Hollywood Taken Read online

  Al also gave the lieutenant his thoughts. “And, this is likely about a prostitution ring, with girls working their way up to power players.”

  “It wouldn’t play well if the press got wind of this and knew we weren’t actively working the case,” I added.

  Byrd patted at fluffy nest on his head. “I can’t disagree with anything you’ve all said, but how do I play this with Van Ness?”

  It was my turn to make the case. “Give us twenty-four hours to dig. If we don’t come up with some bones, we’ll back off.”

  “Then, you’d better get out your shovels. Twenty-four hours it is, then we move on again. In the meantime, keep this between us. I’m not going to tell the captain unless he asks.”

  “Molly and I might have something more,” Jenny said. She looked at her counterpart. “Didn’t you say you found out something about...sorry, I forget her name?”

  “Chloe Foster,” Molly said. “She’s the placement worker for APN.” She looked at me. “When you mentioned the text from Goddard, I played a hunch and decided to take a quick look at the background on the workers with the placement agency. Foster was born here, but her parents are from the Ukraine, specifically Odessa.”

  “That’s the same city Anna Levkin was from,” I said, my voice rising. “This just might be the break we needed.”

  Molly nodded. “Her being from Anna’s hometown, seems like a big coincidence.”

  The word coincidence was anathema in police work. It was a red flag that something was wrong or had been missed.”

  “It sounds like you’ve already uncovered your first bone,” Byrd said. “Get busy.”

  FIFTY-THREE

  As Olivia and I drove to APN that afternoon with Leo and Al following, I again mentioned Al Goddard’s text. “Do you think the Matchmaker could be Chloe Foster? She falsifies immigration records, gets girls into the country illegally, then sets them up with compromising photos and videos.”

  “Maybe, but when I talked to her on the phone a few days ago I didn’t get that vibe. It might be there are other players in the game.”

  “The game,” I said, remembering Anna’s messages. “It’s a rotten game, using young girls in the worst way possible. If there are others, I want them in prison.”

  Olivia nodded. “You’d better get in line.”

  After checking in with a receptionist, we took seats in the APN lobby to wait until Foster was free. There were posters on the walls, advertising the agency’s services, placing girls from all over the world with families. Were there girls I other counties that had fallen into the same trap as Anna?

  I looked up as a door closed behind the reception area and a young woman walked quickly past us and left the building. My instincts told me something was wrong. I went over and asked the receptionist about her.

  “That was Ms. Foster,” she said. “I told her you were here, but she said she wasn’t feeling well and...”

  I didn’t hear the rest of what she said, instead calling over to the others that Foster had left. We rushed out of the building and I saw her walking quickly through the parking lot.

  I dashed down the steps with Bernie, calling out to her as I went. “This is a police matter, Ms. Foster. We need to talk.”

  My words had no effect. She was about twenty yards away, stopping at her car and fumbling with her keys.

  “Final warning,” I yelled. “You cooperate or I released the dog.”

  It was a total bluff, since I had no basis to detain her. Even so, Bernie played along, barking and baring his fangs.

  Foster turned toward us and held her hands out to her side, looking at Bernie. “Okay, please don’t let him hurt me.”

  I got Bernie under control before going over to her. Olivia, Leo and Al were now at her side, as well.

  “Why did you run?” I demanded.

  She didn’t look at me, instead lowering and shaking her head.

  “What’s the matter?” Olivia asked her when we realized she was crying.

  Her watery eyes finally came up to us as she whispered, “He’s going to kill me.”

  “Who are you talking about?”

  Her voice grew even softer. “Ben Allman.”

  FIFTY-FOUR

  We took Chloe Foster to Hollywood Station where we could record our interview. Leo and Al agreed to let Olivia and me do the interview knowing that Foster would probably be more comfortable talking to women. They watched via close-circuit TV down the hall, where they kept an eye on Bernie.

  “Am I under arrest?” Chloe asked as we took seats across from her.

  The APN caseworker was probably in her late twenties, with mousy brown hair, and blue eyes. She would have been pretty if she’d used makeup and did something with her hair.

  “Have you done something illegal that you want to tell us about?” I asked.

  She shook her head. “Maybe...” She sighed. “I’m...I’m not really sure.”

  “Let’s begin with what you told us about Ben Allman. Why would he want to kill you?”

  She didn’t look at us, instead interlocking her fingers and sighing, but not talking.

  “Look at us,” Olivia said. Chloe slowly lifted her head. “We’re here to help you, but we can only do that if you tell us what’s been going on, all of it.”

  She brushed the hair from her eyes, sighing. “Ben is a Buyer.”

  Olivia and I exchanged glances. “What does that mean?” I said.

  “He finds girls and pays for them. That’s how...” She shook her slumping head, tears spilling down the front of her blouse.

  I gave her a moment to regroup. “Tell us how he finds girls.”

  Olivia gave her a box of tissues. She worked on her eyes as she spoke. “I don’t know exactly, but it has something to do with his business.”

  “Tell us how you came to know him.”

  After a couple of heavy breaths, she said, “He came to APN about three years ago wanting to know about getting a Russian au pair.”

