Chloe's Rescue [The Black Iris Club 2] (Siren Publishing Everlasting Classic) Read online

  “I guess I might need some of my own. Go get the catalogs and let’s have some fun.”

  Chapter Two

  Office of Central Broward Homicide Division, Broward County Sheriff’s Office, Ron Cochran Public Safety Building, Broward Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Monday afternoon, August 18, 2014

  Kaylin Gallagher and her partner of two years, Delaney Lord, had spent the morning at a scene in Port Everglades. The big commercial port was a hub for worldwide shipping, including container ships, cruise ships, oil tankers, freighters of all kinds, and just general navigation. The port boasted a large oil storage tank farm as well as a huge storage section for shipping containers. The strong smell of decomp coming from one of the big, steel shipping containers had alerted port security to a dead body, and she and Del had been called out.

  The body of a young girl, maybe fifteen or so, had been found in the container when security had opened it. If not for the smell, the shipping container would have been loaded along with hundreds of others on one of the massive transport ships and taken to who knew where. The homicide detectives, Crime Scene Unit, and Medical Examiner had been called. It was a very disturbing and sad scene. The young girl’s body had been found lying amid the detritus of what appeared to be a few days. Several toothbrushes, some clothes, and personal items littered the floor, indicating that there had been more than one person in the container for an indeterminate amount of time. The apparent cause of death was blunt force trauma to the back of the head, but they would have to wait for the ME’s report.

  The scene reminded Kaylin of some of the broken-down boats overloaded with illegal refugees that occasionally came ashore on Fort Lauderdale beach at night to be found floundering in the surf in the morning. The meager personal belongings that had been left behind told a story of extreme poverty and desperation. She was glad she had never had to work immigration cases, not that homicide was any picnic. At least there was a definite bad guy or guys.

  The ME had taken fingerprints, dental impressions, and DNA from the Jane Doe, and they were currently running them through the various databases. The chances that a young teen would be in the system were slim unless she was a runaway, someone had reported her missing, and some fingerprints, dental records, or DNA was available. Unfortunately, young girls running away oftentimes had something bad to run from. This did not look like it would be an easy case. Maybe Chloe could help.

  Kaylin picked up the phone on her desk in the BSO homicide bullpen and dialed Chloe Carlton’s cell phone. The Strategic Investigations detective had proven to be helpful on other cases in the past, and the two divisions sometimes worked together because of case overlap. Chloe had a wide base of knowledge, contacts, and informants. Maybe she would have an idea of what was going on in the homeless subculture. “Hey, Chloe. I was hoping I could pick your brain about a new case.”

  “Sure. If I can help I’ll be glad to.” Kaylin filled her in on the young Jane Doe in the shipping container.

  “Kay, I hate to say this, but the shipping container angle disturbs me. If she had been found in an alley or something…Did she look like an illegal alien? What about her clothes? Did they seem to be foreign?”

  “No. They looked like they came from one of the ‘Mart’ stores. Nothing unusual. Jeans, a denim jacket with a painted design, a T-shirt, and sandals.”

  “This could possibly have something to do with human trafficking. I’ve heard rumors about something going on downtown, but haven’t seen any conclusive evidence. Let me ask around my division. I’ll get back to you.”

  “Thanks, Chloe. Let’s get together for lunch or dinner soon.” Kaylin had been disturbed by her last conversation with Chloe. She knew Chloe was not aware of it, but she gave off a sad vibe sometimes, and it worried her friends.

