Page 27 of Summer Heatwave
Now they were getting somewhere.Mike glanced over at the tablet where Kam had a picture of the dish.It looked like barbecue chicken to him.
“Tell me, Tala, what’s so special about this food?Couldn’t I find it at any Filipino restaurant?”Go, Dylan.
Tala’s long black hair swished through the air.“No.Americans no make good inasal.Hard.Take time.Special mix.”
Dylan smiled at the young girl.“Can you tell me how to make inasal?”
For the next five minutes, Tala led Dylan through the process of marinating chicken in coconut vinegar, pepper, something called calamansi, and annatto.Mike knew his way around the kitchen, mostly because he enjoyed eating and had been single longer than he’d ever been married, but he’d never heard of those last two ingredients.
Tala went on to describe what he thought was charcoal, and she pretended to baste and turn over the chicken.It still sounded like barbecue chicken to him.
“Is this a popular dish in the Philippines?”Dylan was zeroing in on the details.
Long black hair flew again as she shook her head no.“Bacolod.Where Perlah come from.Very special.We make sometimes…before they take us and bring us here.”
Dylan glanced down the table to the seats at the far end where Tala had assigned Kam, Jeremy, and Mike.Kam gave him a small nod.
“So, what you are saying Tala, is that if they can find a Filipino restaurant that makes inasal, someone there might be able to lead them to the club where Perlah works?”Dylan clarified.
“No.I go.”Tala patted her chest.“I’ll go find.”
“Oh, no.That’s far too dangerous.”Kam called from the seat beside Mike.She looked over her shoulder at her partner.“Let’s get the team up there.If this is as rare a dish as she thinks, it should be relatively easy to find.”
“No!”Tala stood up.“They no talk to you.Owner talk to me.I go.You not Filipino.”
“Tala, take a deep breath.Sit down, please.”Dylan was using a very soothing voice and the girl quickly responded.“They don’t want to put you in danger.If you get close to the club, the bad men may try to take you.”
“Dylan go, too.You keep me safe.”
Lieutenant Chaney looked at Mike.They had permission to come to Kam’s office today but anything beyond that was out of the agreed-upon scope.Using hand signals, he indicated that the request would have to be run up the ladder.
“Tala, I don’t know if I can go with you.I’m not part of this operation.You will be perfectly safe with special agents Kam and Jeremy.”Dylan had worded the explanation perfectly.
“You no go, I no go.”Tala sat back in the chair, crossed her arms over her chest, and glared at the far end of the table.
“Give us a minute.”Kam stood and tapped both men on the shoulders indicating she wanted them to exit the room with her.Once outside, they huddled close together.“What do you think?Is this worth the time and effort?”
“I think Tala believes that it will be.Nobody wants to find her friend, Perlah, more than she does.”Jeremy shrugged.“Besides, this is the first break we’ve had.”
Mike had already been dialing Captain Hubbard’s office.“Give me a minute to see if Lieutenant Chaney and I can get permission to accompany you.”It took nearly fifteen minutes, and a conference call with Vice Admiral Maddox, before authorization was granted.
By the time Mike reentered the conference room, the group had already rejected several Filipino restaurants.Dylan and Tala had moved close to Kam where everyone was huddled around her computer.
Jeremy caught Mike’s arm.“It looks as though there is a predominant Filipino section on the northeast side of Los Angeles just off the 101 and 110.It’s not far from the Staples Center, kind of between Chinatown and Koreatown.Right now, they are narrowing down the possibilities.Tala is being very helpful, but she doesn’t stray far from Dylan.I hope to hell you got permission to go.”
“We did.Can we do it today?”Mike had no desire to work over the weekend and doubted they would want to put it off until Monday.He had plans for tomorrow.With Kam.That would hopefully not end until Sunday.It was still before noon and they could get to at least a few restaurants today.
“There’s a vehicle already waiting for us.Our backup team left five minutes ago.”Jeremy gestured to Kam.“Let’s put the three of them in the backseat and get a move on.”
“Sounds like a plan.”Using hand signals once again, Mike told Dylan that they were moving out.
Chapter12
Jeremy parkedacross the street from the first place on their list.Mike wasn’t sure if he could call the run-down shack a restaurant but if the line outside the door was any indication, the food must be outstanding.Either that or they were selling drugs.
By the number of people leaving with to-go boxes, it looked to be counter service only.
Mike swept his gaze at the men standing outside.He was glad that both he and Dylan were armed, especially when Tala started to climb out of the SUV.
