Chapter 42: Disconnected
"Just don't be stupid, Reed, no story is worth risking everything for." Gus chided her cousin as she adjusted the top of her strapless dress in the surveillance van.
"Like you don't take stupid risks, cuz," Reed shot back, showing the brashness of his youth.
"I am a cop, you are a blogger barely out of school-" her voiced raised and Doyle shot her a look. "Look, I gotta go, and I don't know when I'll be able to talk again, please be careful, sweetie, I need all the family I have left, okay?"
Reed made a noise before ending their call. Gus stabbed the end button her phone and threw it down. "You sure you want to go in tonight?" Doyle asked, drumming his fingers on a clipboard.
"Yeah, we need to get traction on this case. You and I both know it it was more than a prostitution ring and with Fields out, we need to pin something on them soon."
"Fine, then let's recap. You already have Marco on the hook, his cousin, Shirazi, seems to be the one in charge, at least at this club," Doyle pointed to the photograph of the Iranian stuck up in the van.
"Yeah, and he is interested in me, but is not as gullible as Marco, he knows I am not some first year co-ed, but he knows thinks I am desperate for money and to not have to go back to Alabama." Gus made a face.
"You finally have a meeting with him to discuss getting put on the service?"
Gus nodded, "Yep, tonight, baring any interruptions.
"The last 'interruption' was arms dealers show up for an impromptu meeting, Gus," Doyle warned, wondering if the detective truly knew what she was getting into.
"No one is just in one thing these days, Doyle, it is all about diversification," Gus smirked.
"Fine, just don't do anything stupid in there, Broussard, especially since you aren't wired."
"I can take care of myself, Lieutenant Doyle," Gus mocked, giving him a small salute, before she exited the van and made her way two blocks down to the club.
Their work had paid off, the doorman spotted her right away in the line and the next thing she knew, she was being whisked up stairs with Marco.
"Ah the beautiful Belle, right on time. Cousin Navid will be so happy to see you." He ushered her to the VIP room she had been in before, but this time, he moved aside a bank of velvet drapes, which were concealing a short hallway. He stopped in front of a door, knocking in a pattern.
Gus tried not to flinch at the size of the grizzled man that opened the doorway, scars crisscrossing his face. The man studied Gus carefully, clearly looking for hidden weapons, not that Gus could hide anything in the skintight red dress that was molded to her form. He nodded at the pair, stepping out so they could step in.
The room seemed blindingly light compared to the subdued décor on the other side of the curtains. Navid Shirazi sat at the desk, counting money and making notations in a ledger. A gun sat at his right hand, a tray with white powder on it on his left.
A coked out pimp with ties to arms dealers was not what Gus wanted to be dealing with, but she had little choice but to forge ahead.
"Sit!" he demanded, causing Gus to jump slightly, but she quickly complied. "Leave us," he growled at Marco, who also complied hastily.
"Savannah, the Southern Belle," Navid remarked with a nod and piercing gaze. Gus didn't like what evil she saw in the man's eyes or the fact that he was looking at her like she was a piece of steak.
"From Mobile, Alabama, sir, home of the original Mardi Gras, most people don't know that, think it is only a New Orleans thing," Gus drawled, batting her eyelashes as she uncrossed and re-crossed her legs.
Navid made another notation, flicking through the stack of bills, "interesting," he said, though he sounded anything but. "How old are you really, Savannah?" he looked at her, his bushy black eyebrows in a deep scowl.
"Sir?"
"I know you are not eighteen, what twenty-two, three? Hard time getting through college, so very far from home?"
Gus nodded, her stomach doing flip flops as she wondered if she was about to blow the whole case by being too old.
"Twenty three, my parents don't want me up here so I've had to work all these jobs and sometimes I haven't been able to pay my tuition..." Gus trailed off, dropping her eyes in which she hoped was a coquettish way.
"And you are not virgin are you?" Navid continued to scowl at her, though his question made her head snap up as she looked at him frozen with the surety the case was done.
