The Advocate's Ex Parte (The Advocate Series Book 5) (36 page)

Sabre stood up. “Your Honor….”

“Can I say something?” Matt blurted.

“Please talk to your attorney first,” the judge advised.

“But that’s it. I want a different attorney.”

Sabre was surprised, yet relieved. He was sophisticated, in spite of her shallow argument to convince the court otherwise. He had played her, maybe even practiced on her. The next attorney will not know that he is lying, because she knew Matt wouldn’t tell him. His investigation may not uncover all that hers had, either. But it didn’t matter. It wasn’t her decision or her problem any longer. “No, your Honor. I will not be requesting to remain on the case.”

Chapter 63

Failure didn’t sit well with JP. He had failed to protect both Robin and Sabre. Robin had to suffer yet another attack after he had promised she would be safe. He should’ve known better. He was a private investigator; he should have investigated better and been prepared for Cooper to show up. It was quiet at his house without her. Louie missed her, too. He bounced through the house and then ran up to JP and whimpered.

JP reached down and patted him on the head. “I miss her, too, Louie. But she’s home now…and finally safe. And that mean husband of hers is facing charges in California and Texas.”

But worse than that, JP had brought Tyson Doyle Cooper into Sabre’s life and almost got her killed. He knew she didn’t blame him, but he blamed himself. He had to make it up to her somehow, but he was too embarrassed and ashamed. She was beautiful and brilliant and educated. He was just a bumbling country boy who wanted to protect her and he couldn’t even do that right. He wanted to go to her, hold her in his arms, and keep her safe.

All he could really do is make sure he resolved everything he could on her cases. She had been under so much pressure between the Durham case and the Tran case. At least Durham was over. He was glad of that. He despised that kid and didn’t want him on the streets. But there was something that didn’t add up with the Tran case. JP opened his file and read through it again. Then he shot up from his chair.

“That’s it, Louie,” he said. “I’ll be back shortly. I’m going for a ride.”

***

A little over an hour later, JP showed up at Sabre’s office. “Does something feel wrong about the Tran case?" he asked.

“Well, hello to you, too.”

“Sorry, this is just driving me crazy.” JP remained standing in front of her desk.

“Me, too. I’ve been reading through everything. I have lots of unanswered questions.” Sabre tapped the file on the desk.

“I keep wondering what I’m not seeing. I feel about as dumb as a cow lookin’ at a new gate. I just keep lookin’ but the gate don’t open.”

“What I don’t understand is why they took Mae Chu.”

“And why she was at the fire?”

“Let’s talk about what we do know,” Sabre said. “Mae Chu came to the U.S. with her father, Trai Chu, when she was five years old. He bought that property in Julian and he started a dry cleaning business.”

“That eventually became a dry cleaning empire.” JP paced back and forth as they talked.

“Right, but what if he also started bringing in illegal workers from Vietnam? Maybe that’s why he bought the property in Julian. It was out where no one would see them.”

“But why would he bring them here illegally? That was after the immigration laws changed and legal entry was allowed for extended family members.”

“True,” Sabre said, “but I did a little research and it often took years to get them here legally. For some, it was probably easier to come here and then get legal status later. In fact, when legal immigration rose, so did illegal entry.”

“And Chu provided them with jobs that he created through his dry cleaning business.”

“Why don’t you have a seat?” Sabre said. “Your pacing is driving me crazy.”

“Sorry,” JP said and took a seat.

“What I can’t figure out is how David Leland got in the picture.”

“That bothered me, too, so I went to see Lan Vong, Mae Chu’s friend. She told me that Leland was Trai’s protégé. He was like a son to him, but he had ideas of grandeur that Mr. Chu didn’t share. Mr. Chu never wanted his daughter in the business….”

“Because he didn’t want her involved in any illegal activity,” Sabre finished his sentence.

“That’s what I think. And when he died, Mae was left with a nice trust fund, but Leland inherited the dry cleaners.”

“Do you think Mr. Chu brought young girls here for prostitution?”

“I’m guessing that didn’t start until Leland took over. However, I’m still confused as to why Leland killed the judge. I’m not sure Wagner had it all figured out. And why would Mitchell take a bribe back then and not now.”

