Chapter 36
THIRTY-SIX
Taking the children to see a film had been a great idea. They were happy and tired by the time they returned to the boathouse, and ready to go to bed. Even Emma went off without complaint. Gabe had just poured Quinn a glass of wine when her mobile vibrated.
“It’s Drew,” she said. “I’m going to take it outside.”
She didn’t answer the call until she was halfway down the dock. Sound tended to carry over the open water, though, so she still spoke softly so the children would not overhear the conversation.
“Do you have something for me already?” she asked urgently.
“Nothing definitive, but I was able to rule out a few possibilities,” Drew said.
“Chrissy, whose full name was Kristina Bla?ek, did not return to the Czech Republic just after Max was born as Logan believed. She remained in the UK, and until January 2021 she lived on a houseboat in Chelsea with her boyfriend and worked at a nail bar nearby.”
“And then?” Quinn asked when Drew suddenly went quiet. She could sense his hesitation. “What happened to her, Drew?”
“One day, Chrissy became ill at work. She was in terrible abdominal pain and hemorrhaging badly. One of her coworkers called an ambulance. She never came back to work. Her boss assumed she had been ill for a while and returned to the Czech Republic, where her parents could look after her. As far as I can tell, she never came back to the UK.”
“Poor Chrissy. I hope she’s all right,” Quinn said. “What about her boyfriend?”
“Chrissy’s coworkers had never met him, but they said she was always talking about the nice things he did for her. She met him at her previous job, when he came in to get a haircut. I will see if I can get a lead on him.”
Quinn waited, since she sensed Drew wasn’t finished. She was right.
“I also looked into Rafe’s movements over the past few days.
On the night Logan was followed, Rafe was at work until a quarter to six.
He went to dinner at an Asian fusion restaurant down the street from his office with a group of coworkers.
The following day, he had a date that turned into a sleepover. ”
Quinn didn’t ask how Drew knew that. It wasn’t important.
What mattered was that neither Chrissy nor Rafe was to blame.
It was a relief to know that two people Logan had trusted didn’t have anything to do with whatever was happening, but it was also disheartening.
If neither of them had any designs on Max, then who was the man who’d followed Logan, and who was the woman who’d tried to kidnap Max?
And why? There had to be a reason Max had been singled out.
If someone wanted to snatch a child, sadly, there were easier ways to accomplish that.
Children were taken every day, mostly out in the open.
To brazenly show up at Max’s nursery school with a fake ID and try to take him spoke to premeditation and serious intent.
This woman didn’t want any child. She wanted Max.
“What now?” Quinn asked. “We know who it wasn’t, but we’re no closer to finding out who it was.”
“I’m going to take a peek at Logan’s call register,” Drew said. “I know someone who can hack into his mobile provider’s data.”
Not surprising, Quinn thought. “What do you expect to find?”
“I don’t for one moment think that what happened was random.
How could it when the woman tried to impersonate you?
Logan had to have known the man who followed him, and he likely also knew the woman.
Unless he was using a burner phone to communicate with them, there would be some record of their contact. ”
“But how would you know just by looking at the call register?”
“I’m hoping they communicated by text. If they didn’t, then I will have to weed through all his calls, try to eliminate the numbers of known associates and his workplace, and see if I can isolate any possible suspects.”
“That sounds like a long shot,” Quinn said.
“It is, but still worth checking. I’ll let you know if I find anything,” Drew said. He preferred to deal in facts rather than speculation, which was what made him so good at his job. “I’ll ring you tomorrow with an update.”
“Thanks, Drew.”
“Don’t mention it. And try to get some rest. You must be knackered.”
“I am,” Quinn admitted. And extremely scared, she added inwardly.
She remained on the dock for a few more minutes.
The lake was as still and black as spilled tar, and the sky above was overcast, the moon just a faint glow behind the clouds.
The island was eerie and silent, the ruin just a dark outline hovering behind the trees.
The very air seemed to vibrate with menace, and Quinn hurried inside, desperate to be behind closed doors, where there was light and love, and the people she cared about most in the world.