“Joe has done well. I wasn’t expecting this report for a couple of days.” All the information Alice had given Mike, he already knew.
“Yeah … well, there’s more,” Alice went on: “Did you know that one of his customers is a cop?”
Mike’s ears pricked up. “What’s the kid selling––heroin?”
“No, Jake sells a lot of pills on the weekends. The cop has been buying ecstasy, apparently.”
“Well, ecstasy is not the worst drug out there, and even a cop has to unwind sometimes.” Mike wasn’t even going to ask for the cop’s name.
Alice went on reading from her notes. “There’s also a regular woman that lets him sleep with her for the price of two ecstasy pills. Jake said if her boyfriend found out he’d kill them both.”
Mike smiled. “There are risks in all jobs.” The kid was small-fry, and Alice was giving him gossip that he had no time for.
“Did you know that Jake’s younger sister is blackmailing Jake into giving her extra spending money?”
“They are that sort of family. I wouldn’t put anything past them.” Mike was being polite, and couldn’t wait for her to finish what she had to say so he could get on with all the paperwork he had to do. “Did Joe find out what the kid sister had on Jake?”
“Yeah. The Christmas before last they both got drunk and ended having sex in her bed. Jake told her that she’d better not tell their parents, and she said it would cost him.”
Mike laughed. “And you’re telling me that Joe got all that out of the kid’s dreams?” He didn’t know if he could believe it. “Tell Joe he did well, and I want you to write that out as a report; I’ll pick it up one day next week. Meanwhile, I’ll see what the boss wants him to do next.”
“Has Joe passed the test?” Alice asked eagerly.
“I would think so, but it’s not up to me.”
“What do you think our next assignment will be?”
“I don’t know––find someone higher up in their command, perhaps, and let Joe pick his brains. We’ll see. I’ll phone you when I hear from my boss.” Mike hung up, still not knowing what to think of Joe, the Magic Man. Most of the information Alice gave him, he already knew, and anyone could have found out. But, for the young man to tell Joe about screwing his sister––that was a different matter. Or, did Joe make that story up to impress them? Mike still wasn’t willing to believe someone could get into people’s dreams and make them talk about their secrets. It was too farfetched; it was like something out of a science fiction film, and that alarmed him a little.
What Mike didn’t know was that Joe had popped into his mind before Alice made her report, and Joe knew exactly what Mike was thinking and what he made of it. When Alice asked Mike what job he thought they’d have next, Mike had thought if it were his choice, it would be Ryan Taylor. With that revelation, Joe jumped back to Alice’s mind.
“Hey, Alice, are you busy?”
“Where were you; I called you three times?” Alice asked.
“Sorry, I had to take a leak.”
“How did I do?” Before he could answer, she went on: “I was as nervous as hell.”
“You did well, I guess; I’ve never done anything like that, so I don’t know what the protocol is myself, but I think you did fine.”
“He’ll send the information to Agent Burrows, now, I guess.”
“Burrows will get to hear about it, and it will take time before they come back to us. But I bet they’ll want to see what I can find out about Ryan Taylor.”
“Yeah, Mike said we’ll probably work our way up their command.”
Joe was lying on his bed, with his hands behind his head, feeling pleased with himself. “I think I’ll pay Jake another visit and find out when he sees Ryan Taylor next, see what I can find out. I can’t just hang around until they decide to give me another test.”
Alice had to agree with him. “I agree. What’s your plan?”
“Well, I don’t need you or John for this part; I can get into Jake’s mind anytime now, and when he talks to Ryan, I’ll cross over to him and find out what I can from Ryan’s mind.”
Alice knew Joe could jump from one person’s mind to another once they’d met, but it still sounded ridiculous to her. She felt left out of Joe’s plan, but she knew it was the best way. “If you need any help, let me know.”
“I will, besides, you’ve got to write our report out for the Feds.” Alice detected a chuckle when Joe reminded her of what she had to do.
Joe had no trouble getting back into Jake’s mind without him knowing about it. Joe felt he was on the case as he watched Jake wrapping up a wad of bills. He put a rubber band around them and tucked them inside his shirt pocket. Joe knew what he was up to. Jake was waiting for Ryan Taylor to make the pick-up. Two long hours later, Joe was rewarded for his patience.
