by Ty Patterson
The two cops were the leads on those cases and got credit for the closures. Their careers received major boosts from the media fall out; rapid promotions followed and the two became celebrities in their own right.
Pizaka had published a couple of books, had a rapidly growing public profile, and was actively seeking movie deals. Chang was more low profile and was content for his partner to hog the limelight.
The two presented themselves differently; Pizaka dressed sharply, his black hair perfectly groomed, while Chang wore a perennial sleepy, rumpled look.
Despite their appearances and differing appetite for publicity, the two worked well together and were two of the best detectives in the NYPD.
‘Why them?’ Zeb flicked a glance sideways at Meghan.
‘They are on the case. Regina called the Commissioner when Beth was attacked.’
‘The Commissioner didn’t have anyone else?’ Beth groaned from behind.
‘They are good cops,’ Zeb replied mildly as he steered their ride to One Police Plaza, the NYPD headquarters, and headed to the parking lot.
He exited and tossed the keys in a silvery arc to Meghan.
She caught them one handed and frowned at him. ‘You aren’t joining us?’
‘Nope. I’ll get in the way. I will be at the VA.’
She nodded in understanding. Pizaka didn’t like Zeb; in fact he didn’t like any of them. He regarded them as vigilantes; however it was Zeb for who he reserved his biting sarcasm. That Zeb didn’t respond, riled him even more.
Chang met them, looking as if he had just woken up and had tossed on a wrinkled cream colored suit. His short hair bristled and he walked languidly till he met the twins.
Then he burst into a trot, a wide smile on his face, and hugged the twins tight. ‘You ladies are becoming strangers.’
‘You don’t need us anymore, Chang. You’re getting better at your job,’ Meghan deadpanned.
Chang led them up an elevator and then to an office in which a well-dressed man awaited. Dressed in a tan suit whose edges could slice through butter, shades that reflected light, hair perfectly groomed, Pizaka looked a model. Or a Hollywood star.
Pizaka nodded at them and didn’t offer to shake hands. He looked behind the twins’ shoulders.
‘Zeb isn’t coming. He said you intimidate him,’ Meghan read his glance.
Chang sighed when Pizaka continued looking behind them. ‘Where are the others? You know how he is. He likes to know who else he has to work with.’
‘Bear and Chloe are in Indonesia, on vacation. Bwana and Roger are somewhere in Chile. They are on vacation too. Broker is with his girlfriend, in Washington D.C.’
‘Carter isn’t on vacation?’ Pizaka spoke for the first time.
‘The last time he took a vacation, he came across us. That was enough for him,’ Beth cracked, drawing a chuckle from Chang.
Pizaka’s face didn’t change. Humor was for lesser mortals. Besides, smiling wrinkled one’s face. There were interviews to give, talk shows to go on, wrinkles weren’t good.
‘Why are you here?’
‘You know why, Pizaka. Regina Hunnicker. Close friend of the Commissioner’s wife. Rings a bell?’
Chang cut his tired eyes to his partner. ‘Can we cut through this?
‘They’re here as Hunnicker’s liaison. So what if they investigate on their own? Finding the girl is important.’
Pizaka straightened at his partner’s rebuke, went through the events outside the Columbus Avenue office and cut himself short when Meghan waved him on. They knew the events.
‘We interviewed Amy Kittrell. Didn’t get much there. Usual stuff about good marriage. No enemies. No reason for husband to kidnap daughter.’
‘We talked to Ms. Hunnicker too and the kids. She told us to stop wasting time and start investigating.’
‘A team is interviewing passersby, other offices, door men. So far, not one witness has come forward.’
Chang bent down to straighten a trouser leg; it stubbornly remained wrinkled. He gave up with a sigh. ‘Another team is looking at CCTV cameras. There aren’t many in that area. All airports, train stations, bus stations, have been alerted. Posters and flyers will go up in public places.’
