by Mike Ryan
“I’m sure they’ll probably have someone sit next to that spot, making sure they leave it open for Dermott to do his part.”
“These guys don’t seem dumb.”
“No. They don’t. Hit the next one.”
I will be there tomorrow as you requested. I guarantee I will pull no tricks. Just keep Ava safe.
Bodie Dermott
“Next one,” Bridge said.
“Next one looks like it’s after the attempted exchange.”
You did not follow instructions exactly as we described. You were late. Although the money is here, we did not appreciate having to wait for it. We will contact you again if we decide to go through with our end.
Gemini
“And then Dermott’s response,” Nicole said.
I checked in at 4:05. There was a line, then I waited to be led up to the room. Everything was done per your instructions. I want my daughter back! I fulfilled my end of the deal. I did not involve the police and you have your money. Please release Ava!
“They keep saying we,” Bridge said.
“What?”
“We. Every email. It’s we. We, we, we. There’s definitely more than one. It’s not just one individual.”
“They could just be saying we in general terms. Or to throw him off in case he decides to check it out.”
“Maybe. But what about the part where they have someone watching him?”
“Might just be saying it to scare him. Make sure that he complies fully.”
“I don’t think so. I don’t think you take those kinds of chances. They probably had someone sitting at the bar, waiting for Dermott to put his key under the drink. But what if Dermott doesn’t go outside? What if he waits in the lobby, sees someone else come out of the bar, and follows him up to the room? Then the plan starts going sideways.”
“If there was a second guy, he was probably outside, then when he saw Dermott exit the hotel, he let his partner know it was OK to take the key.”
“So probably at least two of them. What’s Gemini mean, anyway? Horoscope? I assume it’s not a last name.”
Nicole chuckled. “Yeah, I doubt we’d get lucky enough with that kind of stupidity, signing their own name to it.”
“Never know.”
Nicole brought up a website to explain it all. “Gemini. Twins. May 21-June 20. Energetic, quick-witted, passionate, and extremely intelligent, Gemini are adept at blending in to different groups.” Nicole took a look at her boyfriend, who had a face of confusion as he looked at the website she brought up. “Something wrong?”
“What does any of this even mean?”
“Uhh…”
“I mean… Twins? Does this mean there’s two of them? Does it mean they really are twins? Like, Jack and John Smith, born at the same time? What does any of this mean?”
Nicole shrugged. “I dunno. I’m not a horoscope girl.”
Bridge wiped his forehead and shook his head. “All right, let’s move to the next email. Think about this Gemini stuff later.”
“OK. Next one is the last one that Dermott received.”
Ava is still alive. And she’ll remain that way as long as you stick to the program. We will give you another opportunity to get her back. This one will involve extra effort on your part. This time we want two hundred thousand. Same way that it was delivered the last time. Cash and a suitcase. Hope your passport is in order.
Gemini
“Wait, is that it?” Bridge asked. “That doesn’t say anything about Mexico or Venezuela.”
“There’s more.”
I will comply with your instructions again. But I need assurances that my daughter will be released this time. I need to know where I am going.
Bodie Dermott
“He got a response,” Nicole said.
As long as you follow the instructions properly and to the exact specifications we tell you, she will be released. If not, then we won’t. Again, if there’s any involvement from authorities, we will cut our losses and move on without the money. We will be somewhere south of the border. Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, Venezuela, or maybe even Mexico. Just be ready to go when we tell you. You’ll get another email soon.
Gemini
“Well, we know it’s not Puerto Rico,” Bridge said.
“Why’s that?”
“Since it’s a US territory, you don’t need a passport to go there if you’re a US citizen.”
“Maybe they’re just saying he needs a passport to throw him off track and the real spot?”
“Never know. I kind of doubt it, though. If that were the case, why even bring it up? Since you don’t need a passport, it wouldn’t even be a concern. It’s really not throwing anyone off.”
“True.”
“South of the border. The only time people really say that is when they’re going to Mexico.”
“Usually.”
“That it?”
“That’s it so far.”
Bridge leaned forward on the table and put his hands on the sides of his temples, trying to figure out what was going on here. Something wasn’t sitting right with him. Something was off. He just couldn’t place it yet.
“What’s the next move?” Nicole asked. Bridge leaned back and folded his arms across his chest. He stared at Nicole. She wasn’t sure what his problem was, but it sure looked like he had one. “What?”
“Why does this seem weird?”
Nicole shrugged. “‘Cause it is weird? I dunno. Kidnapping and ransom aren’t exactly normal.”
“No, not that. I mean, the way this has all happened.”
“What’s strange about it?”
“I can’t put my finger on it.”
“The fact it’s all done through email?”
“No, that’s not it. Everything we do these days is electronically. People don’t just drop notes in a mailbox these days.”
