by Robin Mahle
Kate stepped backwards towards the door, afraid to take her eyes off of Gregor. She waved the two of them inside and, finally, she reengaged the safety and holstered her weapon.
The mother ran to her son and pulled him close as he sat on the chair. Nicola could only watch as her brother sobbed like a baby in their mother’s arms.
Gregor sat back up and looked to his sister.
“I had to, Gregor. I know Vito made you do these things. But she can help.” Nicola pointed to Kate, who’d secured the front door before returning.
Kate’s top concern now was Vito’s return. He would not be as submissive as his brother. She was feeling out of her depth and while she hadn’t wanted Gregor to sense her growing concerns, she needed to reach out to Nick and get someone down here. One of the two brothers they’d been on the hunt for was sitting right in front of her. He could tell them where the victims were and if Corbett had them. “Gregor,” Kate sat down in the recliner across from the sofa, still displaying calm, “where is Vito taking the girls?”
Shame instantly masked his face as he looked to his mother, but then he returned his attention to Kate. “Kovac. He was the one who told us to get the girls because Vito did something very, very bad. But he did it to save me.”
“I need to call my boss, okay? He will be able to help you.” Kate pulled her cell from her pocket.
“No. Please, no more police,” Gregor replied.
“I have to. If I’m going to protect you and your family, we need his help.”
Kate raised the phone to her ear, her eyes still fixed on the three members of the Bjuric family. Where the fourth was remained unknown, but Kate didn’t want to be the only one there if or when he arrived. “Agent Scarborough. I’m at the Bjuric’s home. Can you please come or send someone ASAP?”
“What the hell’s going on?” Nick replied.
“Gregor knows where the girls are. He’s here with me now.” A final pause and Kate ended the call. “He’s on his way.”
Based on the inflections in the words Gregor spoke to his sister, Kate assumed he’d been angry about her bringing the FBI to their home. Their native language sounded harsh anyway, but Kate thought there was more to it. Finally, the mother spoke up and there was an immediate end to the discussion.
“I know you must be angry with Nicola,” Kate began. “But she may have just prevented you from going to prison. Whatever this is that you and your brother are involved in…”
Gregor began to speak to Kate, but not in English. Kate looked at Nicola for translation.
“He says our brother, Vito, only agreed to take the girls because Gregor would have been killed. Instead, Toma was the one who died and Vito had to answer for it.” Nicola looked to Gregor as he continued. “He says Stan Kovac is the man behind all of it. He’s the one who has the girls.”
Kate considered the idea that this Kovac person was Corbett’s partner that they’d been working to identify.
Several more minutes ticked away while Kate attempted to gain a further understanding of how these two young men had become involved in something so heinous. Dragging their sister and mother into it only further endangered them all.
A knock on the door, and Kate heard Nick’s voice call out, “Agent Reid, are you inside? Are you safe?”
Kate rose from the chair and moved to the door. Upon opening it, she spotted Nick and the detective. “I’m okay. We’re all okay.” She stood aside, allowing them entry.
“Detective Garrett is going to take you and your mother to a safe place for now,” Scarborough said to Nicola. “Please, go with him and we’ll make sure nothing happens to your brother.”
The two of them quickly moved towards the detective.
Nicola looked back to Kate. “Thank you.” A tender smile flashed on the frightened girl’s face before returning to her mother’s arms.
The three walked outside and only Gregor, Nick, and Kate remained in the house.
“What happened?” Nick lowered his voice as he huddled in front of Kate.
“I was just taking them home like you asked and, when we got here, Gregor was in the house. He was armed.” Kate pointed to Gregor’s gun on the side table next to her chair. “He’s scared and I think he’ll help us. He says a man by the name of Stan Kovac told him and his brother to find the girls. Vito must still be with the victims or Kovac.”
“Okay.” Nick pressed his hand against Kate’s shoulder. “You did good here, Kate.” He turned towards the kid. “Where did Kovac arrange the drop off of the victims?”
Gregor seemed to understand the question perfectly. Perhaps now he realized his brother was in danger and he could drop the act. Nick had been right all along. The kid knew enough and could understand enough English to get him further than he originally let on.
“A small diner a few miles away.”
“When was he supposed to meet him?” Nick pressed on, moving in closer as he spoke.
“About an hour ago, maybe more. I came home. I didn’t stay with him.”
Nick sat down next to Gregor. “Can you call your brother and find out where he is?”
“Da.” Gregor pulled out his cell and dialed Vito.
He began speaking to his brother in their language and this made them both extremely nervous because neither knew what he was saying. He could have been warning is brother.
Gregor ended the call. “He says he’s on his way here and the girls are with Kovac.”
“Did you tell him we were here?” Kate asked.
Gregor closed his eyes and shook his head. “He does not know you are here.”
“We need to get eyes on Kovac,” Nick began. “If he hasn’t already met with Corbett, he will.” Nick stood up and walked towards the kitchen, phone in hand. “He just made the call. Do you have a location yet?” The man on the other end of the line began to speak.
“Thank you. No, I’ll call it in.” Nick returned to the living room.
“What was that all about?”
