as she told her story. When she broke down briefly, he waited till she composed herself, then urged her gently to continue. He was never condescending or accusatory, even when she exclaimed that she had been responsible for the deaths of Mandy and her mother. Then she started crying again because she couldn't remember the name of Mandy's mother.
Brad's friend Billy Grecko was present during the questioning. He hovered near the doorway to the kitchen, dressed in a pair of black slacks, a white shirt, and a black tie that was loose around the collar. When she was finished, she looked up at Detective Orr briefly, then looked back down at-the floor again in shame. "I'm sorry I lied to you the first time," she said, her voice barely audible. "1 was just so scared." "
Detective On closed his notebook, then looked up at Brad and William. Then he looked back at Lisa. "I'll be frank with you, Lisa. I didn't believe your original story one bit. I've heard too many stories like that, and they're all the results of drug binges. That's why I kept hounding your husband, asking him if you had a substance-abuse problem. He kept denying it. I thought that either he was blind to it or that you really didn't have a problem and something else had happened that you were trying to cover up. I knew I would get the truth eventually."
1'm sorry," Lisa said. She wondered if the police had picked up anybody matching the descriptions she had given in her original confession.
"Lot's of times, somebody will go on a drug binge and be gone for days at a time," Detective Orr explained. "They'll turn up eventually. Either the police find them or they turn up somewhere disoriented. And to hide what they've been up to, they'll claim they were kidnapped and beaten up or that they were robbed and had been lying unconscious somewhere. It's hard to get them to admit otherwise, especially if drugs aren't found on their person or their vehicle. We do some preliminary investigation, but if nothing pans out and no serious laws were broken, we usually chalk it up to what I've just described and it isn't pursued further."
"Do you believe me?" Lisa asked.
Detective Orr looked open and frank as he thought about it. "1 guess I have to. It sounds horrible, but… it's certainly more plausible than your first story."
"Will you be charging Ms. Miller for making a false criminal statement to the police?" Billy Grecko asked.
"No" Detective Orr replaced his notebook in his coat pocket. "No need to do that. I should, I've got a perfectly legal right to arrest her for providing false information, but…
"You're going to try to catch these guys, right?" This from Brad, who had been sitting in the chair opposite Detective Orr, fidgeting nervously.
Detective Orr looked up at William and Brad. 'I'd like her to make another statement downtown," he said. "Something more in depth. 'then, yes, I'd like to start an investigation"
"What do we need to do?" William asked.
"Well, I guess we should go to the station," Detective Orr said, rising to his feet.
And with that, they left the house and went to the sta tion. Lisa didn't even have time to shower or do her hair. She simply washed her face, brushed her teeth, applied deodorant, brushed her hair a little bit, changed into fresh clothes, and they were off. She said nothing to Brad on the drive to the Orange County Sheriff's Department, still angry at him for betraying her secret, and scared more than ever for what might happen to them should Al and Tim and Animal find out she'd told the authorities.
Twenty-two
When Lisa Miller was questioned a second time, it was with Detective Orr and his partner, Detective Hank Sanchez. William Grecko was present. Brad waited outside, in the lobby.
It all seemed so monotonous to Lisa. The detectives took her down the same path she had led them two weeks ago, starting with her and Brad leaving home jor the drive to Cambria. Only this time she told them about meeting up with the homeless woman and her baby, Amanda. She finally remembered the woman's name, too. "Her name was Alicia," she said. "She didn't tell me her last name." She gave the detectives a description, willing herself not to cry. Then she continued her narrative. When she got to the confrontation on the highway and Brad's arrest, the detectives asked her to describe Caleb Smith. "He was about five eight, big belly-pear-shaped, I guess you could say. His hair was sandy-colored and thinning, and he was wearing glasses and had a thick, bushy beard."
When she told them about the kidnapping she was expecting to break down again, but for some reason she didn't. She had relived the abduction a million times and now it only made her mad. She told them about the conversation she had with Caleb, how he told her he was going to have her killed in a snuff film."l had never heard of such things before," she said, feeli
ng herself start to cry but forcing herself to stay calm. "I couldn't believe what was happening."
Then she told them about Debbie Martinez. Detective Sanchez asked her several poignant questions. "Debbie was beautiful," Lisa said, now starting to cry. "She was so beautiful and… what he… what he did to her!" She broke down sobbing, trying to erase the memories of the sounds Debbie had made as Animal tortured and raped her.
