I paced the floor, brainstorming with Dean.
“Wait for guidance from the police,” he said calmly. “Let them take the lead.”
I would, but there was no way I could sit still.
“I’ll be in my office,” I said. “I want to look over everything in the case file.”
“Do you want company?”
“Sure. Thanks,” I said, totally unsure. My emotions were so raw that I was afraid of what I might say or do.
Dean stretched out on my chaise and used my iPad for research while I opened Corey’s file on my computer. I browsed through it, barely able to concentrate.
“I’m calling Brunelli again,” I said. “Maybe he has an update on Kat or what happened to us.”
Before Dean could suggest anything else, I started dialing, and to my relief, Brunelli answered.
“Hi, it’s Nicki again,” I said. “The police are at Kenna’s, and I have a few minutes to touch base with you.”
“I’m in contact with the team over there,” he said. “I’ll help however I can. They know what we’ve discussed, and obviously, they know where to find you.”
“Thank you. Have you learned anything new about Kat, Wayne, or the apartment they were in when we found them?”
“Actually, it’s a condo that’s been vacant for a long time. Squatters had taken it over.”
“So no one legitimate was living there?”
“No. Only druggies.”
“Why didn’t anyone notice? Who’s the owner?”
“The building is owned by some real estate hotshot, Benjamin Vaughn. The condo is peanuts to him, and he lost track of it. He said he’ll clean it out and lock it up tight now that we’re done processing it. He was apologetic, and he’s got a tight alibi, in case you’re wondering.”
“And there’s no video from the building or somewhere nearby?”
“No. The building’s low-rent, as you saw. Our best guess is that you were taken out the back, between two buildings. We’re still looking for witnesses and collecting video from nearby businesses.”
“And no updates on my phone or Kenna’s yet either?”
“Not yet. Did you talk with Corey about Jared?”
“I did. She says she only knew of him and that she had no idea about any link to Daddy B. Any news on that front with you?”
“Not much. We’ve got a strong case against him, and…Hold on, Nicki.” There was complete silence, so I assumed I was actually on hold. “Hey, let me call you back. Hang in there, okay?”
I’d sure try.
My next call was to Joey. Maybe he knew about Kat’s fake ID and visits to Corey. At this point, no detail was too small. I asked about the ID first, and his long pause said a lot.
“Joey, I’m trying to help Kat, not get her in trouble,” I said, breaking the silence.
“Uh-huh.”
“I was eighteen once. Everyone makes mistakes, and I remember how hard it is to come clean. But Kat needs your help, and this case has gotten more serious. Were you involved with getting a fake ID somehow?”
“Look, I’m not saying who, but a group of people got fake IDs. It’s a better deal if you order a lot at once.”
“Through a website?”
“Yeah. Making one yourself can get you in even more trouble, I think. It’s forgery or something.”
“How did they turn out, in terms of quality?”
“Good, I guess. They work at bars and stuff, but one of my friends got hers taken away by a bouncer.”
“Do you know why?”
“Probably because she looks super young. But get this, another bouncer went out to the parking lot and said he’d give it back to her for fifty bucks.”
“So they scammed her?”
He laughed.
“Yeah. After she tried to scam them. She didn’t care. She got to go home with her ID.”
“How did Kat afford one? I thought she didn’t have much money.”
“I’m not saying what happened or didn’t happen, but Kat’s a lot of fun, and she gets free stuff because of it. People buy her stuff just to have her around.”
“Like what?”
“I don’t know. Like if she’s seeing a guy, he’ll buy her dinner or movie tickets or clothes or whatever.”
“By ‘seeing,’ do you mean sleeping with?”
“Not necessarily. I bought her stuff too. Just food and concert tickets and junk. I’d rather have her there and pay than not have her there at all. Listen, I gotta go soon. I work tonight.”
“No problem. One more question. Did Kat ever mention plans to visit her biological parents in jail or anywhere else?”
“She joked about seeing them someday and telling them off. I told her not to. They might start bugging her instead of the other way around. I said she should move on and do her own thing, you know? Don’t mess with trouble.”
“Do you think she did it anyway?”
“Nah. I doubt it. Everyone would have tried to stop her.”
For Kat, that might have been just the motivation she needed.
While I’d been talking with Joey, Dean had answered a call from Andy.
“Here’s the latest,” Dean told me. “In priority order. Kenna is still missing. But she did get a new phone, which means it can be traced.”
“Thank God. Do they know where she got it?”
“I don’t know. It was registered to their existing account.”
“Okay. Good. What else?”
“The combination of the ketamine and her concussion could definitely be affecting her judgment, so everyone is taking this really seriously. Police are on the lookout for her all over King County.”
I practically wilted with relief.
“Tell me more. What about the Big Tim thing and Andy’s work file?”
“The police have been looking for Big Tim for months, so if Kenna finds him, she’s ahead of everyone else. And as far as Andy’s work, he’s sharing as much of it as he can. He wants you to go over there after we finish talking. He said he’s going to explain more. I’ll stay with the kids.”
