When Jason arrived at the Garcia residence, Arthur was out front kicking a soccer ball around. “Jason!” Arthur exclaimed. “What a nice surprise. Would you like to kick around the ball with me?”
“Maybe later, Arthur,” Jason said as he came up and gave Arthur a quick hug. “I see you are working on your footwork skills.”
“Oh, yeah. I try to do some practice every day. I don’t want to let my team down.” Playing on the Merriam High School soccer team was a big deal for Arthur, who had never participated in formal team sports before he came to the Garcia home. “Are you here to see my dad?”
“I’m glad to see you Arthur,” Jason replied, “but yeah, I am here to see Captain Garcia.”
“Some new mystery that you are trying to crack?” Arthur continued. “Come with me, I’ll take you inside. I think Dad is just relaxing inside.” Arthur led Jason inside their front door and into the living room, where Antonio Garcia was reading the newspaper. “Look who’s here to visit us!” Arthur said to his dad.
“Jason Hunter!” Captain Garcia said as he looked up from his reading. “What a nice surprise, although I say that with some fear that I am about to be involved in a new Hunter & Holmes case!”
“Well, not exactly a case yet,” Jason said as he went over to shake hands with Antonio, “but I do need to get some advice from you, if you have the time.”
“Oh sure, Jason, please have a seat,” Garcia said indicating a chair for Jason to sit down in. “Is this a private matter, or can Arthur stay?”
“It’s not exactly a private matter, but I would like both of you to be discrete about what I am about to tell you.”
“I have no problem with that, especially after all you have done for me,” Arthur said. Then he looked at the captain. “Dad?”
“No problem for me either,” Captain Garcia answered, “unless you are going to tell me about criminal activity that I am obligated to report or act on. If you think that is the case, maybe you could describe things as a possibility or ‘what if’ type of situation.”
“Okay,” Jason replied. He then went through the activities of the previous evening, describing how Daniel, Richard, and he discovered Jian-heng kidnapped and taped up in the hallway closet, and what happened after they rescued the boy. Jason finished with a summary of Jian-heng’s life story, emphasizing how this orphaned eight-year-old kid struggled to come to America to be with his older sisters and have a better life.
After Jason finished his story, Captain Garcia shook his head and with a sly smile said, “I swear, Jason, you certainly have had your share of adventures. How is the young boy holding up?”
Jason went on to explain how charming and outgoing Jian-heng was, and how everyone who came into contact with him so far had gone out of their way to help him out. “This kid is amazing, Captain Garcia. I have never met an eight-year-old boy who is so focused, self-possessed, and brave. He can barely speak a word of English yet he tries so hard to communicate! He wants to do everything in his power to find and rescue his older sisters, without regard for his own safety. He almost became someone’s slave because of that!”
“I understand your concerns about the boy,” Garcia answered. “As far as his illegal alien status is concerned, that is nothing that I am interested in. Right now he is in the hands of good citizens who are looking after him, and he is not any burden on our society. Eventually something would need to be done to address that issue, but my main concern is the crimes committed against him and his sisters. Underground slavery rings are a big problem for law enforcement organizations in the Bay Area and elsewhere. Unfortunately, just about all of the young girls that are recruited for this end up leading lives as prostitutes or domestic servants, with little hope of earning the money to escape their predicament. And there is an equally repulsive although much smaller trade in young boys and girls. Catching and putting out of business the predators that buy and sell in that market is an even greater priority for me as a law enforcement officer.”
“Getting Jian-heng out of the Chinatown area where he had been stashed was very important,” Jason asserted. “Given the activities of the Chinese New Year that were going on when we found him, there was no way that any investigation of his kidnapping would be started last night. The last thing that we wanted to do was abandon him at a police station or in the foster care system after all he had been through. Once his kidnappers discovered that he was gone, those might have been the first places that they would look for him!”
“I understand what you are saying, Jason,” Arthur said. “I have heard stories of many people from Mexico who have gone through similar experiences. I totally feel for that young boy!”
“Yet at the same time, a crime was committed that should be reported to the authorities,” Captain Garcia responded. “The question is to which authorities. From what you have told me, he was kidnapped at the Oakland port and then transported to San Francisco. Most likely his older sisters and the other young women were taken to holding houses out in the suburbs somewhere. After being broken down some more, threatened with death, and beaten into submission if necessary, they would then be farmed out to pimps and clients who wanted domestic slaves.”
“Jian-heng is determined to search for his sisters!” Jason exclaimed. “I think that instinctively he understands the danger they are in, especially after what happened to him. Daniel and I would like to help him out but we have no idea where to start. At the same time we don’t want to see him taken away from the only people he knows in America and be put in the foster care system or deported. He’s had such a run of bad luck, it would be nice to see something good happen in his life.”
“This type of case is really difficult to investigate without more in the way of leads or additional information,” Captain Garcia replied. “If I get involved, the crimes will get reported and then something would most likely be done about the young boy’s status in this country. Until there is some actual solid information, I don’t think I want to start a formal investigation that would activate all of those forces.”
