Path To Atonement
Chapter One
Nick, I’ve an Elin Stars…something on line three. Do you want to pick up?”
“Thanks, Abbie. I’ll pick up in a minute.” Nick was surprised. He thought, Why is Elin Staarsgard calling me? I kidnapped her fiancé in the Amazon and brought him back to trial for the murder of Deputy Marshal Lily Perkins. I was in the courtroom when a former Baja Norte Familia cartel soldier, Raul, jammed a pen in her fiance’s eye, killing him instantly. She has to hate me.
Nick reluctantly picked up the phone. “Hello, Elin. It has been over a year…..”
Elin interjected, “I know this is awkward. Javier would be alive if you hadn’t brought him back to trial in San Diego. He was a good man. He was going to leave the cartel. I know he did horrific things when he took over the day-to-day operations of La Familia. He wanted to make up for that. That’s the reason I’m calling. He wanted me to use his money to set up a home for foster kids to keep them away from the drug cartels. I have a home off of Avenida Revolución in Tijuana. Last week, I took in a 17-year-old girl from Nepal. She’s so traumatized. She’s a victim of sex trafficking.”
“That’s terrible. But why are you calling me?”
“I trust you, Mr. Drummond. You kept your word about setting up a meeting between Javier and me while he was in custody, and you let me in the courtroom to hold Javier after he had been stabbed. The trafficking ring is centered in Tijuana and San Diego. You went
to the ends of the earth to pursue Javier. I thought you could do something about a sex trafficking ring in your own backyard.”
“Okay, Elin. Are you available to meet in two days at your foster home? I, and a couple of agents, can meet you in the afternoon, around two?”
“That’s fine.”
“I’ll give you back to my secretary, Abbie. She can get your address. See you on Thursday.”
Nick brought a dozen donuts to the Wednesday morning meeting with the Money Laundering Task Force. The members drifted in. First, Assistant U.S. Attorney Josh Sterling and San Diego Sheriff’s Detective Mario Cipriani sat down, holding their special Starbucks concoctions. The last three members, California Department of Justice Special Agent Pepe Cantana, Homeland Security Investigator Jerry Slater, and Drug Enforcement Agency Special Agent Petra Gregorio arrived empty-handed. They headed for the homebrew, percolating in a large tin coffeepot. Nick had already poured a cup from the pot and had cut the bitter taste with a powder creamer and three cubes of sugar. He was usually a onecube man, but today he wanted an extra sugar boost.
Everyone was seated around the conference table. The shaft of sunlight filtering through the one window did not do much to brighten up the dingy, off-white colored walls. There were so many nail and thumbtack holes in the walls from notices and posters put up and taken down that the walls had a distressed-design look to them.
Pepe spied the donuts. As he was reaching for one, he said, “Nick, either you want to get us involved in something dicey or I’ve forgotten someone’s birthday. You’re going to spoil us, bringing us donuts every six months.”
“Okay, wise guy. First, I bring the team donuts at least every three months. Second, you’re half right, Pepe. We may have a human trafficking case on the horizon. The trafficking ring is centered in Tijuana and San Diego.”
Pepe responded, “We haven’t had much luck in Tijuana. La Familia threw me in the back of an SUV in TJ a few years ago, and I ended up bound and gagged in Ensenada next to my Mexican law enforcement colleague whose throat had been slit.”
“I’ll always remember what happened to you. But after Javier Esquel-Ranchez’s trial and death, Baja Norte Familia ceased to exist. Time to move on from La Familia.
“The human trafficking ring has global tentacles. It has brought at least one girl to TJ from Nepal. It may be a chance for you to see more of the world, Pepe. Think of the great experience you had in the Amazon, being gnawed on by a bunch of piranhas.”
Josh said, “The task force hasn’t handled a human trafficking case before.”
“You’re right. But I just happen to be the human trafficking representative for the Attorney General’s San Diego office. I was appointed by our ‘esteemed’ AG Hamilton a couple of years ago so he could say he had representatives in each of the offices. The totality of my duties as representative has consisted of one conference call. But I did insert a chapter in the Cal DOJ’s Money Laundering Manual on human trafficking. We’ll be fine. Every human trafficking case, like every drug case, has a money laundering component.” “Where did you get the case from?” asked Jerry.
“Well, maybe we can’t completely move on from the memory of La Familia. Javier’s fiancée, Elin, called me. She has started a foster home in Tijuana with money Javier left her. A 17 year-old girl victim from Nepal came to her home last week.”
“What?” exclaimed Mario. “Getting cases from a drug lord’s girlfriend?”
“I trust Elin. It’s worth going to Tijuana to check it out. Pepe and Petra, you’re coming with me. We’ll leave at one tomorrow.”
