Visible Threat (21 page)

57

C
HAOS ERUPTED
when Jack told Brinna, Maggie, and Gracie about Magda Boteva.

“I know that shop,” Gracie exclaimed. “My neighbor Laura works there. Her boss is a kidnapper?”

“No, no, that’s not what I said.” Jack raised his hands to calm everyone down. “She has information about the kidnapping.”

At first Brinna was speechless; then a seething anger began to boil up inside. “And just how long has she known this?” she demanded. “My mother has been gone for hours.”

“Darryl didn’t give me the whole story. You and I have to get down to the station, talk to the woman, and let everyone know about the phone call you just got.”

“Should I go interview Laura?” Gracie bounced on her toes with anticipation. “Maybe she’ll know something about all this.”

“No,” Brinna and Jack exclaimed at the same time. They exchanged glances, and Brinna shook her head, gesturing to
Jack, wanting him to explain to Gracie why that was a bad idea.

“Gracie, we appreciate that you want to help, but you have to leave this to the police, okay?”

“But, Detective O’Reilly! Maybe there’s something I can do that the police can’t.”

Maggie stepped in. “Hey, Gracie, it’s great you want to help, but the most important thing now is to get Brinna’s mom and Ivana home safe. You don’t want to jeopardize that, do you?”

The girl looked crestfallen. “No, but
 
—”

“Mags.” Brinna took a deep breath. “Jack and I have to get going. What did Gracie’s mother say?”

“She was happy to know Gracie was here with us and said she’d come to pick her up if we want.”

“She also said that I can stay if I’m helping. I want to help.”

“You and Gracie can help me most by walking Hero and then feeding him. Then you should probably go home, okay?” She looked from Maggie to Gracie.

“Sure,” Maggie said. “How does that sound, Gracie? After we take care of Hero, I’ll give you a ride home.”

“Okay, I guess.” She was deflated but Brinna barely noticed. She was halfway out the door, fanny pack in hand, waving for Jack to catch up.

Maggie hollered from the porch, “Good luck!” Then she crossed her fingers.

Brinna held that image in her mind, knowing exactly what her mother would have said had she seen it.
“No use
crossing your fingers. It’s not fate or luck that controls our lives; it’s a loving God in heaven.”

I don’t really know how to pray,
Brinna thought,
but oh, Lord, if you’re there and you’re real, please bring my mom home safe.

Brinna realized how much she wanted to have another conversation about God with her mom.
Will I ever have the chance?

Jack drove to the station. Brinna, in the passenger seat, had a white-knuckle grip on her seat belt.

“Darryl said this woman had a lot of information about Ivana and the trafficking?” she asked Jack.

“Apparently she knows a lot.”

Welty’s news that this woman, this shop owner, was in his office ready to come completely clean with what she knew about Ivana and her mother was shocking and enraging at the same time. Brinna seethed, wondering just how long the woman had had this important information.

“Did Welty tell you anything else?” she asked Jack through gritted teeth.

“That she knew who was responsible for enslaving the girls and where Ivana and Rose were likely being held.”

“This makes me furious. If she’d spoken up sooner, she might have prevented everything!”

“We don’t know that. And we don’t know her involvement; maybe she is as much a victim as the girls.”

“She runs a successful business and dresses in expensive clothes. She’s not a victim.”

“Just hang on until we know the whole story.” Jack
reached across the car and gripped Brinna’s hand. Brinna squeezed back and took a deep breath. Jack’s touch and presence calmed her, but the anger was there, just beneath the surface.

The station was six minutes from Brinna’s house if you made all the traffic lights. Jack got there in five. SWAT was mobilizing in the parking lot when they arrived. Jack and Brinna jogged to the station and took the stairs up to the burglary floor.

Brinna’s heart was in her throat when she stepped into the office and came face-to-face with Magda Boteva. The woman sat in front of Darryl’s desk, wiping her eyes with Kleenex. Holding her hand was a blond-haired man with one leg. Darryl had said that the woman came in with her husband.

“You guys sure got here quick.” Darryl leaned back in his chair. “I’d like to introduce Magda and Anton. They’ve given us quite a bit of information.”

There was only one bit of information, one question Brinna wanted answered. “Where is my mother?”

