“What did he look like?”
“Older, balding, overweight.” A shudder rippled through Selina’s petite frame.
“He never gave you his name?”
“He said his name was John and asked me not to speak to anyone we met other than to exchange greetings.”
Sam wanted to laugh at the absurdity of the guy using the name John. “So you went to the event?”
“We made a brief appearance, said hello to a few people, but it was obvious he didn’t want to be there. I couldn’t understand why he’d gone to so much trouble and expense to hire me if he didn’t want to go to the party. For what it’s worth, I think he was someone important—people were very…solicitous toward him.” She took a drink of the glass of water Freddie had gotten for her.
“How long were you at the party?”
“Less than an hour.”
“What happened when you left there?”
Sam noted Selina’s hands were trembling so badly that the water in the glass threatened to spill over. “He had a car waiting, and he said he’d take me home except once we were inside, the car headed away from the address I had given him. I asked him where we were going, but he wouldn’t answer me. While we were in the car, he started touching me.” Her voice had gotten so soft it was almost a whisper.
“What did you do?”
“I asked him to stop. I said that wasn’t what I’d agreed to, but he just laughed. He said he loved it when girls played hard to get. We were in the car for a while before it stopped at a hotel outside the city. I wasn’t sure where we were. That’s when I started to get really scared. I couldn’t believe Regina had done this to me.” She took another drink of water. “He told me if I didn’t want to get hurt, I’d be very quiet and do exactly what I was told. Then he dismissed the driver and all but dragged me into the hotel.”
“Did he check into the hotel?”
She shook her head. “He already had a room key.”
“Did you have to go through a lobby or were the rooms outside?”
“Outside.”
He’d chosen the place with that in mind, Sam thought, so no one would see him dragging an unwilling woman into a room.
“What happened once you were inside the room?”
Selina looked at Freddie and then beseechingly at Sam.
“Detective Cruz,” Sam said. “Would you mind giving me a few minutes alone with Ms. Rameriz?”
“Not at all,” Freddie said.
On her pad Sam wrote: Get the info on the Jan. 18 event @ Reagan. Video. Witnesses that put her there with bald guy.
He nodded, got up and left the room.
“What happened at the hotel, Selina?”
“He…he ordered me to take off my clothes. I begged him not to touch me. I told him he could have his money back, that I’d never tell anyone if he’d let me go. He laughed at me, and when I bolted for the door he dragged me back and slapped me so hard I saw stars. After that I was kind of out of it, but I was aware of him undressing me and touching me.” Her voice caught on a sob. “I kept pleading with him to stop, but he wouldn’t. He said he’d paid for sex and that he wasn’t leaving until he’d gotten what he’d paid for.” By now she was crying so hard she could hardly speak.
Sam gave her a couple of minutes to regain her composure. “Did you have sex with him, Selina?”
She nodded. “He hurt me. I was screaming and crying, so he put his hand over my mouth. I couldn’t breathe. I think I blacked out for a time. When I came to…He was…I was facedown on the bed and he was…Oh God,
the pain
. I’ve never felt pain like that.”
Sam reached across the table for her hand. “He raped you, Selina. He raped and sodomized you. No matter what he paid for, the moment you said no, it became a rape.”
“I was so stupid,” she said between sobs. “How could I have been so naive? Of course that’s what he wanted. No one pays thousands of dollars for a date to a party.”
“How long were you in the room with him?”
“All night,” she whispered. “It went on and on. I was in and out of consciousness. Every time I came to, he was on top of me, inside me. I thought it would never end.” She wiped away tears. “Finally, I woke up and he was gone.”
“You never saw him again?”
She shook her head. “I took the longest shower and got dressed before I ran out of there and hailed a cab to take me home.”
“You have no idea where you were? You didn’t notice any landmarks or anything that stood out to you?”
“No. Wherever it was, I’d never been there before. I was so anxious to get out of there that I didn’t pay much attention to anything but finding a cab.”
“Do you still have the dress you wore that night?”
Selina glanced up at her, startled. “It’s in the back of my closet in a suitcase with the other things I wore that night.”
Sam wanted to jump up and down with glee. “What compelled you to keep it?”
“I remembered that intern who slept with the president…No one believed her until she produced the dress. I figured I should keep it just in case I ever had a chance to punish him for what he did to me.”
