by Walter Marks
“Plea deal?” Maria said angrily. “Oleg deserves the max.”
“He’d get life, but if he rats out Richman he could get twenty to thirty and Richman would get life.”
Maria shook her head in disgust.
“Don’t worry,” Jericho said. “If we tag Oleg with raping and trafficking underage girls, he won’t last long in the joint. The Inmate Moral Majority will give him the death penalty.”
“How do we get Oleg?”
“Well…I’ve been thinking about that,” Jericho said. “You can reach him by phone, right?”
“Yes.”
“Good,” Jericho said. “I have to plan this very carefully. Actually, it’s not just Oleg — we’ve gotta bust the whole gang.”
“But we don’t know where they are.”
“I know,” Jericho said. “There’s a lot to figure out. But I’ve got some ideas, and I’ll think ’em all through tonight. Whatever I come up with, I’ll run it by you in the morning.”
“Okay.”
“Can you talk to Rosario again?”
Maria nodded. “I’ll see her tomorrow.”
“Try to get her description of Oleg,” Jericho said. “I’ll track down that BOLO photo we received back in the city, but he may look different now. And most important — try to get any information about where the Russians held her.”
“She doesn’t know very much.”
“Find out whatever you can. Any detail could be important,” Jericho said.
“Maybe I can jog her memory once she’s out of the hospital setting,” she said. “Tomorrow I’m bringing her home to Sag Harbor. My folks are gonna take her in.”
“Maria, you’re wonderful.”
“It’s my parents who are wonderful.”
They looked at each other for a moment. Both had been so caught up in their work that their romantic connection had receded in their minds. But in that moment they felt it surfacing again.
Neither said a word. They didn’t have to.
CHAPTER 63
Next morning, Maria drove to Southampton to pick up Rosario. They made the half-hour drive to Sag Harbor where Maria introduced her folks — Juanita and Pedro Salazar.
Juanita immediately enveloped Rosario in her arms, while Pedro stood awkwardly to the side. Juanita went to the kitchen and made breakfast — nuked frozen waffles. Then they all sat down at the kitchen table.
Rosario was a little shy at first, but after a while she relaxed and began talking about going back to school and being with her friends again.
After breakfast, Pedro got up from the table to go to work. He looked down at Rosario, sitting where his daughter Carla always sat. Pedro leaned over and kissed the girl lightly on the top of her head. Then, with a wistful look and a sigh, he turned and left.
After they helped Juanita with the dishes, Maria sat Rosario down in the living room for a long, recorded interview. Maria tried to learn whatever she could about Oleg and the mob’s sex trafficking operation. It was difficult for Rosario, and she broke down several times.
Later, at Headquarters, Maria was at her computer transcribing the recorded interview. She was interrupted by Detective Fred McCoy and had to take off her earphones to hear him.
“Hey, Salazar,” McCoy said amiably. “I brought you some coffee — cream and sugar on the side.”
“Thanks. But it’s almost lunch time.”
“Listen,” Detective McCoy said. “I think you should know — there’s some talk goin’ around. Talk about you and Jericho.”
“What do you mean?”
“Listen, if he’s tryin’ anything with you, that’s sexual harassment in the workplace.”
“That’s ridiculous.”
“Even if it’s consensual, he’s your superior which is implied coercion. And you know it’s the female who always gets the shaft. You could lose your job.”
“Detective,” Maria said, putting on her headphones, “if you’ll excuse me, I’m right in the middle of something.”
“Just a word of advice,” he said. “If anything’s goin’ on between you and Jericho, you have to protect yourself. I’d report it immediately to Chief Krauss. He has zero tolerance for inappropriate behavior. He’ll go to bat for you.”
Asshole, Maria thought as she resumed listening to the recording and typing out her notes.
…Rosario described Oleg as looking much like his idol, Ukrainian heavyweight boxer Vitali Klitchsko, whose fight poster he kept on the wall above his bed. She said Oleg had the same full lips, thick, brutish features, and cold eyes as the fighter. He was tall and seemed to be all muscle. He always wore black. His voice was distinctive — Rosario called it a deep rumble.
She knew little of where she was kept. It was a large house, and the windows were boarded up. She slept with the other imprisoned girls on mattresses in one big room on the first floor. There was always a guard watching them, carrying an automatic rifle. There were six members of the gang who lived at the house, sleeping upstairs. They were all Russians and, as Rosario put it — total scumbags. They had orders not to molest the girls but they did so anyway, any time they had the chance. The girls were afraid to say anything.
Rosario did know there was a two-car garage separate from the house and that Oleg lived in an apartment above it. That was where she was initially raped. She recalled that he had a big Bowflex exercise machine and various weights and barbells in his flat. There was a stairway leading up to Oleg’s place along the outside of the garage.
When Rosario had an “escort” assignment, she was taken to a limo in the garage. It had blacked-out windows and she couldn’t see out. The house was surrounded by woods — she could see a dense forest when she was brought to the limo. She also knew the house was at the end of a long dirt road — there was always a ten-minute, very slow and bumpy ride before the car hit a smooth paved surface. She did mention sometimes hearing a rooster crowing, when she was driven to and from work in the limo. (Could that be from the Crackenbush Poultry Farm on Fanyon Way?)
