“We’ll need a lawyer for that. But as long as our fingerprints aren’t on any of it, if she dies, I’ve got a policy on her life. Why shouldn’t they pay me?”
Niles slapped the steering wheel. “Why wouldn’t they?” he whooped. He tromped the accelerator, and the SUV lurched ahead toward the Windy City.
Chapter 47: Chloe Constance
“Don’t lose them, but don’t get too close,” Chloe instructed Justin.
Reno and Niles had pulled in at a Redi-Stop, and Justin followed, parking at the far pumps. Back on the road, Justin unwrapped yet another Clif’s bar and munched down a mouthful. Chloe wiped the back of her sleeve across her eyes. It was late, and they were both tired, but Justin hadn’t slowed or veered from his beeline to Chicago, and they didn’t want to lose them.
“So what’s our plan from here?” Justin asked as the roadway flashed by.
She sighed. “We know he’s importing girls from Asia and forcing them into the sex trade. I’m talking very young girls, some as young as twelve. So he’s a terrible, terrible criminal. First, we need to help Trang and the other girls. I overhead Reno talking to Niles, and I know Chicago was where they were heading. If we keep on their tail, I’m sure they will lead us to them. Then, after I rescue the girls, I will kill him.”
“If I had a gun, I’d just shoot him for you.” Justin remarked.
She opened the glove box and removed a gun. It was the biggest gun Justin had ever seen.
“What in the world?” he exclaimed. “What’s that for?”
“Protection. If someone tries to take me into the woods and murder me, at least I’ll have a chance to save myself. Every woman should carry. I’ll use it on Reno. Just give me the right chance.”
“Where the heck did you get that?”
“At the pawn shop. It’s top of the line.”
“So, just say the word, and he will cease to exist.”
“What would you do?”
“Follow him into a parking lot. Then hide one car over. When he returns to his car, I step up behind him and shoot him once behind the ear and twice in the heart. It’s spotless and efficient.”
“That’s very appealing. That’s better than I can do.”
“Well? What do you say? Do we have a deal?”
“Let me think, Justin. Please.”
They didn’t talk much the rest of the way. Two hours later, they crossed the Cook County line. A roadside sign welcomed them to the largest county in Illinois. Once again, there was a gas stop and a fill-up, and then they were moving north again. At Interstate 70, they headed west. Chloe didn’t understand where they were going, but some names of towns along the freeway were familiar to her. Not that she had memories, nothing like that, but she’d heard the names before.
At last, they took an off-ramp and headed toward Palatine. They ran along a country road for several miles and then came into the town itself. At the second light, they followed Reno as he turned left; soon they were crossing the Metra train tracks. Several miles out from Palatine they came to a roadside motel, rundown and creepy, to her eyes. She read the unlit sign: End of Road Motel. New road construction had bypassed it and it went under as a viable business. Reno’s Escalade pulled into the motel’s parking lot, so Chloe instructed Justin to drive on past. Reno and Niles would be on high alert and would spot them if they brazenly pulled in, so they continued down the road. As soon as they were out of sight, they turned around and crept back to the motel. Reno’s car was parked outside what was once the motel office. There were no other vehicles. His Escalade was empty.
She pointed to the right, and Justin wheeled the sedan into a dimly lit strip mall. There was a nail salon, a Liberty Tax, an Asian market, Pete’s Pizza and Pool, a computer repair shop and a bagel store. A few other cars were nosed into parking slots, so they weren’t the only ones there. Justin backed into a slot; they were facing the motel across the street. They could spot the Escalade and other motel traffic as cars came and went.
After several hours, Chloe noticed one thing. Cars were coming and going to the motel but there were no families, no luggage, none of the signs of overnight motel business. The rooms the people went into at first looked random, but she realized those had to be rooms occupied by Reno’s young girls. The men didn’t wait; they went inside, did their business, and left, in about twenty to forty-five minutes, tops.
