Chapter 3 #2
She threw her hands up in the air. “Everything. Miss Nami let Perlah come to my room before she took her back to club. Perlah tell me how beautiful club is and how pretty her room. Men nicer too. No one allowed to hit. Girl get hit, client get beat up and can never come back. He lose all his money too. Cost million dollars to join club.”
“It doesn’t sound like a BDSM club.” Mike couldn’t believe he’d said that out loud.
“No, it sounds like a specialized sex club for men who like little girls.” Kam looked over her shoulder at him.
“That’s why they prefer girls from Southeast Asia.
It’s hard to tell their age. A plaid skirt, plain white blouse with matching white socks in Mary Jane shoes and they look like a ten-year-old attending Catholic school.
Put them in a slinky beaded dress slit up to their thigh, go heavy on the makeup, and the same girl suddenly looks like an exotic model. The perfect sex toy.”
“A million dollars?” Dylan chuckled. “He’d have to be a rich movie star to afford to go there.”
Tala rattled off a list of leading men and even a few women.
Mike was quite sure that the million-dollar price and the movie stars were an exaggeration, but, hell, it was California.
The secrecy necessary to keep a proclivity for teenage girls might just cost a million dollars in Tinseltown.
That was so far above Mike’s pay grade he didn’t even want to think about that kind of money.
“Has Perlah paid off her debt yet? You said girls at the club make better money.”
Damn, Dylan was right on top of this interrogation.
Tala’s face fell. “No. When she close, they take her pretty clothes away. Sometimes, we get the pretty clothes at Miss Nami’s. But then Perlah and other girls go shopping for new clothes and owe Big Daddy more money. You need to get Perlah out.”
“I promise you, Tala, we’ll do our best to find her, but you really haven’t given us enough to go on. Do you have any idea how we could find this club?”
She dropped her head into her hands. “No.” The word sounded more like a kitten’s mew. “Make Miss Nami tell you where.”
Dylan glanced at the two-way mirror then to the door as though expecting someone to step in.
Mike slid Kam a sideways look, but she didn’t move.
After a long minute, Dylan spoke carefully, “We would ask her if we could, but she’s dead.”
Tala’s head popped up. “Dead?”
“Yes. I’m not sure about the details, but I was told she was found dead a few hours ago.” Dylan lied easily and well.
Everyone watching knew that he’d been informed of the gruesome details of Miss Nami’s death. She’d been found in long-term parking at the airport with her throat cut and a passport in her purse. Somebody didn’t want her talking.
“Good!” A vicious smile crossed Tala’s face. “Now go kill Big Daddy.”
“Kam, the bus is leaving in ten minutes to take the girls to the safe house.” A man dressed in the ICE uniform of the day approached their small group.
“Thanks, Jeremy.” She nodded toward the glass. “Lieutenant Dylan Chaney is getting lots of information for us. There’s a club out there that we need to go after.”
As though suddenly remembering her manners, she offered, “Captain Hubbard, have you met my partner Senior Special Agent Jeremy Sanderson?” As though in afterthought, she added, “and this is Commander Mike Gallagher.”
Nodding toward the two-way glass, Jeremy asked, “He needs to wrap it up. The social workers in Victim’s Assistance Program need to start their magic on these girls.”
“VAP is just going to have to wait a few more minutes,” Kam insisted.
“They’ll all be back tomorrow, hopefully, more willing to talk to us.” Jeremy seemed to be the voice of reason in that partnership.
Almost unwillingly, Kam nodded. “We’ve got so much already today, it’ll take us weeks to work through it.”
“Dylan needs to get home to his baby, and I need to take my wife out to dinner.” Captain Hubbard announced. “Commander Gallagher, we’ll need to brief Vice Admiral Maddox on this tomorrow morning. Make sure Dylan’s available.”
“Aye, aye, sir.” Mike looked at Kam and gestured to the door. “This is your show. You want me to pull Lieutenant Chaney out so you can have a minute or two alone with Tala?”
“I’ve got this.” Kam simply opened the door and strode in.
Her smile seemed forced but at least it was there.
“You’ve both done wonderfully today. Thank you, Lieutenant Chaney.
Please give my appreciation to the captain and commander.
” She extended her hand and maneuvered him out of the room.
“We’ll let you know if we need you back. ”
“Tala, thank you for the great deal of information today. You will be joining the others now. You’ll be taken to a safe house where…”
Kam’s voice faded as the three naval officers headed down the hallway.
Just before they turned the corner, Mike heard several women talking.
Glancing over his shoulder it seemed as though Kam was handing Tala off to someone else who immediately put her arm around the young girl and started speaking to her in her own language.
Mike couldn’t resist. When his eyes met Kam’s, he smiled and gave her a long slow wink.