Nikki, but he still couldn’t imagine why.
“He told me about this girl, an abused kid. He never told me her name, to protect her identity, he said. But she needed help to get out of a bad situation.”
“Who is this guy you talked to?” Stalworth handed the woman a tissue from a box on a nearby shelf. “You better tell me what happened, from the beginning.”
Claire Hanson told the trooper about meeting Mark Russo in a chatroom, a support group for grieving parents. Claire had searched for solace of any kind after the death of her only daughter, Tami, in a car accident at the hands of a drunk driver. At first she only knew Mark as a member of the group. But after she’d gotten the courage to confide the depths of her grief, Mark singled her out for one-on-one chats. He’d also lost a daughter to violence, and his wife eventually divorced him when he grew so depressed that he wasn’t able to deal with his emotions. He finally found his road to recovery through a program that allowed him to reach out to others. A “no questions asked” hotline for troubled teens. Mark shared his story of healing, making her feel special that he had chosen her to confide his very personal journey.
Hearing Claire’s story gave Payton a thread of hope. As the teacher continued to tell her side, he turned to Trooper Fitzgerald and spoke in a hushed tone.
“Maybe Nikki misrepresented her situation, exaggerated her side in order to get someone to help her leave the state. She might’ve connected with Mark Russo through that teen hotline.”
Payton knew he was grasping at straws. Nikki wasn’t the type of kid who would do such a thing—to use a stranger to get what she wanted. But believing his niece was in control gave him hope that Mark Russo was legit.
“Look, I know what you’re thinking, but don’t delude yourself. I think you have to be prepared that Russo might not be his real name.” Fitzgerald prepped him for the worst. “Online predators have gotten sophisticated in how they hunt on the Internet. They’re master manipulators and find other people to do their dirty work. Makes it harder to prove their guilt in a court of law.”
Fitzgerald stared at the woman in the next room. “It’ll be up to the D.A. to decide if he’s gonna press charges against this schoolteacher, but my gut tells me Claire Hanson is a victim too.”
“What are you talking about?” Payton asked.
“We’ll check into Mark Russo, but I got a feeling we’re gonna be looking for a ghost. An online predator creates a persona and a back story that no one questions until it’s too late. And this guy can change his name and move on. Even if we track the real person down, he or she may live in a foreign country, making it nearly impossible to trace. The Internet breaks down international barriers, which can be a good thing. But in the wrong hands, it can erect walls for criminals to hide behind. If a predator is smart, the Internet is a perfect hunting ground.”
In the next room, Payton heard Claire Hanson say, “Mark had me buy a one-way ticket to Chicago for some poor girl he’d been trying to help. She lived in Alaska, he said. I didn’t say yes right away, but he eventually convinced me I was her only hope. I made the reservations under my daughter’s name and used her ID, paying for it with my own money. Her flight left a little after five this morning.”
The woman glanced at her watch and shut her eyes tight, taking a deep breath before she went on.
“The girl said the man had told her what to do once the plane landed. I assumed she meant Mark, but thinking back, I guess she never mentioned a name.” The teacher wiped her eyes and sobbed, dabbing at her cheeks with the tissue Stalworth had given her. “I tried to get her to talk to me during the ride from Talkeenta, but she refused. She looked so lost, it broke my heart. And she looked so much like my…my little girl.”
“Oh my God, Chicago?” Payton looked over his shoulder at Joe. “We gotta stop that plane. When does it touch down? It’s gonna take time to get the Chicago PD involved. We gotta call now.”
Fitzgerald checked his watch, but the look in his eyes confirmed what Payton already feared. It was probably too late.
“I’ll call the airline…just in case. But don’t get your hopes up.” The trooper left the room, leaving Payton alone with his desperation.
Joe Tanu stepped closer and gripped the back of Payton’s neck. In the darkened room, his friend spoke quietly, trying to reassure him.
“We’re gonna find her.”
Payton kept his eyes on Claire Hanson, staring through the two-way mirror as he spoke.
“Nikki flew to Chicago, Joe, one of the largest cities in the U.S. and a major hub for the airlines. Hell, if the plane’s already landed, she could catch another flight anywhere.” He shook his head. “This all happened too damned fast. I don’t even know what to tell Susannah.”
“Tell her Chicago is beautiful this time of year. And that we’re not leaving Nikki in the hands of some overworked cop in downtown Chicago. No, sir.”
Payton caught the glimmer in Joe’s eyes, a hint of the cop he used to be. For his friend’s sake, he forced himself to smile.
“You’re right. We’re not playing against a clock that’s gonna run down. Nikki’s still out there and she needs our help.” Payton kept up his show of optimism. “We’re not waiting for a commercial flight either. If Fitzgerald tells us Nikki’s plane has already landed in Chicago, then we better have a backup plan. I’ve got money and the connections to get us there fast.”
“Now you’re talking.” Joe smiled. A real smile. “You still have those pages from Nikki’s computer? I’d like to see if Fitz can analyze them for us. Maybe Nikki and her friend left a cyber trail we can follow. We can attack this from another angle.”
Payton reached for the pages in his shirt pocket and handed them to Joe, thankful his friend had kept a clear enough head to remember the printouts. After Joe left the room, Payton stood alone in the shadows and watched Claire Hanson, suddenly seeing her in a different light.
Gone was the demon he had imagined before. Now, all that remained was a timid, frightened woman caught up in something she didn’t understand. He wanted to hate her for what she did, but pity was all he felt. Because of her grief, she might have been duped into becoming a pawn in a bigger game. But if a guy using a phony name in a chat room had manipulated her in such a heinous way, Nikki might be in the hands of a very dangerous predator.
An old sensation returned, hitting him hard.
From the moment he first saw Claire Hanson, something about the woman had given him a bad feeling. He hadn’t understood why until now. If this woman had no idea what happened to Nikki—and if her story turned out to be a complete lie conjured by a practiced online predator who knew how to cover his tracks—then Claire Hanson would be a dead end.
Wishful thinking would do no good. No matter how fast they got to Chicago, the trail would be cold.
CHAPTER 8
Chicago O’Hare Airport
The plane had arrived ten minutes early with the help of a good tail wind. Nikki navigated a smaller concourse, following the signs for the main terminal and baggage claim. Outside, Ivana Noskova would be waiting with her father in a car her friend had described. If they weren’t there, Ivana had given her a backup plan that Nikki hoped she wouldn’t have to use.
She desperately wanted this to work right the first time, without a hitch.
Walking at her own pace, she nibbled absentmindedly at her lower lip and played with the zipper of her fanny pack. She had a feeling that once she was truly on her own, she’d discover many things about herself, not the least of which would be her preference for freedom in smaller doses. Meeting Ivana would go a long way toward making her feel more comfortable in a town as big as Chicago.
She had been through O’Hare a handful of times, but never without her mother. And call it stubborn pride, but she didn’t want to admit that her newfound independence might turn out to be a double-edged sword. Both fear and exhilaration played a part in making her edgy.
PA announcements overhead mixed with snips of conversations from passengers carrying rolling luggage. The
