The Advocate's Ex Parte (The Advocate Series Book 5) (25 page)

“We need to check the tax records and see who owns those houses.”

“I have a good friend, Jennifer Ross, a real estate agent. I’m sure she could get us the information a lot more quickly than we can. Give me the addresses.”

JP wrote them on a piece of paper and handed them to her while she dialed the phone.

“Hi, Jenn, how’ve you been?” Sabre put the phone on speaker.

“Good. Busy, but good. This market sucks. I work much harder than I used to and for far less money. But you didn’t call to hear me bitch. What’s up?”

“I have a case I’m working on that involves a couple of vacant houses. Can you check and see who owns them?”

“Sure. This sounds intriguing. Anything else you can tell me?”

“Some very young girls were living in one house, possibly without adult supervision, for a few weeks and then they moved to the second house. Again, they only stayed for a few weeks and then moved. I don’t know where to this time.”

“That’s strange. Give me the addresses and I’ll see what I can find out.”

“Thanks.” Sabre gave Jennifer the information.

“This won’t take long. I’ll call you back in a few minutes.”

Sabre hung up and turned to JP who was sitting across the desk from her. “What are your thoughts on the CASA worker?”

“At first it seemed that she just flaked out, but with all the other strange things going on, I’m beginning to think there may be foul play.”

“Me, too.”

“After I spoke to you, I drove to Mae Chu’s house and snooped around her neighborhood a bit. I didn’t find much when I spoke to Mae’s neighbors but I can do some follow-up. Do you want me to investigate Mae further?”

“I think that would be a good idea. The police don’t seem to have much, either, but I don’t think they’re taking it that seriously.”

“Can you get me a photo of her?” JP asked.

Sabre picked up her cell phone. “I already did. I had it sent over from Voices for Children. Mae Chu had to take a photo for them as part of the CASA process.” She touched her phone to forward a text. “There, you should have it now, too.”

JP’s phone beeped. “It’s amazing what you can do with these phones.”

“I’ve been telling you that for a while, but it’s nice to see you’re catching up with technology. I sent you the name and contact information of the woman Mae listed as her emergency contact as well. Maybe she’ll lead you somewhere. Don’t spend too much time on it, but it would be nice to know if she just took off or if we’re dealing with something bigger here.”

JP started to say something when Sabre’s phone rang. “It’s Jennifer,” she said and then answered her phone. “That was quick.”

Sabre put the speaker on so JP could hear. “I got the names of the owners of each house prior to Hilltop Credit Union taking over. That’s who owns them now. The houses have both been foreclosed.”

“Was it the same owner of both houses?” Sabre asked.

“No, different owners and they both live out of state. It’s strange, though. Based on the dates, there shouldn’t have been anyone living in either of those houses the last few months.”

***

JP went back to his house and ran the information he had obtained from Sabre’s real estate friend through every source available to him. He found nothing that connected them to each other or to the Tran case in any way.

“Can you stop and eat? I made you lunch,” Robin said, as she approached JP’s desk.

“Sure. I’m not getting anywhere anyway.” He picked up the plates and followed her out to the patio. “You know you don’t have to cook for me. And you’ve been doing the laundry and cleaning. I really don’t expect you to do all that.”

“I know you don’t, but it’s the least I can do. I just really appreciate your letting me stay here and all. Besides, I’d go plumb crazy if I didn’t have something to do.”

JP sat down at the small, teak table that already contained two glasses of lemonade that Robin had brought out earlier. She set a large bowl with cabbage salad on the table and then sat down next to him.

JP placed his hand on hers. “Just a few more days of this and I’ll be able to give more time to finding out what Tyson is up to.”

“It’s alright. I spoke with my cousin this morning. Someone saw him at the gas station again yesterday. And Sandy’s friend drives near his house every once in a while. They can’t get too close, but she said there have been lights on in the house the past few nights. Maybe he has given up.”

Robin looked him directly in the eyes. He thought some of the fear had dissipated and he was glad for that, but he didn’t trust her assailant. “I hope so, but don’t drop your guard. Men like that don’t usually give up. They just regroup.” JP removed his hand and began to eat.