“Are you sure?”
“Of course. Just keep me updated, okay?”
I nodded and picked up the phone to dial my mom. If she could come over, Dean could help me, which would mean a lot.
“I’m okay,” I said when she picked up. “But I need your help. It’s an emergency. Kenna is sick, and she’s in trouble. Would you be able to come over and spend the night? The kids are already asleep.”
She agreed without asking too many questions, and I was thankful.
I looked at Dean and thanked him too.
I also apologized and told him he could be honest with my mom. Kenna was missing, and I’d gotten her into this disaster.
“Stop it,” he said. “Now go.”
I’d never run across the yard to Kenna’s so quickly, and with our history, that was saying a lot.
The police cars were gone, and I didn’t bother to knock on the door. I just let myself in.
“Andy?” I said quietly, not wanting to wake Sky.
“In here,” he said from his office down the hall.
I knew he was angry with me, but my instinct was to hug him. When I saw his face, however, I held back. His glare was hard, and I didn’t think anything I’d say could soften his outlook, unless I said, “I found Kenna, and she’s fine.”
“I’m sorry, Andy. I’m just here to help. Can you show me what Kenna was looking at?”
“I shouldn’t,” he said icily. “Some of it’s confidential. But here’s what it was open to.”
I saw several screenshots from AJ’s Twitter feed, which certainly weren’t private.
“Can I scroll?” I asked, my finger hovering over the mouse wheel.
“Yeah. There are lots of p
ictures. I follow all the major players on Twitter, and when there’s a shot we might use, I save it.” I scrolled as he talked, inspecting each one carefully. There had to be a reason Kenna had stopped reading and taken off. “Some of these aren’t on AJ’s feed anymore, and I got them from other sites,” Andy explained. “Like that one.” He pointed to a photo of AJ drinking, his arm around a gorgeous brunette.
I studied the picture and its caption. AJ held a champagne bottle to his lips, a smirk creeping out from behind it, his hand resting precariously close to the brunette’s cleavage. The caption was simply, “#LoveRealEstate #GoodNight.”
“He’d just gotten out of rehab last winter,” Andy explained. “No surprise he deleted the tweet, but not before fans got ahold of it.”
“So he’d been struggling with addiction for a while?”
“His partying was legendary. I’m not sure when he actually lost control.”
“Was this a real estate party or something?”
“Probably. He owns a bunch of properties.”
I pulled the photo’s corner to enlarge it. AJ was clearly at some sort of gala, since all the guests were dressed to the nines. In the crowd was an older, bald man in a fitted, dark suit. He was gesturing toward AJ, appearing to give instructions to someone with a long, sleek, signature ponytail. Shawna. Randomly, it occurred to me that her stripper name should have been Rapunzel.
I looked at Andy. “I know that woman. And I know the man, but I can’t place him. Hang on.”
Who did I know that was balding? Wayne, but it wasn’t him. The tattoo shop owner? Not him either. He was too young. I searched my memory but couldn’t come up with anyone else. “Do you know who this party was for?”
Andy grabbed the mouse and opened a browser. He typed in the date of the tweet and “real estate party, King County, Virginia.” An announcement popped up for Ben Franklin Real Estate Holdings’ holiday party, a fundraiser for a children’s charity.
“Do you know anything about that company?” I asked. “And did you check your computer’s search history to see what Kenna researched?”
“Yes,” Andy said. “She didn’t do any searches, or else she cleared them.”
“I doubt she knows how to do that.”
“True.”
“What’s AJ’s full name?”
“Alan James Franklin.”
I opened a new tab and searched a real estate database, typing as quickly as I could. As soon as the results popped up, so did I.
AJ Franklin and Benjamin Vaughn co-owned Ben Franklin Real Estate Holdings, which owned the building where Kenna and I had been assaulted.
If Brunelli knew this, it should have raised a red flag. But still, he didn’t know what I suspected, and what Kenna probably did too. One of those men was selling a lot more than real estate, and the other had been a frequent buyer.
Twenty-Five
“I have to go,” I told Andy.
I wasn’t sure how to explain so much so quickly, and there was almost no time. “I’m going to XXXTC, and the police have to get there too. They also have to check that apartment building where we got knocked out. The whole building. And any other buildings Ben Franklin Holdings owns. Any properties AJ or Benjamin Vaughn own, actually.”
“What? Why?”
“It’s complicated, but I think one of them is—or was—Big Tim.”
“How can you possibly know that?”
I closed my eyes momentarily, gathering my thoughts, and then I pointed at Shawna’s photo.
“I don’t know for sure. But that woman, Shawna Everett, works at XXXTC. And that man…” I squinted to take one more look at him, seeing what Kenna must have realized. “He’s definitely a customer. But he looks completely different at XXXTC, other than the gold hoop. Run-down, sleazy, gray hair, which I guess is a wig. But rich. Very rich. In that tweet, he looks put together and in charge. Like he’s telling Shawna what to do. Don’t you think?”
