“True, but I think we have learned that the man does come to the Acme Imports office every day,” Jason replied. Tomorrow, we need to be even more prepared. Now that we have an idea of what his route back is, we can wait for him farther up on his way back tomorrow.”
As it was now nearing 2:30, the boys decided to call it a day. After returning to Daniel’s house, they went into his room to write down what they had learned earlier on the white board, and brainstorm some more about what to do tomorrow. They studied a map of Milpitas and Jason called Eric, to see if he would be available to help them out if they had to do any legwork.
“Rebecca and I were going to hang out together tomorrow and maybe do some shopping, but I will get out of it if necessary. What you are doing is much more important,” Eric told Jason.
“I hope I am not getting you into trouble with Rebecca,” Jason said.
“I think she understands the importance of what you are doing,” Eric went on. “If not, I will explain it to her. After what my stepfather did to me, I could never say no to a request like that. I am so happy you were able to rescue that young boy before something evil happened to him!”
So it was worked out that Eric would be their backup, should they need to canvass a neighborhood. Daniel and Jason began to plan out what they would do and say if they did have to do a door-to-door search.
Wednesday turned out to be more of the same waiting game as Monday and Tuesday. They were in Jason’s Explorer and spent the morning watching and waiting, but there were no visitors to the Acme Imports office all morning. About 1:15, a package delivery truck pulled up to the office entrance and began making a delivery. This time there were over a dozen boxes brought into the Acme office front door. The receptionist spent ten minutes or so signing documents. After the truck left, they could see that she was on the telephone, making a long telephone call.
“I wonder if this will bring the guy with the gray van back,” Daniel said.
“All we can do is wait and see,” Jason replied.
About three o’clock their patience was rewarded. The same gray van pulled into the parking lot and drove around to the back loading area.
“I think our friend is very interested in the latest shipment received by Acme Imports!” Daniel said excitedly, his attention revived after nearly falling asleep with boredom earlier.
“This time we will be ready for him!” Jason replied. “Let’s get over to Abel Street and be ready to jump him when he turns to go to the expressway.” During their study of the map yesterday, they discovered that the Abel intersection was the closest and most direct approach from where Acme Imports was located, so they were pretty sure that the man driving the van would return that way, like he did yesterday.
Jason started up the Explorer and drove to Main Street. They had also discovered that there was an earlier left turn that would take them to Abel Street. Jason made that turn and drove in the right lane on Abel until they were just before the street the man had used to get to Abel Street yesterday. Jason parked the Explorer and then the waiting game began again.
This time their plan worked to perfection. About twenty minutes later they spotted the gray van as it was turning right on Abel Street. “There he is!” Daniel exclaimed. Jason pulled out onto Abel Street. They were just a block behind the van which also stayed in the right lane. As was the case yesterday, the van went to make a right turn onto the expressway. The traffic light remained green long enough for Jason and Daniel to make the turn. They could see the van just starting to go over the long bridge while moving toward the left lane of traffic. At Milpitas Boulevard, the van got into the left turn lane. Jason and Daniel pulled into that lane also, several vehicles behind the van.
When the green arrow came on, the line of vehicles turned and began to proceed north on Milpitas Boulevard. They drove past city hall and a number of other public buildings. The van stayed in the right lane and suddenly made a quick turn onto Escuella Street. “He is driving into a local neighborhood!” Jason exclaimed. “My hunch was right!”
About thirty seconds later, Jason also made a right turn on Escuella, along with several other vehicles. Escuella was a street that was laid out in a pathway that curved to the left, and the vehicles in front of Jason were in no hurry, so they lost ground to the van. Two of the vehicles then made right turns, slowing them down even more. When Jason was able to get his speed back up so he could catch up, the van made another right turn and disappeared from their view.
“He’s gone off into that neighborhood up there!” Daniel said pointing up ahead. “I think he turned two streets ahead of us.”
By the time Jason arrive at that block and turned right, they could barely see the van which was over two blocks ahead of them. This side street had a few curves in it also, which didn’t help. The van then made a left turn. At first the boys couldn’t tell whether that was onto another street or into a driveway. The side street they were driving on ended at a tee intersection. Jason made a left turn but now the gray van was no longer in sight.
“This must be the area where he lives!” Jason said excitedly. “The only problem now is exactly where!”
“Well yes and no,” Daniel replied. “Maybe this is just a shortcut he takes to the freeway.”
“I don’t know about that, Daniel,” Jason replied. “Why leave the expressway if he was going to the freeway?”
“Good point, Jason. But if he lives around here, where? He seems to have suddenly disappeared again.”
“I am guessing he pulled into a driveway and parked inside a garage. Let’s drive around some more, though, and make sure. Maybe we will get lucky and find the van parked in a driveway somewhere.”
Jason and Daniel spent the next half hour making a complete circuit of all of the streets, cul-de-sacs, and courts in the area, but did not spot the gray van. Even so, they believed that at last they had a new lead, the likely location of the neighborhood where at least one of the traffickers lived. It was already past four in the afternoon, and would start getting dark relatively soon. The boys decided to call it a day, but spend tomorrow canvassing the neighborhood to see what they could find out.
