Chapter Thirty-two
Mia and Roman leaned toward Thomas’s cell phone.
I have your wife. She’s okay. For now. I want 1 million in Monero currency within 24 hrs. Don’t be a dick. I’d hate to have to kill her. Keep this phone handy. I’ll send more details. FYI no police or it’s over.
There was also a photo of Jennifer. The filter had been changed to black and white. She sat on an armchair that was a lightish color. It could have been tan or cream or grey or even light pink. There was a rip along the left arm rest.
The wall behind her was painted a slightly darker shade than the chair. It held no artwork or other adornments. The picture was zoomed in and had been cropped to cut out practically everything beyond the chair. A drop cloth covered the floor making it impossible to tell whether it was wood or carpet or even plain dirt.
Jennifer was barefoot and her hands were bound to the arms of the chair. There was a swath of duct tape covering her mouth. It looked to Mia as though her hair had started the day in one of those fashionably messy updos but now it was just straight-out messy, with a large chunk hanging in her face and partially covering her left eye. Both eyes were at half-mast.
“She looks like she’s been drugged,” Mia said.
Thomas was trembling so much that the phone bobbled, and Roman reached out and took it from him.
“Easy. I know this is upsetting but we’re going to do everything we can to get her back.”
“I don’t … it’s so .…” Thomas grabbed a fistful of hair.
“First of all, let’s see if we can engage the kidnapper, okay?” Roman waited until Thomas, eyes wild, slowly nodded. He typed into the phone then read aloud. “Please don’t hurt my wife. I’ll do what you say but I may need more time.”
“Can you get the money in twenty-four hours?” Mia asked.
“Yeah. I think so. It’s all online nowadays so things move pretty fast,” Thomas said.
“Okay. I’m going to send this,” Roman said.
They waited several minutes for a response and finally the phone made a pinging sound.
We both know it’s more than enough time. Mess with me and you won’t like the consequences. I’m trashing this phone now so don’t bother trying this number again. I’ll be in touch.
“Shit. Shit. Shit. They sound mad. You shouldn’t have sent the text,” Thomas said, whirling on Roman.
“Calm down. She—or he because we don’t know who this is yet—was just establishing dominance. They aren’t going to walk away from a cool million after one single text exchange.”
“What’s Monero?” Mia asked.
“It’s sort of like Bitcoin. Except basically impossible to trace the users. Once I send the money, there’ll be no way of tracking it to the kidnapper,” Thomas said.
“Call Scott,” Mia told Thomas. “Let’s make sure he’s okay.”
It didn’t seem possible, but Thomas’s face went even more pale. Now all the blue veins on his forehead stood out and the dark circles under his eyes seemed almost fully black.
“You think something might have happened to him, too?” Thomas sputtered.
Mia shrugged. “Hopefully not. But you have to admit kidnapping Jennifer is one hell of a diversion.”
Thomas put the call through then switched to speaker phone while Mia and Roman huddled around him. He sagged in relief when Scott’s voice answered.
“Yo,” Scott said. “You’re not going to start calling me every half hour, are you? I told you I was fine.”
“No. Of course not. I guess I just wanted to hear your voice. Where are you?” Thomas asked
There was a pause. “Still at the office. Why?”
“No reason. Just making conversation. I guess Eliza’s back at the house?”
There was another long pause. “Are you seriously calling to check up on Eliza? This is whacked. I’m about to head home and there’d better not be any more calls tonight. Okay? Love you but I sure don’t like you right now.”
The line went dead and Thomas exhaled. “Okay. He’s fine. Mad but fine. I’ll take it. Let’s go to the lake house. And no police yet.”
Roman held up his hands. “You’re the boss. And I think it was smart not to tell Scott about Jennifer until we know more.”
By the time they pulled up to the lake house and Thomas stepped out of his Porsche, some color had returned to his face. He didn’t wait for Mia and Roman, instead barged straight in the front door. They jogged after him.
“There’s nothing here.” Thomas looked wildly around the kitchen. “No box. No packaging. Nothing. Shit. Now what?”
“She must have taken it with her. Let’s see the door cam footage,” Roman said.
Muttering to himself, Thomas pulled out his phone then shook his head. “It’s better if we go to the monitoring station. The screen is bigger.”
He led them down the hall toward his office, stopping at the room before and opening the door. It was little more than a closet, but it held a desk with six flat screens. He quickly toggled back through the previous few hours until a FedEx truck appeared on the top left screen.
They watched the man get out and walk briskly up the steps. He bent over to set a small, padded envelope on the front door mat then stood back, snapped a picture with his cell phone, and returned to his truck before driving away. The whole thing took one minute and twenty-two seconds.
Thomas scrolled ahead then stopped when the door opened. Jennifer stepped out. She looked as put together as every other time Mia had seen her. And as she’d guessed from the kidnapper’s photo, her hair had originally been twisted up and into a loose bun with several pieces left to curl down around her face. Her navy blouse had a sweetheart neckline, and her wide-legged tan chinos ended halfway down her calves.