Ryan Taylor’s face had ex-boxer written all over it—the flat nose that must have been broken more than once and ended off centre, with a cauliflower ear to match. He was around forty years old, six feet tall, and lean, in a muscular way. He called Jake “Speedo” and started shadowboxing as he came up to him. Joe could feel Jake’s emotions; he didn’t like Taylor. Jake gave a fake smile as they greeted each other. He thought Taylor was late, and it was about time he’d shown up, but didn’t tell him so. Jake wanted to get rid of the money, and get back out on his rounds.
Joe just wanted to get into his next victim’s mind. It was as easy as spitting out chewing gum. All Jake had to do was look Ryan in the eye, and not one of them would know the Magic Man had visited them. Joe was putting his gift to good use, and he felt worthy of it. He spent the rest of the day and night with Taylor and learned a lot. He had a job remembering it all, as he waited to contact Alice the next day.
Chapter17
“H
i, is it okay to talk?”
Alice was busy trying to catch up on her Agony Aunt letters, but was happy to finally hear from Joe.
“Well, as you can see, I’ve got lots of mail to go through for work, but it can wait.” Alice placed her letters aside and waited expectantly. “How did it go last night?”
“I’m pleased with what I found out.” Joe was sprawled out across his bed, with his eyes shut, as he tried to remember what he wanted Alice to report, and the parts that he wanted kept to himself. “Just write down what I say; you can make out the report better when we talk it over.” Joe had sensed her disappointment the previous night when he said he didn’t need her, that he could use Jake. “After all, you are the journalist, not me. And it’s your report the Feds are going to read, right partner?”
“I’ll take it down in shorthand and write out a tidy report later.”
Joe smiled at the eagerness in her voice. He knew a few days ago that Alice and John wanted him out of their dreams, but under hypnosis he took away their fear of him, and convinced them it was worth giving this job with the FBI a go. Now, Alice was as excited as a teenager starting her first job. “Ryan Taylor is 42, an ex-boxer living alone in a flat above Jimmy Murphy’s bar. Jimmy owns the bar, but he doesn’t use it often. No drug dealings go on in there––all of Jimmy’s boys know not to take drugs in there.”
“I expect he thinks the police will raid it, and arrest him because he’s the owner?”Alice was quiet for a few seconds. “So he keeps it clean––if you are going to shit, shit in someone else’s backyard,” she said out loud.
Joe knew what she was trying to say and he smiled at her comments. “Yeah, he’ll be one of L.A.’s upstanding citizens.” He went on. “Jake met Taylor in the side alley between the Black Diamond Club and the café. They joked around as if they hadn’t seen each other for a while. Jake handed over about three to four hundred dollars wrapped in a rubber band as they shook hands. I found out that Jake picks up his drugs, more often than not, in the park. He meets one of Taylor’s mules.” Joe showed how much of an amateur he was, as he tried hard to remember what they called them. “Mule is the wrong name for the go-between––pushe
r–– something like that, but Agent Jones will know what I mean. Anyway, the drugs are delivered three or four times a week. Jimmy doesn’t want his kids mugged, or caught by the police with a good haul of drugs on them. Sometimes Jake just picks up a brown bag with the drugs in it, and other times the guy hands over a take-out container, as if he were offering him the last of his fries. He sees Jimmy a couple times in the week, and every Saturday. Taylor has five other boys like Jake and one 18-yearold girl working for him. He’s not involved with her; it’s just business between them.”
“You sound disappointed?”
“Well, I had to ask.” Joe could read Alice’s mind. She was thinking the girl might change her mind if the Magic Man fancied her, and he’d have her in bed with Taylor before she knew what hit her. Joe smiled at her thoughts. She was getting to know him. “Taylor is banging a waitress in one of Jimmy’s restaurants. Did I mention he has three restaurants, as well as the bar?”
“No. Are they a cover for his drug dealings?” Alice kept writing: “Or are they legit?”