‘We have a few in front of our office,’ Meghan corrected him. ‘We’ll check the feed as soon as we get back.’
Pizaka pulled out a single sheet of paper from a slim folder and handed it to them.
‘Josh Kittrell, from his employer. As you can imagine, he’s our prime suspect.’
Beth skimmed through the sheet quickly and passed it to Meghan.
There wasn’t much on the sheet; a single sentence on Kittrell and an entire paragraph on the firm. No photograph.
Kittrell was a partner in the law firm, in a division called Settlements. Nothing on the sheet revealed what the division did.
The law firm was the fifth largest in the country, had over two thousand employees, and worked with large corporations, most of them defense contractors.
Meghan handed the sheet back and with her next words, sucked the air out of the room.
‘Josh Kittrell has a history of hitting his wife.’
Chapter 5
Beth filled in the shocked silence that followed Meghan’s revelation as she briefed the two cops on what Maddie had told them.
‘Ms. Hunnicker knew about this all along?’ Pizaka asked, his face white.
‘Yeah. She brought Maddie to us today, to get her to tell us.’
Chang exchanged a silent look with his partner, excused himself and left the room. No one broke the silence in his absence and when he returned fifteen minutes later, his sleepy look had left him.
‘No complaints were filed by Amy Kittrell in the last five years. A couple of cops are calling the Baybush PD. We will know soon enough.’
‘What about hospitals?’ his partner reminded.
‘I have that covered. Another couple of cops are calling hospitals and clinics in the city. If Mrs. Kittrell was hurt or injured –’ Chang didn’t complete his sentence.
He went to a water cooler in the room, filled plastic cups and handed them around. ‘That child. Carrying that within herself. No one to speak to.’
He lowered himself heavily in a chair. ‘We have requested a meeting with Mayo and Kane. Will you ladies wish to come along?’
Meghan nodded, but before she could reply, Pizaka cut in. ‘The girl didn’t see anything. She just heard stuff. She could be mistaken.’
Meghan placed a calming hand on Beth’s shoulder before her sister could flare. ‘Yeah. That doesn’t mean we should discount it.’
‘No one is discounting anything.’ Chang’s soft voice was calming. ‘We will investigate it. If it’s true, there could be a motive for the husband to run away with his daughter.’
‘Right now, all we know for sure is that the daughter has been kidnapped and the husband is missing.’
Meghan turned her head and watched Beth for a long moment when Zeb, who had returned just as they exited One PP, was driving them back.
Her sister was watching the traffic silently, stony faced, her fists balled. She was still fuming at Pizaka’s insinuation.
Nothing more had been discussed with the cops. Chang had promised to get back to them as soon as he heard from the law firm. The twins, in turn, would share their CCTV feed with the NYPD.
Pizaka said he would look into how Maddie’s claim could be investigated.
‘Beth.’
‘BETH,’ she called louder when her sister didn’t look at her. ‘We will talk to Amy Kittrell, okay?’
Beth nodded, still not meeting her eyes, and resumed her silent watch on the city as it blurred past.
It was evening. Traffic was thick, loud, and angry. People were in a hurry to get to wherever they were headed. Cars cut in and out. Traffic snarled. Lights winked and high rises lit up.
‘Maddie could be anywhere.’ Beth’s eyes were bright with unshed tears when she finally looked at Meghan.
‘What must be her mom going through?’
Meghan was in the office early the next day. A coffee to start the day right, a tap on the keyboard to bring her screen to life, and the hunt started.
She glanced once at the clock on the wall. It had Mickey Mouse on its face; it was the one item Beth and she had brought from their home in Wyoming.
Not quite twenty-four hours, but close enough. Still no clue where she is or who has taken her.
She was querying the CCTV feed when Beth wandered in an hour later. Her sister mumbled a greeting, she returned it without raising her head.
There were four cameras at the front of the building which caught the street from various angles. There was a fifth camera mounted discreetly on a lamp pole on the opposite side.
