Loss of Innocence

We waited for about an hour. The two men came out and got into the car. We followed at a discreet distance with our headlights off. It was a lightly travelled neighborhood that time of night and relatively easy to follow them without being seen. The car stopped briefly at a house about a mile or so away before continuing to a gated compound after a forty-five minute drive. I thought there was a good chance that our kidnapped women were in the house.

I called in to Captain Sheehan. She authorized 24 hour surveillance on the house and the restaurant. Lehka and I decided to continue to push in case they weren't in the house. We would start surveillance on Syd's.

We knocked off for the night, happy that we were able to locate Shevchenko. I was convinced he was hiding the women somewhere in Cincinnati.

That night we were both in a better mood. I took a shower first and was enjoying the hot spray when I felt a nude body slide behind me.

"This space taken?" Lehka asked. She cupped my breasts and pressed against me. This was my new favorite way to take a shower.

She cradled one of my breasts in the palm of her hand and rubbed soap on it with the other hand. "I missed you Max." She leaned over and sucked on my nipple. She pulled on it with her teeth. It was sweet pain when she let go.

I turned around to face her. I leaned forward so my finger could feel its way to her slit. It went further back to rim her anus.

"This belongs to me tonight," I told her.

She wiggled her cute butt, pushing my finger past her anal ring.

"Own me Max."

I pushed my finger deeper into her ass.

"Fuck me and own me," she growled. I kissed her while I fingered her butt. There was something primal about our sex. What did she mean by "own"?

The skin on my back was turning a pinkish red. The water beading on Lehka's cocoa brown skin was much sexier. I didn't want to stop kissing her.

She squeezed her legs together and my finger popped out. She wiggled past me and under the spray and I moved to the back. It was her turn to seduce me.

She twisted me around so my cheek was pressed against the glass wall. She kicked at the inside of my right foot.

"Spread'em," she said in her best policewoman voice.

I spread my legs further apart. Her hand shot upward to roughly cup my sex. She forced a finger inside me. More sweet pain.

"What are you up to up to my little slut?" She put her hand around my neck while she finger fucked me.

"Nothing," I answered truthfully.

She pulled her sweet, sticky finger out of me and shoved it under my nose.

"You call this nothing?"

"I can't help it," I confessed readily.

"You are my little slut, aren't you?" she asked me.

"For you I am."

I sucked the dew off her fingers and turned off the water. We stood there dripping and listening to the water swirling into the drain.

"I love you Max," Lehka declared.

I put my arm around her wet skin. "I love you too."

* * *

We spent the day at the facility chipping in with our old roles, while biding our time for the night time surveillance at Syd's. We found a good spot about a block away. We could watch the coming and goings from the bar with a telephoto lens, and were inconspicuously parked between an abandoned car and an empty trailer. We were about two hours into it when I sensed someone behind us. I turned my head and saw two men pointing guns with silencers at Lehka and me. They were wearing shiny black leather jackets and black slacks. Trouble. Big trouble.

I rolled down my window to see a grizzled face with a two day growth of beard.

"Mr. Shevchenko would like to see you," the man on my side said. He had a pronounced Eastern European accent. "You come with us."

Lehka and I offered no resistance. We got out of the car. We followed one man to Syd's while the other trailed behind us. Syd was behind the bar. He gave us the evil eye but said nothing. Shevchenko was sitting alone at a large round table at the back of the bar. He motioned for Lehka and I to take a seat on the opposite side of the table.

"You've been watching me," he said, in a deep, heavily accented voice. He was what you would expect for a Ukrainian crime boss. A large man with broad hands, a barrel chest, a thick beard, and dark, wavy salt and pepper hair. He had a glass of clear liquid in front of him. I had a good guess there wasn't water in it.

"Yes," I admitted. There was no harm in admitting it since they just caught us doing it.

"And yesterday too."

I thought he hadn't seen us, but he clearly had. I filed away that I'd have to improve our surveillance technique.

"Where are my manners? Would either of you officers like a drink? Officer..."

"Pemberton, Max Pemberton. And my partner Lehka Singh."

"Ice water would be great," I answered. Lehka nodded. Olek motioned to one of his men to take care of it.

"You Americans, so in love with ice," he chuckled. "Now let me tell you something. I did not take those girls."