“I asked our local field office to help us out with surveillance. A small plane has been circling the city, particularly the area where the girl mentioned her friends, like Madlena, had disappeared. They had the Stingray mounted in the aircraft and have been waiting for the ESNs registered to either brother to show up. They just did.”
Kate was familiar with the technology and the ESN was a cell phone’s electronic serial number. Once Gregor called his brother, Vito’s ESN would have been discovered and, along with that, his location. She hoped they would find the girls before it was too late.
» » »
A small cabin cruiser bobbed up and down in the slip while James Corbett worked to secure it to the dock. A light sliced through the darkness just ahead and Corbett raised his eyes after a double check of the rope. The man had arrived and, with him, the precious cargo for which Corbett would be paid a great sum of money. He raised to his full height of not more than five feet, ten inches and placed his hands on his hips.
The van drew nearer and finally rolled to a stop along the edge of the boardwalk at the commercial docks. The headlights already dimmed so as not to call forth any attention. Corbett waited, staring at the van that had dark tinted windows in the front, but no windows in the cargo area.
The driver’s side door swung open and Stan Kovac jumped down. He scanned the immediate area and spotted his partner in the distance. Corbett raised a hand in acknowledgement and Kovac proceeded to the back of the van and yanked hard on the double doors. On opening, he looked inside at the cargo. Three woman, bound by their hands and feet, drugged to the point of near unconsciousness. Kovac’s nose wrinkled and his lips curled at the stench that wafted out. The odor of urine was overpowering. It happened sometimes if the girls were drugged too heavily, but least they were all still alive and he would be paid.
Another man stepped out of the passenger side and joined Kovac at the rear. Vito Bjuric tossed his cigarette to the ground. The conversation he’d had with his brother advised that he’d b
e better off not going back home. After this shipment drop, he would be leaving Richmond for a while.
“Corbett’s over there,” Kovac said. “Help me get the cargo out.”
Vito jumped into the back of the van and lifted one of the girls from beneath her arms, dragging her to the edge.
“Can she walk?” Kovac asked, but instead opted to slap the girl’s face to confirm a response.
The dark-haired girl wore little more than a tank top and shorts, but seemed unmoved by the strike to her cheek. If and when she returned to full consciousness, she might recall the last thing she’d said to the man in front of her now. “We’re closing; you’ll have to come back tomorrow.” She worked in a smoke shop and Vito had inquired about making a purchase.
“No. You’ll have to carry her,” Kovac replied.
Vito swallowed hard, not because he couldn’t carry this girl. She couldn’t have weighed more than ninety-five pounds, but it appeared as though he was having a sudden attack of conscience. The girl looked half-dead and this was more than he thought he had signed on for. But there was no backing out now. Kovac would see him dead before letting him walk away. “Okay, give her to me.”
Vito’s legs were unsteady at first from the extra weight, but he soon regained his balance. He looked down at the girl’s face. Saliva had pooled at the corners of her mouth and her eyes were half-closed, fluttering away at him. It looked like a perverse sort of flirtation. He knew this girl. He’d been to the smoke shop plenty of times. This was why Kovac allowed him to take Toma’s place. Vito knew plenty of his expatriates and she was the sister of a friend who’d come over from Ukraine. The two had been smuggling pot across the state border for the past six months, working for Toma on his side gig. It was the only reason Vito was still alive.
His legs were growing heavy as he continued to carry the near-lifeless body, but he made it to the boat.
“I’ll take her from here,” Corbett said.
Vito handed him the girl and stood there for a moment.
“Well.” Corbett’s eyes narrowed. “What are you waiting for? Go and get the others. We don’t have all night.”
» » »
“There’s no one here,” Agent Jameson said as he spoke to Nick on the phone. “The place is empty.” He continued to scour the diner, searching the storage area, the walk-in refrigerator. It was completely empty. This was where the call had come from, but they were already too late.
“Damn it. They can’t be that far ahead of us. Are there any signs of where he might’ve gone?”
“Not yet, but I’m still looking.”
“Just come back to the station. We’re bringing Gregor Bjuric in now. I have a sinking feeling he warned his brother.”
Jameson slid his phone back into his pocket as he continued to search for anything that might indicate where the women had been taken, if they had been there at all.
A camera was mounted in the corner of the storage room and an idea came upon him. He continued to the back of the building, where a small office was tucked away. If the cameras worked, any surveillance equipment would likely be kept in there. The door was locked, but he pushed his elbow through the glass insert and turned the handle. Jameson pushed open the door and stepped over the shards on the ground. His hand felt along the wall for the light switch. A fluorescent fixture hung in the middle of the small office and immediately lit up the room. The office appeared as he would have expected. A small metal desk, a computer that was a little outdated, a ten-key calculator with an empty tape roll, and a few filing cabinets along the walls.
Jameson pressed his lips together and rubbed his cheeks, sure that he’d struck out, and was about to turn around and leave until he spotted a metal panel in the wall. It looked like an ordinary electrical panel with a metal door, except that it was larger than normal. He glanced over his shoulder, always feeling as though someone was behind him. It was a hazard of the job, he guessed, but he continued towards the panel and noticed a small padlock that kept the door secured.