Jason drove them back home, but again stopped by Daniel’s room so that they could write down their latest findings, and plan for Thursday. Jason called Eric and told him about what they had discovered. “We are definitely going to need your help tomorrow,” Jason told him. “I hope you are available.”
“No problem, Jason. Rebecca and I spent most of the day together, did some shopping and went out to lunch. So I am good to go!”
The next morning, Jason, Eric, and Daniel drove to Milpitas in Eric’s van. This way they had a fresh vehicle, and Eric could follow them around as they went door to door. Daniel and Jason were posing as students asking for donations for one of the local youth sports leagues. Their ruse was only a half-truth, as Jason’s foundation had already donated money, and he fully planned to give any proceeds they were given to the sports league. They had mapped out an area of about one square mile to canvass, from where they believed the van had turned left to the end of that neighborhood at a busy street.
At first it was frustrating, as most people who answered their doors were not interested in donating. As the morning went on, the boys got better at delivering their pitch, and actually did collect some actual donations. Unfortunately, good people willing to help out teen sports weren’t who they were looking for. “It’s ironic that when someone is willing to donate money, inside we are urging them to hurry up so we can find someone who would rather prey on teens rather than help them!” Daniel said.
Around noon, they decided to take a break. Today they had brought lunches, so the three friends sat in the back of Eric’s van and talked about the people they had met while eating their sandwiches. A half hour later, the boys got back out on the street to finish their search, which so far had yielded nothing.
About one thirty, Jason and Daniel arrived at a cul-de-sac with eight houses on it. When they
got to the third house on the left, they hit pay dirt. A muscular man just over six feet answered the door. The man had oriental features, short cropped black hair and was wearing black boots.
When Jason began to give his pitch about the sports league, the man rudely interrupted him and said, “I’m not interested in your league and am not going to give you any money. I was expecting someone else. Now get out of here!”
“Sorry to have bothered you, mister,” Jason replied in a cheerful voice. “Some of your neighbors have been generous today.” Jason deliberately dropped the folder of brochures he was carrying to slightly stall. That was because he heard the sound of several Chinese women talking inside the house. Jason bent down to pick up the papers and winked at Daniel who had been staring inside the house the entire time. The two quickly left as the man slammed the front door shut.
They walked casually toward the next house, as was their plan, but both realized that they had just located the suspect house. To further confirm their findings, they noticed a gray van inside the garage. There was another man inside the garage working on the van, who looked similar to the man who answered the front door. When the man inside saw the boys, he quickly pushed a button on the garage wall, which began to close the automatic garage door.
Jason and Daniel were almost biting their tongues not to say anything, but it was an important part of their plan to behave like nothing was different between this house on the next ones on the cul-de-sac. They continued knocking on doors and giving their sales pitch until all of the houses on the cul-de-sac had been visited.
After they finished at the last house, Daniel said, “I think we need a well-deserved break, don’t you?”
“You can say that again! Let’s get out of here!” Jason replied as they began walking toward Eric’s van, which was parked on the access street to the cul-de-sac. Once they got inside, Eric asked them if they had found anything.
“That’s got to be the place!” Jason exclaimed in a happy voice. “That guy answering the door matched the description Jian-heng gave us, and there was a similar second man working on a gray van.”
“And inside I could hear the sounds of several Chinese women talking,” Daniel replied with equal enthusiasm. We probably interrupted one of their so-called training sessions.”
“Make sure that we have the address correct,” Jason went on. “Did you get it, Daniel?”
“Oh yes,” Daniel said. “I have it written down now. I will confirm it again using the binoculars.”
Jason used the camera in his cell phone to take some pictures of the house and cul-de-sac. Once that was done, Jason told Eric, “Get us out of here! We need to contact Captain Garcia right away!”
“It will be my pleasure!” Eric said with a smile. “I sure was getting bored with this neighborhood!” Eric started up the van, and drove toward the freeway. Twenty minutes later, he dropped Daniel and Jason off at Jason’s house.
As they were getting out of the van, both Jason and Daniel gave Eric ‘bro’ handshakes. “Thank you for watching our backs today, Eric,” Jason said. “I felt a lot safer knowing that you were there for us if we needed you.”
“I sure hope those traffickers get put away for life!” Eric replied with some emotion. “I hate those people with a passion!”
“It’s such a relief to have some results for all of our snooping around, Eric,” Daniel said. “Now I can concentrate on our band music. I am really looking forward to our rehearsal tonight!”
While they were driving back, Jason had contacted Captain Garcia on his cell phone. Captain Garcia had agreed to meet with them at four o’clock so they could show him what they had found out.
After Eric left, Jason and Daniel went back to Daniel’s house to put together everything they had found out and researched about Jian-heng’s case over the past several weeks. Jason used Daniel’s color printer to make copies of the photos he had taken of the house. Daniel then updated his mom Melinda about what they had found out today, and explained that he and Jason would be meeting with Captain Garcia so he could send in a SWAT team.
