3 The Chain of Lies

by Debra Burroughs

  Maggie had grown up dirt-poor in Texas and had dragged her toddler to Hollywood seeking fame and fortune. When things didn’t turn out the way she had planned, she took her little boy and moved to Paradise Valley where her brother and his family lived.

  Most recently, in the months previous, Maggie had endured a life-shattering event, and it was Camille, with Jonathan’s help, who became a regular fixture at Maggie’s house until she could get back on her feet. Though she appeared to be a soft and lovely Southern belle, she had forged a backbone of steel as she fought to leave poverty behind and make a better life for herself and her son.

  “That takes a load off my mind, knowing you’re there, Maggs. Tell Jonathan and Camille that it’ll probably be hours before we know anything, but I will call as soon as I have something.”

  “Got it.”

  CHAPTER 17

  To minimize any suspicions, Special Agent Ellis had Peter wait half an hour before sending him into the Jade Thai Spa. With his dark blue suit, complementing his auburn hair and deep blue eyes, and a classy gold tie, Peter was dressed for the part of successful businessman. He had already loosened the tie and unbuttoned the collar, but now he stuck the fake black-framed glasses on his face. A tiny micro-video camera was hidden in them.

  Peter patted his pants pocket. “Hey, what about the money?”

  Ellis handed him a stack of cash, folded in half inside an expensive-looking money clip. “There’s more there than you need, Peter. Just make sure the woman sees you have plenty of cash to spend for later.”

  Peter shot him a wry smile as he took the money and shoved it in his pocket. “Thanks, Ellis.”

  “What about a car?” Emily asked while rummaging through her handbag.

  “What do you mean?” Peter tilted his head and quirked an eyebrow.

  “Wouldn’t they expect to see a nice car in the parking lot, if he really was a successful businessman?”

  “I already thought of that.” Ellis dug in his pocket. “My car’s down the block a little ways. Black Lexus sedan. Here’s my keys.” He gingerly tossed them to Peter.

  Ellis had Peter test the video camera in the bridge of the frames to make sure the feed was coming through to the monitor, as well as the microphone that was embedded in the corner of the glasses. Peter slipped an earbud into his right ear as he walked to the end of the van and spoke a few test words.

  “Everything looks good, Peter. I’m about to begin recording.” Ellis adjusted the sound level from his perch in front of the control panel. “Are you ready?”

  “I’m ready. Let’s do it.” Peter pushed open the back door and stepped out into the cool dusk.

  Colin took Peter’s seat in the van as the four of them crowded around the screen, watching Peter get into Ellis’s Lexus. Once Peter started the engine and began driving away, his monologue began.

  “This is Peter MacKenzie reporting to you from Boise, Idaho. I’m going undercover into a suspected sex slave brothel to see if I can gather enough intel to prompt an arrest and to rescue the young women, girls really, that are forced to prostitute themselves to an avalanche of men every single night.”

  Those seated in the media van looked questioningly at the monitor and then at each other, many with their mouths gaping open, shocked into temporary silence.

  Colin was first to break the silence. “What the—”

  “He is a reporter,” Emily added. “He can’t help himself.”

  “I guess it won’t hurt to let him intro the footage that way, as long as he doesn’t do any of that posturing once he’s inside,” Ellis said.

  “I can hear you,” Peter responded evenly as he approached the building.

  “Stick to the plan and we’ll be good,” Ellis said.

  Peter parked the car in one of the few spaces in front of the Jade Thai Spa and climbed out. “I’m coming up to the door.” The monitor showed him opening it and stepping inside. The same woman stood behind the reception counter.

  She looked up at him, appearing on the video as if she was looking directly into the camera. She smiled pleasantly. “Good evening. How can I help you?” she asked in her thick Thai accent.

  “I need a really good massage. I’ve been in meetings all day and my shoulders are one big knot.”

  “Meetings all day on Sunday?” She continued to smile, apparently hoping to glean more information from him.

  “Yeah, I’m from out of town and have had one meeting after another all weekend. We’re finally done and now I can take a break and relax, that is if I can get these kinks worked out of my shoulders.”