“I think they are legit. Murphy spends a great deal of time in the Shamrock restaurant. The other two are Dominic’s and The Eastern Promise. Mike might want to look into The Eastern Promise. The manager is Asian, and he gets young women from his hometown in Thailand to come over here to work for him. But get this––they are only 14 years old. Somehow, he gets them into Canada, where they get fake ID’s and a green card—all saying they’re 16 years old and legal to work in the U.S.—then brings them ‘legally’ to work for him. They work in the kitchen during the day and are prostitutes at night. Ryan says the girls are happy with the arrangement. They work over here for four years, then return to Thailand and get a passport in their real names and age. Then they come back here and marry one of their clients. Mike might be able to bust Murphy on underage sex trade, or even on using illegal immigrants in his restaurant.”
“It all should help.”
“Yeah, tell Mike I can’t remember the names of all the heavies. I didn’t want to get out of bed to get a pen and write them down, just in case I woke the wife. But one was Bobo Brown, and one was Buck.”
“I’m sure Mike will know them.” Alice said eagerly as she continued to scribble furiously. “You had a busy night.”
“Yeah. I’m going back there tonight, and with luck I’ll get the other names, and where they hang out.”
“I’m sure you’ll convince Ryan to take you to see the Asian girls,” Alice said a bit sarcastically.
“Well, if he goes there, I might tag along. Just to see what I can discover, of course.”
Alice had to smile. “Well, best of luck with that. Back to this report, though, how do you want to write it? And what do you want me to tell Mike when he calls?”
They spent the next half hour going over the report as if Joe were sitting next to her. Joe remembered more as they went along.
Later that night, Joe popped into Ryan Taylor’s mind as Ryan was watching girls pole dancing in a bar. “They are good, but not as good as the young Asian girls at The Eastern Promise.” Joe put the thought into Ryan’s mind. Suddenly, Ryan had an urge to see little Rose, who worked in the kitchen of The Eastern Promise. Joe tagged along and later enjoyed every moment of their lovemaking. Joe found out a few more details from Ryan when he finally went to sleep, and while he had the two lovers both under his power, he couldn’t resist taking them on one of his sexual fantasy trips.
The next morning he reported to Alice, telling her what he had found out about the drug trade from Ryan. The report for Mike was growing in volume and Joe hoped it was what the Bureau wanted. He told Alice that tonight he was going with Ryan to meet Jimmy Murphy.
Again, Joe had no problem jumping from one mind to the other. Once Ryan had spoken to Jimmy, Joe was in his thoughts, and waited for Jimmy Murphy to go to sleep and give up his innermost secrets. Joe couldn’t wait to tell Alice what he had found out, and how easy it was to get the information from Ryan and Jimmy. Finally, he was putting his powers to work for something else other than his own pleasures, and he felt good about himself.
Joe was bubbling over with excitement as he reported to Alice, nearly giving her another heart attack when he spoke to her in her head unexpectedly. Instead of announcing himself quietly, he called her name sharply. Alice gave him hell for frightening her, but Joe took no notice as he had her take down the report of his night’s work, while it was still fresh in his mind. The last three nights’ reports were four pages long, filled with names and drug dealings.
Alice was wondering if she should call Mike, or wait. Joe’s report had some extremely interesting information in it. Her mind was made up for her when Mike phoned her.
“Alice … Mike here,” he didn’t waste any time with formalities. “I’ve sent Joe’s report off and the boss wants him to see if he can find out more about Jake’s pick-ups, and how much money exchanges hands per week.”
“Joe’s been busy the last few nights,” Alice interrupted him, not able to hold her excitement back. “Joe has a four-page report waiting for you to pick up. He thought you’d want to find out about Ryan Taylor, so somehow he met him and got into his dreams.”
“He’s done what?” Mike was dumbfounded. “The stupid bastard, he’s asking to get the both of you killed! I’m coming right over.”
Before Alice could tell him not to use that tone of voice with her, Mike had slammed the phone down. “If' you think that’s stupid,” she shouted at the phone, “then wait until you read the ‘stupid’ report he’s got on Murphy!”
