The video showed Elise, bound to a chair in a rustic room. Her auburn hair was messy and an expression of fear moistened her eyes. Her voice was shaky as she pleaded with her husband to get the money or they would kill her.
“Someone will call you with instructions,” a scratchy, altered voice said from off camera before the video clip ended.
“That’s it?” Patrick snapped the phone shut.
“At least we know she’s alive,” Emily said.
“Can you forward that text to my phone?” Colin asked. “I’ll get the county lab techs to see if they can identify where she might be.”
“Looked like an abandoned house, or a cabin or something,” Emily suggested.
“Or a warehouse maybe,” Colin said. “It’s hard to say.”
“Maybe there was some background noise the lab can detect,” Isabel added. “The FBI has the most sophisticated equipment. Let me forward it to our lab tech.”
“Rather than arguing over who has the best lab equipment,” the husband growled, “why don’t you guys get out there and find my wife!”
“The whole law enforcement community is already at work on this. As we speak, Mr. Murphy,” Emily said, “the police techs are combing through your wife’s emails and phone logs hunting for anything that could help us, and the lab techs are processing everything from the crime scene last night, looking for clues.”
“And they’re tracking your wife’s credit cards and watching for a GPS signal from her cell phone if it is turned on,” Colin added.
“We’ve got the what and the why,” Isabel interjected, “but until there is anything pointing to her location, we don’t have the where to begin searching.”
Patrick slumped down onto a dining chair and ran a hand through his graying hair. “You’re right. I just feel so helpless, so out of control. That’s not something I’m used to.”
“Were you able to get the list of Elise’s jewelry?” Emily asked.
“Yeah, I got it from my insurance agent a little while ago,” Patrick replied. “I’ll need to go through it. She kept the really expensive stuff in a safe deposit box down at the bank.”
Chief Nelson strode up behind Colin and Emily. Tall and dark, he stood high above them. “Patrick, trust my detectives. They’ll get Elise back.”
Patrick nodded sadly.
“I’ve got to get going,” the Chief said. “I’ll be in touch.” He dipped his head toward Isabel, “Agent Martínez,” then headed out the door.
Colin’s phone beeped a text tone. It was from the police tech working on Elise’s emails and phone records. He wrote that he had found something they needed to see.
Chapter 4
After spending a couple of hours researching the list Patrick had provided with his potential enemies, Colin had come up with nothing, so he and Emily headed over to see the police tech who had texted him.
“Hey, Troy, what do you have for us?” Colin asked the tech as he and Emily walked into his workspace.
“It looks like Mrs. Murphy has a man friend.” Troy used air quotes to get his point across.
“Really?” Emily frowned. “What makes you say it like that?”
“I found a few emails and texts between her and a guy known as The Rock at netlink dot com. She’s crying on his shoulder about her husband.”
“Do you have a name?” Colin asked.
“Not yet, but it sounded like she knew him from the Serenity Health Club. I found some emails in her Outlook from that place offering specials, so maybe she’s a member there.”
“Maggie works at Serenity sometimes,” Emily pointed out. Her friend Maggie was a personal trainer, who had her own studio, but recently there were times she filled in at Serenity for a little extra cash. “I wonder if she knows him.”
“Can you come up with a name, Troy?” Colin asked.
“It’ll take some time, but I should have it for you a little later today.”
~*~
Colin and Emily stopped for a quick lunch at Rembrandt’s Coffee Shop, but before they finished eating, Troy called with a name to go with the email address.
“What have you got for me?” Colin asked.
“Jake Mitchell is the guy’s name.”
“Thanks, Troy.”
Colin hung up and grinned across the table at Emily, who was sitting there wringing her hands in anticipation. “We’ll have to pay a visit to this health club and talk to Mr. Mitchell.”
“Finally,” Emily moaned, “a lead.”
~*~
“We’d like to speak to Jake Mitchell.” Colin leaned toward the pretty young receptionist behind the counter at the upscale Serenity Health Club.
