As she made her way closer to the trio, she caught sight of Bryan Mortimer and stepped behind a tree. She watched him from there as he left Debi with the two guys. He was flanked by two girls who didn’t look older than sixteen. They were headed to a smaller bungalow nestled behind some massive cacti.
The man himself was here, she thought.
Debi was here.
Addison had to be here somewhere, too.
She listened for any sounds of sirens but so far all she heard was the thumping of the music.
Once she’d taken care of the two guys, she and Debi would have to storm the gatehouse for her phone. She had her small revolver in her ankle holster, and she’d use it if she had to. Not before getting Debi away from those men.
The brightness of the twinkle lights caused her to stick out as she came closer to the trio. She didn't think the two men who were dragging Debi into the bungalow would notice. She worried more about the security scattered around the party.
She had counted at least twenty security people who were in contact with each other through their earpieces. They were all scattered throughout the grounds, doing a patrol of their sections. Harri wondered when the guard for this section would come back around.
She kept close to the trees and made her way as quietly as she could. The music was still thumping relatively loudly so even if she did crunch on a branch, the sound was hidden by the beat.
A commotion started in front of her and she watched Debi suddenly come to life and try to break away from the two guys. Unfortunately, it was two against one. She managed to shove away from one of them, but the second guy grabbed her around the waist and threw her inside the bungalow.
The door slammed shut.
Harri sprinted the last ten feet and made it onto the small porch without incident. She checked behind her and saw no guards. She put her ear to the door and didn’t hear anything from inside. She hoped the layout was like the other buildings she’s already searched.
Harri opened the door and slipped inside. To her relief, the layout was the same. Kitchen to the left, small living area to the right with a hallway going toward the back.
Small gasps were coming from the nearest door. Harri guessed that was where the men had Debi.
She around the room. What could she use to hit the men with? She could take on one of them but not two. Harri needed a weapon.
Keeping as silent as possible, she padded over to the kitchenette and looked for a skillet. A skillet was a woman’s best weapon. Unless she had a gun, of course. To her disappointment, the kitchenette was only outfitted as a bar with glasses and booze.
Booze.
She grabbed the Jack Daniels bottle by the neck and practiced swinging it around. That would do just fine, she thought.
A scream erupted out of the room.
Harri’s pulse quickened. Adrenaline pulsated through her, sharpening her focus. She clutched the bottle tighter.
It was time.
37
Day 4 – Evening
Debi screamed again. The sound didn’t stop the guys ripping her clothes off.
One was trying to stick his tongue down her throat while the other one was tearing her dress off her body.
Their hands were everywhere. Terror squeezed her throat.
She desperately bucked trying to get them off her.
They both laughed and she realized it only made them more excited.
Debi tried to lift her knee to attempt a kick. The brown-haired guy easily pinned her leg down with his own.
They were so heavy.
She was losing.
They were going to rape her, and she was awake this time. She’d feel every brutal moment of it. She’d remember every moment of it. The drugs had worn off completely and her body was so weak from lack of food.
She didn’t know how long she could keep this up, but she would fight to the bitter end.
Tears ran down Debi’s cheeks as she fought hard to wrench her arm away from one of the men.
One of them had his hand up her dress and was pulling off the black lace panties.
This was really happening.
I don’t want this. Please. Please somebody help me, her mind screamed.
As if her pleas for help were answered, the door suddenly opened just a bit and a woman snuck into the room holding a liquor bottle.
The woman put a finger to her lips when their eyes met.
The two guys were too busy ravaging her body to notice anything. The brown-haired guy bit her nipple hard and Debi screamed again in pain.
38
Day 4 – Evening
Harri put her finger to her lips when she saw Debi's eyes widen. The girl knew she was here to help. She swung the bottle of liquor at the brown-haired guy’s head. The bottle connected with a crack. He fell away from Debi, howling in pain.
Harri turned to the second man who charged at her. She punched him in the face with the bottle, breaking his nose.
Blood squirted all over his bare chest.
“What the fuck, bitch,” he screamed.
He came at her again trying to head butt her but Harri was too fast. She jumped to the right and when he missed her, she cracked him in the head with the bottle, too. His body thudded to the ground.
She’d knocked him out cold.
The brown-haired guy rose from behind the bed, woozy from the first hit. Harri couldn’t take the chance of him alerting anyone else. She smacked him across the head with the bottle again. He went down, hard.
Debi scrambled off the bed and threw herself at Harri.
She dropped the bottle and took the girl in her arms.
“Can you walk?”
“The drugs have worn off, but I haven’t eaten in days,” Debi said, shaking like a leaf. She was going into shock, Harri thought. She unscrewed the cap off the whiskey.
“Take a sip of this. It’ll help,” Harri said.
Debi shook her head no and backed away from Harri.
“Debi, it’s all right.” Harri assured her. “I’m a police detective. I came here to find you.”
Debi stared back at Harri. Harri realized Debi thought she might be one of her captors.
“Your roommate Janie sent me.” Harri said.
