18th Abduction

by Patterson, James

  Conklin introduced us to Susan.

  “This is my partner, Lindsay Boxer, and FBI special agent Joe Molinari.”

  Susan was lovely, with strawberry blond hair and pale skin and a smile that showed how glad she was to be alive.

  She said, “I’ve heard so much about you, Lindsay. I think I would recognize you anywhere,” and stretched out her arms. “Thank you so much for everything.”

  I hugged her, and so did Joe. We told her we had just left Anna, who was speaking and recovering.

  There was relief and some laughter, and for a moment I felt giddy, as if I’d been drinking champagne. Anna and Susan were alive! I was still having aftershocks from the takedown at the house on Pine, but this was a welcome bright moment.

  And finally we had to get into the hard part.

  Jacobi said, “Ronnie. Would you mind if we spent about five minutes alone with Susan?”

  Ronnie murmured, “Not at all,” and exited gracefully.

  Jacobi asked Susan to tell us how she’d come to be in that house on Pine, and to explain her connection to Petrović.

  We were all gathered in chairs around her as Susan told of meeting a man at the Bridge, Tony Branko. She talked about how he’d bought her drinks, took her out to dinner twice, and then offered her a loan. Later he told her how she could pay it back. She said it was debasing, that the amount she owed escalated due to interest, but she thought she was nearly paid up. But no.

  And she skipped from dancing at Skin to the night she and her friends Adele and Carly were abducted. She described the endless days and nights in the apartment, and she spared no detail; the darkness, the rules, the faceless men, what they demanded, and the punishments.

  Susan skimmed over the deaths of Carly and Adele, but I felt her unspeakable pain. She was saying so much without saying it all.

  When she reached the most recent part of her story, the second abduction, she said, “Anna fought Marko, but he’s a soldier. He kicked her, picked up a chair, and slammed it against her head. I didn’t fight. I was sure he would kill us. He tied us both up and shoved us under the stage. I tried to kick through the boards, but it was hopeless. A lot of time went by. I told Anna we were going to get out, and Anna didn’t answer me anymore. Her breathing was so faint, and then I heard men’s voices. ‘Is anyone here?’ I screamed and screamed.”

  Finished with her story, Susan stopped talking.

  There was a silence that no one knew how to break.

  So Susan did it.

  She said to all of the cops grouped around her bed, “How can I help with your case against these bastards? What else do you want to know?”

  I said, “The man you know as Tony Branko has a get-outof-jail pass from government agencies here and overseas. We need evidence that he committed a crime. We need your help with that.”

  Susan let out a long breath, thought about it for a second, and said, “Tony is out of jail now?”

  “Yes. He’s free and enjoying his wonderful life.”

  She said, “Well, I don’t know if I have evidence. I don’t have photos or recordings or anything like that. But I can tell you that he raped all of us repeatedly. Him and Marko.”

  “We know him,” said Conklin.

  “Good. And some of the waiters at Tony’s were in on it. They lived in that house and they all … did what they did. We couldn’t get out, you know? They kept us locked up and they hurt us. We didn’t know when we might die.”

  Susan’s voice broke, and tears spilled down her cheeks. It was terrible to see the transformation from the happy young woman she’d seemed to be only moments ago. All smiles and flowers.

  I wondered if she’d ever truly be all smiles and flowers again. Still, like Anna, Susan Jones was a fighter.

  And she was alive.

  “You’ll testify to what they did to you?” Jacobi asked her.

  “Of course I will. But I don’t know how I can prove any of it.”

  “Leave that to us,” Jacobi said.

  CHAPTER 111

  Claire texted our task force: Bombshell briefing, my office @ 8am.

  By eight the next morning, all six of us were crammed into Claire’s office at the morgue. Jacobi and Steinmetz had gotten there first and had taken the chairs. Jacobi tried to give me his seat, but his knees were going, so I thanked him anyway and stood against the wall with Joe, Diano, and Conklin.

  Claire was behind her desk, wearing bloody blue scrubs, her hair in a cap. She stripped off her gloves, opened a folder, pulled out two items, and placed them faceup on her desk.

