“I’ll have Marie give you a call. She’ll tell you what website you can use to upload all this information about Ayleen. She’ll maybe include a few other items at that site as well. Then, when Missy pops in to visit Ayleen, she can show her everything. I’ll make sure we have twenty-four hour surveillance on Ayleen until we hear back from Missy as to how that goes.”
-----
When the FBI again arrested Ricardo Salvi, Glenn Paxton went down to the police station to interview him. He had waited a long time to have enough evidence to put away some of the guys working for Hands Harper and, thanks to testimony Jiang Linn had agreed to provide, now they had that. In addition to the possession of illegal drugs charge, for which Ricardo had been out on bail, they now could charge him with sex trafficking.
Jiang had been arrested the day before, along with many other Zhu-Gung members who had been under surveillance for a while now. After Wagner and Antony had been caught red-handed and locked up for kidnapping without bail, the FBI quickly rounded up other gang members and Jiang had been one of them. Many of these men, including Jiang, had entered the U.S. illegally and were being held without bail, charged with various crimes. It didn’t really matter whether those criminal charges would stick since, if not, these men would then be deported.
With all the witches locked up, the Zhu-Gung members and the mercenaries who had come over from Hong Kong, China and Taiwan to join them, began pleading for deals. And, it didn’t take long before Jiang was being charged with crimes because of some of those deals. Thus, he too was willing to make a deal.
In return for merely being deported at some future date, he would testify against Ricardo and Ricardo’s guys. He also would reveal where several girls could be found. Zhu-Gung would not really blame him for ratting on the mobsters in Corallo’s organization. Also, rather than being kept in prison, the FBI was placing him in witness protection, so none of Corallo’s hit men could silence him.
After entering the interview room and taking a seat opposite Ricardo, Glenn said, “It looks like you’ll be going away for a long time. Your Chinese buddy Jiang has been telling us all about the girls you’re running in your stable. Girls he personally provided. He’s saying they were for your operation. He brought them to your pimps, on your behalf.”
“You can’t make that stick,” protested Ricardo. “I don’t know anything about no girls or pimps.” He was confident none of his guys would talk.
“Actually, we have a pretty good case against you,” said Glenn. “Jiang is also testifying about all the drugs he provided. But, here’s the thing. You see … we know where those girls are. We have a rescue team picking them up right now. And, they’ll be willing to testify as well, corroborating everything Jiang has to say. So, I’m pretty sure with all the other evidence we have on you, you’re going away for a long time.”
Ricardo refused to talk, of course. But this time his bail was denied because of all his priors and the severity of the additional charges. The FBI had obtained warrants allowing their surveillance of Zhu-Gung which, while not adequate by itself, provided a great deal of circumstantial evidence to support what Jiang and the rescued girls would be saying. Ricardo and many of his guys were going to be convicted.
Clay Rossi and Frank Viella were also arrested. But, since the charges were first offenses for them, they managed getting out on bail. They would eventually be allowed to plead guilty to lesser charges, avoiding jail time, but then having those convictions on their records. Interestingly enough, since Ricardo and so many others working for Hands Harper were now in prison, the two of them actually got to move up in the organization. Hands needed people to keep things going and Clay and Frank were available to do that. Plus, by refusing to testify against any of Ricardo’s people, they proved they could be trusted.
The aftermath of the failed kidnapping would take weeks to play out but would indeed be a huge problem for Vincent Corallo and the other two families who had allowed Zhu-Gung to infiltrate their operations. They would lose ground to Sal D’Amato and Ray Morelli, all without there being any mob war.
Chapter Forty-Three
Tuesday, Apr 28, 2020
As it turned out, Missy had been extremely busy and Monday had not been a good day for leaving the academy. Then, since there were two softball games scheduled for Wednesday, there at West Point, she wanted to visit Ayleen beforehand. From what Drew had explained, Ayleen should be at her own place on whatever night Missy wanted, since he’d have the Defense Secretary get Nolan to leave on some last-minute trip. Whenever Nolan was away, Ayleen typically would not remain at Nolan’s place but would return to the apartment which she was still maintaining.
