CHAPTER NINE TINA
CHAPTER NINE
T INA
At her cubicle, Tina replays the clip of Lydia Banks’s decade-old interview while Castillo stands behind her, watching with interest. Beside him stand two field agents assigned to the resident agency that serves JFK and LaGuardia airports. Aside from a couple of bowed heads wearing AirPods at screen-lit desks, the four of them are the only ones on the twenty-third floor at this time of night. The normally bustling cubicles surrounded by glass-walled offices and conference rooms are dead quiet.
Although Tina has worked late into the night before, she’s never seen the place so still. Besides hers, the cubicles and offices are vacant. It feels weird, like being in a classroom in the middle of summer break.
The clip finishes with Lydia Banks ripping off her microphone and storming off stage. Tina turns to Castillo.
“You might remember that after she died, Lydia Banks was diagnosed with transient global amnesia. After I found this, I called and spoke with the neurologist on call at Manhattan General. She said that people with this disorder experience short-term memory loss but still remember who they are.”
Special Agent Castillo crosses his arms in the reflection of Tina’s laptop screen. “You confirmed that Makayla Rossi actually has a three-month-old infant, right?”
“Yes. A birth certificate came up when I searched our database. I also saw photos of Liam on her social media account.” Tina turns to look up at her squad supervisor. “When I asked the neurologist if this disorder runs in families, she said it’s debatable. The cause of the memory disorder isn’t completely understood, but some researchers believe there is a genetic component. It rarely affects people younger than forty, but it does happen. Makayla Rossi is thirty-six. This may not be what’s happening, but if the crew can’t find the baby after a second thorough search of the aircraft, I think we need to consider the possibility that Makayla is having an amnesiac episode—even if it seems like a stretch.”
“Do we know for sure that the kid got on that plane?”
Tina swivels in her chair at the older field agent’s question. By “the kid,” Agent Pratt must mean three-month-old Liam. She hasn’t worked with him much, and although he’s known for being extremely good at his job, he also has a reputation for barking orders and being difficult to work with. Pratt the Prick she heard him called more than once behind his back. Their few interactions so far have proved this to be true.
Agent Pratt turns to Castillo. “Or are we taking the mother’s word for it?”
“I assume other people on the flight saw the baby, but I’ll contact the flight and see if any of the crew can confirm that the infant was on board.” Castillo withdraws his phone from his pocket and steps out of Tina’s cubicle.
Pratt refocuses his attention on Tina’s laptop screen and the frozen image of Makayla’s mother.
“I requested the airport security footage from around the time Makayla Rossi went through TSA,” Tina says. “But I’m still waiting on it.”
Agent Pratt’s eyes flicker with surprise. “Okay, good.”
“Do we know what she was doing in Alaska?” the younger, more pleasant field agent asks Tina. Tina hasn’t met her before tonight. Castillo introduced her as Agent Ruiz.
“From her social media, she was visiting her dad in Anchorage.”
Ruiz leans against the edge of the cubicle, studying the screen before turning to Pratt. “Can you get me his name and address? I’ll request one of our Anchorage field agents go to his home. Find out if he dropped off Makayla—and the baby—at the airport.” She lifts her gaze to meet Agent Pratt’s. “And ask what kind of mental state Makayla was in before she left.”
Tina opens Makayla’s social media page and clicks on a post in which Makayla tagged her father’s account. It’s a selfie of the two of them wearing matching smiles at a forested trailhead, and she hovers her cursor over Makayla’s father. She takes a sip from the mug at her desk and feels a burn in her throat. But it’s not from the reheated break room coffee. Bolded words appear below her cursor: With Jason Kowalski .
She clicks on the name to go to his profile, ignoring the pit in her stomach as she realizes Makayla’s father shares a first name with her ex-husband. The image of Makayla and her father about to embark on a hike sears itself in her mind, and a rush of heat rises to her cheeks. Will Jason ever be a better father to Isabel?
“What about the baby’s father? Do we know where he is?”
“His name’s Jack Rossi. And he’s at home in Tribeca.”
Tina copies the name of Makayla’s father into their Accurint database, which allows her to run a comprehensive public-records search. She clicks on the name that tops the results of all the Jason Kowalskis living in Anchorage and recognizes the sixty-three-year-old man’s driver’s license photo from Makayla’s social media. Tina spins around toward Agent Ruiz. “Here you go.”
Agent Ruiz leans forward and uses her phone to snap a photo of Tina’s screen. “Thanks.”
The agent steps out of the cubicle, leaving Tina alone with a frowning Agent Pratt.
“What do we know about Jack Rossi?” he asks.
“He’s a senior account manager at Rothman Securities.” Tina clicks an opened tab on her web browser where Jack Rossi’s confident, smiling headshot appears on the Rothman Securities website. “To open an account, the firm requires a minimum investment of fifteen million dollars—more than Goldman Sachs. Last year, the firm reported having over five billion in assets under management.” Tina opens another tab displaying a straight-faced Jack Rossi on the cover of Forbes beside a bold headline, The Money Man . “Rossi was on the cover of Forbes last March. The six-page spread detailed Rossi climbing the ladder to become the firm’s top account manager, aside from Lionel Rothman.” Tina scrolls through the article, pausing on a photo of Rossi in his Financial District office. He stands, arms crossed, in front of a floor-to-ceiling window with views of the East River, flanked by Lionel Rothman and Rothman’s daughter, the firm’s managing director. It’s all in the family is printed across the photo. “According to the article, Rossi has built a client list of extremely wealthy, high-profile investors, including Malcolm Zeller, the pop star turned business mogul, making Rossi one of the most in demand wealth managers on Wall Street. His client accounts total nearly a billion dollars. However, I took a look at the Rossis’ personal finances and—”
Agent Ruiz reappears at the edge of Tina’s cubicle, her phone in hand. “One of our Anchorage field agents is en route to the home of Makayla Rossi’s father. I should hear back from him soon.”
