A Legal Trap Ch. 05

Author retains all rights to this original work of fiction.

March 10th 5:12 AM

I had managed to catch ten minutes of sleep on the way to the Scottsdale

police station. I was instantly awake when the car engine was turned off.

Paul looked over his shoulder at me to see if I was ready to go, I nodded

and followed Jacob out of the car.

No one was talking and when we got to the building Paul moved ahead to get the door for us, I smiled a 'Thanks' - Jacob was still silent. At the front desk, Jacob told the officer behind the Plexiglas that we were here to meet with FBI Director Keith, who was working with Captain Barrett. The officer made a call and within a minute, a Sergeant was leading us back to a command room.

We entered a brightly lit room, with computers around one-half of the large table in the center of the room. There was tactical radio chatter coming from speakers embedded in the paneled ceiling, which made me jump the first time it crackled to life.

Paul and I held back as Jacob shook hands with who we assumed was Captain Barrett, then the FBI Director. They talked for a couple minutes, while Paul looked over the computer systems in the room. I could tell the police officers easily enough in the crowd of eleven people crowded around in groups of two or three - they had uniforms on, but the people in suits were either FBI agents or Scottsdale PD detectives.

Paul slipped away and began talking to a suit - I felt a tap on my shoulder.

"Elizabeth, this is FBI Director Landon Keith..." We shook hands, and while he was a nice looking man, his eyes and the way he carried himself told me he was a serious law enforcement professional that didn't put up with a bunch of crap - he commanded the room, even though this wasn't his turf to command.

"Nice to meet you Elizabeth. Jacob's told me about your work on this, we

should have brought you on board sooner."

"Thank you sir. Really Paul is the brains and was, I mean he got us access to the email account that got us on the right track." I was trying to control my emotions, the cadence of my voice, enunciations, and any nervous twitching I'm sure I was exhibiting. I'm sure I sounded stupid but tried to look confident I knew the score.

"Excellent... I see he's already talking with one of my guys," Landon was

saying.

I looked to my right and could see Paul in conversation about something

with one of the FBI agents. I smiled at the Director with nothing to add.

"So, I was telling Jacob that since this is a multiagency investigation there is a lot of coordination we had to get lined up. I think we have done a damn good job at that in such a short amount of time. Our office in Santa Fe has triangulated, pin pointed the location, of the cellphone number you provided. We have had someone on the house since after hearing from Jacob earlier this morning. The Santa Fe PD team will be executing the extraction, shortly. We facilitated a search warrant request with judge..."

"Com-check B-one-one... Ops channel 3. Copy...," a voice above us interrupted the Director. "Eleven is 5 by... Holding outer orbit Charles. Tact 1 - we are clear - viz twenty-five."

"That's the air support. Sounds like they are probably getting close, excuse me," and the Director walked toward Paul, introducing himself and I watched them shake hands.

"I'm a little nervous," Jacob said softly.

The energy in the room was thick and bristled with every radio transmission that came out of the overhead speakers. I could only imagine what it was like wherever Amber was right now for all these people who gathered to go in after her. "Everything will work out Mr. Wentz, this will be over soon."

"I certainly hope so."

March 10th 6:16 AM

"Command - Green... Go!"

The group of us in the conference room was now along for the ride, blindly trying to make sense of the chatter coming from the speakers overhead. With all the technology - why weren't we watching video from some tactical officers POV camera or some kind of drone feed from above? I could feel the goose bumps on my arms rise and felt chilled in the crowded room. Please be all right, let no bad happen.

"POLICE! SEARCH WARRANT!"

"Breach! Breach!"

"Clear! Right! Go!"

Silence, then, "Left... Clear! POLICE! SEARCH WARRANT!" There was

a long stretch of silence. "Got a basement..."

The different voices made me wonder how many people were on scene. A calm voice began speaking.

"Second floor, heat-signature moving... Back room south, small room,

bathroom... Still just the one..." Silence for five seconds - "POLICE!

SEARCH WARRANT!"

"Anders, down with Minks - Go! Bowls, Jenner, up stairs, on me..."

Silence.

I wondered what was going on, where in the house they were. Did Amber

know we were coming for her? Would she be relieved? Would she put up a

fight? If they had the ability to pick up heat-signatures, why weren't they just rushing toward it? Were there any others in the house? There should be two people there, they only saw a heat signature for one?