  One was a photo enlargement of the bite mark on Carly Myers’s neck that she’d taken at the autopsy. The second was the acetate tracing she’d made of the bite mark, the actual size for her records.

  Claire said, “The victim stretched away from the person who was biting her. See how the marks are off center? Even if we had the subject’s bite impression, unless there was an obvious dental anomaly, like severely crooked teeth, the chances are small that a mold of the attacker’s mouth would match the impressions on the victim’s neck.”

  “Therefore …” I said.

  “Therefore, Sergeant Girlfriend, I’d write the bite off as inconclusive.”

  Jacobi muttered, “Bummer,” but Claire wasn’t done.

  “And then there’s this,” she said. “It’s either divine inspiration or maybe Carly whispering over my shoulder, ‘Hey, Doc, take another look.’”

  Claire ducked under her desk and reappeared holding a sealed manila envelope she’d taken from the one-cubic-foot square refrigerator she kept in her office.

  “Clapper called last night,” she said. “We got DNA from Petrović’s water bottle. Then, when Petrović signed a release for his personal property when he was cut loose from the jail, he placed his sweaty paw down on it to sign his name. Richie, I believe it was you who secured the paper with Petrović’s DNA. Inspector, please take a bow.”

  My partner smiled and I fist-bumped his shoulder.

  Claire resumed, saying, “The DNA samples from the bottle and the release form are a perfect match to this.”

  She opened the sealed manila envelope, reached in, took out a small glassine envelope, and held it up so we could see the evidence sandwiched between two glass microscope slides.

  Diano peered over Jacobi’s head. “Is that what I think it is?”

  Claire smiled like an angel and showed the glassine envelope around so that we all could take a look at the sliver of evidence that just might blow the monster up.

  Our esteemed medical examiner said, “I recovered this pubic hair from Carly Myers’s vaginal vault. It’s a 100 percent match to Slobodan Petrović and no other.”

  CHAPTER 112

  I was so proud of Claire.

  We had evidence, we had probable cause. We had him. I beamed as we gave her a wholehearted round of applause.

  She tucked the evidence back into the cooler, curtsied playfully, and said, “Thanks, everyone. I’ve got to go. I’m in the middle of someone.”

  The rest of us cleared out, and Conklin, Joe, and I went to the FBI field office with Steinmetz, where we spent the rest of that Wednesday working out the plan.

  First, Steinmetz put in a call to FBI director L. Martin Roberts. He was well regarded, with movie-star looks and some kind of political future. When Roberts was on the speakerphone, Steinmetz introduced us, and Conklin and I itemized the evidence: the hanged women, their wounds from throwing stars, and the photos of Petrović in Djoba in a forested killing field, surrounded by hanged bodies and with a throwing star in his hand.

  And we told Roberts about our latest findings: that we’d rescued two bound-and-gagged victims from a subfloor inside Petrović’s club.

  I said, “One of the victims, a schoolteacher name of Susan Jones, made a statement that Petrović had raped her and bragged of killing Carly Myers, and she was the last person to see Adele Saran.”

  I finished with Claire’s matching Petrović DNA evidence.
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br />   The FBI director said, “How fast can you turn all that into a memo?”

  By the time the sun touched the horizon, Roberts had our memo and had reassigned the task force that had been watchdogging Petrović to a transport detail. Steinmetz contacted the CIA, which connected with the powers that be in Bosnia. Green lights all the way. Steinmetz printed out Petrović’s signed deportation order.

  I wanted to jump up and hug everyone, but I resisted the impulse.

  Steinmetz seemed pretty pleased himself. He looked at all of us and said, “The game’s in play. It’s all over but the shouting.”

  It was an old line but a great one. Still, as we all knew, there was much to be done before anyone started shouting.

  Petrović didn’t know that he was breathing his last free air, and we didn’t want to risk any ironic accidents, so we had to work fast.

  When the meeting broke up, Cappy and Chi picked up Marko Vladic at Skin, where he was going over the damage to the stage with a contractor. Despite the fit Vladic threw about his so-called immunity, he was arrested for kidnapping, rape, and accessory to murder. He was brought to the Hall and slow-walked through booking so that he couldn’t tip off his boss.