He sighed, "never mind, impossible to find many virgins these days. You loose American girls with your short skirts and makeup and pop music. But still a good business. Many men willing to pay much cash for companionship of pretty girl. You know what I mean by companionship, don't you, Belle?"
Gus nodded, fighting the urge to punch his windpipe, seeing just how many girls had been moved in and out of the club as companions.
"Very good, I think you are not as innocent as you look. That is good thing though, I have seen you talk to the girls and my friends here, they like you, you are a good listener."
"So I've been told," Gus drawled.
"I think you will do very well, if it works out, I have special work that pays much better than normal rate," Navid paused, counting out a stack of bills and sliding them across the desk toward her. "Here, this is your first paycheck."
Gus went to reach for the money, but Navid kept one large finger on it, "but first we must talk terms of employment." Gus pursed her lips, remaining silent, wishing she was wearing a wire.
"First, give up your apartment, you'll stay with the other girls. Tell your school you are taking a semester off and your parents you are doing a semester abroad. If you are a good worker, I will pay your tuition for next year. You will give me your cell phone, they distract you girls too much. If you agree, then you are hired, if not, you forget you ever met me or..." he trailed off, stroking his gun.
Gus took a deep breath, she was in, this was what they had been working for, so why did it feel so scary? "Why sugar, you have got yourself a deal!" Gus stood, sticking her hand out towards Navid, who ignored it.
"You want?" he gestured toward the powder next to him.
"Why no thank you, I don't like to get all jittery, stops me from being a good listener."
Navid laughed before taking the line himself, "smart girl, Marco will get you settled." He pushed a button under his desk, causing the bodyguard and Marco to reappear in the doorway.
Gus knew the squad had eyes and ears on her as she and Marco headed to the UC crash pad they had set up in the event that something like this occurred. Gus quickly packed a suitcase, writing a letter to her fake parents at an address that would re-route to NYPD.
"Classy girl like you should have a nicer place," Marco said, taking in the worn studio.
"Yeah, well, New York rents are crazy," Gus shrugged, working to suppress her fears. "Is the building by the club nice?"
"Very nice, my brother is big time developer. But what you should really see is his place out in the Hamptons, if the clients really like you, you will get invite out to one of the private parties."
Gus' heart sank at the thought of being moved out of jurisdiction, she hoped the squad had heard Marco and would re-think their decision to not bring the feds in.
Gus quickly learned that Navid was running more than just a first class escort agency. Navid provided companions to what seemed like every foreign dignitary that passed through town, not to mention anyone else that had the money and connections to afford his services. He had set up a cottage industry providing something he referred to as the 'American Dream' for foreigners visiting the US, who couldn't be bothered with picking up the girl next door on their own.
After being shown her new apartment and meeting her new roommates, one of Navid's 'associates' gave her the run down. "We only wear designers, we are fully made up and ready to go at all times, we don't drink too much, because no one likes a sloppy drunk. We stay in the best shape we can, so I suggest you take full use of the gym downstairs. Though some clients like that corn fed look," the woman took in Gus' curves with scorn and rolled her eyes. "You don't have a boyfriend, right?"
Gus shook her head. "Good, it's always better to not have some puppy dog mooning over you to worry about. I'm Cassandra by the way."
"Er, nice to meet you," Gus said, trying to keep up with the woman on impossibly tall heels as she moved about Gus' new bedroom, tossing most of the things from her suitcase to the floor.
"I don't know what to tell you, Detective Flack, I can't reach her, she is undercover, you do know what that means right?" Jimmy Doyle stood his ground, despite Don Flack's form towering over him.
"Don't get smart with me, Doyle, how can you let her go so far undercover that you can't get a message to her? What kind of team are you running over there in Special Vics?" Flack was having trouble keeping his emotions in check.
"We have been working this case for months, and I am not going to pull her for this," Doyle said, squaring his shoulders.
Flack clenched his jaw. "You wouldn't let us tell her when her cousin had been taken and nearly killed by a serial killer and now you won't let us tell her that her uncle has been taken hostage. What exactly needs to happen for us to be able to let her know what is happening with her family?"
