Chapter 11 #4
Vega turned the phone around, thankfully removing the picture from her sight. He showed her two more mugshots, but she’d never seen the faces before and told him so.
Nodding, his arm lowered to his side. “Tell us about the woman you overheard on the phone. Was she physically present at any time?”
“I don’t know. I had trouble staying awake.”
“What did she sound like?” Jang asked.
“Happy. Excited.” Ireland rubbed at her dry eyes.
“She scared me more than the guys because she just seemed to really be having…fun. And she had this way of taunting the man watching me until he’d start breaking things.
Then she’d laugh hysterically, which pissed him off even more. I mean, she sounded batshit crazy.”
“Is this the voice you heard?” Vega lifted his phone again, swiped, then hit a button on his screen. “Good morning, Gideon. Sorry to wake you. I’m truly amazed you could even catch a wink at a time like this. Very impressive.”
Ireland’s spine straightened, tension stiffening her limbs. “That’s her.”
Jang exchanged a look with her partner before speaking. “We believe this voice is being disguised by AI. The actual speaker may be male or female.”
“So you don’t know who they are,” Elizabeth said tightly.
“Or where they are,” Ireland added, her voice soft. She glanced out the window beside them at the view of Central Park and Manhattan surrounding it, the city she loved and called home.
“We’ll find him or her,” Jang stated confidently.
“Or them,” Vega said, earning a stern glance from his partner.
Ireland looked at the glass towers that pierced the sky.
Was I held captive in one of them? Which one?
Ubiquitous black SUVs crawled like ants along the grid of streets, their tinted windows hiding whatever might be happening inside them.
Multistory parking garages dotted the streets at regular intervals.
All were icons of New York that were everywhere around her.
And they now made her recoil inwardly.
“I don’t think it was a man,” she said quietly.
“I mean… I guess it could’ve been. I’m sorry.
I’m not being helpful. It’s just that there was something…
intimate…about the way she—or he or they—baited the guy watching me.
And that guy had a hardon for me. He was ready and able to rape me.
I guess it could’ve been the violence that got him hot and bothered, or the control, rather than me being female. Whatever. I’m rambling.”
“Did he speak to you?” Jang queried.
“Not really. He said the ransom was what was keeping me alive and that the condo was soundproofed, so he wanted me to scream while he raped me. He got off on hurting me, no question.”
Elizabeth’s long nails dug into her skin, but Ireland didn’t protest.
“Did he ever speak to anyone besides the female voice you heard?” the detective asked. “A delivery person? A doorman or receptionist? A neighbor?”
Ireland shook her head. “No. Only the woman. Is she and the other two still at large?”
Vega’s brows lifted. “You’re not watching the news?”
“No. I lived it. I’m not ready to relive it. You know what I mean?”
Jang gave her a tight half-smile. “The other two men who took you from the Bellingham are dead.”
“Oh.” Ireland found herself sagging with relief.
“Tell us about Ronan McCaffrey Boudreaux,” Vega said. “Detective Graves tells us you’ve listed him as an approved visitor.”
Ireland looked at him. “He co-owns Vidal Records. And we’re…involved.”
Jang’s head tilted. “You’re dating? We understand there’s some bad blood between Boudreaux and your family. Would you say that’s accurate?”
“There’s some history between Ronan’s family and my dad, yes. You’ll have to ask my father about that. He won’t tell me anything.”
“But you’re dating Boudreaux. He hasn’t told you?”
“He feels that he’s been wronged,” Ireland explained. “He wants my father to confess to whatever it is that happened long ago.”
“And you’re okay with not knowing what that is?” Vega asked.
“Ronan takes care of my daughter,” Elizabeth interjected. “How the man treats her is what she should judge him by. Her father can sort out his own affairs.”
Jang kept her focus on Ireland. “Do you think it’s possible that Boudreaux could arrange this kidnapping in retaliation?”
“I wouldn’t be seeing him if I didn’t feel safe around him,” Ireland responded curtly. “And he’s already made huge concessions for me that he wouldn’t have if punishing my father was his sole focus.”
“I don’t think he has anything to do with this,” Alina interjected. “Ronan doesn’t like her father or brothers, but he definitely likes Ireland and is actively trying to get in her good graces.”
Vega returned his gaze to Ireland. “Do you know how we can reach him?”
“At work, maybe. Vidal Records.” Ireland’s fingers twisted restlessly in her lap.
If they looked into Ronan’s background, would they be able to see his expunged juvenile record? Would they dig deep enough to find out about his father, Lucas Boudreaux?
“You’d be wasting time talking to him, though,” she insisted. “Ronan’s not responsible for this, and we need to find the person who is, before they hurt someone else in my family.”
“Would you have been in front of the hotel at that time if Boudreaux hadn’t asked you to be?”
Ireland stared at Detective Jang, her thoughts sluggishly trying to decipher the purpose of the question. “He didn’t ask me to be in front of the hotel. He asked me to meet him at the airport.”
“Is there another way you could’ve left the hotel?”
Frowning, Ireland felt the first twinges of a headache. “I could’ve asked someone from my brother’s security team to drive me.”
“How likely is it that you would’ve chosen that route instead?” Vega pressed.
“It wasn’t even likely that I’d go at all. I’d broken up with Ronan the night before. I didn’t even decide to meet him until after we’d already parted ways that evening.”
Jang wrote quickly. “Why did you break up with him?”
She hesitated a second as she scrambled for an answer unrelated to Ronan’s hatred for her father. “He lives in New Orleans. I wasn’t sure I wanted to get into a long-distance relationship.”
