27. Daisy
Chapter twenty-seven
Daisy
Afew hours of rest are all I get before the old-school digital clock on the nightstand goes off.
I was expecting him to sneak in quietly and take a quick nap next to me.
The idea of him being a willing participant as my human body pillow brings a much-needed smile to my face.
It’s probably for the best that he didn’t because neither one of us needs the temptation of passionate kisses fueled by fear of the unknown.
Angel is likely at Vinny’s cabin that’s been turned into our command center, where the two of them are interrogating Kenneth. It’s also where I need to be. All it takes is a few minutes for me to get dressed, then I’m knocking on the door to their cabin.
“Please tell me there’s fresh coffee brewed,” I say after two quick raps on the door just before entering. “I need a caffeine IV stat!”
Angel looks up from the table, his rifle broken down into several pieces in front of him and Owen’s computer to his left, with the screens flipping between the different camera views of the Stillwaters Campground.
There are several flickers of flames from bonfires, marshmallows roasting, and people gathered around wearing their winter jackets and sock caps.
He drops the oil rag he was using to grease the bolt elements before reassembling the gun. “You’re in luck. It just finished percolating. Did you sleep well?”
“Well enough.” I pour myself a mug and one for Angel before joining him. “Where is everyone?”
Angel function checks the rifle, peering down the sights toward the floor and pulling the trigger until he hears the click. “Roger is on the phone with Director Finnegan, and Vinny is resting in one of the bunks while waiting for Kenneth to wake up.”
“Really? He’s still knocked out? I would have expected a man of his size to have stirred an hour ago. It took you about four hours, and Kenneth has at least 50 pounds on you.”
“Yeah, but I wasn’t already suffering blood loss from a bullet wound like he was, which is now stitched up like you wanted.”
I nod appreciatively. “I have so many questions, and we can’t wait for him to wake up. We have to go relieve Owen and Scott in an hour.”
Just then, Roger comes inside from the cold.
His disheveled state is a testament to the toll this case is taking on all of us.
And to think, I’ve been doing this alone for 15 years.
It’s no wonder I’ve always been a step behind.
Now I have a team, access to resources I never dreamed of, and more people working the case than ever before.
Yet somehow, we’re all still stretched thin.
Angel reminds me to turn on my communication device since whatever Roger has to say is going to go out to the entire team.
“I just got off the phone with Jordan Conway. Brad Callahan waited until he had the cover of darkness before he managed to give your brothers the slip, Angel. They lost Brad on the north side of Fielder Mountain, where he apparently had an ATV stashed.”
“What? He could be anywhere within a hundred miles by morning!” I exclaim.
“That doesn’t count if he has a spare fuel can,” Owen says, chiming in.
Faith says, “I’ll call our parents and have them pack up gear for Jordan, Benjamin, and Seth. There’s no way they’re going to let Brad get away if they can help it. In a couple of hours, they’ll be tracking Brad with ATVs of their own.”
Angel doesn’t seem to agree with his sister’s assessment. “It won’t matter. If Brad knew he was being watched, which I suspect he did since he waited until nightfall to depart, then he’ll purposely lead them away.”
“It’s worth a shot,” I say. “There are three of them. Can’t they split up to cover more ground?”
“Mom and Dad will join them,” Faith says. “That makes five. Those are much better odds.”
Angel doesn’t need to look at me to feel my hopeful gaze, but he does anyway. “Fine, Faith. Call our parents and have them prep the Razors and cold-weather packs.”
Jeremy asks a question I hadn’t considered. “Guys, I’m curious as to why Jordan didn’t detain Brad for questioning since he’s a suspect in the abduction of, what, 18 girls? I’ve never been a cop, so maybe I’m missing something.”
As a former police officer, Jack answers.
“For starters, there hasn’t been a crime committed in their jurisdiction.
If the CIA gets wind that an officer from Portland PD questioned a person of interest, someone who may even be protected by the agency, then Jordan’s career is over.
That’s a battle that needs to be waged between the federal agencies, not a homicide detective from a city with no jurisdiction in these parts.
No, Brad would lawyer up before the first question is asked, creating more problems than it would solve. ”
“And the other reason?” I ask.
Jack doesn’t hesitate. “He’d run.”