"Her cousin is fine, your guys collared the taxi cab killer and maybe instead of standing here yelling at me, you should be out looking for Mac Taylor so I don't have to worry about jeopardizing my case."
"You've got a lot of frigging nerve, Doyle, and you better hope nothing happens to Gus or I swear to God-"
Stella came rushing up to the men, "Flack, stand down, Mac just called in, he's on the Jersey turnpike, we gotta go."
Chapter 43: Bad Girl
Gus quickly fell into the dizzying world of UC. And this was much bigger than the Upper East Side brothel case. She quickly lost track of time, her days and nights swapping themselves as she spent her days entertaining VIPs in the club and days getting her beauty sleep along with being poked and prodded by Navid's people.
Time slipped away in the blink of an eye, much like being trapped in a casino and exiting days later. Gus could only track time by the weather, the stifling heat and humidity of summer finally giving way to the crisp air of fall.
Whether by luck, the grace of God, or unethical use of psychology training, Gus hadn't had to go to any of the back rooms with an of her 'dates'; and why she was greatly relieved by this, Navid was less than pleased.
"Savannah, you are a very pretty girl and a good listener, many men you see two, three, four times but..." Navid trailed off, glowering at her in his office.
Gus gulped, unsure if she was more worried that the hulking bodyguard was or wasn't there.
"I do not make the best money on just a good listener," Navid gestured for Gus to sit, which she did, trying to steel herself. "But many men ask for you, so you must be doing something right."
Gus tried not to sigh with relief, knowing she wasn't out of the woods and also knowing she had to make sure she had enough to bring to the Grand Jury. "I'm sorry, Navid."
She decided to level with the man, above all he was a shrewd business man. "I know you make the most money when your girls provide a full range of services to your clients. I'm not saying I won't, I'm just not there yet. I also understand you are a businessman, so if you want to end our business relationship, I will leave right away." She held her breath, hoping he would take the bait.
Time stopped for a moment as Navid debated the offer before him. "You remind me of one of my wives," he said finally. "She was...charming, men were like moths to a flame around her, but she was like rod, refusing to bend no matter how hard they tried." A broad, if menacing grin spread across the man's face.
Gus decided to go with it, "Well, sugar, where do you think they get the term steel magnolia from?"
He let out a laugh, "yes, sometimes, men enjoy the chase." He stroked his beard thoughtfully before continuing, "I think I have better use for you. I think Marco mentioned I have place in Hamptons. During the summer there are lots of big parties, movie stars all that. Now that it is fall, I have only very special parties there, very private parties for only my best friends."
Navid let the weight of his words sink in before he continued. "These friends are very..." he seemed to grapple with the right word, "discriminating, so only certain girls are right for the job and so many do not know how to behave with my very best friends. I think, maybe you could teach them some of your, what do you call them, Southern charms, to be like Savannah the Belle. Do you think you could do that?"
Gus fought down a snort, the irony of an Iranian pimp wanting her to give what amounted to etiquette lessons to hookers. The Sisters of the Sacred Heart would wear out their rosary beads if they had any idea where little Augusta Broussard had ended up. At least it was in the name justice. "Like cotillion classes, you mean?" Gus drawled, adding an extra layer of drawl to her tone.
"I do not know what you mean, but yes, I think so," Navid showed an alarming number of pearly whites in his grin.
"Well, why yes, Mr. Shirazi, I would be honored to teach your girls how to be ladies," to punctuate her words, Gus rose and gave a full debutante dip, giving rare thanks to Miss Loretta for forcing her to go through several seasons in her youth.
Navid rose with another laugh, "Excellent, I will have your things packed to move out to the island."
Gus did a double take. "Island?"
"Yes, the house, it is on Gardiners Island. But don't worry, we take a helicopter, a quick ride."