Her insides were churning. She was sure she’d located Trang. She would be inside one of those rooms, performing sex acts for money—at twelve.
It was a disgusting and painful reality that settled over her. Justin felt it, too. Justin wanted to shoot Reno and set the girls free now. No waiting, just walk in and shoot Reno, maybe Niles, too, and set the girls free.
But Chloe couldn’t have that. First, she must be certain Trang was there. If she were, they’d make their plans. But if she weren’t, then they had more detective work to do. Either way, she was taking the long view, and she settled back in the seat, ratcheting it down, in a reclined position.
Now she’d just wait.
Chapter 48: Chloe Constance
When the sun came up, Chloe was still parked across the street from the motel. She remained there until just after ten o’clock, when Reno walked out alone out to the SUV, climbed in, and pulled out of the motel lot.
“Let him go,” she told Justin, who started the engine and asked to follow. “Him being gone means Trang is in there alone. This is a good time to talk to her.”
“How will you do that?”
“Straightforward, Justin. I’m going across the street, and I’ll knock on doors. If she’s there, I’ll find her. Give me your hat, please.”
Justin handed her a Cardinal’s hat from the glove compartment. She bunched up her hair at the back and pulled the cap low across her eyes. It hid most of her blond hair.
“I’ll take the gun with me.”
Justin reached and prevented her from drawing the gun out from under the seat. “You need me to use the gun. Not you. Let me go.”
“No, this one’s my turn.”
“Then leave the gun here. You won’t shoot it and they’ll get it and use it against you.”
“You’re probably right,” she said, giving in to what he said. He knew her way too well.
She swung open the driver’s door and aimed her walker at the road. Traffic was high speed along this stretch, so she scrambled hard to make it across without getting squashed by an 18-wheeler. Then she was across. Niles was still in the office, and she didn’t want him to see her, so she started with the door farthest away.
The room number was 8. Chloe stepped up onto the sidewalk and knocked. She could hear voices inside, but no one answered. So she knocked again, louder this time.
A beautiful young girl opened the door and stood there gazing up at her. Chloe was sure she was Vietnamese.
“I’m looking for Trang. Is she in there?”
“No, Trang. Wrong room.”
“Is she in this motel?”
“Down there,” the girl said, pointing back toward the office. Chloe turned and looked. The last thing she wanted was to go down by the office.
So she asked her, “Would you get her for me? I’m here to help her. And I’m here to help you, too.”
The girl eyeballed her. “I don’t know about it, but if you say,” she said in a sing-song voice. “I will go ask her if you pay me.”
“How much?”
“Twenty dollar?”
“Fine, fine.”
She pulled a crumpled wad of bills from her jeans pocket. “Here’s twenty. Now go, please. But tell no one I’m here, okay?”
“Okay.”
The girl stuffed the twenty inside her sweatshirt and headed off down the sidewalk.
Five minutes later, she returned. Five minutes after that, Trang appeared from inside the office and stepped out from beneath the overhang, looking over their way. Chloe raised her hand and waved. Trang nodded and walked toward her.
The messenge
r pulled Chloe into her room. “Be in here with Trang,” she said.
Chloe thanked her, and then Trang entered the room.
When Trang realized it was Chloe, she rushed over and embraced her. “You came!” she cried. “You said you would come!”
Chloe hugged her back, and they hung on like long-lost sisters. Then they parted and appraised each other.
“I want you to come with me,” Chloe told her. “We can go somewhere and make plans to get all the girls away from here.”
“Oh, no, Reno hurt my friends if I go.”
“Let me worry about Reno. He’ll not hurt anyone.”
“Reno is mean. He makes us sell our ass and gives us two dollars.”
“He pays you two dollars every time you’re with a man?”
“That right.”
“How much does he get?”
“Two hundred. Or five hundred for anyone under sixteen.”
“Here’s your chance to get away. I’ve got a car across the street. I’ll come back for your aunt and everyone else.”
Trang went to the motel room’s window and parted the blinds with her fingers. “The blue car is yours?”
