The Airnapped Child

by Sandra Ryan

  After a few minutes of back and forth with the woman, Burns beckoned on his colleague, Abigail Philips, she went in and promptly closed the door. After a few minutes Holly burst out of the room followed closely by the woman she came with. They were both beaming from ear to ear. He quickly turned so that she would not see him. It was usually bad news if a police office is known to be cavorting with a private investigator. There was a deep rivalry that had always existed between the both professions. He was too late, Holly saw him and beckoned unto him. She immediately made a bee-line for his desk, her friend in tow.

  “Hello Mark,” she said in the sweetest voice ever.

  “Oh, hey Holly. How are you these days?” his tone was high pitched and fake. The woman Holly was with raised one of her eyebrows at this. She was standing primly, her hands by her side.

  “I am very well, thank you for asking, although I could have sworn that you had been trying to avoid me.” She plopped herself down on his visitor’s seat. The other lady remained standing.

  “Oh, come on, don’t say that. Why would I do something like that?” he tried to sound carefree.

  “Why don’t you tell me?” she replied. “In any case, Mark, meet Danielle Bean. She is my friend and the firm’s lawyer. Danielle, this is Mark Black. I do not quite know how to describe him to you. He is a friend but I have had sex with him, does that make us friends with benefits or something?” she had a mischievous glint in her eyes. Mark looked around to make sure that none of his colleagues heard what she had just said.

  Danielle did not say anything about that revelation, she just stuck out her hand and said, ‘Nice to meet you Mark.” Then turning to Holly she said, “I’ll go check on the paperwork for Samuel’s release. I will meet you as soon as I’m done.” She turned and began heading towards the administrative part of the building, apparently she had been here severally.

  “So, you were able to get your guy out of the hook?” he asked as soon as Danielle was out of earshot.

  “Of course. They had no reason to hold him in the first place.” She began pulling open his drawers, “I need a drink,” she said when he asked her what she was doing.

  ‘I don’t keep drinks in the office. And I don’t drink while I am on duty. And you need to cut down on your drinking anyways” he retorted.

  “Well, you must be the first then. Although I am sure there are other things you do that are not allowed while you are on duty.”

  “Holly please …”

  “Like that time you invited me to this office two months ago and we had mad sex on this same table. Or was it the other one, I’m not quite sure.”

  “Holly please just stop. Someone could hear you and I could lose my job on account of that.”

  “Would that be so bad? If you are fired you would come work for me. I am sure there would be plenty a strong young man like you could help me do.”

  “Holly!”

  “Okay. I would drop it now,” she said. “You are becoming such a bore!”

  “There is something I would need your help with anyway.” He did not respond so she continued. “I heard there were several couples on the flight who were carrying babies, can you tell me who conducted the search on them?”

  “Several? Where did you get that information from? To the best of my knowledge there were just two couples who had babies that fell into the age range of the missing baby and one of them was a cop even.”

  “Is that so?”

  “Yes. He and his girlfriend had taken the baby to visit his in-laws. I do not know the specifics. It was not I who interviewed them, it was Officer Hendricks. The interview was also very short.”

  “Why was that?” Holly was alert. She had the feeling that the information she had just uncovered would prove very important in the days to come.

  “I’m not sure, but I think it might have something to do with the fact that that he was a police officer and we always have some measure of respect for those on the force. Respect for the force and all.”

  “I see,” Holly nodded thoughtfully. “Is there a way I could get the name of this police officer?” she leaned towards him, resting her hand lightly on his arm and looking dreamily into his eyes.

  “I am not sure,” he stuttered. “I think I have already said too much as it is right now.”

  “Oh come on, be a sport now, Mark. I would make it worth your while. We do have outstanding arrangements don’t we?”

  “I’m sorry, Holly. That is sensitive information and we are not allowed to give it out.”

  She sighed and leaned back on her seat.

  “But you know, I could maybe just step out briefly and if it happens that the manifest is on the table and you take a look at it, it would certainly be no fault of mine.” He pushed a folder towards Holly’s side of the table.

  “Absolutely,” Holly smiled. “No one could hardly blame you for a snooping private investigator.”

  “Right,” he said and stood, gave Holly a pointed look and walked out.

  “Thank you,” Holly called after him.

  “Now you do owe me one.” He replied.

  When he was safely out of sight, Holly rifled through the contents of the folder on his desk and found what she was looking for; the list of all the people who had boarded the plane with Elizabeth Benson on that same day. He went through the list of the couples who had had babies with them, he found Elizabeth’s name and then the name of another woman, Heather Kline, and next to her was another name, Sheridan Cox. Holly knew it was probably the police officer who had been with her. She took down the both names. Just as she was wrapping up, Danielle emerged with Samuel in tow.

  “Hey!” she called. “How are you? I hope they did not treat you roughly while you were in there?”

  “I am fine,” He replied. “Thank you for coming to get me. How did you know I was here?”

  “Olga. She obviously has taken a shine to you and was eager to help me.”