Debi burst into tears.
Harri handed the bottle to Debi who gulped down a large sip and began to cough through her tears.
Harri pulled her out of the room and closed the door behind them.
“We have to get out of here,” Debi cried. “He’ll come back for me.”
“I have to see if anyone else is here,” Harri said and pulled her down the hall.
“No, we have to go,” Debi begged. “Please. We have to go. They've been keeping me prisoner, we have to get out of here before they see us,” Debi wailed.
“Debi, I'm an LAPD detective,” Harri explained as calmly as she could. “I'm looking for another girl who’s also missing. Have you seen or heard of anyone named Addison? Addison James?”
Debi gulped down a sob and shook her head. She stood in the corner and did her best to pull herself together.
Harri put her ear to the door to see if there was a couple in there. When she didn’t hear anything, she tried to open the door. It was locked.
“I'm gonna have to break it down,” Harri said. “Stay over there.”
Debi obeyed and Harri gave herself enough room to kick the door right next to the doorknob. The door stayed locked.
“I don’t think this is going to work,” Debi whispered.
Harri closed her eyes and imagined Addison on the other side, held captive for weeks. With a grunt she propelled her shoulder into the door, hitting it as hard as she could. The cheap wood gave way and the door flew open.
Harri groaned with the exploding pain in her shoulder. She’d done it but might have messed up her collarbone again.
“There’s a girl in here,” cried Debi.
Harri could see she’d found Addison James. The girl lay on a small twin bed, complete
ly passed it out.
“Is she dead?” Debi asked as Harri took her pulse.
“It’s okay, Debi.” Harri tried to reassure the terrified girl. “I feel a heartbeat. She must be drugged like you were.”
“We have to leave her,” Debi started crying again. “We won’t be able to carry her. Those guys are going to wake up. He’ll come back for me.”
“We just need to get to the gatehouse. My phone’s in there. We’ll call the police from there.”
“What? What does that mean? You’re here by yourself? No one is out there to save us? Oh my god, they're gonna find us and he's gonna put me back in that room,” Debi wailed and gasped for air.
Harri put her hands on Debi’s shoulders and got close to her face.
“Debi! I know this is hard. I know you’re scared. I'm asking a lot of you right now, but you really need to calm down. Nobody's coming for us until I get that damn phone. So, we’re going to have to make our way through this entire compound to get there. You can stay here with Addison or you can come with me.”
“No,” Debi shook her head as she tried to control her tears. “No, please don’t leave me here. Those guys are going to wake up.”
Harri didn’t want to leave Addison behind, but she had no other choice. She grabbed Debi by the hand and pulled her down the hall. The door to the room that Debi had been in was open. The two guys had snuck out.
“We just ran out of time,” Harri said.
They ran towards the front door and opened it.
Bryan Mortimer came rushing toward them, his eyes black with fury and his face set to stone.
“No, he has a gun,” Debi screamed from behind her.
POP!
POP!
Harri threw herself at Debi and they both tumbled to the ground.
The night erupted with sirens.
Harri pulled Debi out of the doorway and peeked out, fumbling with her ankle holster.
Bryan Mortimer stopped, his face twisting into something ugly and furious. He pointed his gun at Harri. “I'm going get you, bitch,” he sneered and then disappeared into the darkness of the woods.
Debi wailed next to her as Harri pulled out her gun and waited.
She could run after him, but she wouldn’t give him the chance to come back and hurt the girls while she was out in the woods getting lost as she searched for him. She would get him. His day would come.
Her shoulder screamed in pain. She positioned herself in the doorway and watched as half-dressed men came stumbling out of the various bungalows.
The red and blue lights of patrol cars illuminated the night. Shouts came from behind the first bungalow and Harri watched the LAPD SWAT team stream in.
She holstered her gun back at her ankle and waited for them to find her.
39
Day 4 – Evening
Detective Harri Harper watched as two ambulances drove away carrying Debi Mills and Addison James. Harri had stayed with Debi, LAPD badge in hand, until SWAT found them.
Overall, the bust had netted over eighty arrests and the LAPD had gotten buses to take all the men to booking. The charges were statutory rape so far. Many of the girls without bracelets were under the age of sixteen and had been trafficked to the party.
As Harri watched the paramedics treat Addison, Tom coordinated the search of the entire property. The uniformed officers had found four other girls locked in rooms and heavily drugged.
Harri found Tom near the largest bungalow, watching as CID gathered evidence and the uniformed officers secured the scene.
“How did you get a search warrant this fast?” Harri asked.
“When your text message came in, I mobilized units and called in a massive favor with a judge I know. He gave me a verbal warrant on the evidence you’d already gathered.”
“I worried I didn’t give you enough in that text,” she said.
“I texted you back almost immediately. When you didn’t answer, I had the tech guys ping your phone. When your location sat unchanged, I knew we had to go in.”
“You came in the nick of time.” Harri smiled at him. “Bryan Mortimer came at us with a gun, You should direct CID to pull any bullets in that bungalow. In case they match with any unsolved cases.”