Throughout the rest of their lunch they talked about old times—people they had known as a couple and things they had done. All they had to share was a past. There was no future, at least not a foreseeable one at the moment, and there was no present that didn’t include the threat of Tyson Doyle Cooper.

Chapter 42

The Tran Case

Child: Emma, age 18 mos. (F)

Parents: Father—unknown, Mother—Kim-Ly Tran

Issues: Neglect

Facts: Mother left eighteen-month-old girl in locked room and went to work. Apartment complex caught on fire.

Jennifer’s house was located a few blocks from the bay. Sabre drove there often to meet her for their run. Sabre ran at least five times a week, and two or three of them were usually with her friend, Jenn. They were both training for a half-marathon. The farthest they had ever run before was a 10K so they needed the practice. Besides, Jennifer had called saying she had some information regarding the two homes Sabre had asked about earlier.

Sabre parked in front of the Tudor-style home. Jennifer and her handsome Latino husband had recently purchased the home and completely refurbished it. Sabre laughed when she saw the sticky note taped over the doorbell that said, “Doorbell doesn’t work. Use door knocker.” Sabre slammed the piece of iron against its base three times. About a minute later Jennifer answered the door.

“You spend a hundred grand to fix up the house and you couldn’t repair the doorbell?” Sabre joked.

Jennifer smiled. “Yeah. We ran out of money. Come on in.”

Sabre stepped inside. “You said you had some information on those two houses where the Vietnamese girls were living?”

“Yes, it’s all kind of strange, but there is no way they should be living there. Both houses have been foreclosed on by Hilltop Credit Union. They appear to be rentals or maybe even second homes because the owners had different addresses than the houses. One owner lived in Tucson, the other in Spokane, Washington.”

”JP ran everything he could on them, but he didn’t find any connection whatsoever to each other or to our case.”

“I’m not surprised. I checked to see if the real estate agents or brokers were the same, but they weren’t In fact, only one house has a realtor. The other one isn’t even listed in the multiple listing service. I called the agent for Hilltop. They already had the first home listed and they expected to obtain the second one once the asset management company cleared it for safe entry. I tried to think how else they could be connected. I checked the financial backgrounds of both houses to see if and when they were refinanced before they went into foreclosure. But that didn’t lead me anywhere either. However…” Jennifer couldn’t contain her Cheshire cat smile.

Sabre’s eyes widened. “You found
something
, didn’t you?”

“Maybe. They both have the same asset management company, which isn’t unusual since they have the same bank. So whoever you’re looking for has to be either someone in the bank or in the asset management company. My guess would be the asset management company. It’s a relatively small business with maybe five or six employees plus the owner who runs the business. His name is Lawrence Foster. He would know when the buildings are empty. He's also in charge of having the maintenance crews prepare the homes for safe entry before they go on the market for sale or as a rental.”

“So, could he delay the time when the houses were given to the realtors?”

“Of course. He could tell his maintenance crew to take their time fixing up a house and then tell the bank that his guys have to replace the pipes, rewire the house, retrofit the foundation, stuff like that. And he’s the one who has to have the utilities turned on.”

“So, he would know when the house became vacant and when it was ready to show.”

“That’s correct.”

“Okay, let me see if this makes sense. The asset management company manages the homes where people have defaulted on their loans and the bank has taken them back.”

“Correct.”

“Okay, so he picks a property, then he moves his girls in there, stalls as long as he can, and then he moves them out and into the next place.”

“That would work. And he would have some control over when the place is ready. So if he was using a house for his ‘girls,’ he could fail to sign off on it and extend the time a little longer if that’s what he wanted to do.”

Sabre took her phone from her pocket and called JP. She left a message explaining what Jennifer had explained to her and gave him the name and address for the asset management company. She placed the phone back in her pocket. “Ready to run?”

“Let’s go,” Jennifer said.

