I asked, “How do you know she was abducted from outside the fence?”
“Because there are scuffle and drag marks on the gravel road on the backside of the house. If he had attacked and taken her from inside the fence area, he would’ve brought her out the gates. The marks would have been around the gate area.”
Her deduction skills were still sharp, even if she did say she was burned out.
“You’re right about that,” Nick said. “I’ll get this down to the station and see what we can do.”
Gabe gathered all of the equipment, and neatly and gently put it back in the backpack. “I’ll take it. I need something to do or I’m going to go crazy. There has to be a way to find this car.”
“One heck of a lot easier than a vague description of a car that drove by in the dark.” Nick looked pointedly at Mimi.
“I’m so sorry. I should never have driven away from the house.”
“You couldn’t have known this was going to happen. Even if you had been right here, he was parked behind the house. He would’ve gotten her, taken her, and been down the street before you even knew what happened.” Gabe was being pragmatic.
I reassured Mimi. “No crying over spilled milk, young lady. We move forward, wipe it up, and figure out how to get the milk back in the bottle at this point.”
“I’d better get back upstairs and see how the girls are doing.” She looked up at Nick. “Are they going directly to the hospital?”
“I’d really like to question them. But it might be better if you had a conversation with the girls. It’ll be easier for them to tell another woman what happened.”
“I’ll head back up there, and see if I can get anyone to talk. I want to keep them together and in a group, so if we can take them all in the same vehicle, that would be great.” Mimi didn’t wait for an answer. She walked out of the kitchen and left Nick and me standing there, wondering what was going to happen next.
Thirteen
Mimi
My skin crawled as I walked upstairs. I dreaded going into that bedroom and seeing those girls. They didn’t seem to know exactly what was going on. They did as they were told, slowly and efficiently, but it was as if they didn’t know what they were doing.
When I got up to the master bedroom upstairs, I stopped outside the door and just watched. The two oldest girls helped the younger girls dry off and put clothes on. There were no shoes, and because of that, I wanted to make sure that the bus picking them up would be parked close to the gate.
I knew Nick wanted me to question them, but I couldn’t do it. They didn’t seem as if they would have any answers at this point. Watching them move, I knew they were just following instructions, and not doing anything out of will. I waited and listened.
The girls spoke to each other in Spanish quietly. I didn’t know a lot of Spanish, but what they were saying sounded like gibberish. Like they were going through the motions, but not really sure why.
I walked into the room and asked the oldest girl what her name was. She turned to look at me and said, “What do you want my name to be?”
This was a line I had heard too many times in movies. This is what hookers said to their johns when asked their names. I wondered if this had been programmed into the girls. Whenever their stupor wore off, I hoped they hadn’t been completely brainwashed.
“How many more girls need to take a shower?” I asked.
The girl with no name looked around the room, looked at me and shrugged. I left her standing there and walked into the bathroom.
In the bathroom, three girls stood on the tile floor, completely naked. One girl stood at the sink, brushing her teeth.
The girl brushing her teeth must have been somewhere around fifteen years old. She spat the toothpaste out, rinsed off the toothbrush, and handed it to the next girl. That girl added toothpaste to the toothbrush and started to brush her teeth. I nearly gagged. I couldn’t believe these girls had all been sharing the same toothbrush. If there were any orally transmitted diseases, every single one of these girls probably had it. By the time the second girl finished brushing her teeth and handed off the toothbrush, I could no longer watch.
Yolanda stepped out of the shower. I handed her a fresh fluffy towel to dry off, and picked clothes from the pile on the floor for her to wear. I felt as if I should be providing them with fresh underwear, but this wasn’t the time. And then I had an idea. I walked out of the bathroom and pulled out my cell phone to call my mom.
“Hey, Mom, I know it’s late, but I need a favor.”
My mom’s voice sounded anxious. “I’ve been awake, waiting to hear about Cortnie. How did it go?”
She didn’t know. I didn’t think I should tell her, but she deserved to know. “Things didn’t go so well. Cortnie was taken.”
I heard my mother gasp.
“She was setting up the surveillance equipment, and somebody dragged her into their car and drove off with her. At least we think that’s what happened. Thank goodness the surveillance camera dropped to the ground and we may be able to get the license plate. Gabe has gone back into Salinas to see what he can do to enhance the video. But I’m calling about something else.”
“What else could there possibly be? We need to find Cortnie.”
I sighed. “We already have a full task force working to find Cortnie. What I need is a dozen pairs of underwear that will fit teenage girls ranging from age thirteen to seventeen.”
There was a moment of silence on the other end of the phone. “You found the girls?”
“We found the girls, but that’s it. They were naked, and we found them chained to plumbing and radiators. I mean completely naked, no shoes, nothing.”
“Do you need me to bring clothes or just underwear?” I could hear her scrambling around.
“Someone from the Salvation Army brought sweats and T-shirts for them.”
I heard a door open and close, then I heard another door open and close and a car start. “Walmart is open twenty-four hours. I’ll head there and grab some underwear, sports bras and… Maybe flip-flops?”