“Do you have an appointment?” she asked with a smile. She was toned and tanned with sparkling white teeth and sleek black hair.
“I’ve got this.” Colin flashed his gold badge. “Paradise Valley Police. Is Mr. Mitchell here?”
“Yes, but he’s with a client. If you have a seat over there,” she gestured toward a minimalist Scandinavian sofa against the wall, “I’ll let you know when he’s done.”
Emily stepped up beside Colin and laid an arm on the counter. “I’m sorry, Miss…”
“Mandy. My name is Mandy.”
“Yes, I’m sure it is.” Emily quirked an eyebrow as she eyed the young beauty. “You must have missed the part about us being with the police department. We need to speak with Mr. Mitchell. Now.”
“I heard you, but that’s not possible. Once he begins a private lesson, he’s not to be disturbed for any reason, except an emergency, of course. Sorry, it’s company policy.”
“Mandy, listen, you seem like a nice girl, but we’re not playing games here,” Emily said. “Shall we arrest you for obstructing our investigation?”
Surprise flashed in the girl’s dark eyes.
“Now, which room is he in?” Emily demanded.
Mandy rolled her eyes and released an exasperated sigh, then looked down at a schedule on the desk. “You’re going to get me in trouble.” She ran her finger down the spreadsheet. “Looks like he’s in the Pilates room with Mrs. Abromeit.”
“Which way?” Emily asked.
“It’s down that way.” Mandy pointed to the hallway to the right. “But you can’t just bust in there.”
Emily and Colin turned and headed toward the hall. “Don’t worry,” Emily said over her shoulder, “we’ll knock first.”
When they reached the door marked Pilates, Colin knocked lightly before opening it.
“Hey, guys. This room is already taken,” the trainer said, holding a woman’s legs in an awkward position as she worked to pull her upper body up to them.
She was dressed in lavender workout leotards with a matching sweat band, on which she was sweating profusely. She darted a glance toward the door as Colin and Emily stepped in.
“Jake Mitchell?” Emily asked.
“Yes,” he replied, not taking his eyes off the woman as he counted her reps.
Jake appeared to be in his early thirties, good-looking in a rugged sort of way, with deep brown hair and soft brown eyes. Not as tall as Colin, maybe six one or two, and his snugly-fitted black T-shirt accentuated his well-built physique.
“Paradise Valley Police,” Colin announced. “We need to speak with you.”
“About what?” Jake continued to work with the woman in lavender.
“Not in front of your client,” Colin said.
“Sure, just give me a minute.” Jake helped the woman up off the mat and walked her to the door. “Sorry we need to cut this session short, Mrs. Abromeit,” he said to the woman as he walked her out the door. In the next moment, he took off, jetting down the hallway.
“He’s running!” Emily yelled.
Colin was first through the door, chasing him down the hallway.
“I’ll get the car,” Emily hollered, rushing in the opposite direction.
Colin pursued Jake through a maze of doors and rooms, jumping over chairs and equipment that Jake pu
lled down into Colin’s path, managing to keep just out of reach. Jake burst through the door of the supply room, racing toward the open roll-up door at the other end. Colin charged after him, finally blasting through the loading door, out into the sunlight. He didn’t let up, staying hot on Jake’s heels.
~*~
Emily raced the car around the corner just as Colin was about the tackle the man. She squealed to a stop in front of Jake, sending him bouncing off the front fender. Colin grabbed him by his shirt and yanked him to his feet, pinning him against the car door with his forearm.
Emily jumped out and dashed around the front of the car.
“Where’s Elise Murphy?” Colin demanded, breathing hard.
“Who?” Jake asked, also sucking wind.
Emily narrowed her eyes in scrutiny. Was he really surprised or just pretending?
“Don’t play dumb with us,” Emily said. “We know about your secret relationship with Mrs. Murphy. Where is she? What have you done with her?”
“What secret relationship? What are you talking about?”