Missy made an appointment to see the Supe and had a long visit with him during which she told him how great it was that he was back, answered many questions about the kidnapping, and expressed how pleased she was about both her summer assignment and her going to the Naval Academy in September. Finally, she explained about needing to disappear for a few hours that night and, as usual, obtained his full approval for that.
Rather than providing Colonel Dzierzeski yet another instance of her not signing out, which the Supe now thought was actually rather humorous, she said she would handle her coming and going the conventional way. She figured she’d be able to sign back in by twenty-three hundred hours, at the latest, so didn’t need to be gone all night. Also, after the recent kidnapping, she suggested using that as an excuse. Tracy would come along with her, of course. Ed Collinsworth from the FBI would pick them both up and bring them back. It wasn’t that much of a stretch to explain the authorities wanted her and Tracy to go and identify some suspects at a line-up which, obviously, could not be done at the academy.
Thus, at eighteen hundred hours, she and Tracy signed out and left with Ed. Their roommates had been told they’d be away, as well as several others. Ed brought them to the hotel in Tarrytown which they’d used before and where they had a room waiting. Tracy would relax there with Ed to keep her company while Missy had a place to leave her clothing while she was away.
Since Missy had visited Ayleen several times already in her spirit form, she was able to teleport to Ayleen’s place, no problem. Ayleen had finished her supper and was watching the news on TV, sitting on her couch all alone, when Missy arrived. Missy checked around, locating where Ayleen’s clothing was, etc. Then, wanting to make her appearance as dramatic as possible, Missy decided she’d materialize right there in front of Ayleen rather than off in another room.
To avoid the TV being a distraction, Missy pressed the power button on the remote and turned it off. Then, with a very noticeable pulse of energy, she suddenly appeared in front of Ayleen, about six feet away. That did indeed cause quite a surprise.
“Hello, Ayleen. I’m Missy McCrea and we need to talk.”
Ayleen had recently seen several photos of Missy and recognized her. However, in all the photos, Missy had been wearing clothes. Staring at this naked redheaded demon popping up in front of her like this was very shocking. She was so flabbergasted, she didn’t know what to do. Or say. Before Ayleen could experience terror or much else, Missy held her hands out and waved them back and forth.
“Please don’t be afraid. I am not going to harm you. Like I said, we need to talk. That’s all that’s going to happen here. Then I’ll leave.” Missy smiled, hoping she was soothing rather than frightening. “Hey, can I borrow something to wear? I’m not able to bring clothes when I teleport like this.”
“When you teleport like this?” said Ayleen, slowly, with awe in her voice, and making it more of a question than a statement. “I know you’re a demon. What do you want with me?” She was starting to get panicky and looked around. Unfortunately, she couldn’t see anything she could do.
“I’m going to just help myself to that robe I noticed in your bedroom closet. I’ll be right back.” Missy walked out of the room, leaving Ayleen even more surprised. Then she returned, wearing Ayleen’s robe. She sat down on the couch next to Ay
leen but without crowding her. Speaking in Pashto this time, she said, “There. That’s better. Now … about my being a demon? That’s just one of the things we need to talk about.”
-----
Thursday, Apr 30, 2020
Missy, Tracy and Sally were walking back to the barracks after Khan’s Klass. Missy and Tracy had not talked much since their adventure Tuesday night and Sally was asking about that. She said, “I know you didn’t really go to any police line-up. And, Troy’s been telling me how the cops and the FBI have been rounding up all those Zhu-Gung people, now that their witch leaders over here are in prison.”
Tracy said, “Yeah, Ed and I had a long talk about how that’s going. Missy was persona-not-there, of course, doing stuff she’s not even explained to me yet. But Ed was telling me the Hong Kong organization over here is done. Most were only mercenaries, brought here illegally. They’re not getting paid any more and are quite happy to be sent back. Not only have all the illegal drugs been confiscated but all the girls brought in are being located.”