Detective Orr and Billy Grecko calmed her down as Sanchez left the room. When he came back, Lisa's sobs had trickled down. "I called the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department," he said. "A missing-persons report was filed on a Debbie Martinez almost two weeks ago by her husband. They're suspecting foul play."
"Is the husband a suspect?" Detective Orr asked.
"They wouldn't tell me," Detective Sanchez said, sitting down in front of Lisa. He was an intense man, with black hair and a large, bulbous nose set square in the middle of his face. He looked at Lisa. "They may want to talk with you, though."
Lisa nodded. She felt a sudden sense of relief that her story was being verified. She still felt bad about everything that had happened, but she felt a sense of vindication that the authorities were taking her seriously. They were already looking for Debbie, and she would do anything possible to speed up the investigation. "I'll talk to them," she said. "Did you tell them that Debbie's probably dead?"
"1 told her she might be the victim of a homicide and that we were talking to a potential witness," Detective Sanchez said. He traded a glance with On. "Why don't you tell us the rest?"
Lisa tried to wrap it up without crying too much. She only broke down twice-once when she told them what she had done ("I… I sold that baby and her mother for my own life!" she sobbed), the second time when she broke free and escaped. Both detectives nodded sympathetically and took notes. They asked for physical descriptions of Al, Animal, and Caleb. Lisa provided that and more. "When Debbie came in, she referred to Caleb as Tim," she said, looking at them with watery eyes. "Tim Murray. I didn't get Al's last name. And Animal, she called him Jeff."
Detective On jotted this down. "hey took you to your bank, right?"
Lisa nodded.
"Do you remember which teller you spoke to?"
Lisa shook her head. "I don't remember her name. She was little… black hair maybe."
'hat's okay," Detective On said. "I'm sure once you see her you'll remember."
When Lisa was finished, they asked her to start over and tell them the story again, right from the beginning. Lisa protested. "I've already told you twice!" she exclaimed to Orr.
"We just want to hear it one more time," Detective On urged. "You might remember something else."
Lisa didn't want to live through the nightmare again by repeating it. She looked up at William Grecko, who nodded. "It's okay," he said. "One last time."
So she relived the nightmare again. Nothing new was revealed in the narrative. Detective On nodded when she finished, then glanced at his partner. "Would you be adverse to taking a ride with us up to Big Bear?"
*Big Bear?" Lisa asked, curious. "Why Big Bear?"
"Debbie Martinez and her husband Neal have a cabin there," Detective Sanchez said. "That where this Tim Murray guy took you-Big Bear, that is. We're hoping you might be able to recognize the cabin they took you to."
Lisa felt her stomach revolve in her abdomen. "1 don't want to go back there," she said, her throat drying up.
"We'll be there with you," Detective Orr said gentry. "It'll be okay.'
"I… I don't know if I can recognize it." Lisa's heart was pounding. Her hands were shaking. As much as she wanted to help the police catch these bastards, she did not want to go back to that house. "I mean, Tim had me blindfolded during the drive. And… when they carried me out to the van to… to get Alicia and Mandy-" She choked back a sob. "-they had me blindfolded. They had me blindfolded all the way to Garden Grove."
%et's just try, okay?" Detective Orr asked.
Lisa took a deep breath and tried to compose herself. She felt so nervous and scared. What if they re back there, waiting for me? — They'll find out," she said, hearing her voice crack. "They'll find out I told you and then… then they'll-:"
Detective Orr moved to her side of the table. He took her hand. His voice was soft and soothing. "You'll be under our protection. Nobody will see you. We'll ride up in an unmarked car with tinted windows. Nobody will see you in the car. You won't even have to get-out."
Lisa was looking down at the scarred table. "1 don't know," she said, her voice cracking.
"Lisa Miller is afraid that the people who did this to her will come after her and her husband," William Grecko said, clearing his throat." They stole her purse, her identification, her credit cards. She's afraid they'll track her down." "
"You'll be under our protection the whole way," Detective Orr said, his voice urging but gentle. "Just a quick trip up, we'll whisk you in to the San Bernardino Sheriff's Station to talk with some people there, then we'll drive you by the Martinez cabin. We'll cruise around the surrounding area. If anything seems remotely familiar to you, tell us."
