by Blake Pierce
Ray stepped in the room and Keri pointed at the door.
“Lot of locks for a bedroom door,” he noted, pointing out the obvious.
“I also found some panties in the bathroom,” Keri said.
“There are a few other pairs strewn throughout the rest of the bedrooms too, as well as a few bras,” Ray said. “I also found some coke and pot. I think we’ve got enough here to arrest Sammy if we want.”
“Let’s call in CSU to collect the drugs and see if they can find any prints. I want to take another run at Sammy. Now that he’s facing real time, maybe he’ll be a little more chatty, especially after sitting in the back of that squad car for a while.”
“Sounds good,” Ray said. “I’m going to turn on the TV to find a channel that sounds like girls screaming. You know, for the exigent circumstances and all. Got to make it look good, right?”
Keri nodded. While Ray fiddled with the remote control, she walked out to the squad car. One of the officers had turned on the flashing lights and a small crowd was developing down the street.
Keri was pleased at the effect. Everything was adding to the pressure on Sammy. She didn’t want to put a sixteen-year-old kid in the system but she would if she had to, especially if the threat of doing so might rescue two abducted girls.
He was staring at her nervously through the car window as she approached him. She opened the door and knelt down to his eye level. She could go lots of ways with this kid but decided that at this point her strongest move was to just play it straight.
“We found the drugs, Sammy,” she told him. “Pot, coke, who knows what else. The quantity suggests more than just possession. We’re talking intent to distribute. And since you were the only one in the house, you’re the only one we can pin this on. We also found female undergarments. We’re bringing in our crime scene unit to check for DNA and dust for fingerprints. And I’m pretty confident we’re going to find some for the girls I’m looking for, maybe others too.”
Keri watched as Sammy gulped hard. She thought he might say something but he stayed silent, so she went on.
“I’m laying this all out for you so you know what you’re facing. I’m not trying to trick you or play games. You’re hosed, Sammy. I don’t know what the sentence is for this off the top of my head. But if we can’t get those girls back, I’m going to put all my energy into making sure you get the stiffest possible sentence. I’ll testify against you. My partner will testify against you. I’ll find a way to get the parents of these girls to testify against you, to tar you with these missing girls. Do you believe me Sammy?”
Sammy nodded.
“Good. So we’re on the same page. With that, I’m going to give you one more chance to get yourself out of this. I’m not even going to ask you to implicate your brother. I just want to know the location of the warehouse where Chiqy took those girls. You give me that and it pans out, I’ll go to bat for you with the DA. But this is a one-time-only offer. You’re only good to me as long as I still have a shot at finding these girls. What do you say, Sammy? You want a second chance at saving your own life?”
Sammy lowered his head as if lost in thought. Keri waited patiently, knowing she had pushed as hard as she could and it was now out of her hands. After a moment he raised his head again and she knew she had him.
“The warehouse is in the Valley, in North Hollywood, on Vanowen,” he nearly whispered. “I don’t know the exact address. But I have it on my phone. If you give it to me, I’ll find it for you. That guy has it.”
Keri stood up and faced the uniformed officer he’d pointed at. It was the one who’d first knocked on the door. He was leaning on the hood of the car.
“Give me his phone,” she ordered forcefully, then turned to face the house and yelled as loudly as she could. “Ray, get out here now!”
CHAPTER SEVEN
Keri wasn’t in control and she hated it. She forced herself not to let her frustration show but it was hard. If she bit her tongue any harder, she feared it would bleed.
Because they were about to raid a warehouse that might be housing a prostitution ring run by a notoriously brutal pimp who maintained a small army, an LAPD SWAT team had been called in. They were running the show.
Keri and Ray stood with the team, who had set up a block away from the warehouse. They were listening to the team leader give final instructions. On his mark, half the team was to enter through the front and half through a door in the back. Keri and Ray would be allowed to join them once the place was secure.
Keri watched them approach the warehouse and, despite her resentment at being left out, couldn’t help but admire their teamwork and efficiency as they quietly moved into place.
The team leader gave the go-ahead over the radio and she heard a series of bangs as the team members dispersed stun grenades before disappearing inside. She listened to the chatter as they secured the facility. There were no shouts, no gunfire, and little anxiety in their voices. Keri could tell within thirty seconds that there were no hostiles inside. After another two minutes, they were given permission to enter.
Once inside, Keri allowed herself a moment to take in her surroundings. The entire cavernous warehouse was comprised almost exclusively of mattresses scattered throughout. There had to be over two dozen. They were completely bare, without sheets or blankets. A few of the ones in the corners had curtains, which offered the barest semblance of privacy. A bitter thought entered Keri’s head.
Maybe those are for the VIP clients.
It was immediately apparent why the SWAT team had sounded so casual. Other than the areas behind the curtains, which had clearly been checked, there was no place to hide. Despite the overhead lights being dimmed, the entire warehouse was visible and it was almost completely empty.