Sabre reached for a yellow pad on her desk. “I wondered about that too. I was looking at the dates just before you came in.” She flipped through a couple of pages and then stopped. She glanced over the page. “When Mr. Chu was arrested, Mitchell was on the bench because he had been appointed to fill a vacancy. However, his election was only months away. I’m guessing the judge needed funding, and Mr. Chu bought his way out of the mess he was in.”

“Which would explain why Mr. Chu’s case went away and Judge Mitchell was elected,” JP added. “So did Mitchell suddenly grow a conscience? I’m sure he still needed money. They always do.”

“But not like he did back when Mr. Chu bribed him. He needed money for his campaign then. He was a shoe-in now. Maybe it wasn’t worth the risk. Besides, any money he made the last years went to his ex-wives. Maybe he didn’t want to give them any more.”

JP wrinkled his brow. “But that still doesn’t explain why Leland killed Mitchell, tried to kill the doctor, and let Kim-Ly live. Even if he cared for her, he doesn’t strike me as the kind to make a choice based on his heart or to leave loose ends. He’s smart. He’s mean. And he’s calculating. He wormed his way into Mr. Chu’s life and inherited his entire empire. Then he used all those women and young girls for profit. The guy’s a total scumbag.”

“That’s true,” Sabre acknowledged. “He obviously has no regard for other humans, so there’s no way he would have let Kim-Ly live. He would have killed her too.”

JP stood up and took a couple steps away from the desk. He turned back to Sabre. “Think about this. We know that Leland ransacked Dr. Heller’s office and he had her run over in order to get the briefcase with the tapes. There’s a witness to that. There are no witnesses to Judge Mitchell’s murder. And none of Leland’s cars tie him to the killing.

Sabre swooped her hand in the air in an “ah-ha” gesture. “So what if…?”

“Well, butter my butt and call me a biscuit.”

Sabre nodded and the look of cognizance matched that of JP’s. Sabre smiled. “Let’s go see Mae Chu.”

“I’ll go. You wait here.”

Sabre stood up and grabbed her keys. “Am I riding with you or driving behind you?”

JP shook his head. “Dad burn it. You could make a preacher cuss.”

“So, I’m riding with
you
, then?”

***

On the ride over to see Mae Chu, JP and Sabre conferred back and forth, dissecting their theory. By the time, they arrived they were convinced they had it figured out. Only Mae Chu could confirm it, but they didn’t expect that to be an easy task.

JP pulled up in back of the condo behind the attached garage. He parked his car in front of the garage door, thereby blocking it so Mae Chu couldn’t leave. Sabre went around the building to the front door and rang the bell. No one answered the door. She rang again. Still nothing. After several attempts, she walked around back and joined JP. He stood leaning against his car as he waited.

“I think I heard her inside, but she wouldn’t come to the door,” Sabre said.

“She’ll probably leave through the garage. I hope you have time to wait.”

“You bet.”

It was only about fifteen minutes before the garage door opened and Mae Chu appeared carrying a suitcase.

“Going somewhere?” JP asked.

Mae Chu looked startled at first, but then she walked around her car toward JP and Sabre. “You’re the man who’s responsible for catching David Leland and his sex-trafficking ring.”

“Actually, I’m not the one who forced him out into the open, but then you know that, don’t you?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Let me tell you a story. It’s about a little girl who was born in Vietnam and came to this country when she was about five years old with her hard-working parents. Her father bought a large piece of property with some apple orchards on it, way out in the country. Then he proceeded to bring more of his family here from Vietnam. But even though the immigration laws had been liberalized, it often took years to bring in extended family, so he found a way to smuggle them into the country. He started a dry-cleaning business and provided them with jobs. Other people needed help, too, so he started more dry cleaning businesses to help more people.”

Mae Chu just listened, her face expressionless.

“One day the man got into a physical altercation with a neighbor and the man was arrested. The judge dismissed the case, and suddenly he had enough money for his election campaign.”

Again, no response from Mae Chu.