  “That was well before Anna was placed with his family,” Olivia said.

  A nod. “He said he had contacts through his business, people that wanted nannies. I told him that I had a connection to the Ukraine since my parents were originally from there. That really got his interest. That’s when...” She shook her head. “...when my life ended.”

  She was on the verge of losing it again. I leaned closer, softening my tone. “Tell us what you mean, Chloe.”

  She brushed her tears. “Ben has some kind of software he uses to take over phones and computers. He got some pictures of me, just like he does with the other girls. He forced me to find girls for him, even if they didn’t have passports and visas. He said if I didn’t cooperate, he would...”

  When she didn’t go on, Olivia said, “He told you he would put your pictures on the Internet, including Facebook.”

  There was another nod, more tears. “Oh, God, he’s going to post my pictures. I know it.”

  “Not if you cooperate and we can stop him,” I said. “How many girls did you place for him?”

  “There were nine...” She sobbed. “I feel horrible about it and what happened to Anna, but I had no choice.”

  “Does the nine included Anna?”

  She nodded. “Yes, but he had other Pros like me that he used.” She lifted her head, blinking back more tears. “I think he uses girls from all over the world.”

  “Pros?”

  “Procurers, someone who gets the girls. That’s what they call people like me.”

  I lifted my brows, trying to process the scope of what she was telling us. If it was true, it meant that Allman was involved in something far greater than we’d suspected.

  “Did you know a girl named Zoe Saldana?” I asked. “We think she was used like Anna.”

  She shook her head. “Maybe she came from another Pro, or off the street. Sometimes he worked directly with locals, finding illegals.”

  “What about the term Matchmaker? Did you ever hear Ben use that wor
d?”

  “A couple times. They’re the fresh girls that get matched with johns.”

  “Did he ever mention Jason Murray being a Matchmaker?”

  She shook her head. “No, but I’m sure there are a lot of them out there. Sometimes they also call them trolls.”

  “Tell us about the Daisies,” Olivia said. “What happens if they cooperate?”

  “They move up in the game and become Angels or Swags.”

  “What is an Angel?”

  “Girls who go along with the program, work their way up the chain, until they become Swags. They’re the ones that get to hook up with the Rollers, make the big money. Sometimes they’re used at parties.”

  “Rollers, as in high rollers?”

  “I guess that’s where the name comes from.”

  I looked at Olivia, sensing we were both horrified by what we were hearing. This meant that the murders of Anna Levkin and Zoe Saldana were just the tip of the iceberg. It also meant there were people with lots of money and lots of influence involved.

  Olivia took over again, asking Chloe, “Do you know if Ben Allman has been involved with Russians who are working the girls?”

  She nodded. “Yes, but I think they work directly for Matrona.”

  Zoe Saldana had mentioned that name in her suicide note. “Who is Matrona?”

  She’s the Controller, the one who started the game.”

  The idea that a woman might be behind what was happened was appalling. I pushed down my disgust, and asked, “Anna and some of the other girls, the ones that didn’t cooperate were marked, tattooed with the letter M, followed by a number. Do you know what that means?”

  “It’s the mark of death. It means they didn’t cooperate with Matrona and became an Expendable.”

  “Someone who dies?

  She nodded, and I looked at Olivia. My partner put her pen down after making notes of our conversation. I sensed she was feeling the weight of what we’d heard.

  “This game, Chloe,” Olivia said. “Does it have a name?”

  “You mean, you don’t know?”

  Olivia shook her head. “Tell us.”

  “It’s called Prank.”

  “Prank. Why is that?”

  Chloe’s eyes filled again. “Because the girls are used, they’re pranked into giving up everything they have when they’re forced to play the game.”

  FIFTY-FIVE

  Late in the day, we ran our case by an on-call judge, got an arrest warrant for Ben Allman, and warrants to search both his house and business. Olivia and I had drawn straws with Leo and Al. They won, and choose to search Allman’s home, while Olivia and I went to his office.

  We found only a scattering of employees when we entered Allman Marketing who told us their boss hadn’t been at work in a couple days. Olivia and I took our time, going through Allman’s private office, but finding nothing related to our case. We did find his laptop, but it was password protected. We took the computer for further analysis and were finishing up when we got a call from Leo.

  “We just found our suspect,” Leo said. “But he’s not talking.”

  “He lawyered up?” I said.

  “It wasn’t necessary. He’s floating in his swimming pool.”

  I sighed, knowing that Allman was the key to finding the others involved. “Olivia and I are on our way.”

  ***

  “Looks like a single shot to the torso,” Leo said after we arrived at the Allman home. “No sign of the wife or daughters.”

  Olivia and I went over to the pool, seeing that Allman’s body was still in the water, pending the arrival of the coroner.

  Al joined us, giving us his opinion about the murder. “Word is probably out that Chloe Foster is talking. Those higher up in the chain are covering their tracks.”

  “You think this was orchestrated by the woman who calls herself Matrona?” Olivia asked him.

  “No doubt. There’s a liquidation going down and others will be killed.”

  One of the officers standing guard at the front of the residence came out of the house. “The family just arrived. We have them in the living room, but they want to know what’s going on.”