That was all she could tell me.
Maria printed out her notes and brought them to Jericho at his office.
CHAPTER 64
“Good job,” Jericho said, after reading Maria’s report.
“You think the house could be on Fanyon Way?”
“It well could be,” Jericho said. “But it would be hard to check out. Fanyon’s a long, winding road in the woods, with plenty of turnoffs and who knows how many houses. We’d have no access to any of them, and no way to stake out all of them. And I’d bet there’s more than one rooster in that area. Folks around there do raise chickens.”
“Good point.”
“We need a very specific plan, and that’s what I’ve come up with. But I want you to know there’s risk, major risk involved — for you.”
“Okay.”
“You know I don’t want anything to happen to you, but this is undercover work, which is never one hundred percent safe.”
“What do I have to do?”
“Before I tell you,” Jericho said, “let me make one thing clear. This is essentially a rogue operation. It’s not sanctioned by the department, we’re going against procedure, and rules are gonna get broken.”
“Look, all I care about is taking down Oleg and his gang,” Maria said firmly. “If I don’t at least try, I can’t call myself a cop.”
“I feel the same way.”
“Then let’s go for it.”
“Okay,” Jericho said. “The first thing is — we need to find out where the Russians are keeping these girls.”
“How do we do that?”
“Here’s the deal,” Jericho said. “You call Oleg and say you read his ad and you’re interested in making some money modeling. You’ll ask if you can meet with him. Do you have ID that doesn’t say you’re a cop?”
“Yes. My driver’s license.”
“Good,” Jericho said. “Oleg may want to see some ID. He’ll be very cautious.”
“So I�
��ll have to use my real name with him.”
“Correct.”
“Where do I meet with him?”
“There’s a mini shopping center on Springs Fireplace Road with a pizza restaurant facing the parking lot.”
“Yeah, Mangia Benny. I know it.”
“Let’s do this tomorrow night,” Jericho said. “Tell him you’ll meet him at eight o’clock. You be there early in your own car. If he asks how you got there, tell him you borrowed a friend’s car.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll be waiting outside, out of sight, in my own car when Oleg arrives,” Jericho said. “When he goes into the restaurant, I’ll stick a magnetic transponder under his rear bumper.”
“A GPS tracker? Is that legal?”
“No. It requires a warrant. I told you rules would have to be broken.”
“Where’d you get the tracker? Did you…did you sneak it out of the equipment room?”
“I ordered it from an online spy store — overnight delivery. We’ll have it tomorrow. It’ll send an electronic signal to my car’s GPS, which’ll appear on the screen as a dot on a map.”
“Then you can follow him and see where he lives.”
“Exactly,” Jericho said. “You just have to convince him you’re willing to work for him. Then say you need a day to…pack your things, get your life in order. Promise you’ll meet him the next night and go with him.”
“Got it.”
“Now, you have to be very careful,” Jericho said. “If he even gets a hint you’re undercover, there’s no telling what he’ll do.”
Maria nodded.
“In this type of operation,” Jericho went on. “Things rarely go as planned. So we’ve gotta be prepared for anything. Your safety is my main concern.”
He pressed her hand and spoke quietly. “You could be in grave danger. And I can’t be sure I’ll be able help you. Understand?”
Maria looked at him with determination. “If we can nail that creep Oleg, count me in.”
“You’re sure?”
“Absolutely,” Maria said. “But what happens when we find out where the gang is?”
“Then we’ll set up a raid with a SWAT team and bust them all.”
“East Hampton doesn’t have a SWAT team,” Maria said.
“No, but Suffolk County does,” Jericho said. “The Chief won’t like calling in the county police, but if we’re dealing with a gang armed with AK-47s, our own guys would be useless.”
“How do we explain how we found out where the mob’s keeping these girls?”
“We’ll tell the Chief we got a tip from an informant.”
“He’s still gonna scream about us operating without his approval.”
“Not if our plan succeeds,” Jericho said. “He’ll just bask in the credit.”
“And if it fails?”
“We’ll both be looking for work,” Jericho said.
“Muerda su lengua.”
“Which means?”
“Bite your tongue.”
CHAPTER 65
The following morning Maria stood at the bathroom mirror, getting ready for work. Rosario sat on the closed toilet seat, watching her.
“Your hair looks nice, tied up like that,” Rosario said.
“I prefer it down, but regulations say it has to be up under the cap. The idea is that any hair hanging down could be something a suspect could grab onto.”
“What about makeup? You allowed to wear makeup?”
Maria answered, picking up a lipstick. “We’re not supposed to put on anything that would draw the public’s attention — no foundation, eyeliner, no lipstick except a little neutral gloss.”
She carefully applied Revlon Constantly Coral.
“That looks like real lipstick,” Rosario said.
“Sometimes you’ve gotta feel like a woman, even though you’re a cop. Don’t blow the whistle on me, huh?”
Rosario giggled. “You think I could be a cop someday?”
“Why not? Next summer you could start by doing traffic control in the Village.”
“You mean wearing one of those neon orange vests and handing out tickets?”