Colin pressed his arm down on Jake and gave a little thrust. “I think you know exactly what we’re talking about.”
“Get off me!” Jake grunted under the pressure. “What’s this all about?”
“Elise Murphy is missing.” Emily eyed him for some kind of tell that he knew more than he was letting on.
“Elise is missing?”
“Not just missing. Taken,” Colin growled.
“Oh, man. And you think I had something to do with it?”
“That’s right,” Emily replied.
“Well, I didn’t.”
“Then why’d you run?” Colin’s breathing was beginning to calm.
“My ex-wife.”
“What does she have to do with it?” Colin asked.
“Come on,” Jake moaned. “Can you get off of me now?”
Colin let go of Jake’s shirt and released his arm from the man’s chest, but he stayed close, staring him in the eyes. “What about your ex-wife?”
“I owe back child support and she said she was going to sick the cops on me. I thought that was why you were here.”
“Likely story,” Colin muttered.
“It’s true. Check it out.”
“Oh, we will,” Emily promised.
“Elise is really missing?” Jake asked. “Since when?”
He did seem genuinely surprised by the news. “Since sometime yesterday,” Emily said. It had to have been sometime after she had been with Elise that morning, planning the wedding.
“When’s the last time you saw her?” Colin questioned.
“Let’s see.” Jake lifted his gaze to the sky, as if he was giving it some thought. “Oh, I don’t know, a couple of days ago, I think. I did a workout with her at her house on Monday.”
“Not since then?” Emily asked. “You’re sure?”
“Oh, I almost forgot. I did stop by for a little while on Tuesday evening.”
“You do know she’s married, don’t you?” Emily fixed her gaze on him.
“Yeah, I know. But what we have, it’s not serious. She invited me over to talk, said her husband was out of town and she was lonely, asked if I could drop by.”
“So you went by just to talk with her?” Colin looked skeptical.
“Yeah. Her husband isn’t very attentive to her and she needed some masculine attention, if you know what I mean. So we talked for a while and one thing led to another. You know how it is.”
Emily crossed her arms and glared at him.
“Hey, what can I say? She’s a beautiful woman.”
“She talked to you about her marriage?” Emily raised an eyebrow. The police tech had said Elise cried on Jake’s shoulder about her husband in her emails, but was there more to it?
“Some,” Jake nodded. “She was pretty unhappy. I told her that if he didn’t appreciate her, she should leave him.”
“What did she say to that?” Colin asked.
“That she couldn’t—it wouldn’t be good for his business. She was afraid that if she left, he would track her down and drag her back. He has money, well connected, you know.”
“Maybe he would go after her because he loves her.” Emily was thinking about how distraught Patrick Murphy had seemed. “Did you ever think of that?”
“Could be, I guess, but it didn’t sound like Elise saw it that way.”
Colin took a small step back from Jake. “So, where were you the rest of yesterday?”
“After the yoga class, I went home. I wasn’t feeling well. I had Mandy try to find other trainers to cover my appointments.”
“Hmm, pretty convenient,” Colin said.
“Hey, I even stopped in at one of those Doc-in-the-Boxes to see if I’d caught anything,” Jake said.
“We’ll check it out,” Colin said. “Which one was it?”
Jake pulled his wallet from his back pocket, tugged a business card from it, then he handed it to Colin. “Here, that’s the doc I saw. Go ahead, check it out. I would never hurt Elise. Never.”
“And what about today?” Emily asked.
“I’ve been here with clients—one every hour. You can check my schedule with Mandy.”
“You can count on that,” Emily said.
“You’re looking in the wrong place, Detectives.”
Emily moved in closer. “Where should we be looking, Jake?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know,” he backed up a step, “but not at me.”
~*~
After checking his schedule with Mandy, Colin and Emily left Jake at the health club. Although he was their prime suspect at the moment, they didn’t have enough to take him in, but that didn’t mean they were finished with him—not by a long shot. They were going to dig deeper into the guy—scour his financials, his background, confirm his whereabouts, and keep a close eye on him.