  Steinmetz, Joe, Conklin, and I blocked out plans A and B to grab Petrović. We diagrammed manpower deployment and made calls.

  And then we moved out.

  CHAPTER 113

  After leaving Steinmetz, our task force plus reinforcements formed a tight surveillance detail around Tony’s Place for Steak.

  California Street and surrounding blocks were lined with unmarked vehicles, and two undercover teams were inside the restaurant having a leisurely meal, with mikes and eyes wide open.

  Operatives outside Petrović’s house on Fell gave us a heads-up, and not long afterward a taxi pulled up to Tony’s Place. Petrović got out, paid the driver, and entered his restaurant through the front door.

  On Joe’s command, Jacobi, Conklin, and I stormed the front entrance. Joe and Diano kicked in the back door and came through the kitchen.

  I took a mental snapshot. Three-quarters of the tables were full. Petrović was chatting with a customer near the front when he heard dishes crashing in the back. He turned, saw Joe, turned again toward the front door, and saw me and Conklin cutting past the maître d’ and bearing down on him.

  The dinner crowd reacted; a table flipped, with squealing diners hitting the floor as we advanced on Petrović with guns drawn. The four undercovers were on their feet, badges and weapons in hand.

  I saw realization dawn in Petrović’s eyes. He knew he didn’t have a prayer of getting out of his restaurant on his terms. I ordered him to put his hands on his head and drop to his knees.

  He did it, saying, “I’m not armed.”

  Diano frisked him from chest to ankles and nodded to let us know that in fact Petrović didn’t have a weapon.

  Conklin walked up behind him and slapped on the cuffs, while I said, “Mr. Petrović, you’re under arrest for kidnapping, aggravated assault, rape, and murder.”

  I read him his rights and asked him if he understood.

  He didn’t reply.

  “Did you hear me? Do you understand your rights?”

  “I heard you.”

  Conklin and Diano hoisted Petrović to his feet and moved him toward the front door. He squirmed and resisted, asking, “Where are you taking me?”

  I was happy to tell him.

  “SFO international airport, Mr. Petrović. Your connecting flight to Sarajevo leaves at nine.”

  He struggled as he was marched out the front door and under the awning to the curb, wrenching his body around as he was forced into the CIA’s armored SUV.

  He protested, “You can’t deport me. I’ve done nothing.”

  I answered him with my face six inches from his: “We have nothing but testimony from eyewitnesses and physical evidence that you raped Carly Myers.”

  “How many times do I have to say, I don’t know this woman.”

  Conklin said, “You were sloppy. Or hasty, Mr. P. You left physical evidence inside your victim. We’ve got you by the short hair.”

  CHAPTER 114

  We couldn’t just go home after the takedown.

  The team that brought down Slobodan Petrović stood out in the darkening street, adrenaline pumping, watching the taillights dwindle as the CIA’s armored Land Rover took the monster away. We were high on success but still unresolved. Until Petrović was off US soil, the shouting would have to wait.

  Jacobi said, “I’m starving. Anyone else?”

  He led us back into the restaurant and had waiters push three tables together at the middle of the room. The waitstaff looked freaked out, but they complied, and after all of the Feds and cops took seats, they brought menus.

  One of the waiters leaned down to talk to me. He was young, in his early twenties, the name Christopher engraved on the tag on his jacket.

  Christopher asked, “Is Mr. Branko coming back?”

  “No. Probably not.”

  “Mr. Vladic didn’t come in today. Is he in trouble, too?”

  “I can’t say,” I told the waiter.

  “What’s going to happen to the restaurant? To us?”

  I told him that I didn’t know.

  He said, “They’re going to jail, huh? No loss. They’re both scumbags.”

  “They are. But we’re good for the bill,” I told him.

  “If not, what am I gonna do? Call the cops?”

  He winked, added, “Don’t worry about it,” then attended to Jacobi, who said, “What’s good here?”