I sensed Paul leaning into me, "Intense... They've got someone outside the house, sniper probably, with the ability to see heat-signatures through the walls. That's some futuristic stuff. Not foolproof, but some kind of magic."

His voice was low and I could feel the heat of his breath on my neck. I wished he was holding me. I resisted the urge to take his hand.

He moved a half step away. Oh well, at least he explained why they were

not rushing toward whatever they could see upstairs as a heat-signature.

They knew what they were doing and to err on the side of caution was

probably their mandate. I just wanted this to be over and I looked at

Jacob, he looked worried.

The professionals in the room all looked like they were listening to a commercial between football plays - calm, but on edge as if ready to react.

"Down is clear! Securing one... Back..."

No reply. What had just been said made no sense to me and I had no idea which group of officers was which now.

A hushed voice, lower than the previous ones, "Three doors... Sig left

South...," a pause followed by, "Confirmed, left South... Advised - sig

is prone now... No movement in 30..."

The reply, "Left South, prone..." There were two clicking sounds followed by, "POLICE!"

"Clear! One unconscious... Bowls hold with the woman. Jenner on me."

The speakers were silent for nearly a full minute. "Clear up... Command,

we are clear... Repeat - clear... We have secured one... House is

clear, one mark. Minks - EMS up here now - left South. Fire hold."

As if on cue the entire room finally took a breath. Paul and I hugged; I

could see a relieved look wash over Jacob's face over Paul's shoulder.

There were many smiles, but some serious faces were still working at

computers.

The FBI Director was on his phone, the Scottsdale PD Captain was going over something with another officer - wasn't this over? There was plenty of chatter from the speakers above us now, but the voices were much more calm now, almost matter of fact.

I tried to follow, but I checked out pretty much after hearing they had 'the woman' - Amber was safe. It's over! I could feel the tears well in my eyes.

March 10th 6:33 AM

It seemed like it took forever to get a status on Amber, but the FBI Director relayed that the extraction team had found Amber unconscious in the upstairs bathroom - we had heard that report live just minutes ago. The initial report from the EMS on scene had been she was heavily drugged - possibly sedated, her chest area was heavily bandaged, and she was being transported to a hospital - nothing further.

Jacob was on speaker phone with Stephanie, letting her listen in to the FBI Director. Stephanie interrupted to get the hospital name so they could be there when she arrived. The FBI Director explained the guy we were looking for - was not found - which I'm sure angered the Carsons and Jacob. It angered me. How could this person do this to a child and leave her alone?

The Director said the Santa Fe PD would be processing the house and when they had more information, he would be in touch with Jacob. Jacob spoke a few words to the Carson's and said he would call them back. Then as quickly as the call ended the Director shook our hands, Thanked everyone in the room for a job well done, and walked out with Jacob.

I stood there relieved, but totally spent. This was hour what, twenty- seven for me with barely any food or sleep. Augh! Not having captured our 'Daddy' was disheartening. Where had he gone and why would he leave Amber there alone? Did he know we were on to him?

I looked around for Paul, finding him with one of the FBI agents looking at something on his computer. I took a step toward him as my phone began to ring. I pulled it from my purse - it was a number I didn't recognize, but had a Seattle area code '206'.

"Hello?"

"Elizabeth, I'm going to get a ride with Landon. I will catch up with you

and Paul later."

"Yes, sure Mr. Wentz. I'll let Paul know." I was confused as to why he was calling me.

"Thank You for everything today Elizabeth, my family and I very much

appreciates everything you've contributed. Please call Janet, let her

know we found Amber - but nothing else."

"Oh, sure... Yes, I will. I can call her, sir." And the line went dead.

Now I was twice as confused. Why hadn't he called Paul to say he was catching a ride with the FBI Director? And, why did he want me to let Janet know about Amber? How did he get my phone number? Janet? Paul?

I did not want to make the call to Janet. I looked toward Paul who was still deep in conversation with two FBI agents now. Great! I didn't want to make this call. I looked at my phone and pulled up my recent calls. I clicked on Janet's number from last night. I was sure I would be waking her, but she answered on the first ring and sounded wide-awake.

"Elizabeth, is there news?"