Mike wasted no time driving over to Alice’s. He barged into the house, like a bull in a china shop, as soon as she opened the door. He was ranting and raving that she and Joe couldn’t work on their own like this. They didn’t know the dangers, they could spoil months of surveillance work, and get themselves killed if they were caught snooping.
All Alice said after he finished his ranting was, “Read the report first before you call Joe stupid.” She pointed to the papers on the kitchen table, then made them coffee.
Mike read the report twice, with Alice interrupting with her version of what must have happened. With his coffee gone cold, Mike had also cooled down, and started asking questions.
“So, this Eastern Promise restaurant employs illegal immigrants the manager gets from Thailand, and the girls earn extra as prostitutes?” He was shaking his head, not able to believe that Joe had a four-page report on Jimmy Murphy. “I don’t think Jimmy knows about that side of his business. We certainly didn’t.”
“Joe said the girls worship the manager. Back home he’s famous, and it’s an honor to be asked to come to America to work for him.” Alice pointed to Mike’s half cup of cold coffee. “Do you want another one?”
“There are four girls there.” He slid his cup across the table without as much as please or thanks. “Two are working in the kitchen, and two waiting on tables. Is that right?”
“Yeah. The ones in the kitchen are the new girls, just kids.” After they serve their time in the kitchen, they become waitresses. That’s when the manager finds them husbands. Male customers of the restaurant that fancy them, get to know them, then propose to the young women.” Alice gave a distasteful smile. “When a girl is 18 years old, she goes home and gets a passport in her real name, and then requests an American citizenship to marry one of our men. Then, two more young girls come to work in the kitchen, and so on.”
It only made half sense to Mike. “Why go to Canada first? Why not get them work permits legally?”
“Easier to get them into Canada, and then smuggle them across the border,” Alice replied. She paused before continuing on. “In Thailand, if a girl hasn’t got a job by the time she’s 14 years old, then she’ll end up as a prostitute, earning peanuts. The way the manager works it over here is, it’s up to the girls if they want to earn a little extra. They don’t have to sell sex if they don’t want to. The manager is not their pimp. He looks after them as though they were his
own family.”
Mike screwed up his face as he tried to work through all the new information. “It sounds like a tidy setup for all concerned, especially the manager. However, I doubt if Murphy cares how or where the manager gets his staff. I’m sure Immigration will look into it, and Vice will look into the underage prostitution. My department wants to find out how the drugs move and who’s who in the drug circle––from the user in the crack dens, to the drug baron who sends it over here.” He shook his head. “I, personally, don’t think they are using this Eastern Promise restaurant for drug trafficking.”
Alice nodded agreement. “As you can see, Joe’s given you some of the names of Ryan Taylor’s associates, and Jimmy Murphy’s bookkeeper.”
“Yes. That’s a name we didn’t know, he’s done well there.” Mike read that part of the report again. “This Gerald Lomas––he’s new to us. And Joe said all the money from Ryan, and all the other goons Murphy has working for him, goes straight to Lomas, and he pays for the next shipment in advance?” Mike frowned. “There has to be a lot of trust to do that.”
Alice could see the puzzled look on Mike’s face. “Joe said that Jimmy had paid a bond of $25,000 to the drug baron. That was three years ago, and since then, business has been running smoothly.”
“That’s why we can’t catch them making deals and handing over the money for the drugs.” Mike rubbed his chin. “Did Joe say the bond covered a week, or a month’s dealings?”
Alice grimaced. “I think it’s a week. Remember, he said they make drop-offs twice a week, sometimes three.”
“If Jimmy’s paying out $25,000 a week, his profit has to be four or five times that,” Mike pondered. “His turnover must be about $125,000 a week.”
“No, I think you’ve got it wrong.” Alice tried to remember what Joe said. “I think Jimmy paid $75,000 up front for $50,000 worth of merchandise, so he was down $25,000, which went as a deposit on the next shipment. Then the supplier sent him another $50,000 worth, so the supplier was down $25,000 then until Jimmy paid for the next shipment, and so on and so on.” Alice looked more confused than Mike. “So that $25,000 bond was floating to and fro on $50,000 of drugs, I think. I’ll have to ask Joe, again.”
Get Out Of My Dreams Page 13