  “You do sound really chirpier than when I left you earlier,” Danielle observed. “What happened to the grumpy you?”

  “Oh, Danielle, we may just have stumbled upon a breakthrough. I feel so excited! Let’s get out of here.”

  *******

  Later that evening, downtown, a police officer shivered slightly under the cold. He was standing outside and had not dressed appropriately for the weather. He kept looking around. The person he was waiting for was running late. He stared uneasily around him. This part of the town was the most dangerous. A couple of weeks before, a policeman had been murdered around these parts. It was a predominantly black neighborhood, and had a lot of run down houses where junkies usually frequented. The residents always had run ins with the police, and the hatred was shared equally by both sides. If the person who had asked him to wait for him was not such an important person, nothing would have made the police man take such a risk.

  After a while, he saw the man’s black Mercedes pull into the alley he had been waiting out. The sleek car looked out of place in the vicinity but the policeman was sure that none of the guys in the area would even begin to attempt to do anything to the car or the owner; the man seated in the car was notorious for his ruthlessness and had several members of the mafia on his payroll. Nobody messed with him. The policeman waited for the signal from the car – two hoots of the car horn – when he got it, he marched towards the car and plumped down on the cool leather seat.

  The interior of the car smelt of rich perfume. Soft jazz music was filtering in from the radio. The man was of looking impeccably groomed. Although it was the end of the day, he looked as though he had just stepped off of his dressing room instead a board meeting. He was looking right ahead. He did not even spare him a glance.

  “My sources tell me the suspect was released.” He wasn’t one to waste his time with preambles, or courtesies for that matter.

  “Yes, that is correct,” The police man replied.

  “How did that happen? More importantly, how did you let that happen? I pay you so that yo
u could prevent incidences like that from happening.” The man’s tone sent chills down the police ma’s spine.

  “I am very sorry. There was really nothing I or anyone could do. We haven’t been able to gather any evidence to pin the kidnap of the child on him. I am positive we would get him soon enough though.”

  The man was silent for a few minutes then he said,

  “So you are no closer to charging him and hauling his ass off to jail?”

  The man nodded.

  “Damn it! You are messing with my time line. This should have moved beyond this point right now. I have a lot of things hanging in the balance.”

  “I am so sorry to hear that. I…”

  “Get out!”

  The police man did not even bother to beg. He stumbled out of the vehicle and heaved a sigh of relief as the Mercedes pulled away. Inside the car, Nathan Benson swore under his breath.

  “I might need to make a change of plans, Anderson. It is obvious that left to those buffoons, nothing would get done.”

  His driver, Anderson Singleton nodded.

  “As for Cox and his girlfriend, they have become liability. We would have to take care of that too. And for that I would be requiring your help.

  “Sure thing, boss,” Anderson replied.

  CHAPTER 8

  CHASING LEADS

  Olga looked up at the lone light shining from the office window. The only person who could be at the office at this time would be Holly. Judith was probably home now; she never stayed at the office beyond 6p.m. She had three sweet girls and a doting husband. Holly never asked her to stay beyond her usual time. In fact, she usually never asked any one of them to stay beyond office hours. That was why she had been mildly alarmed when she got Holly’s text. In it, she had written, ‘I’d like to see you at the office, say around 9p.m. if that isn’t too much.’

  As she climbed the stairs she could hear Beethoven wafting off from Holly’s open doorway. Holly was lying on the couch, with her legs raised to the armrest. A drink was in her hand. She still had her shoes on. There was a running joke in the city that she even put on her shoes while having sex. Nobody knew the origin of the joke or whether it was even true, it had just been there for so long that no one bothered verifying if it was true anymore. Olga stood at the door, afraid to step in. Perhaps this was the moment she had been dreading; the day she would eventually get fired. She had been surprised that she had lasted the time she did with Holly. She had walked around with a hammer hanging over her head for so long that she had decided that whatever be her fate, she was not going to begrudge Holly her kindness.

  “You know I can tell you are standing right there?”

  Olga chuckled and said nothing. Holly’s voice sounded as though it was proceeding from the belly of darkness itself.

  “Do you remember the day I hired you?”

  Olga remembered quite well. It had been the day of her graduation from MIT. Although she had gotten into the institution on scholarship, she had somehow along the way lost the zeal for academic excellence. Thus, on the day of her graduation, she was graduating with the bottom three percent, barely worthy of her degree. The firms who had come to recruit fresh graduates had not even spared her a glance. It had been Holly who had taken a chance with her.

  “Fresh from the classroom, you lot were reeking of freshness, and zest and ambition. Every one of you felt they could conquer the world, and they may have been able to. But you, immediately you came up to me after I presented my paper, I knew there was something different about you. I could tell immediately that you had made poor decisions. It was clear as day in the way you slinked off to one side, away from your friends. It was there in the way you could barely hold my gaze, in the way your voice fluttered as though you were unsteady on your feet.”

  Holly stopped, allowing Olga to relive that moment. It was almost five years ago but Olga could still see herself standing before Holly that day. The awe and admiration barely concealed in her stance.

