by Dale Mayer
“So, we still have no idea why they were taken or why the girls were left in that one room.”
“No,” Shane replied.
“I do find it interesting that Rosalina wasn’t gagged,” Gavin continued, “and that she’s the one who got out of her bindings. Whereas, the other sister was gagged and did not get free without her younger sister’s help.”
“Yes, but why?”
“Maybe Melinda went off on them,” Gavin suggested. “And they decided to shut her up with a gag.”
“And yet we haven’t had much time with Melinda,” Shane said. “But which one of the sisters would you want to shut up most if you were the bad guy?”
Gavin nodded toward the shower. “Her.”
“Exactly.” Shane said, “Interesting, isn’t it?”
“Do you think they wanted to see if she could get out?” Gavin asked.
Shane nodded with a one-arm shrug.
“It occurred to me too,” Gavin said. “But I don’t know why anybody would care. Any number of people could have gotten out of those bindings.”
“Right, unless somebody wanted to see her or her sister suffer. Are we back to the ex-husbands again?”
“Ah, maybe,” Gavin said, pulling out his phone and texting. “I’ll ask Lennox to have someone look into it now.”
“Good,” Shane said. “But we’ll also have to figure out where the parents are, and they seem to have disappeared off the face of the earth.”
“Well, they’ll be somewhere,” Gavin replied. “What I don’t want us to find is that the bodies have been dumped somewhere before we’ve gotten anywhere on this.”
“Exactly,” he said.
“But we have absolutely no sign of the parents in the building where the girls were held. None of the other rooms showed any sign of them being there. Forensics is still on it, of course, but running through a million fingerprints and bits and pieces of DNA will take forever.”
“Well, we need to put a rush on it,” Shane said.
“Yeah. Any other updates?”
“I’ve already started investigations into the other members of the board,” Shane said. “I contacted the chairman and the CFO, and neither knew anything. Of course both are now in damage-control mode, in case their stocks take a hit and all.”
“Has it been on the news yet?”
“Not yet,” Shane said, “but you know it won’t be long. The media will be all over this.”
“What is the general tone on this group right now?”
“Generally the company is fairly well-liked, and we’re not hearing many negative reviews. They do a certain amount of charity work, and that always goes down well with the public. A lot of their clients are military and kids too.”
“Any dissenters?” Gavin paced around the room. “Anybody got something bad to say? Anybody claiming they were fired unfairly or anything like that?”
“I’ve hooked Lennox on to the HR department to talk about any threatening letters or unhappy employees. He’ll get back with me if he finds any red flags,” Shane said. “But I’m not seeing any old or new beefs popping up on the internet.”
“But no company is lily-white,” Gavin said. “Somebody out there has a motive for doing this. Either it’s personal or it’ll be business.”
“Unless they’re involved in something nonprofit,” Shane said, pondering.
“And that damn well better be on the list of things handed over by the background checks on the family. What were their activities? What clubs did they belong to?”
“Sure, we’ll cast a wide net,” Shane said. “But, if we don’t have any way to cull it down as we sort through it all, I don’t know how we’ll find anything relevant.”
“True,” he said. “Other suggestions?”
“Don’t have any.”
“I was expecting a ransom demand or a blackmail attempt of some kind,” Gavin said, thinking about it. “Feels like we’re missing a big chunk of their lives.”
“Maybe. Hopefully Lennox will get us the information on the exes soon. Particularly the one unhappy about the disposition of his children. He looks like a good avenue.”
“Possibly,” Gavin said. “When you consider the fact that he’s not only lost his kids but, when his in-laws made it so clear about what they would do, I mean, that’s basically putting a target on the in-laws’ backs.”
“Yeah,” he said. “But that divorce was like six, seven years ago, right? We’re missing something more current.”
“We’re focused on the daughters, but they were the ones released. Or, at the very least, not held competently. So, were they just in the wrong place at the wrong time? Or is there something else?”
Shane tilted his head. “Good questions. I have no answers.”
Gavin still had a nagging suspicion that something specifically dealt with why the one sister wasn’t gagged and the other was. “We need to talk to the other sister,” he said.
“I just came from there,” Shane said. “That Steve guy, the fiancé, is very particular about nobody bothering her right now.”
Gavin stared at him. “For real?”
Shane nodded. “Yeah, he wants her to lie down first.”
Gavin hopped to his feet. “You stay here,” he said. “I don’t want Rosalina left alone. Order coffee and maybe some food. I’ll go talk to the sister.”
“But—” Shane said, but Gavin was already at the door.
He turned back and said, “No buts. That’s bullshit, and Steve knows better. I’m not standing for it.” He headed out, slamming the door behind him.
Chapter 4
Rosalina heard the hotel door slam and quickly dressed. She opened the bathroom door to see Shane, sitting there, using his laptop. “Hey, a laptop,” she said. “Did you bring that?”
He nodded. “We have a lot of work to do.” He glanced at her and smiled. “Coffee and food are coming soon.”
“Perfect,” she said, still running a comb through her long hair. She usually kept it in a severe bun or plaited behind her head. It often got in the way at work if she didn’t, but, when it was loose and freshly washed like this, she loved to have it free. Walking over, she sat down at the small table. “Was that Gavin slamming the door?”
Shane chuckled. “Yes.”
“Why is he upset?”
“Your sister’s fiancé wouldn’t let me talk to her.”
