Chapter 21
Chapter Twenty-One
Dannika searched the picture, looking for any other clue as to where she might be, while I called Officer Kessler to let her know what we’d discovered.
She swore to look into it and ended the call quickly, a new urgency in her voice, and for the first time, I realized she might truly believe me.
For the first time, I was allowing myself to hope.
Gray was alive, and we were going to find him.
When we’d given up on the picture, I moved back to my online banking, searching through the transactions the police still hadn’t given me any updates for.
I dialed my bank, trying to get to the bottom of it once and for all.
“Midwest State Bank, this is Deb, how may I help you?”
“Deb, hi. My name is Palmer Lewis. I have a few accounts with you, and it looks like I have a transaction per month for the last several months that I don’t recognize.”
“Okay,” she said, her tone professional and sharp. “Let’s take a look. Do you have your account number?”
I recited it to her from memory and listened as she typed it in. “Can you verify the last four of your social and your birth date?”
I did as she asked and waited.
“Okay, now, which transactions are we talking about?” I heard her typing again.
“There is one a month for a thousand even and, from what I can see, it goes back six months.”
She was quiet for a moment, then clicked her tongue. “I see what you mean. It looks like…yes, they’re being sent out of your account to another bank via your online banking.”
“Is there a way to see who the account belongs to?”
“Hmm…did you not authorize the transfers?”
“I didn’t, no. I’m not sure what they are for.”
“They would’ve had to be done with your credentials…
” She trailed off. “I can’t see any information on it—it looks like they were done through our third party, person-to-person pay service—but I can put in a request to be able to get more information from our back office.
It may take a day or two. If you didn’t do it, we can do a dispute for you, but you’d lose access to your online banking, and there’s no guarantee we could get your money back.
It would have to go through an investigation, especially since it isn’t connected to your card. Visa disputes are a bit easier.”
“Okay, that would be fine. I totally understand.” I scrolled back down, noticing something else I didn’t recognize. “Can you look at one other thing for me?”
“Of course,” she said, noticeably less enthused to help me than before.
“On September ninth, there’s a charge for one hundred nineteen dollars to a store called FunnyFuzzy. Can you tell me what that is?”
I heard her typing. “One nineteen…there it is. Okay, that was on your card, but you’re past the point of disputing it. You only have six months.”
“I don’t need to dispute it. I just want to know what it was,” I snapped, growing irritated with her attitude.
I heard her click. “There’s a website and a phone number here. Do you want both?”
“Yes, please.” She recited them, and I pointed at the pen in front of Dannika, holding out my hand.
She passed it to me, and I jotted the information down on a scrap of paper.
“Thank you so much. Listen, is there a way to close the card that the charge came from? I think it’s possible we’ve been hacked. ”
“That’s definitely possible. Do you want to lock it or just close it?”
“Close it, please. And thank you.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll close it out here in just a moment and I’ll get this request put in for more information on the transfers, too. Once we have that, someone’ll give you a call. Is this still a good phone number for you?” she asked, reading it off.
“Yes, that’s perfect. Thank you again.”
I ended the call and looked at Dannika. “They aren’t sure who the transfers were for, but I also noticed this for a store I’ve never heard of.
” I pulled the laptop closer toward me and typed in the website the teller had given me.
It loaded within seconds, and I furrowed my brow.
What? It was a gag gift site, loaded with fake dog poo, zen garden litter boxes, giant rolls of toilet paper, fake pregnancy tests, fake bed bugs, whoopie cushions, vulgar coffee mugs, and more.
“Maybe he was getting something for someone at work?” she asked, shrugging one shoulder and looking as appalled as I felt.
“Yeah, maybe…” The site was atrocious, and anyone who could find most of it funny terrified me. I closed the laptop and hung my head back against the sofa. Dead end after dead end. Where were we supposed to look next? What options could I still dig into?
My phone rang again, and I glanced down, surprised to see the bank’s number on my screen. Dannika’s eyes were wide and fearful as she watched me answer.
“Hello?”
“Mrs. Lewis? This is Deb from the bank.”
“Oh, hey.”
“Hey, I know you asked me to close out the card ending in five, seven, three, three, but we just had a charge attempt to go through. I wanted to verify with you that you wanted me to refuse it?”
My heart pounded, my nerves on high alert, as I sat up straighter. “What charge?” I asked, my breathing loud in my own ears. Dannika moved closer, and I met her eyes, hope in mine.
“It was for a flight. Six hundred seventy-nine dollars.”
I stood from the couch, the room spinning as I learned the new information. My entire body began to tremble as I paced. “Let it go through.”
“Are you sure? If I do—”
“I won’t dispute it, Deb, don’t worry. Just let it go through. Can you tell me which airline it is?”
“It’s Coastal Carolina.”
“To where?”
“I can’t see that information, ma’am.” Dammit. I slapped a hand against my temple.
“Okay, fine, let it go through.” This was my chance—my only chance to find them.
“Okay, I have. It’s approved.”
I hung up the phone without a goodbye and darted back to the laptop. “They’re going to try to get away.”
“Who?” Dannika asked.
“Whoever’s using Ben’s card. Ben, Kat, I don’t know.”
“How do you know?”
“They just used his card to book a flight.”
“Stop them!” Dannika shouted, pointing at the door.
“I couldn’t,” I told her, typing in the airport to find the phone number. “This is my only chance to track them down. If I know where they’ll be, I can catch them. I can get him back, Dani.” She didn’t look convinced. “I know it’s a risk, but I have to do it.”
“I think you should let the police handle it, Palmer. What are you going to do? Attack them? Rip Gray from her arms?”
“Whatever it takes,” I told her, and I believe we both knew I meant it.
I would’ve burned the place down if it meant saving my son.
I dialed the airline. When I was connected with a representative, I asked, “Hi, I just booked a flight with you, and I didn’t get a receipt in my email.
If I have my card number, can you pull it up and make sure the payment went through? ”
“I’d be happy to. What’s that card number?”
I opened the online banking tab again and found Ben’s card, reading it off to her.
“Thank you,” she said, typing it in. “Yes, it does look like it went through.”
“And what flight am I on? I’m just making sure I did it right.”
“Looks like you’re scheduled to leave this afternoon at three forty-five headed to Los Angeles.”
My body went numb. “And…can you tell me how many tickets I purchased? There should’ve been three.”
I heard her click something. “Yes, looks like two adults and one child who will be riding on a lap.”
I tried to swallow, but my throat was too dry. It was true. They were taking my child across the country. If I didn’t catch them today, I might lose him forever.
“Thank you so much,” I said, my voice powerless as I hung up.
“What did she say?” Dannika asked, eyeing me with worry.
“They’re flying to Los Angeles this afternoon.”
She stood, jerking my arm up so I would join her. “We have to go. We’ll call the police on the way. We can’t let them get on the flight.”
I was already in action, running toward the bedroom.
I was going to get him back. I had to. There was no other option. I’d sooner die than lose my child again.