CHAPTER 24
Olin and Connor moved from room to room, pitching theories but accomplishing little, until they worked their way up to Connor’s bedroom, where Connor took a seat at his desk and Olin perched himself on the edge of Connor’s bed.
“I was thinking about that guy from the website,” Olin said.
Connor looked confused.
“The TruthSeekers guy?”
“Dylan? What about him?”
“Do you think he could be involved in this?”
“I did in the beginning. But not anymore.”
“Why not?”
“I’ve been to his house. It doesn’t seem like—”
“What? You know where he lives?”
“Yes, but—”
“And you told the police about all this, right?”
Connor shook his head. “No.”
“Why not?”
“Same reason I didn’t tell them about Roland right away. I wasn’t sure there was anything to it. Besides, the whole thing—hacking into his site—wasn’t exactly legal.”
“But we’re going to tell them about Roland now. I mean—there was nothing at your dad’s office, so now we have to, right?”
Connor considered that. He still didn’t think Roland was involved in the abduction. But he also knew the evidence he had used to reach that conclusion was weak. And since he had gone as far as he could with that lead on his own, there was only one answer. “Yes.”
“And TruthSeekers. We’re going to tell the police about that, too.”
“Listen, I’ll admit the thing with Roland is strange. But TruthSeekers—I found Dylan. I started that. Even if I still thought he might have been crazy enough to take my parents, why would he take yours?”
“I don’t know. I mean—who’s to say there’s a connection at all between the abductions? Whoever it was took my parents. He took your parents. Maybe there were others.”
Connor looked at the photograph again. “Our parents knew each other. Seems like a hell of a coincidence if the abductions aren’t related.”
“Not necessarily,” Olin said. “For all we know, our parents haven’t seen each other since that trip fifteen years ago. I mean, my parents have never talked about you guys. Have yours ever talked about us?”
Connor didn’t respond. He didn’t need to. Olin already knew the answer, and didn’t even pause long enough for Connor to speak, had he tried.
“Maybe my parents were on his radar because . . .”
Because they’re rich, Connor thought. It was probably exactly what Olin was going to say, too, but he seemed to catch himself and said instead, “. . . because of what my father does for a living. For all we know, you just poked the bear. Just unlucky. If you hadn’t gone snooping around his website, your parents might not have been taken at all.”
Connor still thought it was too much of a coincidence to be true.
“How about this?” Olin said. “We’ll go talk to him. Just like with Roland. Then we’ll take it from there.”
Connor didn’t like that idea. A man who put up a website like TruthSeekers was probably unstable, even if he wasn’t a kidnapper. But he could also tell Olin wasn’t going to let go of it. If Connor didn’t help, Olin would definitely take it straight to the police. And then, even if Olin was wrong, Connor would still have to explain why he was hacking into the TruthSeekers website and why he hadn’t told the police about it before. He doubted any answer he gave them would make them happy.
But, while confronting Roland had been their only option for getting information from him, it wasn’t their only option for getting information on Dylan.
“I have a better idea.”
CHAPTER 25
Olivia was still annoyed with her captain. She was just starting to scratch the surface with Aden when he had knocked on the interrogation room door and then poked his head in. “Can I have a word with you?”
The captain, Lucas Flemmings, was a slim man and shorter than average. He made up for it a little by always standing with his shoulders back and chest out. Olivia had gathered it was something the Navy had drilled into him and suspected he made a point of standing that way for the extra inch it gave him. His suit jacket was buttoned. His tie was perfectly knotted and positioned. He was the epitome of military precision.
Olivia followed him out of the room.
He waited until the door was closed before he spoke. “You’re done with him.”
“What? But, Captain—”
“The FBI and ATF are taking over.”
Olivia noticed a small group of men and women huddled together a little farther down the hall. She didn’t know any of them. But something about the way they looked, dressed, and stood was enough for her to know those were the agents Lucas was referring to.
She thought about pleading her case, reminding him that she had found the bomb, she had made the arrest. She at least deserved a chance to finish questioning Aden. But she knew it wouldn’t do any good. Lucas was inflexible. Even if he wasn’t, she doubted the agents beyond him would allow it.
She turned and headed toward the exit without a word.
“It’s for the best,” he called after her. “You’ve got your hands full, anyway, with that murder case, don’t you?”
Suddenly, the pieces fell into place. The only way the FBI or ATF would have known about Aden would have been if someone had told them. And the only person besides Olivia who had known what Aden had been up to was Lucas. It wasn’t even a mystery how they had gotten to the station so fast. Olivia had called Lucas as soon as she had made the arrest. He must have turned around and called the federal agencies as soon as she was off the phone.
The implication was clear: Solve the damn murder.
She rerouted to the coffee maker and poured coffee into a Styrofoam cup. To hell with giving it up. If the only vice she had was coffee, she was doing all right. She went back to her desk, called the babysitter to say she would be even later, and pulled out the Callahan file.
Olivia was determined to find something she had missed. On some level, she knew