“That was very good thinking. May we have your permission to retrieve it?”
“Yes, of course.” Selina folded her hands on the table, but Sam noticed they were still trembling.
Sam got up and went to the door to find someone to get the suitcase from Selina’s apartment. “Take it to the lab right away,” she said to the officer after Selina signed a consent to search form. Returning to the table, she encouraged Selina to continue her story.
“The next day, three thousand dollars was deposited to my checking account. It was enough for a down payment on the surgery my mother needed.”
“Did you seek out medical attention?” Sam asked, knowing the answer before she asked the question.
She shook her head. “I don’t have insurance, and I wired all the money to my family.”
“Were you injured enough to need medical attention?”
“Probably. Everything…down there…hurt. I had bruises all over. I could barely move for days. I had to call in sick to the cleaning company for the first time since I worked there.”
“What did you say to Regina the next time you saw her?”
“I asked her how she could’ve led me to believe it was just a date. She seemed shocked that I didn’t know what ‘date’ meant when thousands of dollars were involved. She apologized profusely and said that what had happened to me had never happened to her. I think she reported the guy.”
“To whom?”
“To the people who run the service.”
“And who is that?”
“I don’t know. I was just given a number to call to arrange the initial date.”
“Do you still have that number?”
“It changes all the time.”
“How do you get word of the change?”
“I receive a text message from an unavailable number.”
“How did you end up going on another ‘date’?”
Selina’s shoulders sagged. “I needed more money. My mother’s surgery cost forty thousand dollars.”
“I find it hard to believe that you were able to bring yourself to do this again after what happened the first time.”
“I was terrified. But I was far more terrified of the cancer killing my mother before she could have a surgery that doctors said would save her life.”
“You were able to um…perform, despite being terrified?”
Selina looked down at the table and then back up at Sam. “The fear seemed to…you know…turn them on. I’ve since learned that fear is a fetish.”
Sam fought back a shudder. Just when she thought she’d heard everything on this job…“How many other guys were there?”
“Eighteen,” Selina said, chagrined. “As of last night, I have the money I need. I’m all done.”
So Brad Tillinghast had been the last, Sam thought. “Walking away is an option?”
Selina seemed taken aback by the question. “What do you mean?”
“The people who run this…operation. They allow women to say ‘no more’?”
“Of course they do. Why wouldn’t they?”
“I’m wondering if Regina and Maria tried to quit.”
Selina’s eyes went wide. “They were
killed
because they wanted to quit?”
“It’s a possibility.”
Selina’s hand landed on her chest over her heart. “Oh my God.”
“Did you tell anyone you were done after last night?”
“Not yet.”
That may have saved her life, Sam thought. “What were you told about confidentiality?”
“Just that it was imperative I never speak of these liaisons with anyone. Not that I would have anyway.” She pinched her lips as if to hold back a sob. “I was so ashamed. If my parents had any idea where the money was coming from…”
“Where do they think you’re getting it?”
“I told them I’d met a lovely man who was well-off, and he gave me the money.”
“They believed that?”
Selina nodded. “She’s very ill.”
“There was no other way for your family to raise the money?”
“We tried everything, even selling the family home in Santa Elena, but we couldn’t find a buyer, and she was just getting sicker. We needed money, and we needed it fast.”
“I need the details of every encounter you had. Names, ages, description, where the liaisons took place, what kind of sex you had with them and anything distinctive about them you remember.”
Selina stared at her, eyes agog. “You can’t be serious.”
“I’m dead serious. If you want me to catch this guy before he makes you his next victim, you’ll tell me everything you know about these men and the outfit that connected you to them.”
“But I told you! I don’t know anything about the business other than the most recent phone number.”
“Then we’ll start with that.”
“What if I refuse to cooperate?”
“Then I’ll release you.”
Selina brightened at that possibility.
“I hope you’ve got your affairs in order since you probably won’t have long to live once you walk out of here.”
“You’re just trying to scare me into cooperating.”
“You should be scared. This guy has already brutally raped and murdered two of your ‘colleagues’ as well as kidnapping and raping one of my detectives. If you think you’ll be spared after spending a couple of hours with me, you’re more naive than I thought.”