That was a brilliant idea. At least they would have something on their feet. They didn’t even have to fit perfectly in order for them to be able to walk.
“Mom, that is a fantastic idea. Thank you for thinking of it. Yes, just grab medium sized flip-flops, and that should fit everyone. At least enough to get them into the van that is taking them to the hospital.”
“Okay, I’ll grab some T-shirts that will probably fit them a little better than what you have. And it’s chilly, so maybe some sweatshirts.”
“We’re taking them to the hospital fairly soon, Mom, so we need to get these things here quickly.”
“That’s okay, we’ll be quick. Luke is with me. I’ll grab the underwear and sweatshirts, and have him pick up the flip-flops. We should be there in no more than thirty minutes.”
My mom’s husband was a gem. Not many men would put up with her grown children, and get out of bed in the middle of the night to buy some stranger underwear and shoes.
“What about Lola?” I asked.
“She was still snoring when we left the house. She’ll be fine.”
She disconnected without another word. There has never been a moment that I have regretted hiring her for the agency. I know that even if she wasn’t an employee, she would be doing this anyway. And Luke was along for the ride. Seriously, most men would roll over and go back to sleep. “See you when you get back from whatever craziness you’re involved in now.”
“Mimi?” I could hear Nick calling from downstairs.
I pulled the bedroom door closed, then pushed it open a crack. I didn’t want the girls out of my sight. Who knew what could happen?
I walked up the hall to meet him at the top of the stairs.
“How’s it going up here? Are the girls almost ready?”
“Damn, I should’ve had my mom buy them toothbrushes, too,” I said out loud.
“Toothbrushes?”
“
The girls are all using the same toothbrush. I nearly vomited.”
Nick laughed. “I can only imagine you seeing that. Did you dry heave? We will get them new toothbrushes as soon as we get them to the hospital.”
I smiled. He knew how I felt about swapping germs. “It looks like three girls still need to shower and get dressed. But they’re all doing as told.” Like good little robots.
“Sounds good. The boys want to get in here and start going through the house. They don’t want to do it while the girls are still here, though. They’ve had enough trauma.”
“I don’t think they really understand what’s going on anyway. They’re following orders and doing as instructed, but more like robots than like people. They aren’t questioning anything. Just doing as they’re told and standing quietly.”
Nick rolled his eyes and shoved his hands into his pockets, leaning against the wall. “Makes me wonder what kind of drugs they’re using.”
Heck, there was a myriad of choices these days.
“I just called my mom, and she’s coming with underwear and shoes for the girls. I just couldn’t let them not wear underwear.”
Nick frowned at me. “Underwear?”
“I just couldn’t let them feel that exposed. What if their sweatpants slip down? I mean, they are a little big for those tiny girls.”
“That makes sense. When is your mom going to be here?”
“She and Luke were headed to Walmart. She said they would split up, grab handfuls of what they needed, and be here in less than thirty.”
“I’ll run downstairs and let the boys know what’s going on, so CSU can get their equipment ready.”
I’m pretty sure Luke would have gotten a reckless driving ticket, if a cop had seen them, for as quickly as they had apparently driven to the store, and then to the house. I looked at my watch to see they had made it in twenty-five minutes.
I was waiting in the kitchen when my mom jogged up the back stairs. “I have everything you need. A dozen underwear, a dozen sweatshirts, and a dozen pairs of flip-flops. Where are the girls?”
My mom followed me up the stairs and into the bedroom. She gasped when she saw the girls. “I didn’t think they’d be so young. I mean, I know how old they are, I just expected them to look older.”
“Yes, it’s quite a shock.”
I took the bag from my mom, and walked around to each girl, handing her a pair of clean underwear and telling her to put them on. My mom followed behind me with the flip-flops and told them as soon as they had them on, they needed to go downstairs.
Nick must’ve told my mom that we were in a hurry, and waiting for the girls to leave the house.
“Is the van downstairs yet?” I asked.
Nick said they had originally had closed-in vans, so they decided to bring a school bus. “The school bus is sitting right outside the back gate.”
“All right, Mom, you take the front and I’ll take the rear, and make sure we have all of the girls between us. I don’t want to accidentally leave anyone behind.”
Once all the girls had their underwear and flip-flops on, we lined them up like preschool children and headed down the stairs, with my mom leading the pack and me bringing up the tail. I did a head count and made sure there wasn’t anyone else in the house. In the state that they were in, someone could easily have been left behind, and no one would have complained.
My mom stood at the door to the bus and helped the girls on, then turned to me and said, “Do you want me to ride with them?”
“Thanks, Mom, but I’m going to ride with them. Nick is going to meet us at the hospital.” I reached forward and hugged her. “Thank you so much.”
“Do you need anything else as long as Luke and I are out?”
Nick stepped forward. “Thank you so much, Lydia. I already thanked Luke. This was above and beyond, and we can’t thank you enough. We’re good for now. I’ll have Mimi phone you if we need anything else.”
I reached up and wrap my arms around Nick’s neck and kissed him on the cheek, then turned around and stepped into the bus. The tension that I had been holding for the last several hours suddenly released, knowing these girls were on their way to recovery.