"Yes, ah, Ms. Larson we have Amber. The police were able to get..."

"That's amazing news! Oh, I bet the Carson's are so relieved. Thank God," she said cutting me off.

"Yes, I'm sure they are relieved." Janet sounded truly excited, why was I so nervous right now?

"Is there something else Elizabeth?"

"No, I mean, well they've taken her to the hospital to be checked out."

"Oh, did they say what was wrong? What hospital, I would like to send flowers."

"Ah, I'm not really sure. The police really didn't let me in on everything going on and Jacob has already left. I can try to get that information and call you back," it was a lie. I knew the hospital in Santa Fe Amber was being taken to, would Janet know I was lying?

"Okay, do that please. How is Jacob?"

"Mr. Wentz is relieved, as are the Carson's. I think once Amber is checked out they will be ready to move on." I felt like I was repeating myself to provide Janet context on what was going on, as I was required by her, but not Jacob. This was so screwed up.

"Well this is great news, really great. Do what you can to get the hospital information for me."

"Yes Ms. Larson, I'll be sure to do that."

"Thanks for calling Elizabeth, talk to you shortly..."

March 10th 7:46 AM

Paul hadn't figured out I'd had enough standing around and wanted to go back to the hotel, so I interrupted his little FBI computer boy love fest and asked for the keys to the car. Twenty minutes later, he was tapping on the driver's side window to wake me up and let him in.

"Sorry, was going over some stuff. Learned a few things too." He seemed very aroused with his FBI run in.

"That's good," I replied sleepily. I rubbed my eyes and was surprised how warm it was in the car already.

"Warm in here, eh?"

Was he back to that mind reading thing again? "Yeah."

When he started the car, I turned the AC up to high, which was going to make it hard to talk - unless we yelled at each other.

"Oe humge?"

I looked at him as if he was speaking a foreign language - it was hard to

hear anything.

He turned the AC down, "You hungry?"

"Yeah, but I just want to go to sleep. Can we just go back to the hotel?"

"Sure, be there in ten minutes," he said with a big smile.

I wasn't in the mood for cheer, though we had plenty to cheer about. When

we got to the hotel we went our separate ways, politely as I was a little more awake now, but I still just wanted to see big 'Z's' over my head.

When I got to my room I wasted no time cranking up the AC, stripping down

to just panties - tossing clothes and my bra wherever they may land. My

head hit the pillow and...

March 10th 4:18 PM

I was awakened at 11:00 AM by house cleaning - but they were smart enough

to see it wasn't a good time and left without having any conversation about it with me. I was back to sleep within thirty seconds probably and I looked through blurry eyes at the clock - after 4 PM. Augh...

I sat up slowly and just stared at the floor. I couldn't remember anything I had dreamt, but I did like the color I had painted my toenails - there was glitter in the polish and I could see the shimmer even in the dimly lit room. I flexed my little piggies back and forth and then felt chilled. Crap, it was cold in here! I made my way to the thermostat and turned off the AC - Yikes! Sixty degrees!

I remembered seeing a thick fluffy resort monogrammed robe in the closet

and pulled it on, it took some of the sting out of being cold. I headed for the kitchen, grabbed a water bottle, and plopped down on the couch. Turned the TV on to see if I could catch the news, maybe Amber was mentioned.

Flipping through too many channels, I gave up. No news, at least not local, so I settled on Judge Judy and really began to space out. I could probably sleep a couple more hours I thought. Judy was ripping the plaintiff apart - what an idiot - you should just keep your mouth shut dude.

I noticed the telephone message light was flashing and leaned over to pick

up the receiver, pressing 1 for messages. "Message 1...", a short pause.

"Hey, call me. Got some updates." It was Paul, at least I was pretty

sure it was him.

"Message 2...", pause. "Elizabeth... Please call me as soon as you get this - I called your cell and there was no answer. I would like the name of the hospital Amber is staying in, Thank You..." That was Janet and she did not sound happy. I would have to deal with that sooner than later. Lovely!

I dialed Paul's room. He answered on the third ring. "Hey, you finally

up?"

I stared at Judge Judy blankly wondering how he knew it was me though I

hadn't spoke. "Yeah, I could use something to eat."

"Want me to pick something up and bring it to you?"