In fact, she only saw two people in the whole place who weren’t law enforcement. One was a john who appeared to be passed out on the ground next to a mattress. The other was a young girl sitting on a mattress near the back of the facility. A SWAT officer stood over her, while a medic took her blood pressure.
Keri headed straight for her, followed closely by Ray. The girl looked to be about fourteen, with long stringy blonde hair. Her eyes were red and cloudy, as if she wasn’t all there. She wore a tank top but didn’t have any bottoms on. Instead, she was partially covered by a thermal blanket the medic had given her.
“Have you asked her anything yet?” Keri asked the officer.
“No ma’am. Not my area of expertise. Besides, I wouldn’t want to step on any toes.”
“Smart man,” she said before kneeling next to the medic. He glanced at her briefly before returning his eyes to the girl.
“Blood pressure’s low,” he said quietly. “Makes sense considering she said she was drugged.”
Keri nodded and looked closely at the girl. She seemed to be only partially aware of her surroundings. A puddle of vomit lay next to the mattress.
“What’s your name, sweetie?” she asked softly.
The girl looked at her blankly, not seeming to register that she was being spoken to. Keri gently touched her arm and tried again.
“What’s your name?”
The physical contact seemed to snap the girl slightly out of her stupor. Her gaze became more fixed on Keri.
“Lilah.”
“How old are you, Lilah?”
“I’m fifteen.”
“Okay, Lilah. My name’s Keri. I’m a police officer. So is everyone else here. You’re safe now. In a few minutes we’re going to take you to the hospital and get in touch with your family. Does that sound good?”
Lilah nodded.
“But before we do that, I need to ask you a few very important questions. Is that okay?”
Lilah nodded again.
“Where is everyone else?”
“They’re all gone,” Lilah answered as if that explained everything. The medic leaned over to Keri.
“She’s in shock,” he whispered. Keri nodded and tried a different tack.
“They did. The big man ordered them to grab all the girls up and take them away. Then he left.”
“Did the big man have a shaved head and long beard?”
“Yes,” Lilah said, closing her eyes at the thought of him. “Once he left, the other men started grabbing all of us and pulling us outside. They started shoving us into a big van.”
“Do you remember anything about the van?” Keri asked.
“It was brown. And even though it was big, they had trouble getting all the girls in. They were packed real tight.”
“Why didn’t they take you away too?”
“They were going to but I started throwing up. No one wanted to get close to me. Someone said to just lock me back inside so one of them shoved me on a mattress and closed the doors. I kept throwing up for a while after that and then I guess I fell asleep until you came.”
“So all the other girls were put in the van?”
“I think so,” Lilah said. Then she seemed to slump, as if the effort of answering the questions had used up all the energy she had. Ray tapped her on the shoulder. She looked up to see several female uniformed officers standing nearby.
“Lilah,” she said, keeping her voice calm and comforting, “I can tell you’re tired so I’m done asking you questions for now. These nice officers are going to help get you to the hospital. Once you’ve had a little break, they’re going to ask you some more things.”
“I don’t want you to leave me,” Lilah nearly shouted, showing true emotion for the first time. She clutched Keri’s arm.
“I know, sweetie,” Keri said, keeping her tone soothing despite Lilah’s raw anguish. “But you need to go the hospital so the doctors can help you. And I need to look around here some more to see if there’s anything here that will help us find all those other girls. We need to get them home safe too.”
“Okay,” Lilah said, seeming to lose her fire as quickly as it had come. Keri delicately pried her arm loose from the girl’s grip and motioned for the uniformed officers to step in. They moved in quickly, whispering quietly to Lilah as the medic prepped the stretcher on the floor beside her.
Keri stood up and moved away before speaking to Ray.
“Not much to go on,” she said. “I’m going to walk around and see what these guys might have left behind. Can you call in the brown van she mentioned to Edgerton so he can start looking for it?”
“Yeah,” Ray said. “I know there are lots of cameras in these industrial areas. I’m sure he’ll find it. A big brown van will stand out. The question is, how long will it take to track where it went?”
“Hopefully not too long,” Keri said. “This Chiqy guy moves fast; first Dean’s house and now here. We need to catch up before he moves again.”
“Agreed,” Ray said. “And what worries me is that he pulled up stakes from this place so fast. He obviously intended this to be the brothel location for the night. But it seems like he knew we were coming, like he got tipped off somehow.”
They both stood quietly for a moment, wondering how that might be possible. Finally, Keri snapped out of it.
“We’ll have to worry about that later. One thing at a time, right? Go ahead and call Edgerton and I’ll start looking around here.”
Ray nodded and went outside. Keri looked around the warehouse, wondering where to start her search. She decided to look at the curtained areas first. There had to be a reason they were separated from everything else.
She wandered over to the first one in the front left corner of the warehouse. Just as she started to pull out her flashlight someone turned the overhead lights up to maximum. After taking a second to adjust, Keri moved around the space, looking for anything out of the ordinary. But nothing seemed odd.
She moved on to the next curtained area in the back left corner of the warehouse. It also looked nondescript. She wasn’t even sure what she was looking for. It seemed unlikely that she would find a wallet lying on the floor or a scrap of paper with the next address Chiqy had sent the girls to.