58

“M
Y LIFE IS OVER,”
Simon said, standing over the body of his coconspirator. For the moment he seemed to forget about Ivana and Mrs. Caruso, but Ivana could not forget about the gun in his hand.

Her entire body shook with fear. She had never seen someone die, much less be shot to death before her eyes, and now she couldn’t force her gaze from the gruesome scene just played out in front of her. Mrs. Caruso held Ivana close and tried to calm her fears, but Ivana could tell the shooting had cracked Mrs. Caruso’s calm reserve. The older woman shook along with Ivana, and Ivana wondered if they both were taking their final breaths.

Simon rubbed his chin and mumbled something Ivana couldn’t make out. Her ears were still ringing from the two thunderous gunshots. When he turned and faced the two women, Ivana held her breath.

“There is no escape. Demitri will find me, or your police will kill me.” He pointed the gun at Rose Caruso, and Ivana
felt the older woman’s body grow taut. “How did it come to this bleak place?”

Ivana’s hand tightened on Mrs. Caruso’s, and suddenly the room felt frigid. She stared at Simon, never having seen such dark, hopeless eyes. He had always been the cheerful, friendly captor, the only one she’d trusted. Now, watching him, and fearing the gun, she felt certain she and Mrs. Caruso were dead.

“As long as you have breath in your body, there’s hope,” Mrs. Caruso said, her calm voice eerie in the dimly lit room.

Ivana did not take her eyes off Simon to look at her friend. But she hoped with all her heart that Mrs. Caruso had the words to stop the madman, because Ivana couldn’t find it in herself to even speak.

Simon grunted something Ivana didn’t understand.

“It’s not too late to end this.” Mrs. Caruso continued speaking, her voice soothing. “American justice says you get a lawyer and a fair trial. Let us go; you haven’t hurt us. I’ll make sure the authorities know that you are not a bad man.”

“You are wrong,” Simon shouted, pointing the gun directly at Rose Caruso. “I am a very bad man!” A sob escaped him. “But I am not as bad as Demitri.” He threw his head back, banging it against the door. “I do not fear your authorities.” A strangled laugh bubbled forth. “I fear Demitri. Only death will provide me with escape from him.”

Ivana agreed with Simon even as the name Demitri caused anger to build inside her. He was the devil behind all of this. The only thing she understood in this entire crazy situation was the fear Simon had for that man.

“I refuse to believe that.” Mrs. Caruso continued to plead with Simon, interrupting Ivana’s train of thought and desire for revenge. “If Demitri is behind all this, then he should pay. You can help the police here arrest him, and he will be held responsible. Any help you give will just make things better for you.”

Mrs. Caruso extricated herself from Ivana and stood. “Please, I know how the police work in this country. Let us go. I’ll talk to them, explain what you’re afraid of. Explain that you felt threatened by this man you shot. Give yourself up, and tell them what you know. There is still hope for you.”

“You know nothing!” Simon screamed and Ivana jumped. But Mrs. Caruso stayed still even as Simon released a stream of angry Bulgarian.

“I know that you are afraid,” Mrs. Caruso said when he took a breath. “So am I, and so is Ivana. But there doesn’t have to be any more bloodshed or brutality.” She held her hands out. “You think you have no power, but you’re wrong. You have the power to end this now and save three lives. Give me the gun; let us go. You won’t regret it.”

Ivana held her breath. Simon’s face contorted, and his eyes seemed to grow darker. She remembered earlier, when Mrs. Caruso had sought to calm her fears by talking about God and the Savior Jesus. Mrs. Caruso had told her that when you had fear, if you prayed to God and believed that he was real and that he’d heard you, he would give you strength. Ivana wasn’t certain about Mrs. Caruso’s God, but she knew right now she needed strength.

With all of her heart she prayed, begging this God to
protect them both and to make Simon drop the gun. But the look in Simon’s eyes caused her hope to flee. He was not a man who would pay any attention to reason now.

Her heart seemed to stop beating. She knew that, in seconds, both she and Mrs. Caruso could be dead. Praying harder, she begged for a God she barely knew to intervene.

59

“I
F
I
KNEW EXACTLY
where she was, I would tell you.” Magda held Brinna’s simmering gaze.

“But you know who took her and who killed Ivana’s sister? You know that?” Brinna leaned into the woman’s face.

Jack gripped Brinna’s shoulders and pulled her back. “Let’s hear what she has to say.”