His statement surprised me. Of course we thought he did. But having his men take us to meet with him so he could tell us -- that was a strong denial. I wanted to believe him.

"Why would I bring attention to myself? I'm a businessman. I do lot of business in your town. I don't need your attention. Why would I do this for four women in your detention facility?"

His questions made sense. Taking those women would undoubtedly trigger a strong response from the department. But then it occurred to me that the abduction of the four women wasn't reported in the press. If he didn't do it, how did he know? I decided to play along with him.

"If you didn't do it, who did?" I asked. It was a logical question.

"I knew you would ask me. I don't know. But I can find out."

"You do that. I'm only interested in finding those women."

He held his hands out in a friendly gesture. "I just want to help as concerned citizen," he said glibly in his accented English.

"Right," I said in an equally glib manner.

"You not like Ukrainians Officer Pemberton?"

"It's not that you're Ukrainian. It's because you're a lying scumbag."

"Officer. Now you offend Olek."

"You obviously know more than you're letting on. We'll keep our eyes on you Mr. Shevchenko."

He gave me a stare with his steely gray eyes. "You do that Officer Pemberton. We keep our eye on you too."

* * *

"What do you make of that?" asked Lehka.

"I want to think he's telling the truth, but something's that's stopping me from believing him."

"There's too much for him to lose by doing it," Lehka noted. "As he says, it doesn't make sense for him and I've got to agree. He can prove it by helping us find who really did it."

"We still have to keep an eye of him."

"Absolutely. There's no honor among thieves."

"Let's go back to the station. I think Captain Sheehan is working late and I'm sure she'll want to hear this first hand.

* * *

Sheehan was at the station working late into the night. She was really working two jobs, with her responsibilities at the detention facility as well. She had her head down mired in paperwork when we went into her office.

"Max, Lehka, I didn't expect to see you this late at night."

Lehka relayed the story in detail. All of it, leaving out only the part where Rodriguez found us in a compromising situation. Sheehan wasn't going to let us off that easy.

"So Max," she started, "there's talk around the station that you were literally caught with your pants down during the Shevchenko stakeout. Is that true?"

It wouldn't do any good to lie. I'm sure Rodriguez told her in person. It was too juicy a story not to.

"Yes Cap. It won't happen again."

"Regulation pants are to be worn at all time when you are on duty." I could see her smirk. She just wanted to see me squirm. It was working.

"Yes sir, in the future, the pants stay on, all the time."

I think I satisfied her. She got her pound of flesh.

"Enough of that. So you believe Shevchenko?"

We both gave our views on why he might be telling the truth, but with reservations.

"We should keep looking. He may be right, and there's someone trying to frame him." She poured more coffee from her thermos into her mug. "But who would want to point the finger at him?"

I thought about it for a second. Who indeed? Who would have the most to gain by fingering the Ukrainians?

I went back to the expert -- Maddy Barnes. She had her finger on the pulse of the Cincinnati underworld. I shared Shevchenko's denial with her. She twirled her pen between her fingers like a baton.

"Makes sense. Shevchenko's been keeping a low profile here. He suffered a loss, but he's not about to implode his whole operation over it." She started tapping on her keyboard.

"When you busted Jumbo, it left an opening for a number of gangs. The Ukrainians, the Chinese. There's also a Mexican gang trying to make inroads here. Those are the most logical groups. Wait a sec."

She scrolled through another screen. "I've been hearing a lot of chatter recently about some Columbians. They're bringing cocaine in. We don't know how. They're also trying to horn in on the prostitution."

"Thanks Maddy. That's helpful. Anything I can do for you?"

"Nicky still making her meatball sandwiches?"

"Yep."

"Bring me back one next time you remember."

"You've got it."

Chapter Six

The Columbians

I decided we'd hit up Lanny for more information. He might have some useful information to narrow our search. I invited him and Rodriguez for beers at the Landing Point after his shift was over. Lehka joined us. We were all wearing our civvies. Kris was waiting on us. She brought a tray of longnecks. Rheingeists, a local beer that was our current favorite.

We toasted by clanging the necks together. Lehka watched me. I took a small sip.

"I'll be good, babe," I told her.

She took my hand and squeezed it.

"I love you," I told her.

"Hey guys. You done over there?" asked Lanny.

"Sorry Lanny," I said. "Lehka's keeping me on the straight and narrow."