“Yep,” Maria said. “That’s how I started. Then after high school you could apply to the Police Academy.”
“That would be neat.”
“But y’know, I think you should go to college first, then if you still want to be a cop…”
“Whatever you say, Maria.”
Maria smiled, took her police cap, and plopped it onto Rosario’s head. “Keep your grades up in school and then we’ll discuss it.”
Rosario got up and looked at herself in the bathroom mirror. Maria stepped behind her and pulled the cop cap down over her ears. Rosario made a cross-eyed face and they both laughed.
“I never had a sister,” Rosario said. “But it sure feels like I’ve got one now.”
“The feeling is mutual.”
Maria’s mother appeared at the door, panic in her voice. “Maria, I just got a call. A scary call.”
“What do you mean?”
“Some guy. No name. He said, ‘Tell your daughter and the detective — drop the Ramírez case. Drop the case now, or…or you die. We know where you live.’ Then he hung up.”
“My God, Mama,” Maria said. “He threatened your life?”
“Yes.”
“He said ‘Ramírez’?
“Yes.”
“What…what did he sound like?”
“I dunno. His voice was kind of deep.”
“Did you hear any accent?”
“I don’t know. Honey, I’m scared.”
“Oleg?” Rosario said anxiously. “Could that’ve been Oleg?”
Maria’s heart lurched inside her chest. She tried to stay calm. “Rosario,” she said, “go to your room and get ready for school. The bus’ll be here in fifteen minutes.”
“But I…”
“Go!”
Rosario left. “Don’t worry, Mom,” Maria said. “I know it’s scary, but let’s not panic. First thing, I have to talk to my partner.”
“What case was that guy talking about?”
“I…can’t discuss it right now,” Maria answered.
“I think me and your father should get outta here,” Mrs. Salazar said. “Move to my sister’s in the Bronx — at least for a while. I’m gonna call Pedro at the store. His clerk can keep things running.”
“Just wait till I talk to Jericho,” Maria said calmly. “If this call is for real — and we don’t know that for sure — they’ll be holding off, waiting to see if we stop the investigation. And I don’t even know how they’d find out if we did. Let me talk to my partner.”
“All right, honey,” Juanita said. “But this is making me very nervous. You’ll talk to him right away, right?
“Absolutely.” Maria put on her jacket and headed for the door. Then she stopped. “Mom. Did he call on your landline?”
“Yes.”
Maria ran into the living room, pressed *69 on the phone’s keypad, and waited. A recorded woman’s voice said, “Your last received call was…unknown.”
Maria quickly left to meet with Jericho.
CHAPTER 66
“A burner. He called on a burner,” Jericho said.
Maria was pacing nervously in Jericho’s office while the detective sat at his desk. He spoke in a calming tone. “Did your mom describe the caller’s voice?”
Maria nodded grimly. “She said he had a deep voice. Oleg has a deep voice. So I’m guessing Oleg made the call.”
“We can’t know for sure,” Jericho said. “But it was probably him or somebody else from the Russian mob. They’re the only people who would want us off the Ramírez case.”
“But how would they even know we’re on it?”
“I don’t know,” Jericho said. “Wait a minute. Pérez knows you. Maybe he called the Russians and told them you were with me when we checked out his Winnebago. And he would know where your folks live.”
&n
bsp; “Shit,” Maria said. For a moment she stopped pacing.
“Jericho,” she said. “A few days ago I had the feeling I was being followed. There was this truck behind me, all the way from Montauk to here. Then when I turned off the highway, it passed me by.”
“What kind of truck?”
“White panel, with a sign saying ‘Merry Maid Cleaning Service.’”
“I see those trucks all the time,” Jericho said. “House cleaning is big business in this area.”
Maria nodded, not completely reassured. “But it could still be the Russians. If they’re watching us, they’d know what I look like.”
“That’s true.”
“If Oleg recognizes me tonight, my cover will be blown,” Maria said. “I’d better be well disguised when I meet him. I think I’ll go for the Clairol red rinse again.”
“Listen, Maria. Maybe we should call off this…”
“No way,” Maria said firmly. “Believe me, I can make myself unrecognizable.”
“Also there’s another problem,” Jericho said. “Your driver’s license won’t work as your picture ID. They know your name now.”
Maria thought for a moment. “I’ll borrow my cousin Doris’s license. She looks a lot like me. People often mistake us for sisters.”
“You’re really determined, aren’t you?”
“Yes,” Maria said. “But I’m wondering — how would they know if we stopped the investigation?”
“I have no idea,” Jericho said. “Maybe they think this threat will be enough scare us off.”
“You think my folks should leave town?”
“Not now,” Jericho said. “Whoever called will be waiting to see if we drop the case.”
“But if they stay, they’re in danger.”
“Why don’t you sit down, Maria,” Jericho said. “They’re not in any immediate…”
“Jesus!” she cut in loudly. “We’re talking about my parents here. And Rosario. They’re in grave danger and I’ve put them there. You never can tell what these mobsters will do.”
“Maria. Calm down,” Jericho said.
She crossed to his desk and shouted down at him. “Calm down? Goddammit, you think you can make someone calm down just by saying ‘calm down’?”