“I’m not suited for it. I hate pedophiles and bullies who abuse children. Makes me think of my own father too much. Put me in that section and the murder rate would go up, not down.”
Jack, Laura, and Bien boarded a flight leaving Hanoi at 11:05 that same morning. With the time difference, they were scheduled to arrive in Vancouver forty-five minutes later on the same date. In fact, it was almost twenty-five hours later.
It did not help Jack’s peace of mind when he discovered that Moustache Pete and the Fat Man were on the same flight and flying first class.
So much for Sonny gathering more evidence on them ...
Jack and Laura were still three hours out of Vancouver over the Pacific Ocean when Connie received confirmation that the Vancouver City Police had obtained the search warrants.
She met with teams of police officers who were a combination of both Vancouver City Police and RCMP. The briefing was thorough and everyone assigned knew their duties.
Two VPD plainclothes officers, posing as customers, would be sent inside The Asian Touch massage parlour in Vancouver. Two RCMP officers, also posing as customers, would enter the Orient Pleasure massage parlour in Surrey at the same time.
The job of the insiders was to stop anyone who tried to burn or flush evidence when the raid commenced. They would be given exactly two minutes. Hopefully long enough to gather evidence of prostitution, but a short enough time to hide the fact that they were not going to be customers and that they were carrying weapons and wearing Kevlar vests under their shirts.
Three hours after the search warrants were signed, multiple teams of officers in Vancouver and Surrey waited at their assigned locations at the ready.
Connie gripped the police radio in one hand and watched the seconds tick by on her watch as she sat parked with her partner near Dúc’s house. Eight other officers assigned to her team were parked close by.
“Now! Now!” echoed across police radios and Connie leapt from the car and ran to the front door of Dúc’s house. The sound of splintering wood from the rear told her that other officers had just gained entry ahead of her.
Elsewhere, squads of officers were entering the massage parlours and smashing their way into the homes of the other Tran brothers, as well as two apartments belonging to employees who worked at the parlours.
Hopefully the sounds of splintering wood, breaking glass, and yelling would momentarily shock and paralyze anyone to delay them from grabbing a weapon.
Hopefully, Connie realized. But not always ...
Within a few seconds, all the places being searched were secured and all those found inside had been handcuffed. Connie breathed a sigh of relief. Nobody hurt ...
The initial search being conducted by Connie’s team yielded nothing. Now a more careful search was being conducted. Every room, ceiling panel ... anything new that had been built ... rugs to be looked under for trap doors.
Connie answered her cellphone and discovered it was Jack.
“Just landed and cleared Customs,” he said. “Anything?”
“We’re doing the searches now. Started about fifteen minutes ago. Doesn’t look good. I’m at Dúc’s house. He’s got an attached garage. I’m going to look at it again.”
“Could you use a hand?”
“Got lots of help. No use burdening you.”
“What about the other places?”
“So far they’ve got a bunch of credit card receipts. Also a lot of red-faced guys lying around handcuffed wishing they were wearing pants ... but nothing of real interest.”
Jack sighed and said, “Call me if ... you know. I’m going to the office and then will find a hotel room for Bien.”
“Talk to ya later.”
“There’s one other thing.”
“What’s that?”
“The Russians came back on the plane with us.”
“Shit!”
Connie entered Dúc’s garage. It had a cement floor but she noticed some partial sheets of plywood lying on the floor under a work bench. She got down on her hands and knees to take a closer look. The sound of running footsteps approached her from behind.
“Connie!” came the excited voice of a young officer from her team. “Something you should see in the basement!”
“What?” she replied, trying to maintain a professional calm while her pulse quickened.
“A wall with wooden panelling. I knocked on it. Sounds hollow in one place!”
chapter thirty-one
Jack arrived at his office and plunked himself down behind his desk as Laura went to find an extra chair for Bien.
Jack called Natasha at work to let her know he was back. Not home. Just back. He then listened to the messages left on his office phone.
He hung up just as Laura wheeled a chair across the office floor for Bien to sit on. “I took this from Staff Pendejo’s office,” she said. “He’s not around. Probably not back from lunch.” Laura glanced at Jack and raised an eyebrow and asked, “What’s with you?”
“Isaac wants to see me immediately upon our return,” replied Jack.
“What about?”
“I don’t know. Maybe I should have Natasha call and ask. She’s on a first-name basis with him.”
Jack met with Isaac and was asked to give a quick debriefing on what had transpired in Vietnam.
After Jack told him, Isaac nodded and said, “Staff Otto had basically filled me in on the details. How is the father holding up? Does he speak English?”
“Yes, sir. His English is excellent. As far as holding up goes ... he is doing as well as could be expected under the circumstances.”
“I would like to meet with him shortly and assure him personally that we will do everything possible to find Linh and apprehend whoever is responsible,” said Isaac. “Now, however, there is another matter I wish to speak to you about.”
Jack listened as Isaac told him about Quaile’s lack of good judgement in regard to taking a picture of the Russians as they boarded the flight to Costa Rica.
“Lack of good judgement, sir?” seethed Jack. “I would call it obstruction of justice.”
“I can see on the surface how you might feel that way. However, I spoke with him and he explained that they caught him off guard and he reacted in a manner that he hoped they would think a policeman would not do. He was so upset by being seen by them that he was too embarrassed to come forward and admit it earlier. I’m sure he would never make the same mistake again. However, it is also obvious that his judgement in his assessment of you may have been flawed.”
“Flawed, sir?” said Jack sarcastically.
“We all make mistakes, Corporal,” said Isaac flatly. “Perhaps I am making one now, by cancelling your transfer to Traffic Services.”
“You are letting me remain here on Intelligence, sir?”
Isaac nodded and said, “You were correct in your judgement to work on the Russians.”
“I believe that Staff Quaile disagreed strongly with that point of view on my last assessment,” said Jack.
“I appreciate that your last performance rating was less than satisfactory. Far below what you have normally achieved. Staff Quaile and you obviously had a personality conflict. With that in mind ... and considering all the circumstances, I will see to it that a new performance rating is completed by whoever is selected to replace Staff Quaile.”
“To replace Staff Quaile? I appreciate that, sir!”
Isaac frowned and said, “We all have different abilities in different areas. I can see that, perhaps because of your background and experience, you have a more analytical mind when it comes to how organized crime functions. I’m sure that Staff Sergeant Quaile will be well-suited for the administrative position that he is now being transferred to.”
“When is that effective, sir?”