by Lynn Story
Mac shot up off the desk. “Kay? Why didn’t you say so?”
I had forgotten in the heat of it all that he had met her. “Yeah, she didn’t show up for work this morning and her secretary got worried. She tried calling her and got no response. The chauffeur went by the house…”
“Eddie?”
I was curious to know how he knew Eddie, but I let it go for the moment. “Yeah, when he didn’t find her home and the car was still in the garage, the secretary called me.”
“Well, I’d have to say your hunch is probably right.” Mac rubbed the stubble on his chin absently.
“Her secretary called the local police and it’s their case, like I said I called in a favor so it’s sort of a joint investigation.
Mac nodded. “Have you contacted her grandfather?” Mac asked.
“No, I really don’t know what to say. I haven’t any evidence of foul play.”
“You said you had a hunch, what is it?” Mac pressed.
“Well, according to the staff, the company is in the middle of fighting a takeover. Some larger company has offered to buy out Port City and Kay refused. She had made a move to take the company from being traded publicly to private as a means of fighting the buyout and I think they took her to stop that from happening.”
“That is a good hunch. It is also possible this has something to do with her grandfather. A means to get at him.”
“Why would someone do that?” I wondered turning to Mac.
“Because her grandfather is the Secretary of the Navy?”
I looked at Mac dumbfounded.
“She didn’t tell you, did she?” he deduced.
“No.” I said hoarsely. I was thinking about what Logan had tried to tell me before when he researched Kay online and I stopped him. “Why wouldn’t she tell me?”
Mac shrugged. “I only know because he’s my boss. I don’t think she tells people a lot about herself. Have you two known each other long?” he asked.
“Yes and no.” I said not sure I wanted to get into the details.
“Well, let’s not dismiss your hunch because that is the simplest answer and the closest to home. I’m going to call SecNav and see if he’s had any threats lately that might indicate someone would take his granddaughter. I’ll also have my tech guys check the chatter and see if they come up with anything.”
“Okay, sounds good. I left my forensic team at her house and I need to check in with them and see if they left any evidence behind.”
Mac looked around. “Are all these phones secure?”
“Use mine.” I pointed to my desk.
“Thanks.”
“Andria, it’s Ethan. Did you find anything at the house?”
“Not much. Nothing I can identify yet anyway.”
“No prints?”
“Plenty of prints, I’m just weeding through them to see who they belong to. So far, I’ve identified Kay Dandridge, Eddie Green, and you.”
“Well, keep trying.” I ran my hand through my hair. “What about traffic cameras, phone calls, anything?”
“It takes time Ethan, you know that. We are working as fast as we can.”
“I know. Thank you. Are the local police any help?”
“Yeah, they are actually over at traffic ops looking at the traffic cameras for any sign of Kay Dandridge and the techs here are going through the footage on the neighbor’s cameras.”
“Okay, thanks.”
I clicked off and called another number. “Greg, it’s Ethan Craddock.”
“I’ve been expecting your call, Andria told me what was going on,” Adam replied.
“It’s a high priority. We have a co-worker of Kay Dandridge who could be at risk at a safe house. Is there a way he can work on his laptop and phone from there without someone being after to track his location?”
“Sure, the laptop is easy. The phone might be a little harder though, if someone is really trying to find him,” He explained.
“Okay, let’s say he really needs his phone.”
“I suppose I could port his number over to one of our phones that can’t be tracked and let him work that way.”
“Okay, let me know when you get a chance to get someone to set that up over at the safe house. Call before you go in, Logan is there,” I warned him.
“Got it.” He clicked off.
I went to one of the desk phones rather than using my cell to call Logan. “Logan, Ethan. In a little while Adam or someone from IT is going to come out there to switch out Michael’s phone and work on his laptop so he can work from there without being traced. Try not to shoot them when they show up.”
“You tell them to call first?”
“I did.”
“Then I’ll do my best.”
I laughed. “How’s Michael doing?”
“He isn’t particularly happy with the arrangement, but I think he is more scared than pissed so he is living with it.”
I smiled. I’m sure any complaints Michael had fell on deaf ears with Logan.
“Okay, I’ll try to come by later. I’ll have Jared relieve you.”
“Okay.” And he was gone.
Mac hung up the phone his face grim.
“Everything alright?” I asked.
“Well, SecNav wasn’t all that thrilled to hear his only granddaughter was missing, especially since she was snatched out from under my nose.” I didn’t make that connection, but I let it go.
“It’s not your fault,” I assured him, thinking she was snatched more from under my nose than his.
“It will be if we don’t get her back in one piece.” He shook his head.
“We will,” I said, more for my benefit than his. I had to believe that we would. I had been operating on autopilot all day, doing what I knew had to be done. In a sense treating it like any other kidnapping case because if I didn’t the cold fear that was sitting in the pit my stomach was going to take over and I couldn’t let that happen. I couldn’t let anyone else run this investigation. I had to be the one to find Kay.
