Chapter 36- Jane Says Relax

Cherry, Lisbon and Jane stepped into the observation room just in time to see Royko cuffed to the chair by an agent. He made sure they were secure before leaving the room. Cho was nowhere to be seen. That was normal. The two from the team knew his tactics well enough to know that, if they weren't pressed for time, Cho would sometimes make suspects wait for hours. Especially suspects like this one. Powerful men who didn't like to be kept waiting. It made them edgy. Made them arrogant, made them act entitled. Made them say stupid things out of pride. Cho knew the best way to break such men was to simply walk across the street and order the most fastidious coffee Starbucks made before sitting down in their insanely comfy chairs and drinking it slowly. Very slowly. Not today though. They couldn't afford all of the theatrics. Grace sure as hell couldn't afford them. So, they only had to wait five minutes before Cho walked crisply into the room and shut the door behind him. He sat down and gazed levelly at his prey.

Curtain up.

"We'll get right to the point here, Mr. Royko. You're a bad man who's done a lot of bad things and if you don't tell me where you've taken those girls, this is going to get much uglier than it has to."

Royko returned his gaze coolly. "I'm afraid my lawyer isn't present. I'll not speak until he is."

"He's on his way. In the meantime, you can shave some serious time off your sentence by telling me where to find them before something unfortunate happens." Cho could teach foxtrot classes, they way he kept up with quick steps.

Royko smiled serenely. Nothing.

Cho matched his stony expression beautifully. "See, we have a problem. You think you've netted a bunch of unmissed, unwanted women for your little slave auction, but in fact you accidentally captured an agent. One of ours is in that group of women you just moved and I can assure you that if she turns up dead, you'll be very dismayed that California practices the death penalty."

A quick one, two. Royko definitely felt them. His eyes lost their calm squint and rounded a bit in surprise. Cho's news certainly put a hitch in his giddyup. But his mouth remained shut. No panicky questions or confessions of ignorance. This man was too cautious. Silence. Lawyer. Fuck.

Lisbon pulled an infuriated breath as she watched him. As good as Cho was, this man would stall all night and not even check his watch. Those women were gone and the best solution for him was that they stay gone. Poof. What women? The CBI is mistaken, there were never any women down there. Lisbon's teeth gnashed together.

Cherry ground hers together as well. Her sister was with those girls, goddammit. This bastard was going to talk. She'd strangle the vehicle description, plate numbers and destination out of him herself, if she had to. But before she indulged her fantasy too much, she moved her thoughts away from brawn and back to her strength. Brains.

"Get his wife and kids down here." Her tone dumped gallons of ice water into the room.

Lisbon turned to her. "Why?"

Jane cocked his head. "She's right. Bring them to this room and have Cho throw some ugly curve balls. Drugs, murder, rape, slave rings, the works."

"What if the wife already knows? She could be in on this," said Lisbon.

Jane and Cherry gave identical shakes of their heads.

"No way his wife knows," said Cherry. "She's a good, god-fearing sweetheart. Thinks her husband is a good man. Once she's heard Cho's accusations, let Royko know that she's here. Watching him. Don't let her talk to him. Let him sweat."

Jane nodded, his eyes never leaving Royko. "I concur."

Lisbon regarded them both. Earnest, angelic-looking snake charmers. She wondered briefly if she should be more mindful of blonde people in the future. Maybe they all had powers. She went for the door. "I'll have them here in twenty minutes."

Once Lisbon was out, Cherry turned to Jane.

"And you. Hypnotize that bastard."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

They drove for hours. Or so it felt like.

Grace had moved out of the middle of the truck and off to the side, seeking the security of a wall. The other women were huddled along the perimeter as well. The unforgiving metallic cube gave no comfort to their limbs or warmth to their bodies. Quite the opposite. The chilly November air sucked their body heat into the walls and returned none of it. Dressed in nothing but a sex suit and paper, Grace shivered violently. To distract herself, she asked questions. She was still a cop, freezing in a sex suit or no.

"How many times have they moved you before?"

One of the more timid voices. "About four. I think. What month is it?"

Grace shivered doubly at her answer. "November."

"November," the voice trembled sadly. "My birthday's in November."

Grace pressed along. "How long are the trips, usually?"

A stronger voice. "Why does it matter?"