“He ran?”
“He did.” Harri sighed. “And a man like that has an escape plan. I’m still unsure how I stumbled on this party. Have we found a woman named Jennifer Randall?”
“I’d have to look on the logs,” Tom said. “Lydia Macros gave you our entire case.”
“With the girls as witnesses, I think we’ll have him,” she said. “Even if they fall through, we have him on kidnapping, imprisonment and not to mention the drugs.”
“What’s going on with your shoulder?” Tom asked. “You need to get checked?”
Harri twisted her back and arm, trying to ease the pain in her shoulder.
“I broke a door down using my body as a ram,” she explained. “I’m gonna hurt for a while, but I’ll be fine.”
One of the uniforms came running toward Tom. “Detective Bards! We found the control room. There are cameras everywhere and TVs and drives,” he said, panting between words.
Tom and Harri looked at each other.
“Merry Christmas, Tom.” She smiled at him.
“Happy Birthday, Harri.” He laughed.
They followed the officer to the first bungalow Harri had searched. The uniform led them through the kitchen and opened what Harri assumed was a cupboard door.
The uniform opened it and Harri peered down at concrete stairs. “I didn’t think anyone had basements in LA.”
“Wait ‘til you see this setup,” the officer said as he took the lead down the stairs. “The guys in here scampered away as we were coming. They forgot to lock everything up.”
“Lucky for us,” Harri said and whistled as a room the size of the entire footprint of the house above appeared. A bank of over thirty video monitors ran alongside one of the walls. A single computer terminal sat in front of the display. The monitors were split into quad frames and showed every corner of the compound, even the bathrooms.
“Perfect setup for some extortion,” Harri said to Tom.
She pressed the space bar on the computer terminal with her gloved hand. A screen came up with a single field for a password.
“Damn, it's going to take days for one of our techs to get this thing open,” Tom said.
“What about this,” Harri said. “Rosebud. Stephen Ladner said that when I interviewed him. Remember how we thought it was a code?”
“We probably have three tries. Rosebud might as well be the first one. Then we can let the techs take over if it doesn't work,” Tom said.
“Let's hope we get lucky then,” Harri said.
She typed in Rosebud into the password field and the computer turned on and flashed to the home screen.
“We have him,” Tom said as Harri opened up the documents tab and found folders with dates. Hundreds of them.
“Thank you, Stephen Ladner,” she said.
40
Day 5
Harri Harper had her shoulder checked to make sure she hadn't dislocated it again. It was still sore from when she’d hurt herself two months ago up in Oregon and the bruising she gave herself breaking down the door where Addison James was being held hadn't helped the healing process.
She dulled the pain by popping three Extra-Strength Advil. Her lack of sleep wasn’t helping her body either.
A massive search was under way for Bryan Mortimer. The crime scene investigators were still working the compound. It would take the teams days before they could collect every bit of evidence. The estate was owned by a shell corporation and Tom had handed that line of inquiry off to the finance crimes investigators.
Digital Techs were combing through the massive amount of videos and images they’d unlocked on the servers in the control room. They’d already found the video of Sophie being assaulted by Bryan Mortimer.
They had him for rape
, but not yet for murder. Harri joined Tom in the lobby of Cedars-Sinai Hospital, where Debi Mills and Addison James had been brought. They’d both received the call that Debi was well enough to talk. She hadn't had as many drugs in her system as Addison did or for as long a time. The doctors were keeping her there for another day for observation.
“Have you slept yet?” Tom asked as they headed toward the elevators.
“Have you?” Harri countered.
Tom laughed. “Ah, the counter question. Classic Harri Harper, no? I directed the retrieval of all the drives from the control room. Call me paranoid. At least, I made sure no drives disappeared and they’re safe with our people at cybercrimes.”
“I haven’t left this waiting room. I don’t know why, but it made me feel better to be in the same place as the girls.”
“Did you get that shoulder looked at?” he asked.
“Yes. Major bruising, nothing broken. Debi’s on the fourth floor,” Harri said as they stepped into the elevator.
Tom punched the number four and the elevator doors closed.
“Thank you for saving me,” Debi said.
Harri nodded and squeezed her hand. She looked so small in the hospital bed with tubes coming out of her nose and an IV in her arm.
“The doctor said the drugs are almost completely out of your system. You didn't take in as much as they hoped you would?” Harri said.
“It was in the food and water. I started drinking the tap water and not eating. I only pretended. I flushed the bad food down the toilet.”
“Smart girl,” Tom said in approval.
“I don't really know what day it is, though,” Debi said.
“You’ve been missing three days,” Harri said.
Debi was quiet for a moment, taking that in.
“I don't remember much. I was pretty out of it until that last night when I realized what was happening and didn't eat the food or drink the water.”
“How did you end up there?” Harri asked.
The Broken Trail: A Chilling Serial Killer Thriller (Harriet Harper Thriller Book 3) Page 20