There were several cameras inside the lobby and a couple inside the elevators.
Beth joined her and they watched the feeds in silence.
Relentless traffic. Then a figure emerging from the building. Beth. More figures. The rest of them.
The first figure raised a hand. A vehicle arrived, a cab. People clambered in. At the edge of the screen a figure appeared. Grew larger. Became a man.
He hurled Beth aside, grabbed Maddie and ran.
For a micro-second nothing happened.
Then figures emerged from the opposite end of the cab. Tiny figures clambered out from inside.
Another figure joined them. Zeb. There was pointing, gesticulating, and then Zeb bent and lifted Beth easily and carried her inside.
Gramma made calls, the cops arrived and at that point Meghan froze the feed.
She ran it a few more times, checked the other cameras, but realized with a sinking feeling that none of them had caught the assailant.
All they could see was a gray sweatshirt, a hoodie, gray track pants, and white sneakers.
The man’s face was indistinguishable. They could make out he was white, but that was the only feature they could spot.
Meghan rose, brewed herself another cup of coffee while Beth typed furiously. She returned, stood over Beth’s shoulder and watched as her sister commanded Werner to trace any Maddie related chatter on the internet. She attached several pictures of the girl to her commands.
Werner would sniff out social media posts and blogs. It would go to chat programs and look into emails. It talked to hundreds of databases all over the world. Secret databases guarded zealously by government agencies, and public repositories. Werner had access to them all.
Beth slid her chair back, rose, and stretched.
‘What now, sis?’
‘Let’s talk to Amy Kittrell.’ Meghan replied and when she turned to head out of the office, Zeb was there.
He led them out silently, down the elevator, to the SUV which roared and lunged forward as if it too could join the search.
Amy Kittrell wasn’t alone. Gramma was with her and the two women were sitting in silence when Meghan and Beth entered the Kittrell home.
Meghan didn’t wait for pleasantries. She caught Gramma’s eyes and signaled her to stay quiet and then pounced.
‘Maddie told us.’
‘About your husband hitting you.’
Chapter 6
Amy Kittrell reared back as if stung. Her wan face tightened and her skin suddenly looked like parchment.
Her mouth opened soundlessly and she didn’t seem to breathe.
‘What? What did you say? What did Maddie say?’ her voice trembled.
‘Maddie revealed everything. How your husband used to beat you. That one time he broke your shoulder.’
The mother shuddered, her eyes wide, her hands doing the twisting motion.
Gramma rose and brought her a glass of water. She grabbed it and drank it, heedless of the drops that spilled and ran down her chin.
‘It’s not true. Maddie doesn’t know anything.’ Her voice rose in a shout and she slammed the glass on a table.
‘Ma’am, why would your daughter lie?’
‘She didn’t. My girl never lied about anything. She misinterpreted.’
‘Josh never raised a hand to me. We were in… Oh my God.’ A hand cupped her mouth. ‘You think Josh took her because of that, don’t you?’
Her eyes looked accusingly at Meghan, then at Beth, and lastly at Gramma.
None of them responded.
Amy Kittrell took a deep breath. She rose, walked to the door, and held it open.
‘Get out.’
‘Get out of my house.’
The twins were in Gramma’s home half an hour later. They hadn’t spoken on the drive back and when Gramma ushered them in, Lizzie and Peaches had run up to them, questioning looks in their eyes.
‘We are searching, honey.’
‘The cops, us, everyone in the city are hunting for Maddie. We will find her.’ Meghan hugged Peaches tightly and released her when Gramma approached from the kitchen. She was carrying steaming mugs of coffee and a batch of freshly baked cookies, on a tray.
Beth bit into a cookie, savored it for a moment -- the world could be ending, however there was always time for a cookie -- and looked at Gramma. ‘We should have warned you, ma’am. We felt a shock tactic would work best.’
Gramma waved her apology away. ‘You think that might be the reason?’