“Would you be willing to at least talk to Jian-heng off the record?” Jason asked. “Maybe you could get him to reveal something that would help kick-start the search for his sisters.”
“Yeah, Dad, I agree with Jason,” Arthur said. “Can’t you at least talk to the boy without compromising any principles or obligations you might have?”
“All right,” Captain Garcia said with resignation. “Why don’t you call the Lius and see if they will invite us over for tea?”
A couple of hours later, Captain Garcia, Jason, and Daniel were knocking on the Liu’s front door. Richard answered the door and ushered everyone into their sunken dining room area after they had taken off their shoes. Mrs. Liu, impressed that Captain Garcia himself was visiting, had prepared a formal tea service with rice cakes and cookies. Jian-heng was somewhat shy when he was introduced to Captain Garcia, but when Richard explained to him that Captain Garcia was here to try and help him, he brightened up and smiled his big smile.
“Thank, you, thank you,” Jian-heng said in his limited English.
Richard’s father, Junjie, was also at the meeting. After the tea was served, he socialized with Captain Garcia for a few minutes until the subject turned to Jian-heng. With Richard acting as translator, Captain Garcia began his questioning of the young boy.
“I have heard much of your story from Jason,” the captain began, “but there are some things I would like to hear directly from you. Tell me as much as you can about how your sisters were convinced to come to America in the cargo ship.”
Jian-heng described how there were agents in the streets where he was living in China who routinely looked for young women who were dissatisfied with their lives of hopeless poverty or long hours of work for very low wages. After their parents were killed, and there was little hope for a prosperous life where they were staying, the promises of these agents had a lot of appeal. Eventually his older sisters, who now called themselves Eun
ice and Elaine, decided that this was their best option and signed onto the next voyage, which was a week away.
During that week, they excitedly talked about a new life in a new country and their thoughts were full of what they would be doing once they arrived in America. Jian-heng got caught up in the excitement and decided that he wanted to live in America also. But the agents were only interested in older teenaged girls.
At first saddened that he would never see his sisters again, Jian-heng then got the idea of stowing away in the cargo ship. The day that the ship was to be loaded he went with Eunice and Elaine to the pier to say his goodbyes. But instead of leaving he snuck on board and stowed away in a box of supplies and food that was loaded into the container containing the young women.
After the ship was well underway, Jian-heng revealed himself. At first the women were angry with him, another mouth to feed. But Jian-heng didn’t really eat very much, and after a day, the others were actually glad to have someone else around. Jian-heng did his best to charm everyone, and would practice English phrases with them to help pass the time away. The young women were only allowed outside their container for a brief hour a day, and that was in shifts. Jian-heng would also sneak outside for some fresh air, but made sure that none of the crew ever saw him. He didn’t want them to know that there was a stowaway on board.
“Did you ever see any paperwork or written documentation about the container?” Captain Garcia asked. “Customs requires that all containers brought into America (or other countries for that matter) have what is called a bill of lading or customs declarations for the contents of each container.”
Jian-heng thought about what Captain Garcia asked him. He then replied that he did look at the papers his sister Eunice were given. Some of the paper was in Mandarin and some was in English. Jian-heng practiced writing some of the letters in English, even though they didn’t make any sense to him. He also looked at some papers that were in a plastic sleeve on the outside of the container, but they were written in English and he couldn’t make any sense of what it said.
“Do you remember anything that you saw or tried to write down?” Garcia followed up.
Through Richard, Jian-heng replied that he didn’t really have any idea what he was writing down. Then his face brightened. “I still have the paper I practiced on!” he said through Richard’s translation. Jian-heng got up from the table and ran to his room. A few minutes later he returned with a crumpled up piece of paper. “My shorts had a small inside pocket, and I kept this paper in there because I wanted to study the characters after I arrived in America.” Jian-heng said breathlessly when he returned.
He handed the paper to Captain Garcia who unfolded the paper and flattened it out on the table. The page was completely filled with characters and letters. Captain Garcia studied it for a moment and then handed it to Jason. “Can you make anything out on this page?”
Jason studied the page and then handed it to Richard. “Why don’t you ask Jian-heng if he can remember any of what he wrote down?”
Jian-heng studied the paper for a while. “These letters were on the outside of the container,” he said pointing to a corner of the page. After Richard translated what Jian-heng said, Daniel studied the paper.
“Look!” Daniel exclaimed. “I can make out five or six letters. There’s an M, a couple of Is, an L, and what appears to be a P and a T. M-I-L-P-I-T in order.”
“Mill pit,” Jason said, trying to make sense of the letters.
“Not mill pit,” Captain Garcia added, “because it should be part of an address.” Garcia mused for a minute. “I’ve got it! Milpitas!” Milpitas was a small bedroom community in the northeastern part of Santa Clara County. “That makes sense based on what we talked about before,” Garcia said to Jason. “Now we need to figure out where this quote-unquote ‘company’ is located in Milpitas.” To Daniel he said, “Can you make any other English lettering out?”