  We all laughed, ordered steak and wine and side dishes, and before the food came, Jacobi called the mayor. He gave him a breakdown of the events, then set the phone down in the middle of the table so we could hear the mayor in a rare happy moment.

  “I’ll hold a press conference tomorrow,” said the mayor. “The city is grateful to every one of you.”

  Rich called Cindy and told her to get out to the airport and track down the next outbound flight to Sarajevo. A moment later Joe got an email from the lab.

  Joe showed me his phone. Clapper had written that Vladic’s Escalade had paint clinging to the broken headlight socket that matched the Tesla Anna had been driving the day she was abducted.

  I said to Joe, “If Vladic is indicted for kidnapping, he’ll be deported, right? I swear, if he confesses to killing Denny Lopez, I’ll throw him a farewell party with champagne and a live DJ.”

  Joe pulled me close and we grinned at each other. He said, “Not getting ahead of ourselves, are we, Blondie?”

  “I can wish, can’t I?”

  Meanwhile, in real time, a dozen toasts were made with Tony’s wine: to Claire, to the cops who’d located the Jag and the Escalade, and to the fire and rescue workers who’d saved Anna and Susan. Glasses were raised to Joe and Diano, Conklin and me, for leading the charge and bringing it all home.

  No one was left out.

  Steinmetz clinked his glass with a spoon and announced that working with the SFPD had been an honor and a pleasure. Jacobi returned the favor.

  Conklin’s phone rang, and after he kissed it, he told us the good news.

  “Cindy watched Petrović board the plane under guard. She says she kept her eyes on it until it broke the sound barrier.”

  Cindy was indomitable.

  And after Rich made the announcement, the shouting commenced.

  Petrović was gone.

  From all that we knew about his recent past and his wartime history, it was a dead cert that Petrović’s sentence would be reinstated and that he’d spend the rest of his life in a cement box of a cell inside a maximum-security prison.

  We whooped and yelled and hugged people sitting next to us, even those we hadn’t known before tonight. I texted Yuki and Claire, and they both arrived at Tony’s in time for coffee and chocolate pie.

  It was a wonderful, unforgettable finale to our hard and dangerous work.

  We’d done i
t. Case closed.

  We couldn’t have known it then, but five years later, when we seldom thought about him at all, Slobodan Petrović would appeal his sentence at the International Criminal Court in The Hague.

  He’d worked a deal once before.

  It would be unbearable, unjust, if he did it again.

  EPILOGUE

  CHAPTER 115

  Joe and I stood with Anna outside the International Criminal Court in The Hague, the building’s granite walls shielding us from the slashing rain.

  Three years before, Anna had moved to Spokane to get away from the searing memories of her time in San Francisco. Although we’d been in touch, we hadn’t seen her since.

  Anna looked older now and more vulnerable. She was wearing a hooded raincoat, but the hood couldn’t hide the tears in her eyes. When we hugged, I felt her shivering.

  I was afraid for her. Soon she would be testifying to the tribunal, telling them about Petrović’s crimes against her and her family in Djoba. She couldn’t tell them about San Francisco, but I knew full well how much she’d suffered when Petrović brutalized her yet again.

  I couldn’t imagine how she’d gathered the courage to confront Petrović now.

  Joe gripped her shoulders and said, “We’re with you, Anna.”

  “I know. I’m glad.”

  The doors to the courthouse slid open, and the crowd of reporters and survivors and onlookers rushed through the entrance into the main hall like a pack of wet dogs.

  Ushers directed us, sending witnesses to the main courtroom, and spectators and the press to the gallery, an elevated viewing room separated from the courtroom by a wall of bulletproof glass. When we entered the observation room, I saw rows of theater-style seats rising toward the rear of the room, giving a high-bleachers view down on the court proceedings.

  Joe and I sat in the fifth tier, where we had a full view of the courtroom. It was the size of a college lecture hall, high ceilinged and austere. The judges’ wood-paneled benches were centered on the wall opposite the glass barrier. Similar paneled benches, one for the defense, the other for the prosecution, were at right angles to the judges’ benches.