He quickly turned back to the desk in search of a key and, as he pulled the drawers out, he rummaged through the papers and pencils and miscellaneous receipts inside. Reaching into the back of the drawer, he felt around with his fingertips. A key.
A smile spread across his face as he held out hope that it had been the key to the panel and not one just for a filing cabinet. On examination, it appeared larger than a file cabinet key and so he moved back to the panel.
Much to his relief, the padlock dropped down and Jameson slid it off of the door. This was what he’d been looking for. It was the recorder for the CCTV system. And it was running. Jameson pulled the SD card from the slot and closed the door. He needed to get back to the station now to find out what the hell was on this memory card.
» » »
Vito unloaded the last of the girls and waited by the van for further instruction. Corbett and Kovac were deep in conversation near the boat. Vito lit up another cigarette and leaned against the back bumper.
The two continued for a while longer and Vito thought that someone could come along at any moment. Late night shipments were nothing unusual here and he began to grow concerned by the length of time, considering there were drugged women on that boat. Kidnapping, trafficking, and God knows what other charges law enforcement would come up with if they were discovered.
He puffed on the cigarette and the breeze coming off the bay blew it into his eyes, briefly obscuring his vision. He dropped the half-burned stick to the ground and noticed that Kovac was finally returning. What concerned Vito now was the fact that he looked pissed off, like the deal had gone south.
He pushed off the back bumper and stood firm on both feet. He studied Kovac’s face. His pulse elevated and his mouth dropped slightly as Kovac approached. Vito cast his eyes toward Corbett, who grinned and turned away, stepping onto the boat.
He knew then what was about to happen. Vito pushed off in a sprint, running in the direction from which they came. Kovac was going to kill him. His lungs began to burn as he pushed his legs faster. A quick glance behind him and Kovac was gaining ground, his gun already drawn.
“Fuck!” Vito yelled and continued to pump his arms, running as fast as he could. If Kovac killed him, he knew his family would be next. They wouldn’t leave any loose ends. Vito had done all of this to protect his brother. All because he talked to that girl FBI agent.
Light fixtures hung against the building that housed some of the boats, mostly those in service. Vito needed the cover of darkness if he hoped to escape Kovac’s bullet. He was pulling ahead, but needed more distance. Kovac wasn’t likely to pull the trigger if he thought he’d miss. People might hear the gunfire and call the cops.
Vito could hear the distant sound of a boat jetting off into the river towards the sea. Corbett was gone. Kovac was tasked with killing Vito and this would not end until he was dead. But there had to be a way out. Sweat began to drip into his eyes, stinging them and clouding his vision. He had put some distance between himself and Kovac; now he needed to find a place to veer off. He was nearing the main road to the entrance of the port. There would be traffic. This might be his only chance. If he could reach the street, Kovac likely wouldn’t fire on him.
It was past midnight now and none of the shops would be open for him to dart inside. He cast a glance over his shoulder. Kovac was losing steam. He was an older man, as far as the young Vito was concerned – Kovac was at least in his late thirties.
A small wave of relief began to surface, but he still pushed on. Because even if he survived this, his family would not be safe. He would need to warn them. That meant he would need to tell the FBI everything. At this point, however, Vito began to realize he’d either end up dead or in prison. Maybe prison was the better option from his current vantage point.
What looked to be an alleyway was just ahead. It could have been a niche between the buildings, but it was too hard to tell until he could get a closer look. On arrival, confirmation appeared in
the form of a narrow alley. Vito turned sharply, almost losing his balance. He couldn’t see what lay ahead at the end, but that mattered little at the moment.
The alley was just wide enough to get a garbage truck through, which would explain the several dumpsters along the sides of the buildings. The smell was strong, rancid, and Vito considered the idea that maybe tomorrow was pick-up day. The odor filled his nose and he didn’t want to breathe, but his lungs screamed for air.
The other end of the alley was approaching. Vito began to slow, realizing he had lost Kovac. Light from the street lamps shone against the sidewalk just head. He slowed to a stop at the end and bent over, his hands resting on his hips as he tried to regain his breath. A shadow crossed in front of him and then two feet appeared.
He knew he was about to die and rose to look at Kovac’s face. That was the last thing Vito Bjuric ever saw.
SIXTEEN
Jameson pushed open the police station doors, searching for any signs of Agent Scarborough or Kate. He jogged to the front desk. “I need to see Detective Garrett and Agent Scarborough. Please, it’s urgent.”
The woman behind the desk didn’t inquire further; Jameson’s eyes said all she needed to know and she immediately picked up the phone. “Detective Garrett, there’s someone….”
“Agent Jameson,” he interrupted.
“There’s an Agent Jameson who needs to see you right away.” She set the phone down. “He’ll be right up.”
Jameson nodded and turned to the direction of the hall where he’d expected Garrett or Scarborough to emerge. He stared down that hall as if that alone would cause their appearance.
Finally, he spotted them. Jameson approached, holding the SD card in his hands. “We need to see what’s on here. Now.”
