CHAPTER SIXTEEN TINA
CHAPTER SIXTEEN
T INA
Tina drums her fingers on her thigh as they pull away from Jack Rossi’s building and head east. Agent Pratt hasn’t said a word to her since they left the Rossis’ condo.
“I said I would lead the interview,” he says a minute later, finally breaking the awkward silence. “Which meant you don’t chime in unless I ask you to.”
“Sorry. I guess I spoke without thinking. I thought the interview went pretty well.” She replays their conversation with Jack Rossi in her mind, too focused to take offense at Pratt’s comment.
“The neurologist you spoke with said that headaches are a risk factor to developing that amnesia disorder, right?”
“Migraines, but yes. She was familiar with what happened to Lydia Banks and said the actress had a history of migraines too.”
Pratt sighs. “If Makayla Rossi did have an amnesiac episode and left the baby somewhere in the airport, it explains why they can’t find him on the flight. But if that’s the case, what I don’t like is why the baby hasn’t been found. That was several hours ago. Unless someone took the opportunity to snatch him from the airport, which could kill our odds of finding him.”
“When Makayla went through security and boarded the flight, she was wearing her baby wrap. If she forgot she had a baby, why would she keep the wrap on?”
“Maybe she thought he was still with her, because she didn’t remember leaving him.”
Tina looks out the window, considering it. She pictures Isabel when she was a baby, so innocent and vulnerable, and how unthinkable it would’ve been to leave her behind. “Maybe.” She turns to the agent as he slows for a red light. “Did you see the fear in Jack Rossi’s eyes when you asked him about having any suspicious encounters recently? He looked terrified.”
“I agree.” Pratt keeps his eyes on the road. “He’s hiding something.”
“Do you think he’s lying about the ransom? I know he checked his phone, but I wonder if he was stalling. Debating whether to tell us.”
The light turns green, and they accelerate through the intersection, passing scaffolding that clings to the apartment building to their right and a man jogging along the sidewalk. The last few years as a single mom have made her understand why people work out at ridiculous hours. Otherwise, you would never get it done.
“There’s something he’s not telling us,” Pratt says. “He broke eye contact with me when I first mentioned his work. We need to take a look at the accounts he manages.” Pratt’s phone chirps as he takes a right on Broadway, in the direction of their field office. “It’s Castillo,” he says before answering through the SUV’s Bluetooth.
“I’ve got you on speaker. We’re on our way back from interviewing Jack Rossi.”
“What’d you learn?” Castillo’s voice echoes through the car.
Pratt merges into the left-hand lane. “Rossi denied having been contacted for a ransom, but he appeared pretty jumpy when asked about having any suspicious encounters with anyone since being featured in Forbes .”
“Interesting,” Castillo says.
“He also conceded that he manages nearly a billion dollars at Rothman Securities,” Pratt continues. “He told us his wife has a history of headaches, which is one of the risk factors for transient global amnesia according to the neurologist Tina spoke with.”
“Along with the mild head injury she could have from falling on her hike yesterday,” Tina reminds them. “Have you heard anything more from the flight? Or the Anchorage Airport search?” She pulls out her phone.
“They’re still searching the airport, but they haven’t found anything so far. I’ve requested the flight divert to the nearest major US airport. But they’re currently flying over a remote area of Canada, and their assigned dispatch has lost radio contact. They sent the flight a message through their aircraft communication system, so we should hear back soon.”
“What about the gate agent for Makayla’s flight? Was Ruiz able to track them down?”
“Not yet,” Castillo says. “She got the name and number of the agent from the airline, but she’s off work now and isn’t answering. Ruiz is requesting an Anchorage officer go to the gate agent’s address as we speak. So, hopefully we’ll know soon.”
“In the meantime, we need to start monitoring Rossi’s accounts. See if he’s pulled a large sum from any of the accounts he manages,” Pratt says.
On her phone, Tina pulls up driver’s license records to access the full name and date of birth of the CEO of Rothman Securities, then plugs the name into their database.
Pratt glances at Tina as he slows for another red light. “We’ll serve our warrant to the head of Rothman Securities once we verify the address on his license. He should have a way to access everything. Or at least give us someone in the company who can.”
“Already got it.” Tina extends her phone in front of the middle console. “Lionel Rothman has an address on the Upper East Side.”
“Good work. But this time, I’ll do the talking.”