PART II Chapter Twenty-nine
Kate and Karen helped the other officers lead the victims out of the house and let them get their fill of fresh air. They appeared to have been locked away for a long time. Kate wondered how many of them had missing persons reports made out in their name. Kate wanted to find a place to interview the victims but the station wouldn’t hold everyone. It would look like a three ring circus if she took them back there.
The suspects had already been gathered up and taken to holding cells at the station waiting for official charges to be determined. Kate thought keeping the witnesses grouped together and separated from their captors was the sensible thing to do. They needed to find out from the victims who would testify and who would feel too intimidated.
The manager of the property development came by to say he had no idea what some of his tenants were doing and wanted to offer any help that might be needed.
Kate replied, “We can use a place to hold all of our witnesses temporarily until we get their statements. It needs to be relatively large but with some private spaces.”
The manager responded, “We have a large banquet hall that we allow tenants to hold weddings and things like that. It should work and is not currently in use.”
Kate smiled and said, “That’s perfect. I will gather everyone together and we will go over there.”
The manager held out a key and said, “That is all you will need to get in there. There are no alarms.”
Kate and the other officers managed to get all of the victims together and moved in a single file to the clubhouse adjacent facility. They discovered a large area where they could set up chairs for the victims and several private rooms that could be used for interviews.
Kate chose a room for interviewing and told Karen she wanted to talk to her before they started talking with the other girls. Karen came in and took a seat across a desk and Kate began.
Kate asked, “Tell me what happened in detail. I know you had your eyes closed but you could hear the voices and your surroundings. Tell me what happened at the party and then give me that story all the way through.”
Karen began, “Matt picked me up and everything was pretty normal driving to the party. I could see some hand gestures between Matt and some of his other friends at the party. He left often to bring me back a drink. I dumped them all and then slowly started slurring my speech and giving him the look of being about to lose control. I wanted to make sure he was around when I gave him the phony drunk look.”
Kate asked, “Did he buy your act from the beginning?”
Karen answered, “I think so and I kept laying my head against his chest and giving him the idea I may lose consciousness. I leaned over to tell him I was dizzy and feeling sick to encourage him to get me out of there. It was too noisy in the party, I couldn’t tell what his responses were. He followed through perfectly though and escorted me out in the hallway and eventually outside. No one was outside but the two of us until a car pulled up and a guy got out and walked to us.”
Kate said, “Were you trying to appear dizzy at that time?”
Karen replied, “Yes, I was faking difficulty standing and kept leaning on Matt. I finally went limp and started to fall but the two guys caught me and dragged me over to the car and popped the trunk open. I don’t know who had the keys or who pushed the button but both of them lifted me into the trunk and closed the lid. It gave me a chance to look around in the trunk. I knew you were listening and would be following. I started feeling movement and knew we were on our way to wherever they were taking me.”
Kate said, “I heard some of the events. I heard the men talking and I heard one ask for help getting you loaded in the trunk. I heard the trunk slam shut and the car sped away.”
Karen said, “I heard the pavement pass beneath the car and it never got off of city streets. I heard the sound of the gates opening and closing back and then I felt the car stop and I heard the car door slam. I closed my eyes back and pretended to be out. I heard the trunk open and felt cool air pass over me. We were in some kind of garage.”
Kate replied, “Yes they were unloading you under protective cover of a structure.”
Karen continued, “The two guys, I assume the same ones although others joined them, carried me into the house. We went down a hallway past a room where I heard a lot of noise inside. One of the guys asked if they were putting me in the room with the other girls but another answered that they wanted me on stage. I knew there were other girls inside that room because I heard them as we went by.”
Kate said, “I heard some of that. We had a whole team coming at that point. I was waiting for them to arrive and we were going to breach the gates. It was going to be fun.”
Karen said, “They were trying to get me awake but I was being as uncooperative as possible. I heard one guy asked how much they had given me and Matt said I had several drinks. The guy who had helped him load me said something about remembering the girl that overdosed. I assume there is a dead girl out there somewhere.”
Kate replied, “That gives us another murder to add to their charges. Somebody will talk in exchange for a plea. These guys are bigger cowards than you could ever imagine. When it is obvious that someone is going to take a fall everyone tries to position themselves so it won’t be them.”
Karen replied, “I know. That whole ‘honor among thieves’ line is pure bullshit. It will be every man for himself. The big boss will try to get those under him to stay the course but of course they won’t.”
Kate asked, “What happened next?”
Karen replied, “They put me on stage, just set me on the edge trying to get me awake. Matt began trying to unbutton my clothes and I struggled enough to piss him off and he slapped me across the face. He only stopped when someone ran in and said the police were entering the front of the house.”
Kate said, “I guess that was pretty close timing.”
Karen replied, “It was very close timing, but it was just the distraction I needed. They weren’t paying attention to me and didn’t notice when I got a gun from one of the guys.”
Kate said, “You kept them there and prevented them from escaping out the back.”
Karen responded, “When I held the gun up they weren’t much scared but I identified myself as a Boston police officer and they looked shocked. They stopped moving and just sat down. I guess they made peace with the fact they would be going to jail. You came in and the rest is as they say, history.”
Kate said, “Thank you for your contribution. We need to start getting the other girls in here and see what other charges apply. The forensics guys are out there looking. Let’s hope they find evidence of a murder.”
The first girl was led in by Cindy. Kate had almost forgotten she was there. They exchanged greetings and Cindy introduced Kate to Lena. Kate invited her to sit down and asked her to state her full name. She said it was Lena Thomas. After some questioning Kate learned that Lena was a college student up from Garden City, Kansas.
Kate chuckled to herself. She had been to Garden City and the closest thing to a garden found there was at the Home Depot. Kate attempted to make Lena feel comfortable and that included not mentioning Garden City or Home Depot.
Kate asked, “So you came up to Boston to go to college, why did you pick this location?”
Lena answered, “It was mainly the history of the area. I am a history nut and the history of this area is unequalled.”
Kate replied, “I will agree this area is a treasure chest for history buffs. How did you get mixed up with these creeps?”
Lena responded, “I was at a dorm party, trying to get to know people and this guy shows up. His name was Jason Brinkley.”
Kate said, “You were approached by Jason Brinkley?”
Lena replied, “Yes and when I found out what was going on they had me locked up. Jason felt bad and told me he would try to help me escape but he never came back.”
Kate took out her phone, scrolled to Jason’s morgue photo and held it up. She asked, “Is this the guy you mean?”
Kate watched the blood drain out of Lena’s face and she realized why Jason didn’t come back to save her. Kate said, “These guys are serious, dead serious. We need as much information as you can give us.”