Daniel continued to study the paper. “I see another set of English letters just above the Milpitas line. I can make out A, C, M, E, I, another M, and a P. It could be the word ‘ace’ or maybe part of ‘America’ or is that actually ‘acme’?”
“Isn’t Acme sort of a cliché name for a business?” Jason asked. “I remember seeing that name in cartoons when I was a little kid.”
“You are right about that, Jason,” Captain Garcia replied. “But if this company is really a front for a slavery operation, why not? And I think I know what the ‘imp’ part is — Imports or something along that line!”
“Well it sounds like we are making some progress. Mr. Liu do you have a telephone directory?” Daniel asked. “Let’s see if we can find this company listed somewhere.”
While Junjie Liu went to get the directory, Jason tried looking it up on his PDA. “I don’t see anything here from an Internet search,” he reported. “Then I guess a slavery operation wouldn’t exactly want to publicize its efforts!”
There was a listing for an Acme Imports in Milpitas, but all it gave was a telephone number with no street address. “I will do some checking on this outfit when I get a chance,” Captain Garcia said. “I also will talk to one of my contacts in San Francisco about the possibility of slavers operating out of Chinatown.” Garcia then addressed Mr. and Mrs. Liu. “In the meantime, I want you to keep young Jian-heng out of the public eye for the time being. Is there a problem with that? Are we imposing on you in any way?”
“Oh no!” Mrs. Liu stated emphatically. “Jian-heng is like a gift that has been dropped on our doorstep. He is most welcome in our house, and I will personally take care of him, and help him recover from his recent ordeal.”
“I can see that you have already provided him with care, grooming, and new clothing,” Captain Garcia continued. “I am pleased to hear that young Jian-heng is in the care of good people in our community.”
“Yeah, that is awesome, Mrs. Liu!” Jason exclaimed. “Jian-heng is a neat kid and a courageous one too. You can count on Whatever Foundation support for any additional needs in the future!” Jason then said to Richard, “Please tell Jian-heng what we have decided for him, and that his paper was a helpful clue to start tracking down the location of his missing sisters.”
After Richard translated the last couple of conversations, a big smile came onto Jian-heng’s face. He got up from the table and gave Mrs. Liu a big hug. “Thank you for accepting me into your house,” he said in Mandarin. “I am very honored!”
Then Jian-heng went over to Jason and Daniel and gave them both hugs. “Thank you, thank you!” he said over and over in his limited English.
Jason put his hands on Jian-heng’s shoulders, looked him into the eye, and replied, “No problem, little buddy. And I promise you we will continue to search for Eunice and Elaine.”
Tears came to Jian-heng’s eyes after Richard translated what Jason said. “I am very worried about them. I hope that we can find them soon!” he responded.
“Not to worry, Jian-heng,” Daniel told the young boy through Richard. “When Jason sets his mind to do something, it usually gets done!”
With that Daniel, Jason, and Captain Garcia got up and said their goodbyes to Jian-heng and the Liu family. When they were outside on the porch, Garcia told Jason and Daniel that he would make some inquiries. “Don’t try anything on your own just yet. I might be able to find out a lot more if we don’t stir up the pot right now with a new case. At least the boy is safe for now, and it looks like he is in very good hands with the Liu family.”
“But what about the sisters?” Jason followed up. “They are still very much in danger.”
“Until we have more to go on, there isn’t much I can do,” Garcia replied. “I don’t think that it is in the slavers’ best interest to harm them at this point. More likely they are putting them through their “training” process. While I’m sure it is not pleasant for them, at least it buys us some time until we can find out more information. That’s the best I can do at this point without reporting the boy to the fe
deral authorities.”
“I understand,” Jason said. “Thanks for your discretion in this matter, and thanks for taking the time to talk with Jian-heng. Daniel and I will wait until we hear back from you before doing anything more. At least the boy is safe now.”
“That is the good thing here. I am sure there are two very unhappy kidnappers somewhere, mad about losing their bonus catch.”
“I hope we can track them down and put them behind bars someday,” Daniel said with determination in his voice. “Just the thought of predators and what they were planning to do with Jian-heng makes my blood boil!”
Chapter 7
Jason and Laura Work Things Out
(February 12)
Laura Friesen was anxiously waiting for Jason to arrive. They had planned to go out to lunch and maybe do some shopping at the mall. But that wasn’t the reason Laura was feeling the way she was. A rift had developed in their relationship over Jason’s activities as a detective and some of the operations he had instigated through his Whatever Foundation. It had even caused a temporary breakup, one that Laura regretted over and over again. Last summer she had lost her temper with him when he failed to show up to a dinner party she had planned, where she was going to introduce him to important relatives and friends. But Jason had gotten involved in the rescue of another teen, Jonathan Kowalski, from an abusive drug dealer. The aftermath of that rescue and dealing with the police caused Jason to arrive so late he missed the party. In the cold light of day, there was no question as to what was the more important thing for Jason to do. Yet she had refused to accept that explanation, told him to get out, and thrown the locket he had given her when they decided to go steady back in his face!
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