“But you could protect me! You could assign officers to watch me!”
“Why should I do that when you won’t help me?”
“I’ve told you everything I know!”
“No, you haven’t, and until you do, I’m afraid there’s nothing I can do to help you.” Sam hoped and prayed the bluff would work. No way would she let Selina walk out of HQ—with or without an escort—but Selina didn’t know that.
“I don’t know their names. They have numbers. That’s all I’m given. Most of them give me a name to call them when we’re together, but I know they’re not their real names.”
“I’ll take whatever you can give me—including the most recent phone number.”
Selina stared at the wall for a long moment, no doubt weighing her options and finding all of them less than appealing.
“What’s it going to be?” Sam asked.
After another long stretch of silence, Selina looked at Sam. “Could I have some paper and a pen?”
“Tonight, I’m buying you a hooker,” Sam announced to Freddie as she met him in front of the murder board that he’d updated while she was with Selina.
He wondered if she had finally lost her mind. “I’m not that desperate. Yet.”
Sam laughed and waved a piece of paper in front of his face. “The phone number Selina uses to get in contact with the call girl ring.”
“Let me guess—I’m going to call that number and arrange a date.”
“You got it. Archie is setting us up with a secure line. The goal is to stay on the line long enough to get a trace. You’re going to have a long list of fetishes that need to be satisfied.”
An awful thought occurred to him. “I’m not expected to actually have sex with this woman, am I?”
“Now, Freddie, would I do that to you?”
“I’m not entirely sure.”
She made a face at him. “All you have to do is arrange the meeting and keep the appointment. We’ll take care of the rest. I figure if we can nab another of the women, we can start to narrow in on the johns. They’ll lead us to the organization.”
“Or so you hope.”
“So I hope.”
“What about your crooked senator angle?”
“I’m still almost certain that one or more of them is involved. Think about it—they had access to all three of these women. All of the women were financially insecure, their long-term immigration status was in question and they had people depending on them at home. Someone recruited them knowing they’d be easy marks. That someone is going to turn out to be one of Nick’s colleagues. Mark my words. If we can’t go at them directly, we’ll get them through the women.”
“Have you spoken to Nick? Since he gave the statement?”
“He’s not answering his phone.”
Her phone chimed with a new text. “Maybe that’s him now.” She glanced at the screen, which said,
Back off bitch or you’re dead
. “Not him,” she said, showing the text to Freddie.
“How would they have gotten your number?”
“That’s a very good question.”
“Want me to have Archie put a trace on it?”
“You can try, but I’ll bet my last dollar it’ll be another throwaway phone.”
“Maybe we’ll get a ping on a cell tower.”
“Worth a shot. I also want to arrange for computer renderings of some of the johns. Can you get Officer Jackson in here ASAP to do that? I like his work.”
“Yep.”
“While you’re doing that, I’m going to talk to Tillinghast again. Hopefully, I can get him to tell me if there’s a code or anything he has to give when he calls in to request a ‘date.’”
“Good luck with that.”
“Your evening plans depend on my success.”
Freddie watched her go, not sure whether he should wish for or against her getting the information from Tillinghast. Maybe if his mother heard he was arranging for an evening with a call girl, Elin would start to look more appealing to her. As he laughed at the outrageous thought, his cell rang. Freddie took the call from Gonzo.
“Hey, man, what’s up?” In the background Freddie heard crying. “Is that a baby?” What the hell?
“That’d be my son, Alex,” Gonzo said.
“
Your son?
What’re you talking about?”
“I’m talking about the son I never knew I had until last weekend.”
“And now he’s
living
with you?”
“For the time being. I’m hoping it’ll be permanent.”
“Wow. I don’t know what to say.”
“Congratulations works.”
“Of course. Yes. Congratulations! No wonder you’ve been on leave.”
“Believe me, this is the only thing that could’ve kept me away after what happened to McBride. I’ll be back on Monday. I just needed a couple of days to get him settled before I came back to work. But the reason I’m calling is I spent the morning on the phone trying to get some more info on who owns Reese’s house.”
“Did you get anywhere?”
“I got a name. Not sure if it’s the right name, but it’s a start. Can you run it for me? I don’t have my laptop.”
“Absolutely.”
“Gerald Price.”