“Yes. Let’s leave now!”
A worried look took her face. “I cannot go. My aunt is here. I cannot leave her.”
“Where is she right now?”
“In Niles’ room. She with Niles.”
“Great. How about I pay Niles and buy her back? I’ll do that for both of you.”
“Okay.”
They left the room and headed to the office. With every step, the hair on the back of Chloe’s neck prickled. An inner voice told her she shouldn’t be doing this. The same voice told her to bolt and run. But she didn’t.
Trang led them inside. She went up to the counter and rang the bell.
Sure enough, a sleepy-looking Niles appeared in the doorway leading to the back room living area. When he saw Chloe, he stopped dead in his tracks.
Before he could react, Chloe asked him, “I want to buy Trang and her aunt from you. How much do you want?”
Niles looked out past Chloe’s shoulder and then back at her. “Ten-thousand dollars. Apiece.”
Chloe pulled out her wad and pawed through it. “There’s not enough. How about I make a down payment and come back with the rest after I get to the bank?”
He rubbed his cheek. “Sure. Leave the money. And the girls. Come back when you’re ready.”
“I don’t think so. I think I’ll take Trang now and come back for her aunt. You keep my money in the meantime. That way we’re both protected.”
He took a deep breath and leaned his elbows on the counter. “Reno is on his way back any minute. I’d leave now if I were you.”
“Not without Trang. I swore to her I would help her.”
“And you tried, and it didn’t work. So leave now while you can.”
She turned to Trang. In the slant of morning light coming through the front window, she looked all of twelve. Perfect skin, perfect posture, full mouth with perfect teeth. Chloe wanted so much to restore Trang’s innocence, to protect her, to set her aside for when she reached an age where she could claim herself as her own. Chloe wanted that for her. Chloe wanted it for herself, too.
“Get out, Chloe. He’s coming back any minute!”
“Niles, I have a gun. Don’t make me go get it.”
He laughed. “Go, get out now. We’ve all got guns, girl. What are you thinking? Now listen, I’m trying to protect you, Chloe. I’m telling you it’s not safe here. Just take yourself back across that street to your car, get in, and drive away. Reno isn’t five minutes from here right now.”
“No can do. I’m taking Trang.”
Niles lunged, grabbing Trang by the wrist. He pulled her back behind him, pushed her through the door to the living quarters and kicked the door closed behind him.
“Now go. This is the last time I‘ll say it, Chloe; then I’ll hurt you. Reno wants to see you dead. There’s not much I can do to help you if he comes back and you’re still here.”
She turned and looked behind her. The prickly hair on her neck was screaming out for her to run. Niles was right; Reno would kill her.
So she gave in. Without a gun and without money to buy Trang’s freedom, she was helpless to move Trang out of this terrible place.
Back across the road, she crabbed with her walker, jumped into the car, and ordered Justin to drive.
“Where to?”
“Just go!”
“Let me go get her,” Justin said, reaching for the gun.
“No. I’m afraid Trang will get hurt. We’ve lost the element of surprise. Leave. We’ll come back.”
She watched the motel receding in the rearview mirror.
She would return.
Chapter 49: Marcel Rainford
Detective Davidson called Andrew to let him know Chloe had fled Alton. He told Andrew he intended to run Reno to the ground, make an arrest, and transport him back to Madison County for prosecution. If he located Chloe during all this, he would notify Andrew without delay.
Reno was Davidson’s priority, but Andrew’s priority was to get his wife back. Where she had gone was anyone’s guess—but she’d told him she would be with Reno, her husband. Andrew hung up and called Marcel and updated the investigator. Marcel was on the mend and wasn’t able to jump back into field work—yet. But Andrew kept him in the loop as there was no one better qualified to find Chloe.