Colin phoned Ernie and asked him to pull everything he could find on this Jake Mitchell character and get back to him. Then they headed back to the Murphy apartment to see if there were any new developments. Having received no word from the tech specialist monitoring Patrick Murphy’s incoming calls, Colin and Emily assumed the kidnapper had not made contact again.
When they pulled up to the building, Emily commented on a long black limousine and a couple of black SUVs that were parked, along with the two Sheriff’s cars and Paradise Valley Police cruiser, around the circular driveway in front of the complex. “I wonder which friend in high places is here now.”
“Probably the Governor,” Colin joked.
They took the elevator up and Colin knocked on the front door. Ernie let them in.
“Hey, Ernie.” Colin patted his shoulder as he entered.
“I’ve got the background info you asked for on that Jake Mitchell. Let me go get it for you. I set up a little office for myself in the kitchen.”
“Thanks, Ernie.” Colin and Emily went straight to the dining area.
“Anything new?” Colin asked the electronics tech from the county sheriff’s department.
“We’re still waiting.”
Colin looked across the expansive open space and into the living room, seeing Isabel and a couple of men in dark suits seated on the sofas. “Where’s Mr. Murphy?”
“In the study,” the tech said.
“There’s a study in this apartment?” Emily looked impressed. “Who’s he with?” she asked.
“You don’t know?” The tech chuckled. “The Governor.”
Colin exchanged a smirk with Emily before he stepped into the foyer, glancing down the hallway at the closed study door.
Isabel joined him in the entry. “Hello, Colin.”
“Hey, you’re back,” Emily said, walking over to the entry as well.
“My boss informed me the Governor was on his way over here,” Isabel said. “He figured if his highness was here, I’d better be too.”
The door to the study flew open and Patrick Murphy sprinted out, heading toward the long d
ining table, holding his ringing phone. The Governor strode behind him.
“Everybody quiet!” the tech yelled and the rooms instantly went silent. Then he pointed to Mr. Murphy to answer the call.
“This is Patrick Murphy.”
Colin stepped close to the phone. Patrick angled it away from his ear so Colin was able to lean in and listen.
The caller’s voice was distorted by a synthesizer again, but the instructions were clear. “Bring the money, small unmarked bills, in a green duffle bag and place it in a trash bin at the corner of Fifth and Main Streets in downtown Boise, at noon tomorrow. And there had better not be any cops there.”
“There won’t be,” Patrick promised, eyeing Colin.
“If the money is short, I will kill your wife. If there is an exploding blue ink pack in the bag, I will kill her. If I spot any police, I will kill her. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, I understand,” Patrick said. “Can I please talk to my wife? I need to know she’s okay.”
“Don’t worry about her,” the caller said. “Worry about getting the two million dollars and delivering it on time.”
The phone line went dead. Patrick slowly lowered his cell and stuck it in his pocket. Despair and uncertainty tugged the corners of his mouth downward. His eyes were red and dark shadows had begun to form below them.
“Got it!” the tech yelled, giving Patrick’s expression a lift. “Looks like the phone signal is emanating from a rest area on Highway 21, just north of town.”
“We’ll check it out, Mr. Murphy.” Emily placed a reassuring hand on the mister’s shoulder. Then she and Colin headed toward the front door.
“I’m coming with you,” Isabel said, and the three of them dashed out.
“What about the Governor?” Emily asked, stepping into the elevator.
“With all those security vehicles filling the driveway,” Isabel said, “I think there are plenty of others here to take care of him.”
They exited the building, ran to Colin’s vehicle, and sped off. He stayed in phone contact with the tech who guided them as they raced toward the location of the GPS signal.
“Let’s just pray we find this guy and that Elise is okay,” Emily said, as they flew through town.
Colin was still on the phone as he careened through the streets, lights flashing and siren blaring. “Has the signal moved?” he asked the tech.
The Betrayal of Lies Page 4