As Freddie typed the name into the system, his heart raced with hope and anticipation. Could this be the guy they’d been looking for since a bullet rendered Skip Holland a quadriplegic two years ago? “Okay, here we go.” Freddie scanned the screen that detailed a Price’s extensive criminal history. “Fifty-six years old, long list of priors. He’s doing time in Jessup,” Freddie said, referring to the state prison in Maryland. “Mostly drug stuff.”
“How long has he been in?”
“Fourteen months, six to go, which puts him on the streets at the time of the shooting.”
“Damn it,” Gonzo said. “I can’t get up there right now.”
“Neither can I. Sam has me arranging dates with hookers.”
“What?”
“You heard me.”
“Wow, I picked the wrong week to become a dad.”
“I couldn’t agree more. You’d be much better at this than I am.”
Gonzo snorted with laughter. “Not sure if I should take that as an insult or a compliment.”
“Both probably.”
“As soon as we close this one, what do you say about a field trip to Jessup?”
“I’m in.”
“Tell Sam I called to check in, but let’s keep Price between us until we know more.”
“Agreed. Did you hear that Gibson’s hearing is tomorrow? Malone told Sam there’s almost no way he won’t get sprung.”
“God, we fucked that up, didn’t we?”
“Big time.”
“I can’t even think about it without wanting to rip someone’s head off.”
“I hear ya. I feel the same way.”
“Maybe we can make it right if this thing with Price leads somewhere.”
“God, I’d love to solve Skip’s case—for her as much as him.”
“Me too. Good luck with the hookers. I’ll see you Monday.”
“Congratulations on the baby, Gonzo. Seriously.”
“Thanks, man.”
At the city jail, Sam asked the officer at the desk to put Tillinghast in a room for her.
“Right away, Lieutenant.”
When Sam was ushered in a few minutes later, she encountered an entirely different Bradford Tillinghast than the K Street star he’d been a few hours ago. This one wore a jumpsuit rather than a hand-sewn business suit. His expensive gold watch and wedding ring were gone. In prison orange, he looked like any other average white guy.
“They fucking strip-searched me! They treated me like a fucking criminal!”
“Accessory to murder is a felony, Mr. Tillinghast.”
“I had nothing to do with those murders, and you know it.”
“You have information that could lead to an arrest. Are you still unwilling to share that information?”
His jaw shifted from side to side. “Yes.”
“What did they threaten you with? Did they say they’d harm your wife and children if you ever got caught?”
Eyes widening, he gasped.
“That’s it, isn’t it?”
“I can’t let them hurt my family. I can’t take that chance.”
“I’ll put them in protective custody.” Sam would do that with or without his cooperation. As long as he was here, his family was in danger. “Tell me who they are, Brad. I can’t help you if you don’t help me.”
He shook his head. “I won’t risk it.”
“You had to know what you were risking the first time you made a call to this service.”
“I had no idea,” he said, before he seemed to catch himself. The unguarded moment passed as quickly as it had come.
“When you order up a woman, how does it work? Can you tell me that much?”
He hesitated for a minute and then got up to pace the room. “Will you take care of my family? I tried to reach my wife, but she won’t take my calls. I need to know they’re safe.”
“I’ll take care of your family.”
“I have two girls, five and seven. I can’t let anything happen to them.”
“I’ll do everything I can, but the longer I’m in here with you, the more danger they’re in. News of your arrest is all over town. No doubt the very people you’re worried about know full well where you are right now.”
He ran his fingers roughly through his blond hair. “God,
what was I thinking?
I never should’ve—”
Sam slapped her hand on the table. “Brad! Tell me what I need to know so I can go take care of your family!”
He startled and stared at her for an instant before he started to talk. “When I call, I punch in my number—18262. They have a database of men and their interests that matches them to compatible women. I punch in the date I wish to meet the woman and the zip code where I want the meeting to take place. They do everything else.”
“So you never talk to a person?”
He shook his head.
“Do you know who’s behind the operation?”
“I’ve heard rumors.”
“And these people are powerful?”
“Extremely.”
“How did you first hear about the service?”
“From a colleague. He swore it was totally safe and completely anonymous. Safe and anonymous, my ass.”
“How do you pay?”
“I have a separate credit card just for this.”