Inwardly Gus groaned, trying to figure out how to let the team know she was being relocated to a privately owned island still held by a royal land grant. Like it or not, Doyle was going to have to call in bigger forces.
"First time in helicopter?" Navid asked Gus, placing his hand far higher than she liked on her thigh as she peered out the window, trying to not groan at how much like a compound like the island seemed.
She nodded, even though it was a lie, she wanted as much information as she could get in the near blackness. There was nothing about this situation that suggested success.
Gus was even more dismayed after landing and getting settled into the mansion. She was ushered to her room, which while spacious and well appointed, was locked from the outside and three massive stories above the ground with an inoperable window.
"I hope you will do well here, Savannah, I really do," Navid said before locking her in for what remained of the night.
She met what Navid referred to her as 'her charges the next day' and her heart all but stopped. She knew she looked young and that Navid prayed on the youngest of co-eds in the city, but these girls were clearly in their teens, some of them looking barely like they had reached that.
She fought to remained poised, even though her first instinct was to impale Navid with a fireplace poker, the only thing approximating a weapon.
Gus quickly surmised that most of the girls were runaways from broken homes and truly believed that Navid was offering them a better life. She forged about her 'job' of trying to make them into ladies, while still trying to infiltrate the upper ranks of Navid's business.
"Something happened to you," Navid remarked one night after pinning her against the wall and attempting to slide a hand up her dress while landing sloppy kisses on her neck downwards.
The reality was Gus having to fight down her self-defense and police training in order to not lay Navid flat out. She instead froze, trying to not gag.
She nodded in reply, afraid she would vomit if she even attempted to speak. He extracted his hand, but still didn't leave enough space for her to move. "Maybe one day, you can stop being such a good listener, and tell Navid all about what happen to you. I like to know my girls' stories."
The disgusting reality of it was Navid was telling the truth. Navid had a psychopathic knack for picking girls from bad enough situations that prostituting themselves out to rich foreigners was something they actually wanted. They were all eager, to a fault.
Gus wanted desperately to warn them, instead of training them on how to sit, stand, flirt, listen, dress, walk, tease and so on. But that wasn't her job, her job was to get enough on Navid and his crew to take him down and hopefully get out in one piece.
Chapter 44: Everybody Loves Jill
Late one night, after what Navid called a Preview Party, she sat with him and a few others in one of the studies, a fire roaring as he settled into an armchair and downed a pricey scotch, not his first of the night.
It was the first night she had been invited into one of the 'staff meetings' instead of being locked in her room, and even though that meant a breakthrough in the case, to Gus it felt like she had fallen further down the rabbit hole.
"I am glad you could join us, Savannah," he raised his glass toward her and the rest of the staff did the same.
She hesitantly raised hers back as well. "I'm glad I could be here as well, I hope I am helping," she drawled, batting her eyelashes.
"You are a miracle worker, for once we have ladies instead of just whores," one of Navid's assistants, Jamileh said, with a white grin splitting across her gorgeous coco skin. "I think this group will get highest price yet."
"You think they will be ready in time?" Samir, Navid's second in command, inquired.
Navid and Jamileh nodded in unison. "I told you this one was good," Navid said, nodding in Gus' direction. Samir started pacing, looking worried. "Are any of them pure enough for Barin, the past four parties he has rejected every girl we have presented to him. He told me he doesn't feel he is getting his investments worth."
Gus tried to keep her breath steady, everything she had feared was being revealed in this little meeting, names of heavy players, the near confirmation that it was more than prostitution and more likely Navid was not just into drugs and weapons trade, but also into human trafficking.
She had to figure out when the big party was happening and also get word to Doyle and the rest of the squad. Gus finally realized everyone was staring at her. "I'm so sorry y'all, I think this champagne got to my head, what were you asking?"
"We have two weeks until the big party, do you think you can get one of the girls ready for Barin by then?"
Gus nodded, praying to whatever deity might actually exist that Doyle would get her out of this.