“The young girl’s father continued to bring poor people to this country and give them jobs. He opened more dry cleaning businesses. He provided his daughter with the best schools and a nice home. He invested his money and set up a nice trust fund for her so she would never have to work in his business. He didn’t want her involved in anything risky or illegal. Meanwhile, a young man had come into his life, the son he never had. Let’s call this guy David.”

Mae Chu opened the car’s trunk and placed the suitcase inside it. Then she turned back toward JP and Sabre without saying a word.

JP continued with his story. “David became the man’s protégé. He wanted to take the business in a different direction. The smuggling ring was in place and hadn’t been detected in several decades. David believed he could make a lot more money if they brought in young girls for, shall we say, illegal and immoral purposes. The possibilities were endless. But the old man didn’t like that idea. He was doing something good for his people. He wasn’t interested in the money he could earn by hurting people. This guy David didn’t fight him on it. Instead he made sure there was a will or a trust in place leaving the dry cleaning businesses to him. And when that was arranged, and David was in line to inherit it all, the old man sort of accidentally met his maker behind the wheel of his own vehicle.”

A look of pain flashed across Mae Chu’s face.

“Only it wasn’t an accident. David killed him so he could take over everything. The old man’s daughter never believed it was an accident, but no one took her seriously. Although she’d never been part of her father’s business, she had heard and seen things over the years. She was like a little mouse in a hole and no one knew she was around. So, she watched some more, and she waited. At some point she discovered the sex-trafficking ring and decided to infiltrate it. But David knew her, so she had to come in another way.

“She was very patient and listened to everything very carefully. When she discovered David had a baby by one of his girls, she developed a plan. She maybe even paid the girlfriend to help her. Then she trained to become a CASA worker. Once she had everything in place, she went to David’s girlfriend’s house and started a fire, knowing full well it would trigger a court case. She wasn’t completely heartless, so she stayed around to make sure the baby was rescued. Then she left. She knew she would be appointed on the case because there were so few CASA workers who spoke Vietnamese or who understood the culture.

“What she didn’t plan on was finding the same judge that sold out to her father assigned to this case. She knew he could be bribed. Now her biggest fear was that David would go free. She couldn’t have that, so she decided to kill the judge and frame David for it. She didn’t just kill David because she wanted him to suffer for a long, long time. She could think of no better place for that than prison. It was a perfect plan of revenge.”

“Very interesting story; I think I heard it before,” Mae Chu said. “But you left out the part about the little girl’s mother not trusting the protégé and that she was murdered and her body dumped near the Mexican border.” Her voice was calm, but bitter. She took a deep breath and smiled. “It sounds like that girl evened the score. Good for her.” She walked to the side of her car and opened up her door. “Now, if you’ll excuse me. I have a plane to catch. I’ve joined the Peace Corps and they’re sending me to Vietnam.”

Chapter 64

Bob opened Sabre’s refrigerator and took out a bottle of Shiner Bock.

“Really?” Sabre said.

“Hey, this is good stuff. No reason to waste it. You know me, I’m a vodka man. There’s not that many beers I even like, so when I find one I like, I’m going to drink it. What can I say? Tyson Doyle Cooper, slime bag extraordinaire, has good taste in beer.”

“That’s about his only redeeming quality.”

“By the way, where is he?” Bob opened the bottle of beer and took a swig.

“He’s still in the hospital. The bullet put quite a hole in him. Got him right in the abdomen, just below the rib cage. I guess the trauma from the pressure of the gunshot did some damage as well.”

“Is he going to live?”

“Looks that way. But then he’ll be standing trial for assault and battery, attempted murder, and several other criminal counts here in California. After that he still has charges in Texas to face. He won’t be out on the streets for a while.”

“It won’t be long enough. Too bad the bullet didn’t take him out.”

“Bob,” Sabre scolded.

“Hey, he tried to hurt my snookums. And he beat Robin. That’s just not right. That girl’s hot.”

“And
that’s
the reason it’s not right,” Sabre said sarcastically.

“No, it’s not right on any level. Cooper is a coward, but you have to admit, the woman is hot.”

“You’re so bad. I don’t know how Marilee puts up with you, except we both know you’re all talk. But you are correct, Robin is very attractive.”