Missing in Flight

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE JACK

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE

J ACK

Jack lowers his phone as he slides onto a kitchen barstool. Makayla screaming about this not being about her mother echoes through his mind. He’s never heard her become unhinged like that before. He thinks back to the FBI questioning Makayla’s mental state but dismisses the thought as quickly as it popped into his head. She’s lost Liam. We’ve lost Liam. She has a right to scream.

He debates what to do with the message from Makayla with Cori’s phone number and Facebook profile.

He knows this woman is probably a real friend to Makayla. It’s much more likely that Lionel—or Sabrina—is behind this.

But it’s strange to him how Makayla has gotten so close to this woman so fast. Makayla has stayed in touch with a few friends from college, but she doesn’t form new friendships easily. She’s slow to let new people into her life. Calling this woman her “best friend” when they only met a few months ago seems completely out of character for his wife.

It makes him wonder if she’s been played. Did this Cori woman befriend Makayla to learn the details of her trip to Alaska?

Jack pinches the bridge of his nose. He doesn’t know what to think. He needs to call the FBI.

Before dialing Agent Pratt, he logs onto his Rothman Securities account one more time. There’re still no pending withdrawals.

He tries to clear his head as he starts to punch in the agent’s number, preparing himself to tell Pratt about Lionel and his suspicions about Sabrina, and about this Cori woman. He’s a few numbers in when a new message pops up from Makayla.

His jaw drops in disbelief as he reads her text. They’ve restrained her? What the hell?

His chest heaves with rage as he lifts his phone to his ear, calling Makayla instead of the agent. He lets her phone ring for a full minute before giving up and calling the FBI.

The agent answers immediately. “Agent Pratt.”

“It’s Jack Rossi. I want to know why my wife is being restrained on that flight!”

“Um, I wasn’t aware of that.”

“I just got a message from Makayla saying they’ve cuffed her and strapped her to her seat! Like a criminal. Or a crazy person.” Jack forces himself to take a deep breath. “Are they even looking for my son on that plane?”

“I can assure you they are—”

“Then why are they cuffing my wife?”

“I don’t know. Please try to stay calm. I can put a call in to the flight to find out.”

Jack closes his eyes, trying to focus through the anger searing in his veins. “I know you’ve sent agents to search my father-in-law’s home for Liam. This is outrageous! Liam is on that flight. They should be tearing that plane apart until they find him! Why don’t you believe—”

“Mr. Rossi, I can assure you we are doing everything we can to find Liam. But until we do, we can’t rule anything out.”

“My boss, Lionel Rothman, has been committing fraud,” he blurts out before he can stop himself. He swallows the trepidation that surfaces, knowing his confession could lead to life in prison. But none of that matters now. “I’m talking hundreds of millions of dollars. At least. I think he may have had Liam kidnapped so he could stage a ransom—or for leverage, to ensure I wouldn’t turn him in.”

There’s a heavy moment of silence before Pratt responds. “How do you know this?”

“He admitted the fraud to me after I found a discrepancy in one of my client’s statements.”

“Why didn’t you report it?”

Pratt sounds skeptical. Jack’s stomach sinks. He should’ve told him when they were here.

“I just found out yesterday.”

“Why didn’t you say anything before?”

“I don’t know. I was in shock.” Jack exhales into the phone. “Lionel threatened to blame the fraud on me if I came forward. He admitted to making the withdrawals under my log-in.”

The agent remains quiet, so Jack continues.

“Lionel’s daughter, Sabrina, is the firm’s managing director. She might be in on the fraud too. And she might have something to do with Liam’s kidnapping.”

“We’ll look into it,” Pratt says.

The lack of emotion in his voice doesn’t give Jack any confidence. The crew obviously isn’t taking Makayla seriously. They’re not even looking for Liam. If Agent Pratt ordered the search of his father-in-law’s home, he doesn’t believe Liam is on that flight either. Jack wonders if he should tell Pratt about his suspicion that Lionel might’ve taken out a kidnapping policy on Liam after Jack’s feature in Forbes . But then Jack would have to tell Pratt about his own. If Lionel is behind this, he would’ve made sure all fingers pointed to Jack.

“Is there anything else you want to tell me?” the agent asks.

Jack exhales. “Just that Makayla has a new friend, but they seem strangely close after only meeting a few months ago. It’s unlike her to form a close friendship so fast, so I had Makayla send me her contact information.”

“Okay, good. Forward that to me.”

Jack agrees. After he ends the call, a gnawing sense of dread crawls over him. Why didn’t the agent seem more surprised about Lionel’s fraud? Does he think I’m lying?

Did Agent Pratt really not know Makayla had been restrained? Or had he ordered it?

He wonders what the FBI isn’t telling him. Why aren’t they tearing that plane apart?

He lifts his phone to call the agent back. He needs answers.

His phone lights up with an incoming call. Seeing the name, Jack hesitates. Why the hell is Sabrina calling?

He takes her call, fearing his earlier suspicions about her are true.

“Jack! Are you okay?” There’s a warmth in her voice he hasn’t heard in years. “I just learned about Liam.”

Jack narrows his eyes. “How?”

“My dad called. The FBI came to his penthouse. Have they found him yet?”

He goes rigid. Agent Pratt didn’t say anything about having been to Lionel’s home when Jack told him about his boss’s fraud. Why the hell not? “Why were they there?”

“I assumed you knew. They were asking about a ransom. Said they needed to monitor the firm’s accounts. Sorry, maybe I wasn’t supposed to say anything. I called as soon as I heard.”

Jack doesn’t respond. The FBI must’ve gone straight to Lionel’s after coming here. Apparently, they didn’t trust Jack to tell them the truth about getting a ransom demand, so they went to Lionel behind Jack’s back.

He can only guess Lionel’s reaction to the FBI showing up on his doorstep in the middle of the night, wanting access to the firm’s accounts—especially if Lionel is behind Liam’s kidnapping.

“I’m downstairs,” Sabrina adds. “In your building.”

“What?” He glances at the door to his condo. “Why?” Had Lionel sent her in the hope of throwing suspicion off him and Sabrina?

“I came without thinking. As soon as I heard. I just ... I was so worried. Can I come up?”

Jack rubs his forehead. “Sabrina ...”

“You’re my friend, Jack. I’d like to be here for you—however I can.”

Jack thinks back to how long he’s known her. Sabrina had been his best friend for nearly as long as he could remember. Until he met Makayla. And when she took the Goldstein account away from him, the friendship ended completely.

“Please, Jack. Let me come up.”

He heaves a sigh. “Fine. I’ll call the doorman and tell him to let you up.”

But he has to remember she’s not his friend. He’s letting her in for one reason: to find out if she had something to do with Liam’s disappearance on that flight.

After calling the doorman, Jack waits by his door. The silence of his empty condo has never felt so loud.