“I can check to see where those emails came from.” Nicole immediately started typing on her computer to see if she could get a location from them.
“Probably turn up empty. If they’re smart enough to pull this off, they’re probably smart enough to use some kind of VPN or disguise their real location somehow.”
“Maybe. But maybe they’re not as smart as they seem.”
As Nicole researched that, Bridge started replaying the conversation with Dermott in his mind. It was there. That’s where something was throwing him off. Something that didn’t quite fit with everything else that was going on. After going through it a few times, it finally hit him. Miami. Friends. There’s where the disconnect was.
Bridge snapped his fingers. “That’s it.”
“What’s it?”
“What’s bothering me. I just figured it out.”
“Care to share?”
“Dermott said Ava went down to Miami with a few of her friends.”
“Yeah?”
“Her friends came back without her. Why?”
Nicole stopped typing and looked at him. “Because she was kidnapped?”
Bridge shook his head. He wasn’t buying it. “If you’re eighteen and down in Miami with three or four of your girlfriends and one of them goes missing, would you really expect that the rest of them wouldn’t say a word about it? They’d be frantic. They’d be talking to everyone, including the cops.”
“Maybe they got instructions to not say anything except to Ava’s father.”
“But he didn’t say that. He said he got an email saying that Ava was kidnapped and asking for money. I’m sorry, if I’m a kidnapper, I’m not relying on three eighteen-year-old girls to keep their mouths shut in Miami and the entire flight back to New York.”
“If that’s the case, then they didn’t know.”
“How could they not know? They were together.”
Nicole scratched her nose, then her eyebrow. “I don’t know. What do you think?”
“I have no idea. That’s why I’m asking.”
“I think you need to make a phone call.”
<
br /> Bridge nodded. “I think you’re right.” He thought about the passports. “I think I need to make a couple of them.”
His first call was to Bodie Dermott to ask him about the friends that came back from Miami without Ava.
“I have a few questions for you that I overlooked before,” Bridge said.
“Sure.”
“You said Ava’s friends came back from Miami without her. Did they not know about her being kidnapped?”
“Well, they went down together for about a week. They were supposed to come back together.”
“Have you talked to them since then?”
“No, I don’t talk to her friends much. Only if I see them around the house, which is rare, because they are usually out.”
“So how’d you know that they were back?”
“What do you mean? That they might have been kidnapped too?”
“I’m not suggesting anything. I’m just trying to get a picture in my mind as far as the timeline and how everything happened.”
“Oh. Well, I mean, I guess it was just a figure of speech on my part. I haven’t spoken to her friends. I just assumed they had come back when they were supposed to.”
“So you don’t know for sure if they’re back or still in Miami?”
“Not specifically, no.”
“They haven’t called, asking where Ava is?”
“Not to my knowledge. I don’t believe they even have my number. If they’re concerned about Ava, they would probably be trying to call her on her cell.”
“They wouldn’t think it’s odd for her to be gone for a few weeks out of the blue?”
“As I told you before, Mr. Bridge, Ava is not what you call conventional. It’s not out of her character to just go somewhere for a week without telling anyone. Even me. I’m sure her friends know that as well.”
“And she’s only eighteen?”
“She’ll be nineteen next month. Ever since she turned eighteen, she thought it was her right to go wherever she wanted, whenever she wanted. As I said, she’s very headstrong.”
“OK, well, thanks for the info.”
“Has it been any help?”
“It just might be. Can you send me a quick email in the next few minutes detailing as much as you know about when Ava went down? Day, time, flight number, who she went with, hotel, anything like that.”
“I can do that.”
After the call was over, Bridge swung the phone down by his side and stared at the wall for a moment. Nicole looked over at him.
“I know that look.”
“What look?” Bridge asked.
“That look that you think something more is going on than meets the eye.”
Bridge laughed. “Oh. That look.”
“Yeah. So what is it?”
“I wanna check on her friends, make sure they’re back in New York.”
“Why?”
“I also want to retrace their steps the entire way. From the flight down, to the hotel they were staying at, to the bills they racked up, to the time they were supposed to be done.”
“Why?”
“Because I have a hard time believing her friends came back without her, knowing she was in trouble.”
“Unless they didn’t know.”
“Maybe. Dermott’s sending us an email with some of that info. Let’s start tracking it down. Somebody out there knows something. It’s up to us to find them.”
6
Bridge put the phone against his ear again.
“Who are you calling now?”
Bridge smiled. “Our friendly federal intelligence man.”
Nicole laughed. “He’s not gonna like that.”
“I know. He never does. If he only would ever… hello?”
The first thing Bridge heard was a sigh. Happ already knew what he wanted. Maybe not the specific topic, but he knew it was something. Bridge rarely, if ever, called to shoot the breeze.
“Yes? What do you want?”