The picture was high quality and her features were clear. The careful use of makeup couldn’t hide the strain of the previous day’s surprise wedding announcement or her worry for Scott, for it was etched plainly on her face.
She crouched down and picked up the small parcel, studying it for several seconds before going inside the house and shutting the door.
“Go back. See if you can zoom in on the package,” Roman said.
When Thomas did, they were able to easily make out Jennifer’s name and address on the front. The sender’s info had also been filled in. Lara Croft. 1301 Industrial Road, Walkerton.
“That’s where we just were. At Zertex,” Mia said.
“And Lara Croft? Obviously bogus,” Roman said. “And I bet when we follow up, this was paid by cash or some other untraceable way.”
“There’s more of her.” Thomas said. “See, at nine sixteen she leaves the house.”
They watched Jennifer rush out and hastily lock the door. She had the tan Hermes bag in one hand and her cell in the other. And as Thomas had suggested earlier, there were tears in her eyes.
“Pause it right there,” Mia said. “She doesn’t look scared, more—is she angry? Look at the little crease between her eyebrows. That’s a mad line if I ever saw one.”
Thomas nodded. “I think you’re right.” Using his fingers he repositioned the still frame of his wife and zeroed in on her purse. “It’s impossible to tell if she has the FedEx package in there. That thing’s about as big as a Buick.”
“She must have, because otherwise where did it go?” Roman glanced over to Thomas. “It would be pretty crazy for the kidnapper to snatch Jennifer then drive out here and break into your house to get the package. Way too risky.”
The three of them walked back to the kitchen. Other than a half-full cup of coffee left on a placemat at the breakfast bar, there wasn’t an item out of place. Mia glanced across the room at the back and out toward the lake. Not a tent to be seen, nor a single piece of trash anywhere.
“Hard to believe there was a party here yesterday,” Mia commented.
“What? Oh, right. We have a good crew. They always get us squared away pretty fast. Jenn hates things being out of place,” Thomas said.
“Thomas, you should look around the house. See if anything’s missing. Maybe the kidnapper wanted Jennifer to bring money or jewelry or something with her,” Mia suggested.
He walked briskly away to the bedroom wing on the other side of the main area. Roman sidled closer to Mia.
“You pick up anything I should know about?” he asked.
“So far the only thing I saw was how furious Jennifer was after she opened that FedEx package. I got a flash of her clutching the kitchen counter. Her face was bright red, and a pulse beat at the base of her neck like her blood pressure was going crazy. She was talking to herself. I think she said, ‘Not now’ or ‘why now’. Then she slammed her fist on the counter a bunch of times.”
“I wish we knew what in God’s name was in that package.”
Mia walked across the kitchen to where she’d seen Jennifer in the vision and closed her hands around the bottom edge of the counter, mimicking her stance. She closed her eyes and reached out with her mind but nothing came.
“Jenn took cash,” Thomas said, rushing back to the kitchen holding an envelope from Chase Bank. “We always have some on hand and it’s gone. I think maybe five grand or so.”
“That’s good info. But it doesn’t exactly help us zero in on where she might be,” Roman said. “Let’s assume we can’t find Jennifer before the twenty-four-hour deadline is up. Are you going to pay?”
“Yeah. Of course.”
Roman nodded. “Okay. What about the cops? Do you want them involved yet or at all?”
Thomas pulled out a stool from under the counter and collapsed onto it. He scrubbed his hands roughly up and down his face. “I don’t know. Not if it might bring harm to Jenn. I’d rather just hand over the money and be done with it.”
“We have to look at the scenario where they don’t give her back. Or they …” Roman paused and blew out a breath, “they harm her. It’s bad enough doing an in-person exchange of cash for the hostage, but we have even less assurance when the money is sent online.”
“Why are you saying ‘they’? You don’t think it’s Eliza?” Thomas asked.
“I want to keep an open mind. If we assume it’s Eliza, we might miss an obvious clue or look in the wrong direction. Anyway, I’d be remiss if I didn’t suggest you involve the police. They can give us better coverage. If something were to go wrong, the kidnapper won’t get away so easily. Mia and I are just two people, after all.”
“Okay. I’ll think about it. In the meantime, I guess I’d better get the financials ready to go.” He glanced over at the clock on the stove. “Almost six already. They didn’t give a time, but I expect they’ll want the money by sometime mid-afternoon tomorrow.”
“I think it’s time to bring Scott into the loop. This is best done in person. He should be home by now and it’d be great if Eliza’s there too. I’d like to get her first reaction,” Roman said.
“But if Eliza’s there then she didn’t do it, which means we have zero clue who’s behind taking Jenn,” Thomas said, looking confused.
Mia shook her head. “Not necessarily true. Jennifer was taken around ten a.m. and it’s early evening now. Plenty of time to stash her somewhere nearby, locked up safe and sound, before she rushes home to her new husband.”
“Okay. I can see that.” He paused and stared down blankly at the counter. “I hate having to tell Scott. He loves his mom so much.”
“I think he’d be more upset if you didn’t tell him,” Roman suggested gently. “And we’ll be with you every step of the way. Come on. The sooner the better.”