“I am very pleased to hear that you are done being detectives for a while,” Melinda told them, “and that you are doing the smart thing by turning this over to Captain Garcia. It seems you two have gotten better at your decision making! And what you are doing for that young boy is so selfless! I am proud of both of you!” Melinda came over to Daniel and gave him a hug. Then she did the same for Jason. “You know you are my number two son, Jason,” Melinda smiled at him.
“Yeah, I know. It’s so awesome to have two families!” Jason laughed.
“I made some oatmeal cookies today,” Melinda went on. “Maybe you young heroes could use a snack before you go downtown.”
“Thanks, Mom,” Daniel said as he and Jason went into the kitchen.
Promptly at four o’clock, Jason and Daniel were waiting for Captain Garcia outside his office. A few minutes later, the captain arrived from another meeting, shook hands with the two boys, and brought them inside his office.
“All right, tell me what you have discovered,” Garcia said.
Jason described how they had tracked down the man with the van and how they went door to door to discover where he actually lived. He showed the captain the pictures that they had taken of the house. Daniel presented Captain Garcia with a summary report of what they had found out from talking with Jian-heng and described the crimes that were committed against the boy and his older sisters.
“You boys have done a very good job of detective work,” Captain Garcia began by complimenting Jason and Daniel. “But even though we have your eyewitness report, we still are not operating from a reported crime, just speculation that these men are human traffickers. I will need to get a formal search warrant to take on those men so that we don’t commit a procedural error that could be used against us during a trial.
“Because of the lateness of the hour, I think that it would be better to plan the raid on that house for 6:00 AM tomorrow. I don’t believe I will have any trouble getting the warrant, because judges today give us great leniency when human lives are at stake, and because human traffickers are such despicable people. I will apply for the warrant now, hope it arrives this evening, then alert my task force SWAT team, and go in tomorrow.
“Now I know you boys want to be involved in this, but I want you to stay away from the SWAT team operation. These traffickers are most likely to be armed and dangerous. Leave this to our professional team.”
“When can we see or find out the results of the raid?” Jason asked.
“We should be done by seven tomorrow morning,” Captain Garcia said in conclusion. “I’ll be happy to talk to you then.” As he escorted the boys out of his office, he said. “Thank you again for your efforts and cooperation. I am very pleased that you covered yourselves very well on this case with your methods and your plan for backup.”
Chapter 17
The House On the Cul-de-sac
(February 25)
It was 5:30 AM at the Silicon Valley Police headquarters. Captain Garcia and the members of his task force SWAT team were getting prepared to go to that Milpitas house, surround it, and take everyone there into custody. They liked to run raids that would involve a lot of people early in the morning. The chances that everyone who was living in the house would be there were a lot greater at first light, before people had a chance to leave for that day’s activities. In this particular case, it wasn’t the women in domestic servitude Garcia was worried about, but rather the two men running the operation.
The search warrant had come in from the night judge at 9:00 PM last evening. Captain Garcia already had his men on alert to be ready. It was extremely rare that a search warrant would ever be denied, especially if there was something like human trafficking involved. The captain had gone ahead and developed his plan for the operation which included viewing satellite maps of the house along with street maps.
Because the house was located on a cul-de-sac, it was
a little more difficult to surround than a house on a conventional street. There was a utility access corridor that would get his B team right up to the fence surrounding this house, but they would have to climb the fence to gain access. The team would be vulnerable at that time if someone was watching the back and had a weapon. It was a risk they would have to take, and the men always had bullet proof vests for these situations. They also would bring along some portable stairs that would make the climb up a cinch.
Captain Garcia assembled his men and gave them a quick briefing about how the raid would be carried out. He authorized them to use lights and sirens if necessary until they were out of the San Jose area, but only if there was a lot of traffic. He explained about the two suspects they thought would be there, and that the rest of the occupants would be domestic slaves, being trained for a life of servitude. “Human traffickers are among the most despicable of all the criminals we go after. Consider them armed and very dangerous, especially since we will capture them red-handed with some of their victims.”
The SWAT team swiftly snaked its way through the early morning freeway traffic. Traffic was light this morning, so they didn’t need to use their sirens or lights. The other drivers on the road were quick to pull over out of the way when they saw the caravan of police vehicles. The team arrived at their destination a little before six AM. The plan was for the B team that was entering through the utility corridor and the back yard of the house to get in place before the rest of the team surrounded the front of the house and entered from there.
Five minutes later, Captain Garcia got the ready signal from the B team, and he gave the order to take over the house and begin the search. The A team pounded on the front door, yelled “Police!” and then broke it open. At the same time, the B time was over the fence and headed toward the back door. There was no resistance and no sound from inside. The teams worked their way through the rooms on the main floor and then went upstairs, where there were bedrooms. But no one was inside anywhere. Somehow the traffickers had sensed they were in danger and had abandoned the house.
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