Page 73 of Facing the Enemy
“Okay. An FBI team is on its way for a sweep.”
“Has Luke’s body been located?” I said.
“Not yet.” Darlene smiled at Agent Richey, who’d been listening intently. “Do you have any questions?”
“No. My sympathies, Agent Jacobs. I know the past several months have been difficult. I’m new to violent crime, but I will do whatever is needed to arrest whoever is responsible.”
Darlene pressed Stop on her cell phone. “Where are you staying tonight?”
A place for the night hadn’t entered my mind. The atrocity in my bathroom ... No, I couldn’t stay here for a multitude of reasons. “I can go to my parents’ home.” I wouldn’t go there, not with photos and memories of Trenton in every corner. A hotel suited me better.
“If your parents’ home doesn’t work out, give me a call and you can use my guest room.”
Her generosity touched me. Could she tell my emotions were off the chart? I took another breath. “Thanks. I appreciate you more than you could ever imagine.”
“Wouldn’t you do the same for me?”
“Without a doubt,” I said.
“I suggest you tell me what you need from your bedroom and bath, and I’ll pack them.”
Another act of caring. “My overnight bag is on my bed, and my toiletries are dumped in the sink. If it’s not too much of an imposition, I’d like my toothbrush and toothpaste now to rid the taste in my mouth.”
“No problem at all. Sit tight. I’ll get them and then your other things. I’ll walk you to your car.”
“Not yet. I prefer staying until the investigators are finished. I’m okay, really.”
“Okay.” But the skepticism in her eyes revealed her disbelief. I understood. While I fought my way upstream, I’d take it one stroke at a time.
Lord, be with Luke’s widow. Love her through the horrible news of how he died.
39
GAGE
I should be with Risa. No one else. She knew my feelings, and I knew hers. Every moment away from her hurt, and now she faced walking through a gruesome murder alone. So much to talk through. Right now, I wanted to protect her from the evil. But the SAC was right—I needed to do my job. The best way to help Risa was to have confessions and leads. But how did I convince my aching heart who wanted to comfort the woman I loved?
A tech examined Ethan’s burner and personal phones under secure conditions that prevented Smith’s knowledge. Smith had installed a bug on both to alert all usages, geo-tracking, and enable recording. We chose to keep those in place. Awareness was all we needed. I arranged for surveillance and released Ethan to go home once he changed the passwords. Granted, his willingness put him in the line of fire, and my conscience nudged me about permitting it.
ASAC Kendall and I met outside the door of an interview room. He introduced me to a female agent who spoke Vietnamese and would interpret the conversation. Through the one-way mirror, we scrutinized the three men awaiting questioning, one in a suit. I held the gang members’ files, and both had been in jail for misdemeanors, but this was their first felony. Tuan Duong and Vinh Bui had shavedheads. Tuan had a jagged scar alongside the left side of his neck. Jack and I had ID’d both young men from previous charges. They’d been two of the five gang members who’d threatened us. He and Duong were caught on video pulling up to the Saigon Sampler shortly before the fire broke out, and Duong’s .22 had executed the Phan sisters.
Their attorney, Giang Lam, represented influential Asian clients—not the respectable ones but the kind the FBI wanted off the streets. Most likely, Giang collected his fee from the crime ring that had kidnapped the Addingtons’ baby. Made sense the two under arrest would be represented by one who understood the culture and the game organized crime played with the judicial system. Giang representing the gang members also distanced the fraudulent adoption agencies from the murders and arson at the restaurant. Legal representation would argue the cases weren’t remotely connected. Another angle for me to twist around in my brain.
We entered the room where the two cuffed gang members and their attorney had waited for over an hour while I finished with Ethan. The room nearly exploded in frustration.
I shook hands with the attorney, a man who wore a silk suit and tie more expensive than I’d ever own. The two men in dirty jeans and T-shirts didn’t have the high dollars to pay him, just puppets used to broaden the crime ring’s agenda.
I introduced myself and ASAC Kendall. “I apologize for the delay, Mr. Giang. Your clients, Tuan Duong and Vinh Bui, are charged with first-degree murder in the deaths of Phan Suzi and Phan Hai. Your clients are also charged with a first-degree felony, arson and a death resulting from the fire. The third is a federal change for threatening FBI agents. How do your clients plead?”
“Not guilty,” the attorney said.
No surprise there. “Mr. Giang, I was at the Saigon Sampler restaurant, and your clients accosted me and my partner. Within an hour of leaving the area, the mentioned crimes occurred.”
“Who is your partner? Where is he?” Giang had his poker face down pat.
“Special Agent Jack Bradford. He’s in the hospital.”
Bui smirked. At least one of them spoke English.