  * * * *

  Chloe looked around the Strategic Investigations division offices. Apparently there had been a John sweep the night before. There was a raft of unhappy looking dudes hanging around in handcuffs waiting to be processed. Thank God she was too senior to have to participate in that shit anymore. Standing out on a street corner in a short skirt and tight top pretending to be a prostitute to lure in Johns so that they could be arrested was not her idea of fun or good police work. She knew that prostitution was not a victimless crime. The prostitutes could rob the Johns, and the Johns and the pimps could victimize the prostitutes. Chloe had been a Strategic Investigations detective for several years now, and she thought that maybe it was time for a career move. Even a lateral one, maybe to homicide or major crimes, would be good. She was currently studying for the sergeant’s exam and had planned to wait until she passed that to start looking for another position within BSO, or possibly a police department in another county. She might be ready for a total change of pace. In truth, what had transpired with J.J. Temple left her with a bad taste in her mouth. She knew her job at BSO was important, but no one liked to be considered a social leper. The whole situation just sucked.

  She spotted Tom Donovan, another detective who might know something about the trafficking rumor. “Hi, Tom. Question. Do you know anything about the rumors of human trafficking in and around Port Everglades? A young Jane Doe was found in a shipping container this morning, and my friend, Kaylin Gallagher in homicide, and her partner caught the case.”

  “I don’t have anything specific, but there have been rumors of young girls going missing from the street and from the local shelters. You know how hard it is to keep track of the runaways on the street. They come and go, and there is no way to know where or why.”

  “Do you know anyone I can talk to about it?”

  “Maybe my friend, Jayden Lane, who runs the teen shelter on Sistrunk Boulevard. She participated in the Roundtable on Human Trafficking last year. She might have more direct knowledge from the kids. I’ll call her and ask her to get in touch.”

  “Thanks, Tom. I’d appreciate that.”

  * * * *

  Later that afternoon, Chloe was surprised to receive a call from Jayden Lane at the Sistrunk Outreach Shelter.

  “Detective Carlton, Tom Donovan called me and asked that I contact you regarding the rumors of human trafficking in the downtown Fort Lauderdale area.”

  “Yes, Ms. Lane. Thank you for calling. My friend, Kaylin Gallagher, a BSO homicide detective, is currently working the case of a mid-teens, white female found dead in a shipping container in Port Everglades this morning. She asked me to reach out and see if I could get any information on that situation from the homeless community.”

  “If you can get me a picture, I may be able to help identify your victim. I don’t know every kid on the streets downtown, but I know a lot of them. I have some kids I can ask about it as well.”

  “I don’t have a picture myself, but I will contact Kaylin and ask her to get one to you. It would be very helpful to be able to identify the victim early in the investigation. It saves a lot of wasted time and effort if we know who we are dealing with up front.” Chloe paused a moment to gather her thoughts. This was a sensitive subject. “Ms. Lane, have you heard of kids going missing unexpectedly downtown? It appeared from what Kaylin told me that there was originally more than just the one girl in the container. The others were gone, and apparently the deceased girl was left behind. We don’t know if she was already dead, or if she was too sick to be taken and left to die in what basically amounts to a huge steel coffin.”

  “Call me Jayden. Anyone who is trying to help my kids doesn’t call me Ms. Lane. If you want to come out to the shelter and bring the other detective, I would be happy to tell you what I know.”

  “Would this afternoon be convenient?”

  “That would be fine. Just come on over.”

  Chloe called Kaylin and relayed the conversation with Jayden Lane. Kaylin was excited. Their inquiries had not produced any results yet, and this could be a real break in the case. “Let’s get over there. I’ll pick you up out front in twenty minutes. I’ll see if Del can break away and come with us. I
f not, we’ll get what we can and maybe schedule another meeting.”

  Jayden Lane was waiting for them as Kaylin parked her SUV. She was a tall, imposing-looking black woman with strong African-American features, close-cropped hair that accentuated her high cheekbones, and a no-nonsense attitude. She was wearing a traditional long caftan and crocs. She walked over to greet them as they got out of the car. Chloe introduced herself and Kaylin.

  “It’s good to meet you both. Let’s go into my office. After we talk, we can try to see if some of the kids have more information. Sometimes they never shut up, and sometimes you can’t pry anything out of them with tongs. Kids. Gotta love ʼem. Wish more people did.”