  “We take good care of you. Thai neck and shoulder massage twenty-five dollar and full body massage sixty. Which one you like?”

  “I’m pretty wound up. I better take the full body one.”

  “That will be sixty dollar. We only take cash.”

  “Now flash the cash, MacKenzie,” the special agent ordered.

  “No problem.” Peter tugged the loaded money clip out of his pocket and peeled off a fifty and a ten. He made sure she saw there was quite a bit left.

  “Look at that vulture,” Emily muttered to Isabel. “I think she’s salivating.”

  She accepted the cash with a grin, stuck it in the drawer, and locked it. “This way, mister.”

  From the monitor, Peter could be seen following close on her heels down the same hallway Colin had taken. She opened the door to a different room, one more plushly appointed.

  “Looks like she knew Peter had more money than I did.” Colin hunched forward, resting his forearms over his knees. “This should be good.”

  From the camera’s view, the screen showed the massage table again in the center of the room, but the chair was an upholstered overstuffed one sitting next to a queen-sized bed covered in a high-quality comforter set. A tri-fold screen with gold shirred silk fabric stood in the corner as a place for the customers to disrobe, with hooks on the wall to hang their clothes.

  “You can undress there,” the woman said, directing him to the tri-fold screen. “There are fluffy towels on the table if you like to cover yourself. Your masseuse will be in shortly. Enjoy.” She backed out of the room and pulled the door shut.

  “Let’s see if he’ll be as deft as you were with the towel,” Emily kidded.

  “Peter,” Ellis spoke into the mic, “nonchalantly take a gander around the room for anything that could be a video camera.”

  Peter grabbed a white towel off the table and stepped behind the screen, slinging part of the towel over the top of it. As he took off his jacket, shirt and tie, he casually glanced around the room, as well as behind him and up on the ceiling. He took his glasses off and the monitor showed the camera swinging haphazardly. “I’m putting the mic near my mouth, lowering my head,” he whispered. “Video camera above the door, watching me.”

  “Then you’ll need to be careful what you say to us or you could blow the whole thing,” Ellis said.

  He stuck his glasses back on his face and pulled his shoes and pants off.

  “Don’t look down at your feet, man,” Colin advised.

  “Why? Oh.” The monitor screen showed the camera suddenly swing up to the top ridge of the tri-fold and higher. “Thanks,” he whispered. “I can hear those giggles.” Peter wrapped the towel around his midsection, then set his glasses on the night table between the chair and the bed, facing the massage table and the door.

  “Perfect view,” Ellis said.

  With one smooth motion, he mounted the table.

  “Good job, Peter,” Isabel teased.

  He loosened the towel under him so it laid flat over his backside.

  There was a soft knock at the door and a young woman’s voice asked if he was ready.

  “Show time,” Ellis announced.

  “Come in.”

  The young Asian woman entered, dressed in a similarly seductive uniform to the one that worked on Colin.

  “That’s her,” Emily exclaimed. “That’s the girl from the hotel.”
<
br />   “You’re sure?” Ellis asked.

  “Yes, absolutely sure.”

  “You know what to do, MacKenzie,” Ellis said.

  “Good evening. Are you ready to begin?” the masseuse asked in her heavy accent.

  “Oh, yeah. I’m so knotted up I feel like a pretzel.”

  “What is pretzel?”

  “A piece of bread that’s all tied up in knots.”

  “Oh, yes,” she replied, unconvincingly.

  She poured a layer of oil over him and began massaging his back and shoulders, working up to his neck and head. “That feel good?”

  “That feels amazing.”

  “Peter, remember why you’re there,” Ellis reminded him.

  “My name is Peter, by the way. What’s your name?”

  “No, no. I cannot say,” she uttered firmly, “but Peter is a nice name.” She continued to massage his back, then switched to his feet, working her way up his legs.

  “Your hands are fantastic. How can I ask for you next time I come if I don’t know your name?”

  “No, sorry,” she said with a shake of her head. “Does that feel good?”