Jared came into the kitchen where I was pouring myself a coffee preparing for an all-nighter. “Boss, I’m getting ready to head over to the safe house and relieve Logan.”
“Okay, are you taking anyone with you?” I asked.
“Yeah, one of the locals is going with me.”
“Okay, just be careful. We don’t have any leads or suspects yet, so we don’t know who or what we are looking for,” I cautioned him.
“Got it.”
I handed Mac a mug of coffee.
“So, did SecNav give you any leads that might help?” I asked trying not to think about how much I was learning about Kay from this case.
“No, he said he hasn’t had any new threats. Just the same old standing ones,” he explained.
“Any of those standing threats credible?”
“Only if someone was smart enough to know they are related. This is one of the reasons they have taken great pains to not let anyone know the relationship.” Mac explained.
I nodded, it seemed extreme, but I could almost understand.
“She saw him recently, so could anyone have seen her with him?” I was trying to cover all the basis.
“No, she came to his house, which I assure you is extremely secure.”
“And that is where you met her?” I asked trying to sound casual and failing miserably.
“Yeah, SecNav has a weekly poker game. Me and a few others go over and lose a few bucks. This week he called us ahead of time and said his granddaughter was visiting and did we mind if she sat in on a few hands.”
“Did anyone have a problem with that?” I tried to stay on track with the case.
“No, you play at his house, his rules.”
“So how did the game go?” I was curious.
“Well, she won.” Why am I know surprised?
“Anyone a sore loser?”
“No, the others folded before it got too risky and it was just down to her and one other person.”
“Who?” I asked.
“Me.”
“How much did she take you for?”
“Five hundred.”
“Ouch.”
“Not really. She returned it.”
“Returned it?”
“Yeah, she said she was playing for fun and didn’t want my money. I tried arguing which didn’t go over so well. So, in the end I took my money back.”
“And that was it?”
“We sat and talked for a while and had a drink. That was pretty much it. I haven’t seen her since she was in DC.” He told me.
I felt pangs of jealousy in the pit of my stomach and I didn’t like it. It tasted bitter and I had no reason to doubt Mac at his word. But I felt like he was holding something back. He had a good poker face, but I got the impression there was more to him and Kay than he was telling me. If I was right, it would explain her reaction the night she dropped off the pizza and saw Mac here.
Chapter Twenty-Four
Kay
I thought I was having a dream induced by too much scotch and too many B movies, but when my head hit the floor with a thud, I realized it wasn’t a bad dream at all. I tried to focus, but my vision was blurry. I’d never had this problem with scotch before and I hadn’t really had that much. I could hear sounds like maybe someone talking but it sounded distance and garbled. I tried to move but I felt like I was moving running in mud, my limbs were sluggish and slow to respond. My brain was screaming loud and clear. Get up! Move! I tried with all my strength to do just that. Thoughts of Ethan filled my mind. Why was it in a moment of crisis I always thought of Ethan?
Things began to fade in and out and I felt like I was moving effortlessly like I was flying or something. I opened my eyes, and everything was dark around me. I couldn’t see anything. I concentrated on listening. I could hear a hum of some kind. I shook my head to try and clear it. Big mistake. The world began to spin in the wrong direction and then nothing.
I came to again and this time there was some light and I could at least see my hand in front of my face. I could hear voices shouting but I couldn’t understand the words. My head felt fuzzy and I managed to sit up. My hands and feet were not bound, that was a good sign.
I sat still for a moment and looked around trying to let my eyes adjust and try to figure out where I was. I was thinking more clearly this time and it was obvious I had been drugged and brought to wherever this place was. I put my hands on the floor and it felt like metal. I looked up and the light that was coming in was through little round holes high above my reach. I stood up and touch the wall behind me and it felt like corrugated metal. I felt around some more. I was in a box. A metal box. Great. I felt around and found what had to be the door and pushed just in case this was some mistake and I had crawled in here for shelter or something. No. The door was locked or jammed and either way I wasn’t getting out. I started to yell for help. No response. The voices had disappeared, and I could hear a distant hum again but this time it was different. There was another noise too, but I couldn’t quite place it. I put my ear to the seam of the door and listened. It sounded like water slapping up against a bulkhead or something. I began pounding on the walls. First the back, then the sides, and finally the front. I kicked and screamed and waited. Nothing.
I sat down to try to think about the situation and figure a way out of this mess.
Okay, clearly someone had put me in here, so who and why?
I stood up and pounded on the walls some more and I shouted upward towards the holes near the ceiling.
I had no idea how long I had been out or how long I had been in this box. Surely someone would have noticed I was missing by now. I had no phone. That would have been too good to be true. If I had wondered in here on my own, Again, I tried to think who or why someone would do this.
I thought about my grandfather and wondered if I was leverage for someone who wanted something from him. He received threats all the time. Maybe, someone had finally figured out the connection between us and kidnapped me. I hoped my grandfather was refusing to comply with whatever demands some terrorist group or psycho individual was asking of him.
I prayed that he was okay and unharmed.