  As we moved toward the house, I said to the others, “Who wants to do the notification?”

  “I’ll do it,” Olivia said, trying to spare us the dreaded duty. “But let’s make sure Misty, the youngest daughter, isn’t in the room.”

  “What’s going on?” Laura asked when we’d all gathered in the living room. Brook was sitting beside her. I had the impression they’d been shopping at the mall because there were several bags on one end of the sofa.

  “This officer will take Misty to her room for a moment, if that’s okay,” Olivia said, nodding to a uniformed female officer.

  “Where’s my husband?” Laura demanded, after her daughter was gone. Her voice was shrill and frantic. “Tell us what’s going on.”

  Olivia took a seat across from her and Brook, keeping her voice low as she made the announcement. “I’m afraid your husband was killed today. I’m so sorry for your loss.”

  Laura and her daughter fell into one another’s arms, crying hysterically. Their grief and shock went on for several minutes. Their emotional outbursts and distress, were interspersed with questions about what had happened.

  “How...where...where is my husband?” Laura choked.

  “He was shot,” Olivia said. “We’re waiting for the coroner to arrive.”

  When Olivia told her and Brook that he was in the backyard swimming pool, both women managed to get past us and make their way into the backyard. When they saw the body in the pool of bloody water, they fell to pieces again. It took us several minutes to get them back into the house.

  “Who...who would do this to my dad?” Brook said, when they’d regained some semblance of composure.

  “We were hoping you and your mom could help us with that,” Olivia said. She cut her eyes to Laura. “We know that your husband had been using Anna and other girls for sex.”

  “What are you talking about?” she shrieked.

  “She’s talking about a blackmail scheme,” Al said. “He found girls, some from the same agency that placed Anna with you, took compromising sexual photos of them, and forced them into prostitution.”

  “Are you kidding?” Brook said, her grief turning to anger. “That’s crazy.” She looked at her mother in disbelief.

  Laura didn’t respond. I leaned closer to her and said, “Tell us what you know about what Ben was doing.”

  Laura kept her head down, tears rolling down her cheeks.

  “Mom, please,” Brook said. “What’s going on?”

  Her mother finally lifted her head, but kept her voice low. “Your father...he was...” She sighed, brushing her tears as she looked at me. “I knew he was using Anna, but...”

  “Using Anna for sex?” Brook said, her anger and disbelief turning to shock.

  Laura nodded. “Daddy wasn’t what you thought...he did something terrible.”

  Brook folded her arms and slumped down. “I don’t believe any of this.”

  “Tell us what was going on,” Olivia said to Laura. “How many girls was he using?”

  There were more sighs and tears before Laura said, “I don’t know exactly. I found out what was going on with Anna about a month ago...because of something that was on his phone. When I confronted Ben about having an affair with her...he...he said it wasn’t what I thought. He told me he was just setting up some dates for her.”

  “Those dates were using her as a prostitute,” Al said. “What about other girls?”

  Laura shook her head. “He said something about others, but I told him I didn’t want to hear. He said he would stop doing it and was sorry.”

  “What do you know about a woman named Matrona?” Olivia asked.

  She raised her head, looking at Olivia. “Who?”

  “She was apparently working with your husband, using girls for sex.”

  “I don’t know her
. I’ve never heard that name.”

  Al looked at her daughter. “Did you know about any of this?”

  Brook shot daggers at him. “No. I can’t believe any of it.” She looked at her mother, her voice now bitter and angry. “Why didn’t you tell me?”

  Her mother took her hand. “I didn’t want to hurt you, baby. I’m so sorry.”

  The two women collapsed into one another’s arms, crying again.”

  Olivia and I left them for a moment when we saw Brie Henner arriving. We went over and told her what was happening.

  “The body’s still in the swimming pool,” I told Brie. “We’ll show you.”

  When we got to the backyard, Brie took in the scene, then said, “Let me take a preliminary look, then we’ll get him out of the water.”

  When she was gone, I said to Olivia, “What do you think?”

  She looked back toward the house. “I think we’ve got a wife in denial, a daughter that’s in disbelief, and...” Her gaze went back over to the body in the water. “...and a purge of those involved in a sextortion and murder ring.”

  FIFTY-SIX

  “We’re gonna freeze our asses off,” Mo said to Natalie.

  We were at the Hollywood Reservoir at sunset. I’d agreed to go with my friends to scout the location for their upcoming BS Challenge, only after a half hour of badgering. We were sitting on the edge of the dam, dangling our feet above the water.

  I’d spent the remainder of my day processing the Ben Allman murder scene. Brie Henner’s preliminary examination of the body confirmed that he’d been shot by a single 9mm round to the chest, piercing his heart. She estimated he’d been dead from two to four hours. There was no murder weapon at the scene or in the house, but we did find a cell phone in Allman’s pants pocket that had been sent to our Computer Crimes Unit, along with his laptop.

  We’d done individual interviews with both Laura and her daughter Brook, but didn’t get anything more than we’d already been told. Laura knew that her husband had been using Anna for sex, but said she didn’t want to believe it. Brook expressed both shock and disgust, telling us that, even though he was dead, she would never forgive her father for what he’d done.