“She’s already given us names.” Welty held out a file of mug shots.

Brinna jerked herself from Jack’s grasp and took the folder from Welty. They were in the burglary offices huddled around Welty’s desk while in the back of the room a SWAT team was prepping for action. It was after 6 p.m. now and dark out.

“The head bad guy is Demitri Dinev,” Welty continued. “He’s got no record in the States but an extensive one in Europe. Interpol gave us the picture.” Welty then went through all the information they had gleaned from Magda about the man who had exploited so many. Interpol provided
a rap sheet from Europe. Most of the arrests were minor, and most had never been prosecuted, but the information gave the investigation a boost. It also gave them known associates.

“Simon Greuv, another petty criminal, is the one we believe has your mother and the Bulgarian girl.”

Brinna pulled the picture of Simon from the file and studied it.

“A photo of him has been distributed to all the major news outlets,” Welty continued. “Chuck and ICE decided a full-court press will be the only way to shake something loose.”

“You’re not afraid of scaring these guys into doing something rash?” Jack asked.

Welty shook his head. “According to Magda, Demitri is not in the country right now; he’s possibly back in Bulgaria. It’s just Simon we have to deal with.”

“Going public might spook Demitri. He could stay in Bulgaria or another European country and never be arrested for his crimes in the US.” Jack took the words from Brinna’s mouth.

She sat back, leaning against a window. She didn’t trust herself to speak with this woman in the room. They had yet to learn the entire story behind the human trafficking, but they did know one important fact: Magda Boteva had known what was going on for years. The girls were promised jobs at her shop. The thought of that deception was like a match to gasoline on Brinna’s already-seething emotions.

Welty rubbed his chin and gave a half shrug. “There is a chance of that, but the priority at the moment is getting Rose
and Ivana home safely. We want to put pressure on Simon. Magda gave us a great lead.” He deferred to her.

“There is a piece of property near the harbor,” Magda explained. “It’s not owned by Demitri or anyone Bulgarian. It’s owned by a Canadian associate of Demitri’s. It’s mostly vacant except for a large warehouse. Demitri takes all the girls there when he first brings them into the country. If Simon is not at the house where the girls were kept, he will be at the warehouse. I know of no other place he would hide.”

“Is this warehouse normally empty?” Jack asked.

“Yes, he may store his car there and maybe some merchandise. But my guess is that it will be empty until he returns from Bulgaria.” Magda cast her gaze to the ground.

At least she has the decency to be embarrassed about what she’s allowed to continue,
Brinna thought.

Detective Welty laid a map of the harbor on his desk, and Magda pointed out the location of the warehouse. The SWAT sergeant stepped close to listen in.

“He’ll see us coming from a mile away,” Brinna said as she studied the route through the harbor. “Talk about being hidden in plain sight. This warehouse was right under our noses; how is it that no one noticed something illegal was going on?”

“It wasn’t where he was running his business, so he probably stayed off the radar,” Jack observed.

“We have a signed warrant; everything is a green light. It won’t be a problem for an armed team to approach on foot under cover of darkness.” SWAT Sergeant Hall pointed to a path south of the warehouse that would provide reasonable
cover for a team on foot. “I’ve got my teams ready to go
 
—one for the ground assault and one assigned to vehicles.” He stood ready, arms crossed over his black uniform, a wad of tobacco visible in his left cheek.

“Wait a second,” Brinna protested. “If there are innocent hostages in the warehouse, you can’t storm it.”

“Relax, Caruso.” The tobacco wad moved from Hall’s left cheek to his right as he regarded Brinna with an unreadable expression. “The foot team will determine if a ground assault is warranted. After they determine if the targets are even there.”

“If they’re there, we’ll need a negotiator,” Brinna said.

“Got one
 
—downstairs in MOC-1. It’s Gomez.”

Brinna sighed, happy with that information at least. She was on unfamiliar turf here and had to concede that the SWAT sergeant knew what he was doing. The team also had proficient negotiators
 
—calm, professional, and trustworthy. If she’d been able to pick, Gomez would have been her choice.

“I’d like to hang out in MOC-1 and watch the progress of the team on the monitors,” Brinna said. MOC-1, the Mobile Operations Center, was a large recreational vehicle outfitted with radios, satellite systems, phones
 
—everything needed to be a rolling police command post.