  “Like heaven.”

  “You want I do your bottom?” she asked, patting it lightly. “I do good job.”

  “Uh, no, I have no knots there.”

  “Okay, you turn over and I do front.”

  Emily’s head jerked to Colin and she raised her eyebrows at him, wondering what Peter would do next.

  Colin grinned at her and patted her leg. They had talked about this. He had to go farther than Colin did and he had to make it believable.

  “Oh, my,” Isabel muttered under her breath.

  The girl raised the towel just enough for him to roll over beneath it before she laid it back down on him. She worked his arms and his chest muscles.

  “We’re watching you,” Ellis reminded Peter.

  She once again massaged his feet, working her way up his calves to his thighs. “That feel good, Mr. Peter?”

  “It feels wonderful,” Peter replied in a dream-like voice.

  She kneaded his thigh muscles, putting her hand a little way up under the towel to reach them. Then her hand moved farther up and Peter’s eyes grew wide. His body responded to her touch and he sat up on the table.

  “I think that’s enough,” he said, gathering the towel tightly around him.

  “Oh, Mr. Peter, I’m sorry. I do something wrong?” Her voice had a trembling quality that spoke of fear. “Other men like it when I do that.”

  Emily stared at the monitor, trying hard to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat. She wondered if the others were feeling the same. No one spoke until Ellis broke the silence.

  “Peter, remember you’re doing this for Molly,” Ellis chided him. “Make the deal.”

  “No, I’m the one who’s sorry,” Peter said. “You did nothing wrong. I just wasn’t expecting it.”

  “Can we continue? I can make you happy.”

  “What do you mean when you say make me happy?”

  The young girl motioned with her hand toward the lavishly decorated bed. “I can make you very happy.”

  “For extra money?”

  “Yes, three hundred dollar,” the girl replied.

  Peter looked at the girl, then at his glasses, staring right into the camera. Even at a distance, it was an unmistakable look of anger mixed with sadness over the plight of this young soul.

  “What is wrong?”

  “I would like to make a deal with your boss. Could you go and get her for me?”

  “She will be angry with me.”

  “No, she will be happy. I promise.”

  The girl left and Peter slid off the table, standing with the towel secured around his waist. In a few minutes the girl returned with the woman named Ratana.

  “What can I do for you?” the woman asked.

  “This lovely young woman offered to have sex with me on that bed for three hundred dollars.”

  The woman glowered at the girl, who in response lowered her gaze. “She do something wrong?”

  “No, no, nothing like that.” Peter shook his head.

  “You want to have sex with her? She is very pretty girl.” The woman cupped the girl’s chin and lifted her face. “She will show you good time.”

  Peter looked at the girl cowering next to the woman. Then he turned his attention back to the madam.

  “I would like to have sex in my own hotel room, not here. I’m sure I would enjoy it a whole lot more.”

  “But she is here, you are here, the bed is ready. What is problem?”

  “I want you to bring a girl to my hotel room. Can you do that? I’m willing to pay extra.”

  “How much extra?”

  “I’d pay five hundred dollars.”

  “Five hundred?” The woman’s eyes widened at the number.

  “Yeah, but she has to be an American. No offense to you Asians, but I really prefer a Caucasian girl, you know, a white girl. I’d be willing to pay you twice that, but she has to be young. I don’t want any worn-out hookers.”

  “One thousand dollar?” She sounded incredulous. “You pay me one thousand dollar if I bring a young American girl to your hotel room?”

  “Yes, that’s what I want.”

  The woman looked hard at Peter for a moment, then she looked at the girl cringing beside her. “You give me half now and half when I bring the girl.”

  “Five hundred now and five hundred tonight?” Peter asked, rubbing his jaw. “Let me see.”

  “Do it, Peter,” Ellis directed. “You have enough on you, but make her work for it.”

  “Let’s say I give you the first five hundred dollars but then you don’t show up? I’m out five hundred big ones.”

  “You know where you can find me. No worries, I show up,” she assured him.