“Did anyone else know you were leaving and in which direction?”
“I did.” Alina raised her hand. “She told me, and I saw her leave.”
Ireland stood and momentarily felt woozy, her heart beating too fast.
“Seriously, Ireland. Are you okay?” Alina stood with her arms outstretched as if to catch Ireland should she fall.
“I’m just tired, Ali. Really.” She strived for calm.
“I appreciate that you have to ask these questions, but the masquerade is publicized worldwide. The specific weekend and location never change. Many of the guests are either famous or rich. Couldn’t the kidnappers have been waiting for any attendee? Or maybe just any young woman?”
“We’re looking at this from all angles,” Vega assured her. “But you yourself are concerned another family member could be targeted.”
“Because I killed that guy, and his psycho partner is still out there,” she said, feeling vaguely like she was reading dialogue from a script of someone else’s life.
Someone capable of doing what she’d done.
“I don’t know how the conversations between my family and the kidnappers went.
Did they give some indication that I was specifically targeted? ”
“The fact that you were subdued with a shroud so you couldn’t move might suggest that they were prepared for you to fight back,” Jang replied.
Ireland felt a marked chill that almost made her shiver. “I was out front because I was going to meet Ronan. There’d be no reason for him to take me against my will when I was coming voluntarily.”
“Aside from establishing an alibi.”
She stared at them, unblinking.
“There are a lot of questions to be answered,” Vega added. “That’s why we’re asking them. Do you know if Boudreaux told anyone that you’d be traveling with him?”
She shook her head, which aggravated her unsteadiness. “Listen, I don’t know if I would’ve made it out of that condo without being raped, seriously hurt, or even maimed if not for Ronan.”
“How so?”
“He sees me as stronger and more capable than I see myself. I tapped into that when I needed to.”
“Do you have any enemies?” Vega asked. “Have you received any threats or had any conflicts with anyone recently?”
She shook her head. “No.”
“What about Graham?” Alina reminded her.
Ireland’s eyes widened. “Graham? I don’t think he’d do something like this. I mean, he’s not that smart. And he got what he wanted.”
“We’ve spoken with Graham Teller,” Jang told her. “He was performing in a bar on Friday night. Multiple people confirmed he was there from ten to half past one. But we haven’t excluded anyone yet.”
She supposed they couldn’t, since the person she’d overheard on the phone could have been anywhere while she was being abducted and held. That wide-open unknown was almost as terrifying as seeing her attacker’s face again.
Another brisk knock preceded the opening of the door. A nurse stepped inside, followed by one of the concierges. “We have your discharge paperwork, Ms. Vidal.”
“Great.” Elizabeth gestured for them to come to the table.
Jang and Vega exchanged a look, then Jang closed her notepad and tucked it away. “We’ll let you get out of here, but we’ll have some follow-up questions. What’s the best way to reach you?”
“I’ll be at home,” Ireland said.
“She’ll be staying with me,” Elizabeth threw over her shoulder.
“I want to be in my own space with my cat,” Ireland told her, “and to sleep in my own bed.”
“Then I’ll stay with you,” her mother said obstinately.
“I appreciate the offer, Mom. Really. But you won’t like sleeping on my couch, and I hope to have another guest anyway.” She looked at the detectives. “I’m sure you know where I live.”
The detectives took note of her phone number.
Vega handed her two business cards, one for each detective. “If you remember anything else, no matter how small or inconsequential it might seem, call us. You’d be surprised what sometimes breaks a case wide open.”
“Yes, of course.”
They excused themselves, stepping out of the room and closing the door behind them.
Alina came to Ireland’s side and clutched her hand.
Ireland’s thoughts spun wildly. “I feel a little sick.”
“You should sit back down.”
Inhaling a shaky breath, Ireland shook her head. “I have to get out of here. I need to talk to Gideon.”
As they turned toward the elevators, Jang looked at her partner. “She’d rather be with this Boudreaux guy than her family.”
“Yeah, I was thinking the same thing,” Vega agreed grimly. “Think it’s because of how Cross handled the ransom demands?”
“Maybe. But if she hasn’t been watching the news, would they volunteer that info?”
He whistled. “Wonder how that goes over if she doesn’t know yet.”
“Maybe she’s just using Boudreaux as avoidance,” she thought out loud. “She’s holding up a little too well considering she killed a guy.”
“In a particularly gruesome way.”
They walked down the hall, and Jang knew they were both remembering their own fatal incident on the job. Ninety-five percent of career officers never fired a single shot from their service weapon. She and Vega weren’t among that lucky number, and the memories still haunted her.
She’d endured a period of avoidance, too, eschewing the department’s offered counseling for fear she would be reassigned.
She had gone a little crazy before she dealt with her baggage, taking greater and greater risks with her safety in an effort to combat the numbness that seemed to have overtaken her life.
However the experience might affect Ireland Vidal, the young woman wouldn’t be herself for a while.
“Think Boudreaux could’ve set this whole thing up just to alienate her from her family?
” Jang asked. “Build her up, traumatize her, make her grateful and codependent when she comes out the other side? According to Graves and Reyes, this guy spent years orchestrating the takeover of Vidal Records, so he’s patient, clever, and methodical. ”
“I’d lean toward it being a stretch.” Vega looked down at her. “Then again, one of the perps spent time in Angola. And Boudreaux’s from Louisiana.”
She glanced at her partner as they reached the elevator. “Let’s go talk to Ronan McCaffrey Boudreaux.”