"We were in downtown Sacramento. I want to know how far we're being moved," Grace snapped impatiently.

A calmer, softer voice. "They usually last several hours."

Grace processed this. That meant they probably didn't ever leave California. She had mixed feelings about this. Hours in a truck gave her more time to formulate a plan, but meant the CBI had less chance of finding them as the search radius became larger. She cursed the search radius, always growing exponentially with every passing minute. Dammit!

"How do they unload us? How many are on the other side? Are their guns drawn when they open the doors?"

"There are two guys in the front of the truck. They'll open the doors, but they won't have their guns out. But they're big. Real big."

Grace snorted quietly. No matter who was sitting in the front of that truck, she seriously doubted they were any bigger or stronger than the man who'd hit her in the past. Or the man who loved her in the present. She felt no wussiness at the thought of big men.

"Will they restrain us? Cover our heads? Anything?" she asked the darkness.

"No, just push us out." The calm voice again.

"How high are the tires on this van? Anyone notice?" she asked.

Tiny, frightened voice. "Pretty high. We have to step up, or they lift us."

Grace nodded to herself. Two men. Holstered weapons. No hoods or handcuffs. Seven women. Not stopping for hours. Less chance of being found with each turn of the tires. She slowly got to her knees and crawled across the length of the floor. Her head bumped the opposite side after a few seconds. She laid flat, stretching her hands and feet. They didn't reach the other side. Ten feet across, maybe? She worked the math in her head.

She sat up and took a deep breath. The plan was clear.

"Here's what we do, ladies."

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Linda Royko arrived with her two children before his lawyer. She was a sweet, gentle-looking woman. Very respectful to the agents that brought her in. Very circumspect as she asked mild questions as to why her husband was being held. Lisbon hated to admit it, but her dynamic duo was right once again. This woman clearly had no idea what her bastard of a husband really did for a living.

Perfect.

Lisbon used calm, reassuring words as she led them to the observation room that showed her husband on the other side. Cherry had left to check on Rigsby and her girls, and Jane had joined Cho across from Royko. The two boys peeked into the mirror to watch their father with the same worried curiosity as they would watch screaming monkeys in a primate house.

"Daddy's cuffed to a chair, mommy." The smaller one looked at Linda with frightened, saucer eyes.

Linda turned to Lisbon. "What are they doing with him? Where's our lawyer, Agent Lisbon?"

"On his way, we called him 30 minutes ago," Lisbon assured her calmly. The speakers had been turned off, none of them could hear the conversation at the table. Lisbon gave a slight tap against the window. Only a few people would have noticed Jane's slight nod. Royko's family was here.

It was time.

Jane smiled gently at their suspect and spoke in his most lulling tone. "Mr. Royko, the other agents asked me to inform you that your lawyer will be here very shortly. All you need to do is relax. Think of your family, the warmth of your home, think about how wonderful it will be to get home, forget about all of this. Just relax. Like sleeping deeply on your own bed. Warm…safe…relax…"

Royko's eyes never left Jane's. The soothing, soft comfort of his voice worked on Royko like a fine brandy. Intoxicating him. His head began to droop. His eyes flickered. Jane was pleasantly surprised. He'd been easier to subdue than he'd thought.

"Mr. Royko, I want you to stay in this warm, happy place, then tell me in soft, slow words about the women in the basement. All nice and warm in their beds down there. They were sleeping. But not anymore. Where are they now?"

Royko's eyes fluttered briefly. "Gone," he muttered. "Taken away."

"Yes, I know," Jane purred softly. "You sent them away. They needed to be sent away. It was best. There was trouble. But there's no trouble now, just warmth. Just going home soon. There's no reason not to tell me now. Where have they gone?"

"Hmmm," Royko murmured softly. "Mark. Mark has them."

Under the table, Jane lowered his hand and wiggled his fingers at Lisbon. She turned and flipped the speakers on so that the Royko family could listen.

"Where is Mark taking them, Mr. Royko?"

"Placerville. I…yes…they're driving to Placerville."

"Aaaaah," Jane exhaled softly. "Where in Placerville? Is someone waiting for them? Someone else who will look after them?"

"My warehouse…it's all set up…others before them…all ready."

Lisbon excused herself quietly and left the observation room. She tore down the hallway and found the group of agents pouring over the files taken in the raid and stolen by Jane and Cherry.