  “Still, I’m taking a risk here.”

  “No, no, you have my word. I am honest business woman.”

  “Oh, brother,” Emily sighed.

  “I don’t know,” he stalled, fidgeting with his towel.

  “Peter, don’t make her work that hard. Close the deal,” Ellis said.

  “All right, lady, you have a deal.”

  “Very good, mister.”

  “Now let me get dressed, and I’ll give you the cash and my hotel information on the way out. Okay?”

  “Okay.” The woman grabbed the girl by the arm and all but dragged her out the door.

  Peter’s hidden video camera caught the girl casting a fearful glance over her shoulder at him as he stood watching her leave, wearing nothing but a towel. As soon as she was out of sight, he turned away and stepped behind the tri-folding changing screen, grabbing the glasses on his way. He quickly dressed and left the room, finding Ratana waiting for him behind the reception desk.

  As he stepped up to the desk, he heard the crinkling of paper behind him in the small waiting area. Peter turned to see a stocky Asian man, dressed in black slacks and a black polo shirt sitting in a chair reading a newspaper.

  “That’s the driver!” Emily bolted out of her chair. “He brings the girls from the house down to the massage parlor.”

  “Peter,” Ellis called out, “try to get the guy to look up at you so we get his face on tape.”

  “Mister,” Peter said, “is that today’s paper?”

  The man looked up briefly and nodded his head at Peter.

  “You want newspaper?” Ratana asked.

  “Nah, that’s okay. Now that I think of it, there’s probably one in my hotel room.”

  Peter dug the full money clip out of his pants pocket and pulled off five one hundred dollar bills. She handed him a pad of note paper and a pen, and he scrawled down the name of the hotel and his room number.

  “There you go.” He held out the money and the note but did not release them when she tugged on them, getting her attention. He lowered his voice to a quieter, more serious tone and dipped his head down closer to hers. “You will bring th
e girl to my hotel room at nine o’clock tonight, right? Because I don’t like being made a fool of.”

  She leaned to the side and peered around Peter, presumably at the man in the waiting room. Was she seeking his confirmation?

  “Yes, yes, I bring her. Nine o’clock.” Ratana yanked the money and note out of Peter’s hand as he loosened his grip on them. “No worries. I bring her.”

  CHAPTER 18

  Peter stepped up into the FBI van to a round of applause. With one hand in front of his waist and one hand behind, he took a dramatic bow.

  “Great job, MacKenzie,” Ellis praised.

  “It was all for Molly.”

  “You could always become an actor if the reporter thing doesn’t work out,” Colin kidded as Emily elbowed him lightly in the side.

  “I’d say Oscar worthy,” Isabel added with a few claps of her hands.

  “Too bad you couldn’t get that girl’s name,” Colin said.

  “I think the girl knew she was being watched,” Peter said. “You know, the camera over the door.”

  “Yeah, you have to be very careful when a camera is on you,” Colin smirked, clearly referring to Peter looking at his shoes. “Forgetting can leave you, shall we say, exposed.”

  Peter’s cheeks flushed red.

  “Oh, Colin, stop that.” Emily playfully slapped his leg. “Peter, you did a great job.”

  “Now, about my car.” Ellis stuck out his hand and Peter tossed the car keys to him.

  Emily swiveled her seat to face Tony. “Now what?”

  “Now we move on to phase two.” Ellis stood and addressed the group. “We mobilize our respective teams, stick to the plan, and we rescue those girls.”

  Molly’s image flashed in Emily’s mind. A stillness fell over the van like a hush. From the somber looks on the others’ faces, she suspected they were likely thinking about her, too. Time was ticking away. As important as it was to set the other girls free, if they didn’t rescue Molly that night, she may be lost to them forever.

  ~*~

  Colin, Emily, and Peter got in position at the Paradise Valley Hotel. Colin had called earlier in the day and made arrangements for the hotel to clear a block of eight rooms on the third floor, hoping to keep any other guests from traipsing through their operation. He brought along three of Paradise Valley’s young police officers, dressed in street clothes.