Chapter 46
CHAPTER
YOU NEED TO GO TO the police with that info, Walter,” said Shock.
Nash was back at his home and had called Shock about Adams’s death.
“If the cops were fake, and it looks like they were, the killers were tyin’ up loose ends by takin’ out the one dude who could ID them.”
“Okay, Shock, I called the detective last night and left a message but he never called back. I’ll try again.” Then he blurted out, “I wish to God I’d told Billy to go straight to the police yesterday.”
Nash clicked off and phoned Ramos, leaving another message for the man. He then went upstairs to check on Judith.
She was no longer in Maggie’s room. Nash heard the water running and poked his head in to see Judith in the shower. She glanced up at him, embarrassed.
“I’m… sorry, Walter. I know I was… this morning. I…”
“Just shower, you’ll feel better. And you must be hungry. Can I make you something?”
“No, I’m… I’ll eat later. I’m going to go for a walk. I need some… air.”
“Okay.”
“Walter, if Maggie has been kidnapped, we can pay to get her home safe, right?”
“I’ll sell everything we have to get her back, Judith.”
Nash left her and was halfway downstairs when Ramos called him back.
“Sorry I missed you last night and this morning, Mr. Nash. I’ve been running around on a bunch of things and time got away from me.”
Nash explained what Billy Adams had told him about the 911 call.
“I checked with the Perkinses. The police never came by. And they told Billy not to mention it to anyone, which is why he didn’t tell you.
And now he’s dead, allegedly in an accident.
Only he wasn’t going in the direction of his home when he died, he was going in the direction of the police station, where I told him to file a report on what he’d seen. ”
“So a man and a woman posing as police officers got through the gate and then took your daughter? And this Adams had to die because he knew about them?”
“Yes.”
Nash could almost see the detective shaking his head.
“We’ve got to prove that connection, Mr. Nash.”
“Then prove it. I just told you what I found out.”
“Why would you go and talk to the security guard in the first place?”
“To see if he knew anything.”
“But we had already talked to him and the other guard,” pointed out Ramos.
“Right, but he didn’t tell you about the fake police, did he?”
“Well, we need to corroborate that story.”
“I just corroborated it. Adams told me and I told you. And there’re the Perkinses.”
“No, the Perkinses never saw these two people, according to you.”
“Yes, that’s right, they didn’t,” conceded Nash.
“So right now, with Adams dead, we only have your word for it.”
“I’m not lying. Why the hell would I lie?”
“I’m not saying you’re lying, Mr. Nash. But in a criminal investigation, every fact, every statement, must be verified. I can’t accept anything at face value.”
“Then… then verify it.” A fuming Nash clicked off.
Nash was a control person and he had never felt more out of control in his life.
Nothing seemed to make sense. But there was one obvious fact that stood out: His daughter was gone.
That, for him, was verified. And if the people connected to Steers were behind her kidnapping, then Rhett and Barton would know all about it.
The problem was, how could Nash find out what they knew without guaranteeing that Maggie would indeed be killed? If she hadn’t already been.
The thought of his daughter being dead, which had been floating just below the surface of his conscious being, now exploded out of its depths, and Nash felt the urge to throw up. He ran to the bathroom, but when he hovered over the toilet, his gut calmed and he straightened.
You running around like an idiot is not going to help Maggie. You’ve got brains and some bit of nerve. Use them, for God’s sake.
And then an idea hit him. He put on a suit, saw Judith off on her walk, and drove to work.