Pratt turns to face Ruiz. “Makayla Rossi’s husband is an account manager at Rothman Securities. If this is a kidnapping, he may get contacted for a ransom.”
If he hasn’t already, Tina thinks.
“We’re going to need a warrant to live monitor every account Jack Rossi has access to,” Pratt adds.
“I’m on it,” Ruiz says, nearly colliding with Castillo when she retreats to make the call.
“Hold on, I want you to hear this,” Castillo tells her. “None of the crew on Flight 7038 can confirm actually seeing the infant on board.” He looks beyond Ruiz to Tina and Pratt. “During boarding and takeoff, the mother had the baby inside a wrap against her chest, but the crew never saw the infant, only a bulge beneath the wrap that they presumed to be the baby. They’re going to check if any passengers saw Liam and get back to me. They also said the mother doesn’t appear to be having any memory loss—aside from not being able to find her son.” He lowers his eyes to meet Tina’s. “What about the airport security footage? Have you checked that?”
Ruiz stands still, waiting for Tina’s answer.
“I requested it.” Tina turns to her screen and opens her inbox. “Looks like it just came through.” She clicks the link to the security video sent by the Ted Stevens Airport TSA.
Castillo and the field agents hover over her as the video loads.
When the feed begins to play, Tina checks the time stamp in the corner. “TSA logged Makayla going through security at 4:32 p.m., so she should appear in the next minute or so.”
Tina rests her elbow on her desk as a family of four moves through the security line. “There.” She straightens and points to the redhead who steps to the front of the line, holding out her ID for the security officer. “That’s her.”
A gray fabric baby carrier is wrapped around Makayla’s back and shoulders. Tina leans forward as Makayla sets her diaper bag on the conveyor belt of the x-ray machine. With a palm against the bulge beneath the wrap, Makayla strides toward the metal detector next to the luggage scanner.
Tina enlarges the image as she strains to see beneath the wrap, but the bulge is tucked completely inside the fabric. Not even the hair on Liam’s head is visible. Makayla turns her back to the camera, blocking any view of the bulge beneath her wrap, as the TSA agent waves her through the metal detector.
Agent Ruiz’s phone rings inches from Tina’s ear, making her jump.
“Agent Ruiz.”
As Ruiz leaves the cubicle to take the call, Tina keeps her eyes on the security footage.
Makayla retrieves her diaper bag and disappears from the video frame before Tina can get another glimpse at the front of her wrap.
“Well, that was no help,” Agent Pratt says.
Tina presses her lips together before pausing the footage.
“Is this all we have?” Out of the corner of her eye, Tina sees Special Agent Castillo’s finger pointing at her screen. “What about at the gate?”
Tina shakes her head. “The security camera was down at Makayla’s gate. Various other locations and all the entrances and exits have cameras, and I’ve requested those feeds as well, but I told them to send me the footage from the security line first. Since we don’t know which doors Makayla entered through and the exact time, it could take me all night to go through the rest.”
Ruiz returns to Tina’s cubicle after making the call. “Anchorage FBI just spoke with Makayla Rossi’s father.”
Tina turns as Ruiz slips her phone into her trouser pocket.
“He dropped Makayla and Liam off at about four and was shocked to hear of his grandson’s disappearance. The officer said he was adamant Makayla was fine. Her father did say that Makayla fell and hit her head on their hike yesterday, but that she seemed okay.”
An uneasiness settles over Tina. “According to the doctor I spoke with at Manhattan General, mild head injury is one of the triggers for transient global amnesia.”
After watching Makayla’s mother’s TV interview, Tina dreads the thought of Liam never boarding the flight. “If he’s not on that plane, then where is he?”
Castillo sighs. “I’m going to call to have the Anchorage airport searched.”
If Makayla left him in some public area of the airport, he should’ve been found already.
Tina turns to Ruiz and Pratt, who are still standing behind her desk. “What about the gate agent? Maybe they could confirm seeing the baby with Makayla when she boarded.”
“Good idea. I’ll contact the airline.” Ruiz pulls out her phone. She turns to Pratt on her way out of Tina’s cubicle. “You still want that warrant for the accounts at Rothman Securities?”
Pratt nods. “Yeah. Right now, we have no idea what’s happened to the child. We can’t rule out anything yet.”
Tina turns back to her laptop to check if she’s been sent the rest of the footage from Anchorage Airport.
“We need to go speak with the baby’s father.”
Assuming he’s speaking to Ruiz, Tina opens the new email from Anchorage TSA.
“You coming?”
She clicks the link to the footage captured by the entrance camera closest to the Pacific Air check in.
“Let’s go,” Pratt barks.
Tina twists in her chair and realizes she and Agent Pratt are the only ones in her cubicle. Ruiz and Castillo have already disappeared down the hall.
“You want me to come with you?” Unlike the agents, Tina is a civilian employee. She hasn’t been trained to work in the field.
“That’s what I just said.”
“But I don’t—”
“It’s a friendly interview. I’ll do the talking. I need you to brief me on everything you know about the Rossis on our way. Earlier, you were going to tell me about their personal finances. And I want to know more about what the neurologist said about that amnesia disorder.”
“What about the rest of the airport security footage?”
“Bring your laptop. You can start looking at the footage on the way back.” He’s already at the edge of her L-shaped cubicle, heading for the elevators. As Tina stands from her desk, he calls over his shoulder, “But not now. Like you said, it could take all night. And the kid may not have that long.”