“Why would they do that?” Casey wondered out loud, but she moved on without expecting an answer, “When?”
“Tonight, at midnight,” I responded. “Same place, at least.”
“Did you manage to get the cameras up?”
“No. I was just on my way over there. We can still go through with the rest of the plan we had. We can still do it tonight. I’ll cover the south exit, and you cover the north. If the kidnapper wants to get out of the state as quickly as possible, they’ll take the south exit, which is what I’m expecting.”
“That seems most likely.” Casey agreed. “We’ll keep in touch using our phones, but if we get cut off for any reason, I’ve synced our phone trackers with a sat nav app so we can always trace each other’s phones if we need to.”
We both went silent. Despite the change of deadline, it suddenly felt like we were back in control of the situation.
“Any closer to figuring out who it might be?” Casey asked.
“Well, I think I can cross two more names off the list of potential kidnappers,” I admitted.
Even over the phone, I could sense Casey’s surprise.
“Who? How?”
“I stormed into Tanya’s house and put a gun to Kyle’s head only one hour ago.”
“What?” Casey was shocked. “Why?”
“I wanted answers.” I knew it was a petulant response, but we no longer had the luxury of time to analyze my mistake.
“And just after you stormed into the house, the kidnapper changed the drop time?” I could hear the tension in Casey’s voice, she was annoyed. Then suddenly she seemed to have a change of heart, “But that means the kidnapper knows Kyle and Tanya. Or is at least in contact with them. Or it could be one of them.”
I felt a small wave of relief, we had a new lead. Time was running out, but suddenly we were back on the kidnapper’s trail. I headed back out of the house to my truck.
“You’re right. Kyle told me that a stranger had contacted him and informed him that he would be getting his full investment back, all one-hundred thousand dollars. He said that the person would transfer the money to his bank account.”
“And you believe him? Or did you think he was covering up the kidnapping? Protecting himself, or Tanya.”
“I believed him. People tend to tell the truth with a gun to their head.”
That was true. The average person isn’t trained to deal with life or death situations, and even though Kyle was a former soldier, he wasn’t expecting to answer his front door and have his life threatened. He didn’t know me, and he didn’t know how dangerous I could be. He assumed the worst, and rightly so.
Kyle had thought that I was a debt collector, and he recognized my face from the truck stop. And I have no doubt that after I left, Tanya recognized my face as well. She would’ve remembered me from the previous morning at the bar, and that would’ve scared them both. They knew that I was on their tail, and that I’d been following them.
They would’ve panicked.
“And so that means that everyone else on that list has probably been told they’re going to get their money back?” Casey reasoned. “If what Kyle says is true, then the kidnapper would’ve contacted the others. Do you want me to get in touch with them, find out what they know? Do we even have time for that?”
That thought hadn’t gone through my head, but she was right. If Kyle was contacted, then every one of the people on that list would’ve been contacted too. But there was only one person I needed to track down now.
If the investors were getting their money back, that included Ben.
And he didn’t say a word to me about it.
“I knew there was a reason I kept you around. How far away are you from the office?”
I heard the sound of Casey picking up her car keys.
“I can be there in ten minutes.”
“I’ll meet you there,” I said as I started the engine of my truck. “This investigation isn’t over yet.”
Chapter 23
Just under four hours until the drop.
Four hours with the life of a young girl on the line. The stakes couldn’t have been higher. I raced through the back streets, pushing hard, and every time I passed under a streetlight, the flash of light reminded me of the clock ticking down. As I bounced along the road, I put a call through to Ben. He answered after one ring.
“Why didn’t you tell me that someone had contacted you about getting the money back?”
I was angry, but calm and calculated. I had to be.
“Jack…” His voice trailed off.
“Ben, you lied to me.”
“Jack, listen.” As he went to continue, two of his dogs started yapping in the background. “Quiet!” he called out to his dogs. “Jack…”
He said something but I couldn’t hear him over the barking.
“I can’t hear you, Ben.” My patience was growing thin and my anger rising.
“Jack, I didn’t plan this. It wasn’t me.” The dogs continued barking. “Quiet back there! Shut up. Keep it down.”
“Who was it Ben?” I yelled into the phone. “Who set this up?! Tell me, damn it!”
“I can’t hear you Jack. These dogs are too loud.”
I could hear a rustling in the background as Ben tried to get a hold of the dogs and calm them down.
“Who?!” I yelled into the phone. “Who was it, Ben?!”
“I don’t know, Jack. Look, I’ve got to go and feed these dogs.” He hung up the phone quickly. Too quickly, like he was using it as an excuse to avoid an unwanted question. To avoid facing the truth.
There was