‘We don’t know, ma’am.’ Meghan confessed. ‘If he was abusive toward her –’ she raised a calming hand at Beth’s protest.
‘I’m not saying he wasn’t. However we have to look at all possibilities.’
She returned to Gramma, ‘If all that’s true, then their marriage might be in trouble.’
‘Kittrell snapped for some reason and made away with his daughter.’
Something about the distraught mother’s behavior struck her. ‘Ma’am, you must have spoken to her several times since yesterday. Met her as well.’
‘How was she with you?’
Gramma was puzzled. Her brow furrowed and she replied slowly, thinking. ‘Upset.’ A slight smile crept on her face.
‘That’s an understatement. In shock. Falling to pieces. Unable to think or act.’
Beth got where Meghan was heading to. ‘She wasn’t furious with you?’
Gramma frowned. ‘No. Why would she be?’
‘Most moms would feel anger.’
‘They would feel betrayed, if their child was kidnapped while in someone else’s care.’
‘They would be accusatory. We have seen friends turn on friends. Families split apart.’
An understanding light came in Gramma’s eyes.
‘Dear God, what was going on in that home?’
Neither of the twins felt like having lunch; however Zeb made them stop at a café near their office and grab a bite.
Meghan and Beth took the opportunity to speak to the stores, restaurants, and coffee shops in the neighborhood. They handed out Maddie’s photographs which they had gotten from the police. They spoke to baristas and the regulars.
They turned up empty-handed.
In a city of eight million, no one saw anything. People lived in their private bubbles and thousands of them never broke out of theirs.
Their quiet desperation was broken once by Beth when she said she would get a bullhorn and ride around the city calling out Maddie’s name. Meghan rolled her eyes at that and shoved her in the direction of the next store.
It was late afternoon by the time they had finished canvassing stores and were climbing into their ride when Meghan’s phone rang.
‘Chang,’ she mouthed when she saw the number.
‘Yeah, super cop. Give me some good news.’
She listened and ended the call with a We’ll be there.
‘We have a meeting with Mayo and Kane.’
‘We left several messages for them and at last one of their partners returned our call,’ Chang told them when he and Pizaka greeted them outside the law firm’s offices.
The firm was housed in a modern, forty-floor high-rise in downtown Manhattan, a block away from Fre
edom Tower.
Chang had made an effort for the meeting. His jacket had fewer wrinkles. Pizaka looked as if he was going for a modeling shoot.
Chang led the way inside a cavernous lobby, past smiling security guards, and toward an elevator bank.
A well-dressed woman greeted them and took them to the seventeenth floor.
They waited for a few moments in a reception area and presently a tall man approached them.
He had a red tie over a crisp white shirt. The shirt was tucked into trousers whose edges rivaled Pizaka’s.
His smile was white, his blonde hair was smartly cut and his body language said, Trust me. I’m here to help you. At five grand an hour.
He shook their hands with a firm grip and introduced himself.
‘I am Josh Kittrell.’
Chapter 7
Meghan stared at him in shock. She was dimly aware that her mouth was hanging open and her companions were in a similar state of disbelief.
Chang was the first to recover.
‘You can’t be.’
A frown appeared and swiftly disappeared on the man’s face.
‘I most assuredly am, sir!’
Chang looked at Pizaka and then at the twins. ‘Maybe we should discuss this someplace else?’
The man pivoted on his heel and walked down a hallway toward his office. A few people greeted him on the way and looked curiously at those with him.
They call him Josh.
The man calling himself Josh Kittrell pushed opened the door to his office and ushered them into a room that was half the size of a tennis court.
A large wooden desk, burnished and polished to a rich shine, was at one end. Floor to ceiling picture windows brought the city inside the office.
The man gestured at several chairs, went to a side table and brought a silver salver on which was a carafe filled with coffee, and several cups.
Meghan took the seat opposite him, declined the offering, and watched him seat himself.