“Do you know the number?”
Sighing deeply, he rattled it off.
Sam headed for the door. “Keep talking and I might see fit to drop the charges.”
“Lieutenant.”
She turned back.
“You need to be very careful. If the rumors are true, this touches the very highest level of the federal government. Do you understand what I’m telling you?”
Sam’s heart began to pound. “By highest levels are we talking legislative, executive or judicial?”
“All of the above.” He turned his back on her. “That’s all I’m saying until you can prove to me that my family is safe.”
“I’ll be back.”
Sam returned to the detectives’ pit, tore the page out of her notebook that contained Brad Tillinghast’s credit card number and handed it to Freddie. “He uses this card to pay for the call girls. Do a run and see what you can find. Before that, though, send the U.S. Marshals to Tillinghast’s home in Potomac. I want his wife and daughters put into protective custody immediately.”
“Got it. Gonzo called to check in. He said he’ll be back on Monday.”
“Okay, good.” She checked her watch. Almost six o’clock and no word from Nick.
“Um, so you knew about Gonzo’s baby?”
“He told me when he requested the emergency leave.”
“Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Not my news to tell. I’ve got to make a phone call, and then I’m going back to talk to Lightfeather again.”
“What about?”
“Something Tillinghast just said. I’m wondering if this call girl ring is one of Washington’s worst-kept secrets.” She’d love to know if Nick had ever heard rumblings about it—if only he’d answer his damned phone.
“So Tillinghast was a little more forthcoming this time around?”
“The strip search and jumpsuit seemed to have changed his attitude a bit.”
“They tend to have that effect.”
“Let me know what the card shows.” Sam went into her office and closed the door to call Gonzo. “Hey,” she said when he answered. “How’s it going?”
“I’m getting the hang of it, slowly but surely. Cruz told you I called?”
“Yeah, thanks for checking in. Listen, I need a favor.” She pinched the bridge of her nose, hoping to hold back a headache she felt forming. “Is Christina there by any chance?”
“Yeah, why?”
“I can’t reach Nick, and I’m starting to get a little worried. It’s not like him to be out of touch for hours. And after his ‘performance’ this afternoon, I’m doubly concerned.”
“Let me get her for you.”
Christina came on the line a minute later. “Hi, Sam.”
“Hi there.” Sam paced the office, hating that she’d had to call his chief of staff like a clingy, nagging girlfriend. “So, um, Gonzo told you I’m trying to reach Nick?”
“His phone is broken.” She told Sam about the incident in the office. “After that, he stalked out and went to find the reporter. I guess you know the rest.”
Sam sighed. “I can’t believe he went off in front of a camera like that.”
“Or that he called Forrester. He’ll be lucky if the Senate Ethics Committee doesn’t take issue with that.”
“Damn it. What was he thinking?”
“I guess he was thinking about the guy who tried to kill you both being released from jail.”
“Do you have any idea where he might be?”
“He said he was going to the gym. I bet he ran into some friends there, played some basketball and probably went out for a few beers. He might even be home by now.”
They’d never bothered to install a landline on Ninth Street since they both had cell phones, so Sam couldn’t call him. She could, however, call her stepmother and ask her to go check to see if he was home. “Thanks for the info, Christina. I appreciate it.”
“I hope he’s okay. He was really spun up today.”
“I’m sure he’s fine. I’ll talk to you later.” She ended that call and found Celia on speed dial. After explaining what was going on, she asked Celia to run up the street to see if Nick was at home.
“I’m going right now, honey. Did you see him on TV earlier? I’ve never seen him looking so furious.”
“I didn’t see it. I heard about it, though.” The headache between her eyes was taking hold despite her efforts to will it away.
“The house is dark, and he’s not answering the door.”
“He must not be home yet. I’ll be there after a while. Thanks for checking, Celia.”
“You’re worried, Sam. I can hear it in your voice.”
“It’s not like him to be out of touch all day.”
“How did things go with his mother yesterday?”
“About like I expected. She wanted his money, not him.”
Celia sighed. “Poor guy. Between that and Peter possibly getting out of jail…”
“Yeah. No good.”
“Let me know if you need anything tonight, honey. I’ll be here.”
And that, Sam realized, brought comfort. “I will. Thanks.”