She approached Navid the second she could get him alone. "Navid, I hate to ask, but you see, it is my Daddy's birthday soon, his fiftieth, and I know Mama really wanted me to come home for his big party, and I know I can't do that, but do you think I could send him a nice card and maybe a gift?"
"You are a very sweet girl. Wish my daughter was more like you," Navid said, patting the seat next to him. Gus tried not to gag at the thought that this cretin had children, sitting down next to him and trying to not cringe as he wrapped an arm around her. "What might your father most like for his big 5-0?" Gus sighed with relief.
Good listener that she was, Gus was able to discern that one of the girls, Jillian was, in fact a virgin. She had run away from her Ohio home, using her meager babysitting funds to get a bus ticket to New York, her dreams of becoming a Rockette outweighing anything approaching common sense. She was fourteen if she was a day. Marco had spotted her at the bus station, scooping her up as though she was a carnival prize,. Gus was assigned only Jillian for the next two weeks, in order to ensure that she would meet Barin's exacting expectations.
The two weeks passed quicker than Gus would have liked, not having any idea if her message had reached Doyle in the form of the fake birthday card or if the squad had gotten together the resources needed to take down Navid.
Before she knew it the night of the party was upon them. A veritable who's who of diplomats and foreign businessmen descending on the island by helicopter or flashy speedboats as soon as the sun set.
Gus wasn't sure what role she was supposed to be playing that night, though she desperately wanted to be the cop getting her collar.
"You look nervous, my belle," Navid remarked, sweeping her hair over her shoulder and kissing her neck.
"Just hope Barin is happy with Jillian," she replied, clenching her jaw and willing her hands to stop shaking.
"I am sure he will be pleased. Maybe once everyone is settled, you can tell me your tale finally?" he said as he traced her jaw with one large finger, his eyes like coal.
Samir came over, a pleased look on his face. "Sorry to interrupt, Navid, but I thought Savannah should hear as well. Barin is quite taken with Jillian and would like to discuss the specifics of spending more time with her."
"To be continued then, sweet Savannah, I must discuss a little business with Barin. Samir, why don't you show her to my private quarters. I will meet you there as soon as I am done here." Navid gave her a knowing look before descending the stairs to the waiting Barin.
Gus' heart sank as she discovered Navid's quarters could only be accessed by code through a relatively hidden door.
Navid's island butler, who Gus' was certain was also a trained bodyguard, stepped in and brought her a bottle of champagne and a glass. "Please make yourself comfortable, Mr. Shirazi shouldn't be too long."
She pretended to sip the champagne, scanning the landscape before her, trying to make anything out in the dark and hoping her prayers would be answered.
Finally, she spotted them, off shore on the Connecticut side, too many coast guard and harbor police boats for this time of year and then, toward the New York side, the high circling light of what she hoped was an NYPD helicopter.
Her heart danced until she heard the bodyguard greet Navid as he entered his quarters, then it froze in terror. They were obviously about to storm the island and she was trapped with their main target in a hidden room.
"What a gorgeous sight," Navid said, as he swept into the room. Gus could only presume the deal had gone well and judging by his pupils, Navid had decided to celebrate before coming her way.
"I was just thinking the same thing" Gus twittered, gesturing to the large windows.
"I was not talking about the view," Navid replied, coming up behind her and pressing himself against her back.
Knowing it wasn't the wisest idea, Gus drained her champagne glass, feeling she needed at least liquid courage to get through this. Naivd quickly refilled it with a leering smile.
"I presume Barin was pleased?" Gus said, taking the glass back from him.
Navid gave a laugh, energized from his party favor. "I would say so, you did excellent, my belle. Barin gave me twice as much as asking for Miss Jillian. She told me to tell you thank you and good bye."
Gus nodded, wanting to check on things outside, but also not wanting to draw Navid to the approaching uninvited guests.
"Drink up, it is time to celebrate," he said, pushing the glass toward her lips as he undid his bow tie. Gus took another small drink, not wanting to arise his suspicion, but also wanting to stay in control of her faculties. "After all, it isn't every day, I have an NYPD detective in my quarters."