"Big job Lehka," he told her.

"Shut up Lanny. She knows what she's signed up for." I gave him a playful shove.

"I doubt it, partner."

"Pants are still on," I said to Rodriguez. I pointed to them proudly.

"So what have you guys heard?" asked Lehka, getting the conversation back on track.

"Definitely would look at the Columbians," said Rodriguez. "I'd look at them first. They've been muscling their way into the West End. The Ukrainians are pushing back, and I sense a turf war is in the making."

"I've got to agree," said Lanny. "They're moving a lot of product here. Cocaine is plentiful and cheap. Plus they're schemers. I wouldn't put it past them to try to frame the Ukrainians and take the heat off themselves."

"Know where to find them?" I asked.

"Let me take you around tomorrow. I know some of the places they hang out. Haven't really kept close tabs on them lately. "

"Sounds good. We'll meet you at the station at 8." I snuck another sip of beer when I thought Lehka wasn't looking. "So Lanny. What's going on with Maddy?"

"Dumped me."

"Sorry about that."

"I wasn't smart enough for her," he said with a sigh. "Oh well. I really didn't like that book work anyway. So onward."

One good thing about Lanny was he didn't hold a grudge.

"So who's the flavor of the week?" Lanny was such a dilletante when it came to women. I needed a scorecard.

"Angela. We just started dating."

"Angela in accounting?" I asked.

"That's the one."

"She's too good for you," I noted.

"They all are in your eyes Max," said Lanny.

I laughed. "You're right for once Lanny."

"You're making me sorry that I saved your life," he said. He'd never forget it and neither would I. Taking that bullet meant for me during a drive by shooting. It was his ace in the hole, that he could play any time he wanted to. He knew it and I knew it.

"Checkmate Lanny."

"Right boss."

Lanny hit his beer again. I looked to see if Lehka was watching. She was. My beer was left untouched.

"So Lehka, why are you putting up with this loser?" he asked. He showed me two could play at this game.

Lehka smirked. I saw it. It was meant for me. "You know Lanny. I've been asking that same question myself." Then she put her arm around me and kissed me on the cheek. "But then I always remind myself that I love her."

That made me feel good. But of course Lehka wasn't going to let me off scot-free. "But as they say, love hurts."

Then Lanny became the good partner. "I would take another bullet for Max. She taught me everything I know."

"I know you would Lanny."

Lanny also didn't want my head to get too big. "Of course, it's not a lot, but it is everything that she knows," he added. He toasted me again. I took a long sip of my beer, with Lehka watching. I missed drinking and I missed the goofball.

"So Lehka, you're on a six month assignment here. Planning on something longer?"

Lanny asked the question that was on my mind.

She looked at me. She knew I wanted to know the answer too.

"We'll see how it goes. I'm liking it so far."

* * *

Lehka and I were in the station, in my cubicle, going over the security footage of the kidnapping. It was grainy, and we couldn't make out the faces of the abductors. Lehka was going forwards and backwards, trying to see if we could get a decent image of someone's face. These guys were clever. Wore balaclavas, and didn't take them off once.

Sheehan came into my cube. "Got an anonymous tip. Told us the women were being held in a house in the West End." She handed me the address.

"Saddle up cowgirl" I told Lehka. "We're going hunting."

We drove out to the address. It was an abandoned house in a cul-de-sac, with a car on blocks in the front yard. The front door was left open, as if the occupants had left in a hurry. We announced ourselves. We walked into the living room, kicking away yellowed newspapers to get to the bedrooms. Lehka drew out her flashlight and searched the first bedroom, finding nothing. The master bedroom in the back had two discolored mattresses and crumpled fast food wrappers and empty water bottles littering the floor. Lehka found a colorful hand knitted scarf. I recognized it as belonging to Carina. She was wearing it when I met her.

"Fuck, we just missed them," said Lehka, kicking a paper bag. "Looks like they just got out. The food in that bag is still fresh."

"Who was it? Let's have Lanny interview the neighbors and see if they can get some intel," I said to her. I was pissed as well. At least we knew they were probably still alive.

Sheehan was bitching out a cadet when we reached her office. I could hear her yelling through her closed door. The cadet, a cute young thing, came out red faced with her head down. She was fighting back a tear when she saw us.