“Yes, I got a call from Alice,” explained Missy. “Using information which the girls already rescued have plus what the various Zhu-Gung members are providing to avoid more severe sentencing, she thinks all of those girls brought over have now been found.”
Sally already knew about Alice’s organization bringing them to Boston’s Chinatown and providing lots of assistance. She asked, “What’s the total now?”
Missy said, “I’m not sure, but it’s close to a hundred. And, that’s not including this new amnesty program thing; she didn’t have a chance to explain how that works.”
“Ha. Because of that program, there will be lots more girls,” said Tracy. “Only, they won’t be from China but from right here in New York. Ed says when they track the Chinese girls down, finding whichever pimps they were placed with? They find lots of other girls working for those pimps as well. They’re offering amnesty to those girls, if they want it. No arrests. And, they don’t need to talk about the mob. Ed didn’t know the details but apparently Alice has stepped up. She’s offering a fresh start to any prostitute who wants it.”
Missy didn’t know the details yet either but she was pretty sure Alice was funding this new amnesty program using funds she herself was providing. She’d been very clear when discussing how she wanted Mark to manage her “werewolf wealth”. She’d told him that Alice should spend whatever she considered appropriate to help women who needed it. Any and all women. Not just Roseanne Fund girls.
Sally said, “Wow. That’s gonna really shake up the sex industry! Go Alice!”
“Well, not to worry, somehow I’m sure the sex industry will survive,” said Tracy. “But we haven’t heard yet from Missy. What did you do, exactly, while Ed was entertaining me with all his stories about dismantling the Chinese network?” She looked at Missy who had not said much about her visit with Ayleen.
Missy gave them some of the background, much of which was news to Sally. Then she explained what the CIA had learned had really happened with Ayleen’s mother and father.
Tracy said, “So, after her mother convinces her that men from America are sadistic rapists, even worse than the Taliban, she then needed to deal with her mother’s death. She’s all alone right when she’s starting into her teenage years. During the next ten years, she becomes this Mata Hari, a deep cover spy for WIJO who gets into bed with one of our congressmen because of her Jihadist beliefs.”
“And, she really believed you were a demon, Missy?” asked Sally.
“Oh, yes.” Missy grinned as she thought about the long conversation she’d had, trying to convince Ayleen she wasn’t an evil demon. Merely a witch-werecat. Who could wield supernatural powers and teleport but only wanted to do good rather than evil. Yeah, that had been quite a conversation. “I eventually asked her to set aside everything she believed about demons. I logged into Marie’s website and showed her what the Taliban and WIJO had done to her mother and father. I asked her if she really believed Allah had approved that, had approved all the killings and terrorist acts which they were responsible for, and truly wanted death to all Infidels. Then, I asked if she believed Nolan Miller, her congressman, was evil.”
“That was a whole lot for her to process,” said Tracy. “How did she react to all that?”
“Yeah,” agreed Sally. “Her whole life turned upside down … or, is that right side up? I suppose it really comes down to what does she believe.”
“I think her feelings about Nolan are what might ultimately be making the most difference,” said Missy. “She started out taking total advantage of the guy. But, he totally loves her. And, she never had experienced true love. Or, any love. At least, not since her mother was killed.”
Sally said, “So … she doesn’t think Nolan is evil. She probably can’t help being affected by him adoring her, right?”
Missy nodded and said, “I didn’t ask her to make any decisions. I told her she could stay loyal to WIJO if she wanted. But she would then be getting deported and sent back to Afghanistan. And, what was there for her now? Then I pointed out how, if she could reject the things WIJO had brainwashed her with, maybe she could make a life here. With Nolan. I told her she did not have to decide anything right away. It was all too much to think about. I said she needed to let her heart, her inner soul, guide her decision.”
“You aren’t worried she’ll tell her WIJO buddies all about your visit?” asked Sally.
“Not at all,” said Missy. “Think about it. What’s she going to tell them? She’s already leaked about my supposedly being this terrible demon. Telling them I visited her accomplishes nothing. It actually puts her at risk, if she admits learning the truth about her mother. No, I think she just needs some time. She could stay true to WIJO. Her role here will then be exposed and Nolan will suffer the consequences. But, she can’t do any other damage.”