  Once they were seated in Jayden’s office with strong cups of coffee that was miles better than anything to be found at BSO, Kaylin opened the pictures of their victim on her cell phone. “Jayden, these are hard to look at. Our Jane Doe was already into decomp when the body was found, and I would rather not have to show them to any of the kids if we can avoid it.”

  Jayden studied the pictures carefully. “You’re right. These are pretty bad. I think this might be a fifteen-year-old runaway who goes, or rather went, by the name of Mitzi Jones. I doubt that is her real name. Maybe you will have better luck identifying her on the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children’s website. I wish I could be of more help. Maybe some of the older kids will remember if they have seen her recently. You are right, and I wouldn’t want to have to show these pictures to them if at all possible. They have all already seen more than they should have at this age.”

  Jayden called down to the front desk to ask the monitor which kids were presently on the premises. When she had her answer she said, “If you see Jamie, corral him for me. I need a few moments of his time.” She turned to Chloe and Kaylin. “Let’s go downstairs. The boy I’m looking for, Jamie, might be able to help us. After that, we’ll come back up, and I’ll tell you what I know about human trafficking.”

  The boy named Jamie was about sixteen, tall and gangly, and was wearing a clean white T-shirt, hoody sweatshirt, jeans, and running shoes. He looked like he bathed and ate regularly, which said a lot for the Sistrunk Shelter. When showed the pictures he visibly flinched. “Uh, pretty bad. It could be Mitzi Jones. That looks like her jacket. She painted the flowers on it herself in a crafts class at the shelter, and she was real proud of it.”

  “When was the last time you saw Mitzi Jones? Do you know if she had plans to leave town?”

  “Last week at the McDonald’s on Broward Boulevard I think. You know. The one across from the bus station. I haven’t seen her or any of her crew lately. She didn’t say anything about leaving. I know she wouldn’t have gone home. That was a bad deal, but she didn’t talk about it.”

  “Jamie, have you heard of, or noticed, any kids going missing who should have been around? I know kids come and go, but if you noticed anything unusual it would help us a lot.”

  He thought for a moment. “You know? Some kids do seem to not be here anymore. Like mostly girls. I’ll think about it and make a list. I don’t know all their real names.”

  “Thanks for your help, Jamie. I’ll be waiting for your list. If you hear anything or think of anything else, Ms. Lane knows how to get in touch with us.”

  When they were back upstairs and seated next to Jayden’s desk she said, “You probably know that human trafficking is the second most common criminal activity after the drug trade. It is not just a women’s issue, although women and children are the most common victims. Florida is a hub for human trafficking activity with one of the highest incidences in the country.” She shook her head. “That includes abduction for forced prostitution, pornography, involuntary labor, servitude, and debt bondage.”

  Chloe said, “I knew that many tens of thousands of people, mostly women and children, are trafficked in the U.S. annually, but I didn’t know that Florida was the leading area in this country.”

  Jayden continued. “People think that human trafficking involves mostly foreign nationals, but that is not true. The majority of cases involve individuals born in the U.S. Also, it does not always involve moving victims from one location to another. The term pertains more to the commercial sale of individuals rather than the transportation of them. They can be victimized in their own neighborhood, or even their own homes, and there are more types of exploitation than just sexual. Some victims are subjected to forced labor. Here’s a frightening statistic. At least one hundred thousand U.S. children are induced into the commercial sex trade every year. Having kids abducted off the streets is rare, but it does happen. But the use of smooth words and empty promises as well as the use of ‘social media’ to exploit the vulnerabilities of kids to force them into a life of prostitution is where the greatest danger lies. Drug addiction is another of their control mechanisms. If you can shut down an operation in Fort Lauderdale, I would be willing to do anything I can to help. Just let me know.”

  “Do you think any of the kids would talk to me and my partner? I know they are naturally suspicious of the police, but we are only trying to solve this crime and also keep the rest of them safe.”

  “I’ll talk to some of the older ones and see what they know and if they will talk with you. If not, maybe they will talk to me and I can pass on the information. I know that would be ‘hearsay’ but what you want right now is information, not testimony. I’ll get back to you on that.”