Fourteen
Charles
Max and I pulled on latex gloves, and went through the house with the crime scene unit. Nick had gone to the hospital with Mimi, but gave me the go-ahead to look through the house before he left.
A crime scene officer I didn’t know said, “We’re going to start with the doors and drawers, and dust for fingerprints. So if you do open drawers, or cabinets, please use the corners, and not the handles. We don’t need anything smudged.”
I nodded, and turned to Max. “You want to take the upstairs, and I’ll take the downstairs?”
“Tell you what, I’ll take downstairs and work with the crime scene unit. You go upstairs and see what you can find.”
I left Max to work with the cops, and slowly walked up the stairs. Somehow I could feel the spirits of the terrorized girls still here, even though they were gone. I wondered how long this house had been used, and how many girls had been run through it, as I made my way into the small bedroom at the top of the stairs.
I went through every room upstairs, and found nothing more than personal toiletries: toilet paper, towels, toothpaste and a toothbrush, maxipads, soap, shampoo. Back out in the hallway, I opened the doors to what look like a linen closet. On the top shelf, I found the last thing I’d expected to see. I found a case of ketamine. Ketamine is an animal tranquilizer use mostly on horses and cats. In the human drug world, it’s known as Special K, the brand name is Ketalar.
Suddenly the willingness of these girls to follow commands, not argue, and yet seem to have at least some faculties about them made sense.
Ketamine is used at the beginning of anesthesia for surgeries. It puts the animal in a trancelike state, relieving pain and working as sort of a sedation. For people taking ketamine as a recreational drug, it gives a perpetual sense of feeling like you are outside yourself. You know what’s going on, but can’t quite come to grips with it. Like being in a state of reverie: being awake, but in a dream state. Everything seems surreal and self-contained. It’s also known to cause memory loss.
This would be the perfect drug to give these girls. You could tell them what to do, and have them follow directions, not quite realizing if this was for real or a dream. I took the box downstairs and handed it over to the crime scene unit and was in the middle of explaining to Max what I had found, when Gabe walked in the door.
“What are you doing back here? I thought you were following up on that license plate information?” I asked.
Gabe shoved a piece of paper at me. “I have the license information. That Volvo was rented from a local rental car company. Apparently, whoever rented it got it from their office outside the Monterey Peninsula Airport. The rental car company is closed right now.”
I wasn’t sure what the significance of the Monterey Peninsula Airport was, but it must have meant something to Gabe, because he emphasized the words.
“Who rented the car?” Max asked.
Gabe shrugged. “The rental car company is closed until seven o’clock tomorrow morning. I can’t wait until morning to find out who has this car.” Gabe tapped his finger on the piece of paper he handed me. “I know the things you can do with a computer, Charles, and I need you to do them for me.”
Technically, it was already tomorrow, since it was after midnight.
I looked around at the crime scene unit officers before pointing toward the door. “Let’s go outside.”
Once we were outside, Gabe wasn’t so vague. “I know you have special computers, or at least special computer skills. Cortnie never exactly told me the details, but you guys have access to information no one else does. I need you to hack into their computer and find out who rented this car.”
I had no problem hacking into the computer, and no problem if Cortnie had vaguely told Gabe what I was able to
do, as long as it didn’t get me into trouble in the future. But then again, I had better and more secure contacts within the government than Gabe ever would.
“Follow me to the office, let’s see what we can do. There’s not much more we can do around here anyway.”
Gabe got in his car and headed back to town again. He could have just called me. I’d have met him at the office, no questions asked. I wanted Cortnie back as much as he did.
Max put his hand on my shoulder. “I think I need to check in with work. I’m sure the FBI knows something about this house, and they will want to know that we found the girls here. Let me talk with them, and I’ll get back with you.”
I got in my car and headed back to the office while Max went to work, or wherever Max goes to check in with his handlers. They don’t have an office in Salinas, but they had a satellite in the Monterey Bay area. It was the office Max was working out of when I met him. But his real office was in San Francisco.
It took me all of about ten minutes to log into my computer and hack into the rental car company’s database. I read through the information on the Volvo and the license plate number Gabe had given me, but it didn’t make sense.
“There’s no way this guy used his real name and information to rent this car,” I said to him.
“What do you mean?” Gabe came up and looked over my shoulder. I pointed at the screen. “Steve Smith? 321 S. Main St., Monterey, CA? I don’t even know if there’s a Main Street in Monterey.”
Gabe stood from looking over my shoulder, which everyone knows I hate. But his wife was missing and I tolerated it. He flopped down into the chair next to my desk. “They’re going to kill her, aren’t they?”
His question sent a chill through my body. I had put Cortnie in this position, and if she died, it was all on me. “That’s not going to happen. We’re going to find her. These guys aren’t Americans, but there’s no way they’re going to use a Russian name to get a rental. Besides, they don’t hide their accents very well, so whoever rented the car to them should remember them well. We just need to talk to the manager.”
Trespassers Will Be Prostituted. Page 10