Hall looked at the watch commander, Lieutenant Harvey. Harvey was probably the only weak link as far as Brinna was concerned, and she hated the fact that they had a history. He was new and so by the book, she feared he would not be able to make critical decisions quickly. Luckily Jack spoke up before Harvey could object.

“Okay, Brinna, let’s get downstairs and into the RV so
we’ve got a good seat when this show hits the road.” He grabbed her arm, and they left the office with no objections from Harvey or Hall.

Brinna shoved her hands in her pockets, not wanting to think about what would happen if Magda’s information was incorrect. The warehouse in the harbor was the last best hope of finding her mother quickly. She hoped with all her heart that Rose was in the warehouse and that she was still alive.

*   *   *

FOX, the police helicopter, circled in the sky above the harbor. Brinna sat in MOC-1 viewing the video feed from the chopper. The warehouse sat by itself on an old pier. There was no activity of any kind around the pier, no ships docked close by and no vehicles on the dock.

“It looks deserted,” Brinna observed. She chewed on an index finger since both of her thumbnails had already been gnawed painfully short.

“Don’t let that fool you,” the SWAT sergeant said. “The warehouse is large enough to hold several vehicles. It’s possible our suspect pulled the car inside to make us believe the place was deserted. Our first team will reach the place in a few minutes.”

He pointed over Brinna’s shoulder to the screen at the six-man team that approached the warehouse on foot. A ground approach was the only way to make a stealth attack. The black-clad SWAT team moved efficiently across the space between the warehouse and the command post. Their only cover was scrub brush, but Brinna had to admire their skill.
She detected them because she knew what to look for. She doubted anyone in the warehouse would be able to see them coming.

“They’ll get an eye inside the warehouse with a remote camera and microphone that will pick up any sound,” he continued. “Then we’ll have a better idea of what we’re facing.”

The sergeant left to confer with his negotiator. Brinna blew out a frustrated breath and searched for Jack. He was in another part of the command center on the phone. Brinna knew he was trying to figure out which vehicle the man holding Ivana and Rose might be in. Since the van had been impounded at the house in Hawaiian Gardens, they had no idea what mode of transportation they should be on the lookout for.

Jack hung up the phone as Brinna reached his side.

“Any news?” she asked.

“The van was a rental, a long-term rental to BVD Enterprises.”

“BVD? Is that some kind of joke?”

Jack shrugged. “Not sure. But the other three houses that have been searched all had vehicles leased to the same company.”

Brinna considered this information. She knew that the three search warrants Chuck had told her about had been served. ICE freed more women and several young men who were being held against their will. All were from Eastern European countries, and most of the women had been forced into prostitution, though a few were used as house cleaners. The men were used for various types of manual
labor. As for the men holding the captives, six had been arrested, and two had died in gunfights with federal agents. The story was big news, and media coverage was exploding. Already two news helicopters had been warned away from the harbor.

But none of the arrests had gotten them any closer to Rose and Ivana, nor had any of the men arrested been forthcoming with information. They clearly understood the importance of American Miranda rights and were asking for lawyers. Equally frustrating was the lack of a paper trail. None of the houses turned up anything important
 
—no computer records and, other than the documents belonging to the women, no paperwork.

“How are you holding up?” Jack asked, his full attention on Brinna. “Sorry I had to pull you back.”

Brinna looked up at him, stepped close so their hands touched. “I don’t blame you; I was out of control.”

Jack stroked her forearm with an index finger. “No one here faults you for that.”

“I need to keep control, so thanks for the brush back. You know me. I hate to be on the sidelines. I want to be in the game. Right now caution is the wise course, but I sure wish we could rush the place and find out what . . .” She looked away as she considered that they might enter the warehouse and find only bodies.

“Hang on.” Jack took her hand and held it in both of his. “There is encouraging news. One vehicle rented by BVD is still outstanding. It’s a four-door Chevy sedan. Could be that car will lead us to your mom.”

“We have a visual on the inside of the warehouse.” Hall’s voice cut across the command post like a crack of lightning.

Brinna and Jack turned to look at him.

“No vehicles, no movement or sound.” His brows furrowed as he concentrated on what he was hearing in his earpiece. “The place appears to be deserted. I’m sending in the vehicles; we’re going in the front door.”