11. Daisy #2
Vinny scoffs. “So, you’ve still keeping tabs on the missing girls.”
“I have, but not for the reasons you would think,” Bennett replies. “I still show up to every abduction because this goes much deeper than kidnappings.”
Owen chuckles, but there’s zero mirth in it.
“Let’s call a spade a spade. The CIA doesn’t investigate domestic abductions.
Heck, I doubt they even look into international ones unless the end result is a favor owed to the agency.
They monitor, surveil, and use that information to further international policy and their own agendas.
You were ordered to take over so you could monitor the investigation and protect CIA interests in this matter. ”
Bennett neither confirms nor denies the accusation.
“Director Ludlow assured FBI Director Finnegan that the CIA would give us its full cooperation if we needed it,” Owen says. “I suggest you follow that order. You can start by telling us why you usurped the FBI in the first place.”
“That’s classified,” Bennett says.
Owen removes his cell phone and dials a number. The next thing I know, FBI Director Finnegan’s voice comes through the speaker. “Agent Zurkowski, what can I do for you?”
“We are on a secure line, Director. Can you please confirm what you told me an hour ago after speaking with Ludlow?”
Finnegan speaks with clarity, enunciating every word so there can be no mistake.
“When I explained the nature of the case, Ludlow agreed that the CIA and FBI should work together and offered the cooperation and resources of his organization should we need them. However, I should note that Ludlow was not aware of any active investigation of this nature.”
Owen asks another question. “When you and Special Agent Cavenaugh were investigating the disappearances of Sadie Alekseev, Cristian Gallo, Eva Vidal, and Nuri Han, what did you do to trigger the CIA’s interest?”
“Eva Vidal was the first kidnapping as far as we know,” Finnegan says.
“Honestly, Roger and I had given up hope of ever finding her. Eight years later, we were investigating another matter entirely: a terrorist threat against an Estonian diplomat, Andrus Saaren?lv. He was the leader of the Renewal Front, a political party seeking reform in his country.”
I look at Bennett to see if any of the information gets a reaction. His jaw tightens, but that’s it.
Finnegan continues. “Unfortunately, we didn’t get to him in time.
He was found dead from poisoning in his hotel room just outside of D.C.
We ran the prints and DNA recovered at the scene, and one set of prints matched another case we’d been working on.
They belonged to Eva Vidal, based on prints we’d lifted from a hairbrush her parents had given us.
DNA from the room also matched DNA recovered from the hairbrush, confirming Eva had been there.
Here’s the kicker. Both the prints and DNA also produced hits through Interpol’s biometric databases, identifying Andrus’s mistress, Maarika Kivem?e.
That was when we began to suspect the abductions could be connected to a human trafficking ring. ”
“What happened when you questioned her?” I ask.
“They never got the chance,” Bennett says. “Maarika disappeared, and the CIA took over.”
Scott finally speaks up. “Finnegan, did you run Maarika’s picture through facial recognition before the CIA froze you out?”
“We did,” Finnegan says. “Not a match for Eva.”
“But you had her DNA and fingerprints! How is it possible she wasn’t a match?” I ask.
Bennett waves his hand through the air like a magician.
“Surgery, Ms. Zurkowski. It’s possible to fool facial recognition software by altering the structure of the face with cheek implants, rhinoplasty, or other cosmetic procedures.
More sophisticated systems also analyze features such as the ears, which are much harder to alter without surgery.
This wasn’t some run-of-the-mill human trafficking ring the FBI stumbled onto.
It’s one that only the most prominent people in the world have access to. ”
Anger burns through me like righteous fury as I stomp toward Bennett and poke him in the chest with my fingernail. “And you knew about this and did nothing!”
“There was nothing I could do. Once the girls were gone, we had no way to trace them. As Director Finnegan said, facial recognition was a dead end. Not to mention, it had been eight years since Eva’s abduction.
Gone were the teenage features, replaced by an adult face and an altered appearance.
We can only assume that the rest of the girls met the same fate.
That they are with men of power all around the world. ”
Vinny asks the question I can’t seem to bring myself to speak aloud because I already know the answer. “Men with that kind of power are in the spotlight. Why wouldn’t these girls, or women depending on their ages, draw attention to themselves so they could escape?”
The words my captor said to me come flooding back and escape my lips with the barest whisper.
“You won’t even remember me a year from now.
In fact, you won’t remember your family, your friends, or have any reason to want to go home.
The life you’re about to lead is one full of opportunities.
You should embrace it rather than fear it. ”
Never in a million years did I ever think my captor would be right.
I turn around and face the team. “They don’t escape because they choose not to.”