“You’re right,” said Tracy. “And … you think she really has feelings now for Nolan? What did your Super-Spidey-Senses tell you about that?”
Missy chuckled and said, “I sensed she needs some time. But, she definitely has feelings for Nolan. I suggested she decide whether she could possibly embrace a whole new life. Then I told her how I had taken over the werewolf pack and the reasons why. I invited her to come up to our next full moon celebration. That’s a week from today, which gives her enough time.”
Tracy grinned and said, “If by then she’s willing to abandon the dark side and come see the light? Yes, why not watch a bunch of non-demons, non-hellhounds as you all go chasing around baying at the moon? That’ll convince her!”
Sally laughed and said, “Geez! I would be totally convinced by that. Even without Tracy’s special effects, like I understand she provided over there in Germany. Have you shown Ayleen that video yet?”
“Oh, yes. Sure did. I saved that until just before I left. I only asked that she promise not to tell anyone the hellhounds weren’t really from hell. Of course, she’s still trying to process what she believes about me and my being an evil demon or not. Time will tell!”
Chapter Forty-Four
Friday, May 1, 2020
When Missy got up the next morning, she was once again feeling her supernatural energy and libido peaking … it was Beltane, halfway between the Spring Equinox and the Summer Solstice. The Gaelic May Day Festival. Well, she was Irish in addition to being a witch. Using her mindspeak ability, she delighted in sharing her most erotic desires and fantasies with poor Mike. Since she couldn’t be there with him, it was the least she could do. Right?
Karen eventually noticed how she was just sitting on her bed, eyes closed and smiling away, obviously distracted about something. “You okay, Missy? You seem a little … I don’t know … different today.”
Missy opened her eyes and stood up. “I’m more than okay, Karen. I’m wonderful. And, if we do the math … or, ask Tracy to check the app on her phone … it’s now only thirteen days and a wake-up until our last exam. I’m sure she’s telling Nell
that means today is Friday the thirteenth. Only, rather than that being a day of bad luck, today will instead be a day of good luck. Just because!”
Karen chuckled and said, “How did I ever survive without you and Tracy? Okay. Good to know. Glad you’re happy. I’m going to get ready now. You should do the same. I know you need your breakfast, right?” If she’d learned nothing else that semester, mentioning meals was always a way to motivate Missy.
Sure enough, Missy grabbed her towel and toiletry case and then rushed out, headed for the bathroom.
-----
Tracy was also feeling it. Since she couldn’t send John any mental messages, she called him instead. She did wait until Nell left the room. When he answered, she said, “Hey! You do know what today is, right?”
John knew, of course, but said, “Huh? Is it Friday yet? Oh, yes. It is. TGIF. Yup. Thanks for the call, reminding me and everything. Gotta go. Big day ahead.” He waited for her reaction.
“Well, okay. But, don’t you want to ask me what I’m wearing?”
John laughed. “I’m picturing you wearing nothing at all right at the moment. If you’ve got any of your Army stuff on, you have no business calling me for phone sex.”
“Don’t be silly. I’m wearing that tee shirt of yours. You know … the one with the picture of a Rubik’s Cube on it?”
“I gave that to you, Tracy. It’s only a joke.” The slogan which went with the Rubik’s Cube said, “Still Easier to Figure Out Than Women”.
Tracy giggled and said, “I slept in it. It was either that or the one which says Sarcasm. You remember that one?”
“Sarcasm … it’s just one more of my many talents. That one?”
“Right,” said Tracy. “You do remember. I gave it to you for Christmas. How did it get mixed in with my stuff?
“Probably the same way that one of your bras ended up in my stuff. Look, as thrilling as this conversation is, I actually have classes today and need to get going. I’m pretty sure West Point has classes down there as well. And, unless you got my sister to do her bamboozle routine with the Supe, you can’t play hooky.”
Missy Goes to Hong Kong (Missy the Werecat Book 8) Page 28