“Yes,” Andy said hesitantly. Trusting me was probably the last thing he wanted to do.
“I’m guessing he’s Benjamin Vaughn, a.k.a. Big Tim. But at the club, he’s just Benny, and he’s disgusting. No matter what, Benny isn’t who he seems.”
I did a quick search for images of Benjamin Vaughn, and nothing related came up, which convinced me even more. Big Tim seemed like the kind of person who’d avoid having his photo taken.
“So you think Kenna saw this, recognized him, and went to confront him?”
“That’s all I can think of. This would at least make her suspicious.”
Andy’s phone rang, and I waited long enough to hear him say, “You can’t trace her phone? Dammit!”
I wrote him a note while he kept talking.
Update the police, and I’ll call Brunelli and Dean. I’m going to XXXTC.
I also had another idea, and I didn’t want an argument from anyone, so I ran out to my van and pulled forward a few blocks. Then I texted Dean.
Have to go to XXXTC. Track my phone so you know where I am. I’ll call you on the way and tell you everything. But I have to make another call first.
The pet shop had closed for the day, but I had the owner’s email address and cell phone number, so I used them both.
“The case you helped with has taken a turn for the worse,” I said to her voicemail. “I need you to reach out to Kat Burke, and I’m not exaggerating when I say it’s a matter of life or death.”
She called me back immediately.
“I’m going way out on a limb for you,” she said.
“I know. I can’t thank you enough. Please just relay my message to Kat, that it’s a matter of life and death, and that someone desperately needs her help. Then give her the number I’m calling from. Do you have it on your caller ID?”
“I do. Should I email her now?”
“Yes, please, from the store’s address. Just give her my number and email address. And put URGENT in all caps in the subject line.”
“Okay. I’ll call you back.”
“You don’t have to, unless she responds to your email. I don’t want to risk having two calls come in at once and missing one.”
“Okay.”
“Thank you so much.”
Instead of calling Dean, I texted him, and just when I’d started to compose an email to Brunelli, my phone rang. I hoped beyond hope it was Kat. Or Kenna.
“Nicki Valentine,” I said, rapid fire.
“It’s Kat. What’s the big emergency?”
Her voice was flat, and I wondered who was around. I needed to be specific yet vague, just in case our call could put her in danger.
“Kat, thank God. It’s Nicki Valentine from the pet shop.” Or from the day Kenna and I were abducted. “Is it a safe time for you to talk?”
“Yeah.”
“Okay. Please hear me out for a minute. You’re a good person, and I know you’ll do the right thing. I’ll spare you the details and just say that I need to know where Big Tim hides out, and I need to know fast. Someone could die if we don’t get there in time.”
“I don’t know, and that’s the truth. I don’t even know what he looks like.”
“Do you know anyone who could help?”
“I only know one person who’s seen him, and he’s not around.”
“Daddy B?”
“Right.”
That made sense. Both Brunelli and the tattoo artist, Tracy, had confirmed that Daddy B and Big Tim were connected.
“What about Wayne?”
“I don’t know. Maybe, since Daddy B got put away. But I’m not asking him.”
“I understand.” The last time I’d asked Wayne a question, the answer had been violence, and I couldn’t imagine what Kat had been through. “Do you have any idea where Big Tim meets people?”
“I can’t talk about this, really. It�
�s in walking distance of here, and that’s all I’m saying, okay? Daddy B walked his dog there. Now I gotta go.”
“Wait! Kat. Where are you?”
“Somewhere off Oak Vale Road. Don’t ask me the address. I’m not saying.”
“How long did it take for Daddy B to walk Buck there and back?”
“Actually, I know that. Twenty minutes. It was one of the only times I felt safe. And it’s the only time Buck was happy.”
“Why?”
“Big Tim fed him treats. Steak or something. It pissed Daddy B off, which was bad for me when he got home. He said neither of us had earned anything special.”
“That’s awful. Please, Kat, explain what happened to my friend and me when Wayne knocked us out. We know we were injected with something.”
I heard another phone ringing in the background, and it sounded like a cell phone.
“You’re fine, right? I have to go. Wayne could be back any second.”
“Why don’t you tell me where you are? I can send help for you right now.”
“I’ll take care of myself,” she said.
Then she hung up.
I spent thirty seconds texting Dean, who had asked why I was still in the neighborhood and when my mom might arrive. I told him about Kat and my disappointment that her phone number hadn’t shown up on Caller ID. I assured him Mom was on her way, and that I was about to be on mine. Then I made one more call.
“Joey, it’s Nicki. Sorry to call you again, but it’s an emergency.”
“An emergency? Did you find Kat?”
“I’m closer,” I said. “But I need some serious help.”
“What can I do?”
I filled him in and took off.
I met Joey at the shelter in darkness. He’d been cleaning cat cages, and a fluffy, gray kitten with white paws was waiting in a carrier to return to its pen.
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