"Real estate registers," she gasped as she ran up. "Find his real estate listings for a warehouse in Placerville. Get agents on the road now. Radio the address to them when you get it. Nownownow!"

A hand on her shoulder startled her. She whirled and found herself face to face with Cherry. "Gray?" she asked.

Lisbon nodded. "Jane's working him now. We got a location. Sort of. You're welcome to go with them."

Cherry slumped and dropped her head. "Oh, thank God. Yes, yes I want to go. Rigsby too. Can I leave the girls here with someone?"

Lisbon nodded again, taking her hand and leading her back to the interrogation room. "Cho can stay here with them."

The entered the observation room again. Jane was on a roll. The Royko family was watching in horror. Linda was sniffing quietly, dabbing her eyes occasionally with a tissue. Apparently Jane hadn't been pulling any punches either.

"We're almost done here, sir. You've been so helpful, I appreciate that. I just have one more question. About Marie. She was snooping downstairs, wasn't she? Taking things and looking where she shouldn't. Eddie helped out with that. But I need to know what will happen to Marie."

Royko's dreamy expression hardened suddenly. "Eddie caught that whore stealing…my product…she stole from downstairs. Stupid bitch. Eddie took care of her. Gave her to Mark to load up with the others. Mark, he'll deal with her once they arrive. No one…no one steals from me."

"Of course not," said Jane. "What will Mark do?"

"Shoot her. Bury her."

Cherry gasped harshly. Almost as loudly as Linda.

Jane sat up straight, glanced at Cho, and brought his voice back to its normal pitch. "Well, Mr. Royko, you've been extremely helpful. When I touch your hand, you'll wake up and remember everything we've talked about. You'll also know that your wife and children have watched this entire conversation from the other room. Three, two, one," Jane tapped his hand.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Lisbon drove. She insisted. The lights and siren on the SUV screeched and whirled, telling everyone in front of them to move the hell out of the way or get crushed. Rigsby sat in the backseat with Cherry. She'd found him sitting quietly with her children, still talking in hushed voices about Grace and their future together as a big family. She knelt down with them and stroked Lila's hair softly.

"You need to fix your hands, Wayne," she urged him. "You want me to call an ambulance? They can fix you up here. You don't have to go to the hospital."

He shook his head. "No. I'm all right. I'll go later. I just…" He looked up at her with watering eyes. "I just need to stay here for awhile."

Cherry nodded. His injuries weren't that serious. If he could withstand the pain, she wouldn't pressure him.

She left them again.

Once she'd spoken to Lisbon and heard the rest of Royko's confession, she came back to him as calmly as she could. "Girls? Wayne and I need to leave for a little while. But Kimball will look after you, okay? Maybe he can call Anna Angel and you guys can get a pizza together. Sound good?"

The girls clutched Wayne and huddled against him, not wanting to leave him. He smiled brokenly at their loyalty. He nudged them up gently. "Come on, sweeties. I need to go with your mom." He lifted up to stand on his knees. "Kisses first?"

SoSo and Lila leaned into his cheeks and gave them identical pecks. His smile grew fractionally and he hugged them. "Thank you, babies."

He and the others left Cho behind and hurried towards the SUV. Placerville was 45 minutes away. Less, if they floored it. Cherry followed Rigsby into the backseat and sat close to him the whole way, her hand laid gently over his.

Lisbon picked up her phone. "What the hell, people? Where is this warehouse we're heading for? I have 13 units on their way and we need a 20."

She was silent for a moment. "What are you talking about? There has to be a listing. Check again and get back to me! He said he owned one, so fucking find it!"

She slapped her phone shut and swore loudly.

"No records of a warehouse?" Jane asked.

She shook her head. "Doesn't matter. We'll jimmy every locked door in Placerville if we have to."

Her phone went off and she answered it before the first ring finished. "What?"

She listened. Jane watched her impatience melt into worry. "Where?...You're sure?...Yeah, we're on our way."

"What is it? Did they find his warehouse?" Rigsby asked gruffly.

Lisbon slapped her phone shut, slamming the accelerator to the floor and flying between cars with alarming speed. "They may not have to," she answered him, swerving passed an 18-wheeler. "There's been an accident on the highway between here and Placerville." She glanced in the rearview mirror at the sister and boyfriend.

"A large moving truck has tipped over."