but I prefer Caucasian girls. It’s doubtful they’ll have any other white girls on hand.”
“I agree with Decker. This ring seems to keep with Asian girls, particularly Thai.” Special Agent Ellis glanced around the table. “But getting back to the plan, if they’re keeping girls at the house and at the spa, we’ll have to execute this plan with split-second accuracy. We’ll need to take down all three locations simultaneously so they don’t have time to warn the others.”
“Good idea,” the Chief agreed.
“Decker, your team can take the house,” Ellis asserted. “The FBI will take the spa, since we’ve been getting ready to move on it anyway, and Colin and his team can handle the arrests at the Paradise Valley Hotel.”
“What about the warrants?” the Chief asked.
“I’ve already got federal warrants in the works for the spa and the house,” Isabel declared.
“Sounds like a plan,” Decker agreed.
“Yeah, it all sounds good to me, too,” Colin said.
“I’m all in,” Peter added. “Let’s do it for Molly.”
“But what if it turns out Molly’s not at any of those places?” Emily asked, nervously considering that might be the case.
“We’ll have to figure that out when we come to it,” Decker said. “For now, let’s stay positive and hope we can rescue her in one of the sweeps.”
Before ducking out, the Chief praised Emily for her insight and plan, and he said he was looking forward to working with her as a consultant. She hadn’t given him an answer yet, but she figured he said it to give her more credibility with the other agencies, particularly Special Agent Ellis.
After hammering out a few more of the finer points of the plan, they all agreed to meet back at the Paradise Valley police station in two hours. Ellis confirmed he and his team would bring all the technical equipment they would need to pull off the plan, including the media van to monitor the audio, video, and radio contact.
“Let’s do this thing!” Decker hollered with a loud clap of his hands.
CHAPTER 16
Emily squirmed in her seat inside the FBI van, parked half a block from the Jade Thai Spa, as she and Isabel watched the monitor with anticipation. Special Agent Ellis ably ran the equipment.
He had outfitted Colin with a tiny video camera embedded in the button of a vest the FBI provided, complete with a microphone woven into the fabric. Colin was dressed down, jeans and a button-down shirt with his cuffs rolled up to complement the vest.
Ellis had provided Colin an earbud for two-way communication in case Emily recognized any of the girls on the video monitor. After doing a test run to make sure the equipment was working and the camera was pointed in the right direction, Ellis turned Colin loose.
Peter was also wired and given a micro-video camera. He was dressed in a suit, with his necktie loosened and the top button of his shirt undone, as if he had just come from a long, exhausting business meeting. His shtick would be that he was a business man from out of town, in Boise for a series of high-level meetings. He wanted a massage to unwind and de-stress from his tiring day.
Waiting for his turn to go in, Peter took a seat on the other side of Emily.
“I’m walking up to the front door,” they all heard Colin say as they watched the monitor, seeing him approach the front door of the massage parlor. It was five fifteen in the late afternoon on a crisp, sunny fall day.
He pushed open the door and casually strolled up to the reception desk. The monitor showed there was a middle-aged Asian woman with shoulder-length black hair behind the counter. She was looking down at the desk when Colin entered. The name plate on her lapel read Ratana. She raised her head when he came in.
“That’s the woman! That’s the woman! I think she’s the madam,” Emily excitedly exclaimed into the microphone so Colin could hear her.
“Ow.” Colin winced, apparently at Emily’s loud voice in his ear.
“Hello, mister. Can I help you?” she asked in a thick accent.
“Yes, I need a massage. I have this terrible pain in my neck.” He grimaced and rubbed a hand on the back of his neck.
“Happy to help. We have Thai neck and shoulder massage, twenty-five dollar, or full body massage for sixty dollar. Which you like?”
“Which one do you recommend?”
“Ooh, full body is very relaxing. I think you like.”