“He’s already running,” Scott says, finally speaking up. “What I want to know is whether he’s running away or coming to finish the job he started?”
Roger’s phone rings, and his already tired face morphs into a frown. “Rampart Regional Medical Center,” he murmurs.
Vinny, whom I thought was sound asleep in the other room, says, “Put it on speaker.”
Roger does so, allowing everyone to hear the conversation. Even the members of the team out patrolling the campground can listen in.
“Roger, this is Bennett. I trust Daisy arrived safely.”
“She did, thanks to you. We owe you a debt of gratitude. How are you holding up?”
Bennett grunts in pain. “I’m well enough that I’ve been released. Did Daisy locate the Blooms? The last I heard from her, she was going to find them and have a little chat.”
I step forward to close the distance between me and the phone on the table.
“I did. They told me their son, Logan, died in a car accident six months after Emily’s death.
The car had gone off a cliff not far from where Emily had perished.
It was burned beyond recognition, including the body inside.
The only reason the emergency personnel could identify the vehicle was because the back license plate had been dislodged when the vehicle crashed.
They assumed that Logan was driving at the time. ”
“From your tone, you don’t believe that, do you?” Bennett asks.
Roger steps in and shares what we know about the fires destroying the records, the cyberattack on the Vital Statistics Office, and the secretive job. “We think it’s quite possible that Logan Bloom works for Dominion and has a new identity, subsequently erasing all traces of himself.”
“Interesting theory, but my money is still on Brad Callahan. We have verifiable facts, one of which is that he worked for Dominion and is still receiving payments to an offshore account. Those deposits were made one week after the abductions took place. He and Kenneth Johnson are colluding together. I’m sure of it. ”
“We’ll find out soon enough,” Vinny says, emerging from the room. “We have Kenneth in our custody, and he just woke up.”
“Are you sure you’re up to this?” Owen asks me once he barges through the front door. “You might not like what you hear.”
Angel relieved my brother half an hour ago because Owen is the only one on our team authorized to question Kenneth with the full weight of the FBI behind him. Vinny will also be in the room as a representative of the CIA.
When we told Bennett that we wouldn’t wait for his arrival, he was less than pleased.
He wanted to be the one to talk to Kenneth first, but since it’s going to take him a minimum of 20 hours to drive here, he was left with little choice but to concede.
That’s time we don’t have to waste. He’d fly, but the risk of blood clots is too great.
“He said Eva was taken, and he needs our help to find her. She’s already been through enough, and I refuse to let her go through it again. I pray she’s still alive so we can find her.”
Owen embraces me, resting his chin on my head while I accept the comfort. “Then let’s go see what he knows.”
Kenneth looks up when we enter, but his eyes never leave mine. “Eva said I could trust you, then you shoot me?”
Owen steps in front of me in a protective gesture that’s unnecessary.
“To be fair, it wasn’t Daisy who shot you, and it wasn’t life-threatening.
The bullet wound in your arm came from someone else, which we have taken the liberty of cleaning and stitching for you.
You’re right as rain now and free to leave any time you want. ”
“What are you…?” I start to ask in a whisper when Owen reaches back to grab my arm. I take the hint that this is his show right now.
Vinny pushes off the wall, leaving Roger to play the disinterested party by typing something on his phone.
“My friend is right; you can leave whenever you want. Just say the word. However, if you leave, you forfeit any help we can give you. But if you still want it, then we need to know everything you know. There’s no detail too small. ”
I step out from behind my brother and circle around Kenneth. Bending down, I unlock his restraints. “Sorry about these. We didn’t know what kind of mood you would be in when you woke up. Since trust goes both ways, I’ll start with a show of faith by letting you go.”
Kenneth looks at me with a gaze that bores deep down into my soul, and I can see the pain of a father who has already lost so much. “There’s nowhere left for me to go. My last chance to find Dominion, to find my daughter, was Eva. She was the first, you know.”
“The first what? The first girl abducted?” Owen asks.
“The first success,” Kenneth replies. “I searched for my daughter, Brit, for three years before Eva found me sitting alone in a diner, contemplating if life was still worth living. And what she told me both destroyed me from the inside out while also giving me hope. Dominion Atrix Group takes girls from all over the world, drugs them, and then spends years brainwashing them into believing that the family they thought loved them never wanted them, that no one was searching for them.”