He sounded way too chipper and NO! Seeing me in my current state was NOT

going to work. Was he out somewhere? No, I called his room. Come on brain wake up! "No, thank you though. You said you had updates." I tried to move the focus of the call elsewhere.

"Oh, yeah..." He sounded as if he was a little disappointed. "Amber's

probably back home by now I would guess. They checked out of the

hospital, no problems with the surgery or expected recovery. She was

released to the Carson's and according to Jacob boarded a medical flight

at around one-o'clock. The FBI was able to find the doctor who had done

her implant surgery, no charges are expected to be leveled as Amber was of

legal age. He is board certified, runs a respected plastic surgery clinic. He's also being very cooperative, so that's a plus for him, probably doesn't want bad press. He had to have met with Amber prior to surgery you would think, so something still doesn't feel quite right about that whole chain of events. I'm hoping there's more to the story, but I guess the bottom line is the procedure wasn't done in some backroom by a hack using pig intestines filed with used motor oil."

My sleepiness was wearing off and I felt a pang of excitement hearing Amber was probably home. I was happy to hear that she wasn't mutilated either.

"Good point about a pre-consult likely happening, no one mentioned that? Is she talking about what happened at all?" I was going to mention the pig intestine thing wasn't funny, but I didn't have the energy. I mean really, how is that even remotely funny?

"Not that Jacob mentioned. Guess our 'Daddy' paid for the procedure with

a cashier's check last week. I'm sure the police or FBI will be looking into that at some point. Still, I agree that whole chain of events is off a bit. Surgery was done first thing Wednesday, so there were a few days she could have met the doctor. Something to ask Jacob next time I talk to him."

There was a long pause, and when I didn't speak, he kept the update rolling. "Interesting twist, the police were able to pull a number of prints from the house they found her in, which was an Air BNB. Matches on three sets of prints found, of four sets they recovered. One woman identified via her concealed carry permit prints. She had rented the place two weekends ago. There were prints from two Mexican nationals, but they had rented the place for two nights mid-week last week. The people cleared via alibi and the Air BNB rentals owner. And finally a good number of prints from the bedroom and kitchen they think is our guy problem is he's a ghost. No record of him found anywhere. I think they pulled some DNA and were going to run with that, but if he's not on any grid with fingerprints, then I doubt he's in some database based on DNA. Who knows?"

Huh? How can someone be off the grid? I thought about it a little more - guess that is not that big of a stretch. Stay out of legal troubles, what are they going to have on him? "Do they have a description, a picture, anything? Are they talking to Amber? Can she identify him?"

"Nope, nothing. Guess there will be a sketch artist working with the Air BNB rental owner and one will eventually make it to the staff at the plastic surgeons office. I'm sure Amber will go through the same kind of thing when she's up to it. I haven't heard if she's said much to the police yet," he paused, "Only thing in the house were clothes for Amber, some with tags on them still. The guy didn't leave anything in the house, it's like he didn't stay there or something. I'm curious as to whether the Patreon video was shot in that house or some other location."

"Did Amber have a phone with her, like a burner thing or whatever? Like you see on spy shows?"

"I think Jacob mentioned a second phone, but I don't know if they recovered anything. Our guy's phone was recovered obviously, but I don't know what was recovered from it - like pictures or other phone numbers. Lots of investigation still yet to come. This guy was awfully stealthy for your run of the mill pedophile. That Patreon video did not get his face on film, so he's one spooky dude when you add all this up."

I knew what he was alluding too - Transgender abductions, missing persons,

murders, or just young girls in general sold into the sex trade. This was really some scary shit and our guy was certainly spooky and more. "Are you working on any of this?"

"No, pretty much Santa Fe PD, Phoenix PD, and the FBI are doing all the heavy lifting now. I'm just waiting to hear what Jacob needs me to do, if anything, then, back to the real world."

It struck me that I really didn't know much about Paul besides his focus on finding Amber. Obviously he had a life outside of finding a missing Trans Woman, a kid really. I didn't even know where he lived, did he have family,

a girlfriend? Kids? How did he know Jacob? He didn't wear a ring - but these days that didn't mean anything. Is this his business - private investigations via computer forensics? I did know about his brother, that was something, and that he knew a great deal about me - too much about me.