The Cabbie and the Cop – 8

“I’ve got an interesting one for you, Vergil,” Lieutenant Brewer told him once they were both seated in the lieutenant's office.

“What?”

“There’s a prostitution ring we need to shut down.”

“So get some of the johns to agree to testify. That’s a no-brainer.”

The lieutenant nodded. “Under normal circumstances we would.”

“But…” Vergil said when the lieutenant paused.

“The men involved in prostituting themselves are being forced to work for those running the operation.”

Vergil nodded slowly, seeing where this was going. “Young men I take it. Maybe off the street or drug users?”

“Primarily off the streets, and not kids but men who are homeless through no fault of their own due to the economy, which means they’re not alcoholics or addicts. The people in charge of the operation run what seems to be a legitimate day labor business. They send the men on a couple of jobs, painting a house, yard work, etcetera, and then comes the third job. There are two houses in the Logan neighborhood---nice ones. You know the area and what homes there are like.”

“Upper middle class. A lot of the houses are well separated from their neighbors by lawns and trees.”

“Exactly. So they send a man to one of the two houses where the ‘owner’ needs some interior work done. He chats with the victim, sort of feeling him out while he’s working, then hints there’s a way he could make enough money to get himself back on his feet quickly.”

“Wouldn’t most of the men tell him he’s crazy?”

“Would you, if you were down and out and desperate? I’m sure they vet the men first, picking only those they think would be good candidates. Anyway, once he has a victim on the hook the ‘owner’ offers lunch while they discuss the idea further. The next thing the victim knows he wakes up in bed, naked. It has to be obvious to him what happened, but before he can protest the ‘owner’ shows him a video. It’s graphic and the victim looks as if he’s the one who offered his services to the other man in the film. Services that include strong Dom/sub and bondage elements. He’s told it will show up on one or more of the most popular porn sites if he doesn’t cooperate.”

Vergil frowned. “If you know all this why not just arrest the men responsible?”

“We need a witness who’s willing to testify. We had one man; he’s the one who told us how they rope victims into this. Unfortunately he’s dead now. We set up what was supposed to be a secret meeting between him and an assistant district attorney. He gave the man the details but before he could sign copies of his statement he got a phone call. The ADA is certain it came from one of the men running the operation from the way the witness reacted. He walked out of the meeting and stepped in front of a fast-moving delivery truck.”

“Damn. On purpose or was he pushed?”

“According to those who saw the accident he was at a crosswalk with several other people. It appeared as if he stumbled and fell.”

“With help.”

“Our thoughts, but there’s no proof since no one remembers seeing anyone touching him.”

Vergil nodded. “So we have a ring involving men being forced into prostitution. And of course no john is going to admit to having gone to one of the houses and paying for Dom/sub sex with a male.”

“Got it in one, from what our dead witness said. The men who use the service are upstanding members of society who don’t want their names dragged through the courts, or the papers. And there’s one other thing.”

“Let me guess, the john's first encounter is filmed to make certain he keeps his mouth shut about using their services.”

“Yes.”

“I presume the men live at one or the other of the houses once they’ve been forced into prostituting themselves.”

“They do. Our witness said the conditions aren’t bad, all things considered, but they’re not allowed to leave on their own or make any phone calls. He managed to steal a phone from one of the johns and then escape, got in touch with us and the meeting with the ADA was set up on the spot. Obviously the john must have contacted someone at the house to report he’d lost his phone there, asking them to look for it. They put two and two together and called our witness.”

“After tracking the phone first to find out where he was?”

“That’s what we think, yes.” The lieutenant leaned back, looking at Vergil. “I’m not going to make it mandatory you accept this job, but you’re one of the best, if not the best, undercover cop in the department for this type of assignment and you have what it takes to make it work. These men have to be stopped.”

“Give me an hour to think about it and I’ll get back to you.”

“Take whatever time you need.”