  When Kaylin and Chloe were back in the car Kaylin said, “Wow. What a fantastic woman. I think she might really be of some help to us. Thanks for setting that up, Chloe. I hope this lead turns into some good information.” She turned in her seat. “Do you think you can get your sergeant to allow you to work this case with Del and me? Maybe form a task force? I think a partnership of homicide and Strategic Investigations on this would be beneficial.”

  “Let me ask him. He’s usually willing to think outside the box. I know the exploitation of children will be a big motivator for him to agree. He’s got three kids and five grandkids of his own.”

  * * * *

  Kaylin and Del’s sergeant, Kelly, and Chloe’s sergeant, Snyder, had agreed that a joint task force on the homicide and possible human trafficking cases would be a good use of departmental resources. Two days later, Chloe received a phone call from Jayden Lane. “I think I can get a couple of the kids to talk to you. The interesting thing I learned was that several of the girls were apparently approached by a well-dressed white woman who was offering to take them shopping for an outfit and out to lunch. No one remembers seeing them after that. A new outfit is a powerful motivator for a teenage girl, especially one living rough on the streets or in and out of shelters.”

  “Do you think any of them can provide a description of the woman? Did they see her, or just hear about it from other girls?”

  “Why don’t you come down to the shelter tomorrow around midday? A lot of the kids will most likely be here for a meal at that time, and maybe we can talk to them together. I think they would be more comfortable with that and you might get better information.”

  Chapter Three

  The Sistrunk Outreach Shelter, Sistrunk Boulevard, Fort Lauderdale, Florida, Wednesday, August 20, 2014, 11:45 a.m.

  Chloe waited in front of the station for Del and Kaylin to pick her up for their meeting at the shelter. She hoped they would be able to coax a good description of the white woman who had approached several of the girls from the kids. This was scary. Kids were disappearing off the streets of Fort Lauderdale. They may have been marginal runaways, but to the three of them, they were very important individuals indeed. Time was of the essence if these kids were destined to be shipped out-of-state or offshore in the deadly shipping containers. If that was the case, it might be impossible to get them back.

  The Sistrunk neighborhood was mostly poor and run-down with some shining beacons of hope in homes or businesses that had been fixed up. The Sistrunk Outreach Shelter was one of those shining beacons of light providing refuge
to teens on the street in the downtown area. It enjoyed a sterling reputation among law enforcement, city authorities, and the kids themselves. They knew they could go there for help, a meal, a shower, clean clothes, or an opportunity to continue their high school educations online. It offered jobs and personal counseling in a nonthreatening setting, and it had Jayden Lane—a tough-love mother figure who offered a shoulder to cry on and any assistance she could.

  Jayden Lane had three girls, and Jamie waiting for them in a conference room at the shelter. She introduced them to the three detectives. The girls were also clean and looked well-fed. They had stopped at a Dunkin’ Donuts and picked up several dozen donuts for the common room. A little bribery sometimes went a long way, and even if it didn’t, it was something they wanted to do.

  “Now, guys, these detectives from BSO are not here to bust your chops. They want information on the people who might be abducting kids off the street for prostitution. You all know that Mitzi was found dead in a shipping container at the port. I’m not going to sugarcoat this. This is scary stuff. If you know anything, now is the time to tell.”

  Chloe stepped in. “I’m Detective Chloe Carlton, BSO Strategic Investigations. There have been rumors that kids have been disappearing from downtown for a while, but we have not had any solid information or leads until now. We need your assistance. We don’t want Mitzi’s killers to go free to hurt other kids.”

  Del smiled his easygoing, surfer-dude smile. “I’m Detective Delaney Lord, BSO Homicide. This is my partner, Detective Kaylin Gallagher. We don’t have much to go on in this case, but the shipping container contained personal items from what appears to be several people. That might mean that Mitzi was not alone, that there are other kids out there that need our help.”