"Hey Lanny... Max..." she said, her head hung low.

I went to Cap's open door and I knocked on the metal doorframe.

She looked up from her paperwork.

"What?" She look annoyed. She was clearly in a foul mood.

"Care to share?" I asked her, trying to be helpful.

"No."

She put down her pen. "Max, what?"

I threw the scarf on her desk. I managed to elicit a smile at my offering.

"What's this?"

"Scarf we found at the house."

I gave her a picture of Carina we had on file. It was her scarf. No question about it. She was wearing it in the picture.

"No trace of them other than this?"

"Found some takeout food containers and empty water bottles. Pretty clear they were there," said Lehka. "Food was fresh. I'd say we missed them by hours. The front door was left wide open."

"Hmm," she said. "Maddy came back with intel on the address. Turns out it's owned by a shell company we believe is controlled by the Columbians."

Lehka looked at me. "Looks like we have our perps."

"Columbians? This was a pretty bold move for a gang to establish their street cred in our town. I'm not completely convinced. It's too neat. And Shevchenko had much more to gain." I wasn't ready to make a call. I couldn't deny that the initial evidence was certainly pointing in the direction of the Columbians.

Sheehan added her two cents. "We need to move more resource towards the Columbians. We don't know a whole lot about them." Sheehan seemed to be lining up behind Lehka.

I was the contrarian. "I think we should double surveillance on Shevchenko. I don't trust that motherfucker. This is too easy."

"Max, you know we don't have the budget for that, especially when you're playing a hunch." Sheehan was always wedded to her fucking budget.

"Max, you're being unreasonable. We have no evidence the Ukrainians were involved," said Lehka, piling on.

"Go your own way," I told them, quoting my favorite Fleetwood Mac song.

Lehka rolled her eyeballs. "Max, sometimes you can be such an asshole."

* * *

Lehka was a "by the book" detective. She went where the evidence took her, and the evidence was clearly pointing to the Columbians. I on the other hand went with my gut. Our clash in styles was brought to the fore when we received conflicting tips. Another anonymous tip came in about the Columbians. Syd told me that Shevchenko was up to something. He had seen a number of men from Shevchenko's gang that he didn't recognize. Most of them were from Detroit. Lehka wanted to chase down the Columbian tip and I wanted to double down on Shevchenko's surveillance. In the end, we agreed to disagree. She took half of the team with her, and I took half with me.

We returned to the station late that night to compare notes. Hers turned out to be another near miss. Again, evidence of squatters in the house. But best of all, one of her investigators found a photograph tucked into a crack in a bedroom wall. It was a picture of Carina's baby. Lehka thought that was proof positive she was on the right trail.

I confirmed Syd's intelligence. We saw increased traffic around Shevchenko's house and at Syd's bar. Nothing concrete, but it was probably double the number of people we usually saw surrounding him. I had no doubt that Shevchenko was up to something, and my working theory was that he was planting evidence implicating the Columbians and was preparing to spirit the women out of Cincinnati. I, of course, had not a shred of tangible evidence to back my theory.

"Looks pretty compelling here Max. Two safe houses where we believe they stayed. Both houses registered in shell corporations controlled by Columbian interests. You have nothing. You're the sports fan Max. In my book, that's 2-0, and you're losing."

I never thought I'd had to compete with Lehka, but she was bringing to bear the experience of managing a whole raft of detectives and making the hard call every day. I on the other hand had no one reporting to me and didn't approach my work with a scientific bent. I was old school, and hunches were a valuable tool in my arsenal.

The straw that broke the camel's back was a picture we received, anonymous of course, of a car parked on the street near the holding facility on the day of the kidnapping. It was parked in a dark spot for CCTV, and was apparently taken with someone's phone. We ran the plates and discovered the car was owned by a company believed to be controlled by the Columbian cartel. The car was later found torched and abandoned on the other side of town.

I stood firm in the face of a growing pile of evidence implicating the Columbians. I still had only my suspicions. Sheehan wanted to control the budget and cut the overtime for surveillance on Shevchenko, and moved all of those resources to chase the Columbians. I went into her office to protest. Lehka as looking over her shoulder, poring over a spreadsheet on Sheehan's computer monitor.

"Cap. I know the Ukrainians are behind this. It's too easy. They're practically leaving a roadmap to the Columbians."