Path To Atonement
Chapter One
Nick, I’ve an Elin Stars…something on line three. Do you want to pick up?”
“Thanks, Abbie. I’ll pick up in a minute.” Nick was surprised. He thought, Why is Elin Staarsgard calling me? I kidnapped her fiancé in the Amazon and brought him back to trial for the murder of Deputy Marshal Lily Perkins. I was in the courtroom when a former Baja Norte Familia cartel soldier, Raul, jammed a pen in her fiance’s eye, killing him instantly. She has to hate me.
Nick reluctantly picked up the phone. “Hello, Elin. It has been over a year…..”
Elin interjected, “I know this is awkward. Javier would be alive if you hadn’t brought him back to trial in San Diego. He was a good man. He was going to leave the cartel. I know he did horrific things when he took over the day-to-day operations of La Familia. He wanted to make up for that. That’s the reason I’m calling. He wanted me to use his money to set up a home for foster kids to keep them away from the drug cartels. I have a home off of Avenida Revolución in Tijuana. Last week, I took in a 17-year-old girl from Nepal. She’s so traumatized. She’s a victim of sex trafficking.”
“That’s terrible. But why are you calling me?”
“I trust you, Mr. Drummond. You kept your word about setting up a meeting between Javier and me while he was in custody, and you let me in the courtroom to hold Javier after he had been stabbed. The trafficking ring is centered in Tijuana and San Diego. You went
to the ends of the earth to pursue Javier. I thought you could do something about a sex trafficking ring in your own backyard.”
“Okay, Elin. Are you available to meet in two days at your foster home? I, and a couple of agents, can meet you in the afternoon, around two?”
“That’s fine.”
“I’ll give you back to my secretary, Abbie. She can get your address. See you on Thursday.”
Nick brought a dozen donuts to the Wednesday morning meeting with the Money Laundering Task Force. The members drifted in. First, Assistant U.S. Attorney Josh Sterling and San Diego Sheriff’s Detective Mario Cipriani sat down, holding their special Starbucks concoctions. The last three members, California Department of Justice Special Agent Pepe Cantana, Homeland Security Investigator Jerry Slater, and Drug Enforcement Agency Special Agent Petra Gregorio arrived empty-handed. They headed for the homebrew, percolating in a large tin coffeepot. Nick had already poured a cup from the pot and had cut the bitter taste with a powder creamer and three cubes of sugar. He was usually a onecube man, but today he wanted an extra sugar boost.
Everyone was seated around the conference table. The shaft of sunlight filtering through the one window did not do much to brighten up the dingy, off-white colored walls. There were so many nail and thumbtack holes in the walls from notices and posters put up and taken down that the walls had a distressed-design look to them.
Pepe spied the donuts. As he was reaching for one, he said, “Nick, either you want to get us involved in something dicey or I’ve forgotten someone’s birthday. You’re going to spoil us, bringing us donuts every six months.”
“Okay, wise guy. First, I bring the team donuts at least every three months. Second, you’re half right, Pepe. We may have a human trafficking case on the horizon. The trafficking ring is centered in Tijuana and San Diego.”
Pepe responded, “We haven’t had much luck in Tijuana. La Familia threw me in the back of an SUV in TJ a few years ago, and I ended up bound and gagged in Ensenada next to my Mexican law enforcement colleague whose throat had been slit.”
“I’ll always remember what happened to you. But after Javier Esquel-Ranchez’s trial and death, Baja Norte Familia ceased to exist. Time to move on from La Familia.
“The human trafficking ring has global tentacles. It has brought at least one girl to TJ from Nepal. It may be a chance for you to see more of the world, Pepe. Think of the great experience you had in the Amazon, being gnawed on by a bunch of piranhas.”
Josh said, “The task force hasn’t handled a human trafficking case before.”
“You’re right. But I just happen to be the human trafficking representative for the Attorney General’s San Diego office. I was appointed by our ‘esteemed’ AG Hamilton a couple of years ago so he could say he had representatives in each of the offices. The totality of my duties as representative has consisted of one conference call. But I did insert a chapter in the Cal DOJ’s Money Laundering Manual on human trafficking. We’ll be fine. Every human trafficking case, like every drug case, has a money laundering component.” “Where did you get the case from?” asked Jerry.
“Well, maybe we can’t completely move on from the memory of La Familia. Javier’s fiancée, Elin, called me. She has started a foster home in Tijuana with money Javier left her. A 17 year-old girl victim from Nepal came to her home last week.”
“What?” exclaimed Mario. “Getting cases from a drug lord’s girlfriend?”
“I trust Elin. It’s worth going to Tijuana to check it out. Pepe and Petra, you’re coming with me. We’ll leave at one tomorrow.”