She was about to move on to the third curtained area when she noticed something out of the corner of her eye. There was a small piece of fabric poking out from underneath the far side of the mattress.
Keri stepped over to it and knelt down. It was teal.
Her heart skipping a beat, Keri pulled on her latex gloves and lifted the mattress up. Underneath was the rest of the fabric. It wasn’t long—maybe four inches by two inches. And it was clearly ripped and not cut.
Keri lowered the mattress again, trying not to disturb anything as one overwhelming thought echoed through her brain.
This fabric looks as if someone tore it from their outfit and stuffed it under the edge of the mattress to be discovered later.
She yanked off her gloves and pulled out her phone, scrolling to a screenshot Keith the security guard had sent her. It was of Sarah and Lanie sitting at the food court table. Keri zoomed in on Sarah until she was sure. The girl’s top was the same exact color as the one under the mattress.
“Ray!” she called out as she snapped several photos of the snippet of clothing.
She turned around to see her partner walking toward her. He was finishing up his conversation and held up a finger to let her know he was almost done.
He hung up. Before Keri could speak he launched into a description of what Edgerton told him.
“It’s just like we thought. He says pulling up footage of the van leaving should be easy. But tracking it to its next destination is going to take a while. He recommended we come back to the station so could show us in person once he has something. You find anything?”
Keri smiled slightly and pointed to the piece of fabric.
“What is that?” Ray asked.
Keri showed him the screen shot from the food court.
“It’s part of Sarah’s top. She must have ripped it off and hidden it, hoping we’d find it.”
“Are you sure?” Ray asked, uncertain.
“Raymond, this girl is smart. Despite everything that’s happened to her, she’s keeping her wits about her and fighting back the only way she can. She’s leaving us clues!”
CHAPTER EIGHT
Keri felt like breaking something. As she stared at the tiny piece of equipment on Detective Manny Suarez’s desk back at the Pacific Division station, she had the urge to pull out the butt of her gun and smash the small contraption into dust.
Instead, she took a long, slow deep breath, let her frustration pass, and asked her question as calmly as she could.
“And where did CSU find this again?”
“Right above the front door of Dean Chisolm’s house,” Suarez said. “It’s a motion activated security camera and it’s Internet-connected. That must be how this Chiqy guy knew you were coming to the warehouse. He would have seen you questioning Sammy Chisolm and assumed the kid would break at some point.”
“Wow,” Keri said, impressed despite herself. “We showed up at Chisolm’s house just after seven p.m. and the SWAT team entered that warehouse before eight p.m. That means he completely cleared out the place in well under an hour.”
“It also means Chiqy will be out to punish Sammy for betraying him,” Ray noted. “We should get him in protective custody. Where is he now?”
Suarez punched up his location on his computer. Keri watched his fingers fly across the keyboard in amazement. Manny Suarez wasn’t impressive looking, with his permanent eleven o’clock shadow, his spare tire, and his sleepy eyes. But Keri knew that under his schlubby persona was a whip-smart detective with great natural instincts. He was also a really fast typist.
“It looks like Castillo left about twenty minutes ago to take him for booking at the Twin Towers,” he said.
The Twin Towers was the informal name for Los Angeles County’s men’s central jail. It was exactly the kind of place where Chiqy’s minions would be waiting to get their hands on Sammy.
“Let’
s get Castillo on the line,” Keri said. “I want to warn her about what she’s dealing with. She’s going to have to push hard to get him protection.”
As Manny called Castillo, Ray turned to Keri.
“You don’t think Castillo can handle this? I wouldn’t tell her that. The chip on that girl’s shoulder is almost as big as yours.”
It was true. Officer Jamie Castillo was tough as nails and fearless to boot. Keri had learned that when she pulled the young cop into a last-minute, legally questionable attempt to catch the Collector. Castillo hadn’t asked questions. She just showed up and had Keri’s back. The trap hadn’t worked but it wasn’t Castillo’s fault.
“Hello,” came her voice over the speakerphone.
“Hey, Castillo. It’s Keri here with Ray and Manny. You’re transporting Chisolm to Twin Towers for booking, right?”
“Yup. We should be there in about a half hour. Why?”
“We’re concerned that the guy his brother answers to knows he ratted him out and may try to get payback. We need you to make sure they put Chisolm in protective custody once he’s booked.”
“Okay,” Castillo said as if it was no big deal.
“They might balk,” Keri warned her. “If they give you a hard time or if you think they won’t follow through, just bring him back. We’ll keep him on ice here for a while if we have to. Can you handle that?”
She added the last line intentionally to piss the young officer off. If Castillo felt like someone was challenging her abilities, she was likely to go all out to prove her merit. That’s part of why Keri liked her so much. The rookie cop reminded her of herself, just younger, more athletic, and Hispanic.
“Detective Locke,” Castillo said, trying to stay respectful despite the edge in her voice, “I hope you’re not doubting my competence.”