They walked two blocks to the bay, down the steps, and onto the boardwalk. After stretching for seven or eight minutes, they started their jog. They hadn’t gone more than a hundred yards when Sabre’s phone whistled, the sound she had set for incoming text messages. Sabre looked at the text without stopping. It came from JP and read, “Ok. I’m on it.”

They jogged until they reached The Catamaran Hotel, or about one mile, and then they walked for another mile then alternated between running and walking until they returned to the place where they started on the boardwalk
—
six miles total. Finally, they made their way back to Jennifer’s house.

“Next week we do seven,” Sabre said, as she walked to her car. “But now I have to go home and get ready for my date.”

Jennifer followed her. “Wait. Who is it? Where did you meet him?”

Sabre smiled sheepishly.

“Is it JP?”

“No, it’s not JP,” Sabre replied sternly. She wished people would quit pushing them together. Then she smiled again.

“But you like this guy. I can tell.”

“The jury’s still out on that.” Sabre opened her car door. “I’ll tell you all about it next time we run.”

***

After about thirty minutes of research on Lawrence Foster’s Asset Management Company, JP had discovered Lawrence was a sole proprietorship, but he couldn’t find anything on the employees. He called Jennifer. “How can I find out what other properties this company is working with? I just need the name of one.”

“I can get you one. Just give me a minute.”

JP hung up, poured himself a glass of lemonade, and sat back down at his computer. He opened his Microsoft Publisher program and pulled up a file that contained a business card with the name JP Nelson, his phone number, and an email address he used just for this purpose. He added Greenbriar Realty with an address in Fallbrook, CA. It was crude, but it would serve the purpose he needed. He printed it on card stock that was already perforated in the standard business card size.

Jennifer called back just as the printer stopped. “The secretary at Foster’s, Jeanne Bullard, is a friend of mine. If you have to, use my name to find what you need, but if you don’t have to provide it that would be even better.”

***

JP drove to the Lawrence Foster Asset Management Company that was located on Hotel Circle South in a building that housed two small real estate offices and a law office. Lawrence took up the entire first floor with glass doors spanning the front. The other three offices were upstairs. An attractive, brown-haired woman wearing a black Ann Taylor suit sat at the front desk. She appeared to be about thirty years old. JP thought she had a classy look, almost regal. Her nameplate read “Jeanne Bullard.”

“May I help you?” she asked in a friendly voice.

“I hope so. I’m JP Nelson with Greenbriar Realty.” He smiled as he handed her his fake business card. “I was sent here to find out about a property on Lookout Street,” JP said and he gave her the address obtained from Jennifer. “I’ve been told your company is handling that property from Hilltop Credit Union.”

“Let me check.”

While she typed on her keyboard, JP said, “Nice operation here. How many work in this office?”

“There are six of us. And Lawrence Foster, of course.”

“I’m new at this business, so please forgive me if I ask a lot of questions. I’m just trying to learn how this all works. To tell you the truth, I didn’t even know asset management companies existed before I studied real estate.”

“No problem. I’d never heard of them either until I got this job. That was eight years ago. I started out as a receptionist.” She smiled at him. “There are asset management companies that handle all kinds of financial investments, but we just do real estate.”

“If you don’t mind my saying, ma’am, you have a lovely smile.”

“Thank you.”

“So six of you under the big boss? Are you the office manager?”

“No, I’m the secretary. I report directly to Mr. Foster, but this company is divided into two parts. Alex Velasquez handles the rental properties and Scott Le is head of the real estate going to sale.”

“So, Mr. Le would be handling this property on Lookout Street?”

“Yes, but he’s not in this afternoon.” She looked at the computer. “I can’t really give you any information on the property since it hasn’t been assigned to me yet to enter and begin marketing.”

“Do you know when Mr. Le will be in?”

She looked up at a chart on the wall that listed the names of the employees down the left side and time slots across the top. Magnetic buttons titled “IN” on one side and “OUT” on the other followed each employee’s name. Three of the buttons were “OUT” side up, right after the names. Mr. Le’s button was placed on the
4:00
time slot “IN” side up.