  “But there was something else I noticed about you,” Holly continued. “There was a zeal that was in your eyes. It was different from your friends. Those guys wanted to go work for big IT firms and make some big bucks as soon as they could, but that was not your aim. I could see that you were someone who genuinely cared about what she did. Even with all the failure, I could still see desire shining through your eyes. And that was something I could relate with. That was something I wanted. I knew that a person who loved what they were doing would do anything in the process of doing their job. I knew that they would move heaven and earth to ensure that nothing stood in the way of that. I knew because that is exactly the kind of person I am.”

  “So you know what a person who is dedicated to their job would not do?” Holly’s voice had assumed a tint of bitterness. It was as though she was grieving. “It is to not share confidential details about a client’s case with a party who is not involved with the case.”

  Olga’s heart sank as she realized where that particular ship was headed.

  “Apart from the fact that it is highly unprofessional to discuss private information of clients with third parties, in the case of people like you, it almost appears to be like a betrayal. How could you who is so dedicated to solely pursuing the cause of your client be the one who put his case in jeopardy?”

  “I am so sorry, Holly. I did not mean to harm our client’s case. It just happened that I mentioned Samuel’s name once in a conversation with a particular source. I did not go into the specifics with this particular individual and I can assure you that this person knows nothing beyond the fact that Samuel is our client.”

  Olga knew all of her explanations would not suffice. For the kind of work they did, the reputation of the firm was prized above anything else. Clients often wanted their cases handled with discretion, and even the slightest whiff of impropriety was enough to send clients, and potential clients, scampering. She had messed up big time and she knew it.

  “There are probably several ways of establishing your culpability even with the attempt you have made to exonerate yourself,” Holly said, getting to her feet. She made her way to her desk and picked up a folder. “But I would not do that. Instead, I would offer you a chance at redemption.”

  Olga could not believe her ears, she knew she could do anything to win Holly’s trust back.

  “Sheridan Cox,” Holly continued. “He is a police officer. He was on the same plane with Mrs. Benson, and had been with his girlfriend. The police say that his girlfriend had been with a baby also. Somehow I feel that they are connected with this case. Call it a hunch. I need you to find me everything you can on Cox and his girlfriend. And I need you to find me the connection they have with the Bensons.”

  Olga took the folder from Holly. It appeared heavy in her arms. She knew what was expected from her. She also knew she might have to break a few rules in order to accomplish that. But she was willing to do anything. She turned and headed out. There was no need for any other conversation between them.

  “I believe in second chances.” Holly’s voice stopped her in her tracks. “But that is the extent I would go. I would not give you a third. Olga, this is your chance. Do not mess this up.”

  “I understand,” Olga said and left.

  ********

  Olga’s ‘source’ was twenty-seven year old Sandra Bell. Sandra was a detective in the New York police department. She had a degree in Criminology and was one of the specialists whose job required them to be among the first responders at scenes of crimes. That was how she met Olga. One night, a call had come in that a college student had tried to overdose and commit suicide. She had been the person who received that call. She had subsequently taken Olga to the hospital and was there when the young girl woke up.

  She then was kind enough to omit mentioning the attempted suicide in her official reports, saving Olga from expulsion from her school. They had gotten really close after that, and eventually when Olga had finished college, she moved into Sandra’s apartment
. To everyone out there, they were two hardworking young women who happened to be sharing an apartment. But they were more than mere roommates, they were lovers.

  Surprisingly, it was Olga’s decision to keep their relationship private. So, when they were in public they treated themselves like very close friends, without even the faintest hint of amorous affection in their relationship.

  The night after Holly instructed Olga to find out everything she could on Sheridan Cox, Olga came home very late. She had stopped at the local pub to drink, mostly so she wouldn’t have to face Sandra when she got into the house. When she got to the door, she put in her code and went into the apartment. The light was off, and so she assumed that Sandra had come home and gone to bed without waiting up for her.

  “You missed the latest episode of Sensations.” Sandra said. Sensations was a cop show they watched together. It was like a ritual for the both of them every Thursday evening, and Sandra made it a point of duty to be home on time no matter how tight her schedule for that day was.

  Olga could make out her silhouette on the couch. Apparently she had not moved since she turned off the television.

  “Yeah. I’m sorry about that. I had a thing at the office.” Olga replied.

  “You definitely missed a lot. It wasn’t the same watching it without you.” Sandra said, getting up to turn on the light.

  “No! Leave it turned off,” Olga requested.

  “Well, you look like crap,” Sandra said, concern in her tone. She turned off the light.” Are you sure you are fine? Do you want to talk about it?” she was standing in front of Olga, her hands resting slightly on her shoulder.

  “I am fine. Or I will be after this,” she said, drawing her close and planting a deep kiss on her lips. Afterward she just held her close, burying her head deep on Olga’s shoulder.

  “You have alcohol on your breath. Are you sure you are fine?” Sandra asked again.

  “Yes, I am fine. I stopped by the pub on my way back. I just had to think about a couple of things.”