“Now what kind of greeting’s that?” Bridge asked.
“The kind that people get when they always want something out of me.”
“Well, that’s not true.”
“Which part?”
“Either.”
“So what do you want?”
“What makes you think I want something?”
“Because it’s you.”
“Well, you’re wrong.”
“So you don’t want anything?”
“Nope.”
“Not a thing?”
“Not a single thing. Just calling to say hi.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“Hi.”
“What do you want, Luke?”
“Nothing. Just called to say hi. Hi.”
“Hey. What else?”
“Are you doing all right? Feeling good. Everybody good? Wife, kids, boss, coworkers, friends, enemies, criminals, everyone you know, all good?”
Happ still knew he wanted something. Bridge was just trying to be clever about it. “Everyone’s fantastic.”
“Good. Well, that’s all I wanted. I’ll talk to you soon.”
“Uh… OK?” Happ was still skeptical.
“No, really. Just wanted to see how you were.”
“I’m good.”
“OK, talk to you soon. Bye.”
Bridge hung up, then stood there for a minute. He looked confident.
“You wanna tell me what that was about?” Nicole asked.
“He said I never call just to say hi. So I wanted to prove that I do.”
“You’re gonna call him back in a minute again, aren’t you?”
Bridge flashed a wide smile. “Sure am. Then he’ll never be able to say I don’t call just to say hi. ‘Cause I just did.”
“That’s kind of not really true.”
“I didn’t ask one question business related when I just called.”
“Only ‘cause he probably called you out on it.”
“Whatever the reason, all I did was see how he was doing. That’s it. Now I’ll call for something else.”
“It’s kind of a loophole, I think.”
“Loopholes are still legal.”
“Sometimes.”
Bridge dialed Happ’s number again and put the phone against his ear. “Hey, buddy, how’s it going?”
“What do you want now?”
“I was just wondering if you could check on something for me.”
“See? I knew it. I knew it. I knew you were calling because you wanted something.”
“That’s not true. You said I never call unless I want something. Well, the last time I called, I just wanted to say hi.”
“You did that deliberately.”
“Last time I called, I didn’t want anything. This time I do. See, it’s not every time.”
“Luke, the last time you called was two minutes ago. Not two weeks.”
“So? Does that matter?”
“I’m sure it doesn’t in your mind.”
“Anyway, back to what I was calling for, and I appreciate you offering to help—”
“Wait a minute, I didn’t offer anything.”
“Sure you did. Don’t you remember?”
“No.”
“The last time we talked, you said you're glad to help, and anytime you can be of more help, to let you know.”
“I don’t remember saying that.”
“Well, you did.”
“When?”
“Two weeks ago last Tuesday.”
“How do you remember the day?”
“Because I was so flattered and taken back that you offered that I remembered the date.”
“I think you’re lying.”
“I would never.”
“Oh, you would if you got something out of it.”
“You know, I’m almost insulted that you think our friendship is only based on me wanting something all the time.”
“Just ninety-five percent of it.”
“You are so off base
on this. I ask you things because I trust you more than anyone else. Outside of Nicole, that is. And because you’re the best FBI agent I have on my contact list.”
“How many other FBI agents do you have in your contact list?”
“Just you. Hey, when you get the best, why shop around? See, you should be flattered that I only take my business to you.”
“Flattered, huh?”
“Yep.”
“Yeah, sure. So what do you want? Just get it over with and tell me.”
“Well, since you’re kind enough to offer, I was wondering if you could look up a passport for me.”
“A passport? What do you wanna know about it?”
“I wanna know if there're any hits on it leaving the country.”
“Who you got?”
“Ava Dermott. Eighteen years old. Last seen in Miami.”
“Your next case I take it?”
“Looks that way.”
“Think she’s out of the country?”
“Could be.”
“Kidnapped?”
“Possibly.”
“If she was, I doubt they paraded her through the border.”
“I know.”
“I’ll check on it. I’ll get back to you.”
“The sooner the better if you can. She’s the daughter of Bodie Dermott. He’s apparently a billionaire.”
“Apparently?”
“Well, I don’t really take many people at face value anymore. But I don’t really have doubts that he is. Anything you can dig up on the family would be appreciated.”
“How much time you have on this?”
“Really don’t know. There was already an exchange of money once. The other side didn’t fulfill their end of the deal.”
“And now?”
“Looks like they might try again. Just don’t know where.”
“Out of the country?”
“Looks like that’s possible.”
“I’ll get back to you soon.”
As soon as Bridge got off the phone, Nicole summoned him over to the desk, where she was still working.
“You got something?”
“I got the names of the other girls Ava went down to Miami with.”
“How many?”
“Three,” Nicole answered.
“How’d you manage that?”
“Just checked the flight manifests. They all sat together, one row behind the other.”