Then I thought about anyone who might want to hurt me and the only thing I could think of was the buyout proposal; was InDesign so desperate to have my company that they would kidnap me? Would they demand that the shareholders turn over their shares to them? That wouldn’t help. I still had more shares than the rest of them. Besides, basic greed would solve that problem they would offer them more than I did for the tender offer and get control of forty-eight percent of the company. What they needed were my shares. Maybe they planned to kill me thinking that would be the best way to get the company. Maybe, they thought with me out of the way Michael would cave in. Even Michael didn’t have the authority over my shares. He didn’t have the authority to sign for me in such matters. He did have power of attorney but not over everything. That had to be it. InDesign must think that if they got rid of me then they would take over the company more easily. They hadn’t done their research well enough because it wasn’t as simple as that. Even in the event of my untimely demise, it wouldn’t make taking control of the company any easier. I hadn’t been ready to die in Afghanistan and I wasn’t ready now. I just needed to figure this out. I began searching the ridges and cracks for anything sharp I could use to on the screws I found in the wall. Maybe it would help weaken the doors or something. I sat listening to the sounds of the water. I was clearly out in the bay maybe even the ocean. I could smell salt air, but I didn’t hear any gulls. I feared I may be too far offshore for anyone to see me and no idea where I might be drifting to. I was beginning to lose hope. I had no way to signal anyone and no way to know where I was or what was happening around me. I was starting to feel real panic in the pit of my stomach.
I sank down to the floor and closed my eyes. I tried not to think about all the things that could go wrong but in the back of my mind I knew I could very possibly starve to death in here or worse drown if I was hit with a big wave that capsized whatever this container was sitting on. I tried to refocus to think about something else. I concentrated on Ethan. I thought about his smile. How he was so gentle, and kind yet was a no-nonsense, take no shit kind of guy at the same time. I began to cry. I prayed Ethan would find me in time. I prayed that I hadn’t survived being blown up in the Middle East to come home and find Ethan all over again just to die before we ever really got to spend any time together. I started to examine my life. What had I accomplished? Not much. Sure, I took a few photos and shared the real story about war and its effect on soldiers and marines. I took over my family’s company, but I hadn’t been there long enough to do the things I wanted to do. My thoughts circled back around to my situation and I screamed for my own end, my own death and unfinished life.
Ethan
“Where are we?” I demanded walking into the bullpen.
All eyes lifted from computers, print outs and reports to stare at me. I know my voice had been harsh, but I was getting desperate. We had absolutely nothing to tell us where Kay may have been taken and by whom.
“I’ve been looking into InDesign with some help from Mac.” Stephanie started. “The man who made the offer to Port City and met with Michael and Kay was Todd Bannister.”
“Is he the head of the company?”
“More or less, yes. He’s the face of the company. InDesign itself is operated by a board, but as best I can tell, the names of the other board member are fake. InDesign seems to be a shell for something or someone else. I haven’t gotten that far into them yet.”
“What about closer to home, do they have anything like this linked to them in the past?”
Logan spoke up next. “Nothing that can be tied directly to them. They are smart and they cover their tracks very well. Four years ago, they tried to buy out another company and at first the company resisted but, before the deal could be settled either way, the owner of the company died in a ca
r crash.”
“Now that is interesting.” I felt hopeful.
“Yeah, there were no witnesses and the physical evidence led to a rental car, which was rented with a stolen credit card.” Logan looked just as frustrated as I was.
“Anything else?” I began to pace the room.
“A few years before that, they bought a company after the CEO died of a heart attack.” Logan looked down at his notes. “Nothing suspicious about the death according the coroner’s report and the local police. The company was poised to go public and it was predicted their stocks would skyrocket. InDesign bought them the next day and promoted the second in command and the company rebounded nicely. InDesign sold the company a year later and made a huge profit.”
“Convenient.” I said.
“Yes, but nothing to prove that it was anything more than a lucky break for InDesign.”
“Was Todd Bannister with the firm then?”
“Yes, he was.”
“Okay, so if they follow the same MO, then they aren’t going to outright kill Kay, they are going to make it look like an accident of some kind. So, we need to be on the lookout for any Jane Doe’s that show up at hospitals or morgues and trace this guy Todd Bannister for the last seventy-two hours. Who has he talked to? Where did he eat, where did he sleep?”
“We aren’t going to be able to get any warrants based on the information Logan just gave us.” Jared pointed out.
“That’s true, but you don’t need a warrant to find him and follow him on traffic cameras.” I stated what I felt was the obvious. Jared nodded and got to work. “Also, ping his cell phone see if we can tell where he is or was. No phone records, just location.”
Mac and I were debating the merits of trying to get IRS records on InDesign or Todd Bannister himself when Jared called out.
“Boss, got something!”
“Bannister was at one of the industrial parks along the water.”
“What was he doing?”
“I don’t know yet but it’s in our time window.”
“Okay, you stay here keep digging, Mac, Logan.” I said heading for the door.