"But I didn't see anything!" Lisa protested. Her eyes were filling with tears again.
"It could be anything," Detective Sanchez said. "Sounds you may have heard. The sound of the tires on asphalt or a dirt road maybe.'Iurns you may have made. All that can help in determining the location of the cabin."
"Debbie said that the cabin we were in… where Tim had us… prisoner… was the closest one to them," Lisa said, looking up at Detective On.
"Apparently, the San Bernardino Sheriff's Department talked to the residents nearby," Detective Orr said, looking from Lisa to William. "They didn't get anywhere." He leaned forward, the urgency clear on his face. "Please, Mrs. Miller."
Lisa saw the look on Detective Orr's face. He was serious. She looked up at William Grecko, who nodded. Trembling, Lisa turned to the detective and nodded. "Okay." She sniffled. "Okay."
"I'd like to accompany my client," William Grecko said.
"You can come," Detective Orr said, rising from his seat. He motioned to Detective Sanchez. "We're on! Let's go."
They made the drive up in two hours. Lisa sat in the backseat of a blue sedan with William Grecko. Detective Off drove, while Sanchez rode in the front passenger seat. Brad hadn't wanted her to go. He had protested as they were led down corridors to the parking lot outside. She hadn't wanted to go either, but she didn't know what else to do. Fortunately, William had calmed them both down, saying he would take care of everything. Then he had turned to Detective Orr and told him in no uncertain terms that when they arrived back in Orange County he was having Brad and Lisa whisked out of the state to a safe house for their protection. "1 don't know if you can do that; Detective Orr had said.
"Lisa is a victim," William Grecko had replied. "She is not a suspect, nor is she officially a witness to a homicide. She saw some pretty horrible things and she herself was the victim of a kidnapping, but that's all you have. In fact, you have no physical proof that Debbie Martinez is dead yet, and I hardly think that the Orange County Sheriff's Department is going to place my client in protective custody until you find the men responsible for Lisa's abduction and attempted murder."
"Don't give me any of that-" Detective On looked pissed.
But William had remained firm. He'd raised his hand, his features stern. "Will you guarantee that my clients receive twenty-four-hour-a-day protective custody, starting right now?"
"I can't commit to that and you know it And besides, I don't have the authority to-"
"'hen until you do, you deal with me and my rules" Lisa and Brad had watched the exchange with a sense of numb detachment. Lisa felt her confidence in William Grecko's abilities as an attorney blossom; previously, she hadn't had much regard for him, but now she could see why he was one of the most sought-after criminal defense lawyers in Orange County. "You need to talk to Lisa, fine. You give me twenty-four-hour notice and I will make sure that she is availa
ble to you here in Orange County. Until then, as long as the perpetrators who committed these crimes are free, Lisa and Brad are in danger. This means they will be under my protection. My protection, my rules."
"I don't have time to deal with this shit now," Detective Orr had muttered, leading the trio to his vehicle. "I'll deal with you later."
William turned to Brad before they left with Detective Orr. "I'll go with Lisa; she'll be safe. Go home and start packing some things. I'll make arrangements on the drive up to Big Bear. I'll call you" with the details. When Lisa and I get back, be ready to get on a plane."
They spent the majority of their drive to Big Bear in silence. William Grecko made several phone calls on his cellular. One was to his office to ask his secretary to check airline departures out of Irvine to Las Vegas. He gave his secretary Lisa and Brad's names. "Vegas?" Lisa asked, looking at him questionly. "Why Las Vegas?"
"Why not?" William punched the disconnect button, then flipped through his personal phone book. "It's close enough to get back here quickly if you have to, and I've got contacts there. You'll be safe."
Lisa settled back. in her seat and listened as William made the arrangements. She listened as he connected with somebody on the other line and explained, in vague terms, that he was "sending a young couple out your way who need physical protection twenty-four seven. Think you can set me up?" Lisa knew that Detective Orr was listening in on the conversation too, but what was he going to do? William hung up, called his office, jotted down flight information, then called his contact in Vegas again, relaying all this information. "They'll be getting in on Flight 817 on Southwest Airlines." He gave the contact a brief physical description of Lisa and Brad, hung up, then called Brad at home, giving him the information. "Have your bags packed and ready," he said.
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