Marcel had been working from home. He said his first step had been to submit the name of Chloe Constance to the World Bank’s Findex database. A hit had been instantly returned, revealing her new account at Bank of America. Her most recent transaction was a ten-thousand-dollar withdrawal from the BOA branch in the Chicago suburb of Schaumburg, by the mall. This was two days earlier. She could be anywhere in the world by now, with that amount of money, but his sixth sense told him she was still in Chicagoland. So he’d checked the utility database. Sure enough, she’d established electric service in her name in Schaumburg. Marcel had the address.
Marcel told Andrew he‘d driven to the Schaumburg address and found a four-plex with one car out front. It was a blue Honda Civic about three years old with a current registration sticker and a Hertz rental sticker. He parked his white van. From a distance of fifty yards, his spot commanded a view of all vehicular and pedestrian traffic coming and going from the location.
For two days, he’d sat on the stakeout, hoping for a break. But he reported to Andrew that during the entire time on location, there had been zero traffic coming or going. The place looked uninhabited, based on the inactivity.
Marcel ignored doctor’s orders and went to Andrew’s law firm. The investigator looked haggard. He was wearing jeans and a gray sweatshirt and looked like he had missed the razor several days running. His eyes were bleary, and he was chain-smoking in Andrew’s non-smoking suite.
“Nada, nothing, zip, zero.”
“But it’s the address where she’s had the electrical hooked up?”
“Electric and water. Both now. I even crept over and looked in the windows in the middle of the night. There appears to be furniture.”
“But no Chloe.”
“No. What do I do? Go back? Michael says he wants me there. You on-board with that?”
“Hmmm. Let’s talk about that. Why would she take on a four-plex in the first place?”
“My guess? She’s after Reno’s girls. She’s getting ready to bring them out.”
“That sounds like a good first guess.”
But it was just a guess.
They agreed to hire a PI to continue with the stakeout. Marcel was too exhausted to leave in a car parked on some city street any longer.
Marcel didn‘t argue. He was already across the line his doctor’s had drawn to rein him in. Andrew knew that so he put his foot down, sending Marcel home.
It was going to be a slog and he wanted Marcel rested.
Chapter 50: Chloe Constance
Chlo
e was returning from a grocery run when a car in front of her suddenly slammed on its brakes. Seconds later, the car behind rammed into her rear bumper. She was shot into the vehicle ahead. Seconds later, another vehicle screeched up on her left, and a man leaped out the passenger side. She was still shaking from the pile-up, but she happened to get a glimpse of the man’s face.
It was him, Reno. He was holding a gun and pointing it right at her head. Niles had reported her visit to the motel, which set Reno off and he’d been looking for her. He’d decided that dead was dead, with or without insurance money.
Chloe was driving a Suburban—Justin’s idea, for safety. Justin took over from her. He threw the SUV in reverse and tromped on the gas. The car behind them was slammed backward, its wheels squealing on the road surface. In the next moment, Reno aimed his gun at Justin’s head. But Justin saw it coming and threw the SUV into low and stepped on it again, this time jacking the steering wheel all the way to the right. A bullet entered the driver’s side window and narrowly missed.
The Suburban shot out from between the cars, ran through the adjacent lane of traffic on its right, and went shooting up onto the sidewalk where Justin straightened the wheel, and went sailing along. The few pedestrians had heard the gunshots and were jumping left and right so Justin could follow the sidewalk all the way to the next intersection. There, the vehicle bounced back onto the road and swerved into a looping right turn. Justin looked back in the mirror, watching for pursuit, but good luck had found them since Reno’s car, and the others were stuck in the traffic jam they’d created.
Justin cut back around to the Kennedy, and they headed westbound. Two off-ramps later, they were cruising up to the light and headed north.
They pulled into a 7-Eleven parking lot and turned around behind it.
“I thought someone said this asshole was in California,” Justin exclaimed.
Chloe said, “That’s what Maddy heard, but obviously not. We were almost killed back there.”
“That’s it. He’s mine now,” Justin said with a note of finality.
The Fifth Justice (Michael Gresham Legal Thrillers Book 10) Page 18