“What? Steve wouldn’t let you talk to Melinda?”
He nodded. “Said he would bring in the police department to stop me from disturbing her because she needed her rest.”
She stared at him, shaking her head. “That is classic Melinda all over again.”
“Well, Melinda may have just met her match,” Shane said, with a nod toward the door. “Gavin’s got absolutely no truck with that kind of crap.”
“I could go there too,” she said, jumping to her feet. “She’ll talk to me.”
“I’m sure,” he said, “but Gavin wants to talk to her.”
“Meaning talk to her, not me,” she said, studying his face.
He nodded. “Not because he doesn’t want to hear what you have to say,” he said, “but he wants to hear what she has to say without you around.”
Her shoulders drew in. “She’ll have plenty to say.” She thought about all the years she had tried to be a good sister and had apparently failed because Melinda really didn’t have any tolerance or patience for Rosalina.
“Maybe,” Shane said, his tone gentle. “But that doesn’t mean that Gavin will be swayed by it.”
“She’ll say the same thing everybody would say,” she said, with a wave of her hand. “I’m a cold bitch.”
“Do people actually say that to you?”
“Not to my face,” she said, with a quiet smile. “But behind my back? Yes.”
“I’m sorry,” he said. “That’s just not fair.”
“I never thought it was either, but people get to be people,” she said, “and you hear things.” Her voice droppe
d off as she thought about the number of times she’d overheard people talking, ‘You know? The whole water-cooler thing.”
“I’m sorry,” he said.
“It doesn’t matter,” she said, with a dismissive smile.
“It does matter,” Shane replied. “People don’t have to be assholes.”
She laughed at that. “Maybe they don’t have to be,” she said, “but I think sometimes they prefer it that way. Just something about our current state of affairs lets people think that they can say and do anything, whether it’s the truth or lies, and that nobody will get hurt by it. And, if someone is hurt, it’s too damn bad.”
“I hear you,” he said. “The fact of the matter is, obviously some hard feelings exist between you and your sister.”
“I don’t think so,” she said, setting him straight. “I think I’m just a nuisance to my sister. An upstart. Meanwhile, she was always the older sister I could never quite connect to. So she was the golden child, and I was just less somehow.”
“And yet, with your brainpower, you would think your father would be proud of you and your accomplishments.”
She chuckled. “He is, of course, but it’s also what he expects from me. You see? When you’re handicapped or disabled in our family, nobody expects much from you. So, when you do really well, or even are mediocre, you’re to be praised high and above because, of course, you were dealing with so much more difficulty in getting a job accomplished.”
He chuckled. “She’s got them all wrapped around her little finger, doesn’t she?”
She looked at him in surprise. “You figured that out, huh?”
“Yeah. Especially Steve.”
“Gavin won’t hurt Steve, will he?” she asked, pulling her eyebrows together into a frown.
He looked at her in surprise. “Gavin?”
She nodded. “Yeah. Steve’s actually a nice guy.”
“He can be as nice as he wants,” Shane said gently, “until he decides to separate Gavin from what he needs, which, in this case, is to talk to your sister.”
She sat back and smiled. “In other words, Steve is no match for Gavin. Is that the idea?”
Shane nodded. “I could have pushed the issue,” he said, “but I figured Gavin needed a shot. Since he and Steve are friends, I thought maybe, before it came to bloodshed or getting him fired and off the case, Gavin would let him know, in no uncertain terms, just how this would be handled.”
“Oh, right. Steve’s not even supposed to be close to this case, is he?”
“Nope. And this reaction here is part of the reason why. You get overprotective, and then we can’t get our job done.”
Looking around, she asked, “How long until that coffee gets here?”
“Not long, I wouldn’t think.” Almost as he said it, a knock came at the door. She hopped up, but he reached out and stepped in front of her, a finger to his lips. “I need you to stand over there,” he said quietly, pointing to a corner, “so nobody knows you’re here.”
She frowned but followed his instructions. She listened as he went to the door and spoke to someone outside and then pushed a cart in. “Do you really think it matters if the room service staff knows I’m here or not?”
“Do you really think it matters if the kidnappers know you’ve escaped already or not?” he countered immediately.
She groaned. “How am I supposed to know that? I’m a scientist.”
He nodded and said. “Bingo. How are we supposed to know as the good guys?”
She grinned. “You are very good at putting me in my place. Because it’s what I do …”
“It’s not my intent to put you in your place,” he said. “I just want to keep you safe while we find your parents.”
“I can’t imagine what anybody would have against them,” she exclaimed, at the reminder of what was really at stake.
“It’s usually the simple factors.”
“Control,” she said immediately. “Control of the company.”
“Revenge,” he added in. “Consider Melinda’s ex-husband and the revenge against your parents for what they did during the divorce.”
She nodded. “And money, I guess, would be another one. Because they do have money,” she said.
“Absolutely,” he agreed, then pushed the cart toward the table.
She sighed and said, “I presume nothing alarming is in there. Like a ransom note.”
“No,” he said cheerfully, the cart already inspected by him. “But the kidnappers also don’t know that you’re here yet, so that’s good.”
“It is my room,” she pointed out.
“Yes. And, should they find out you have escaped, they’ll also find out that apparently I’m your guest.” He motioned to the table. “Come on. Sit down. Let’s get you some coffee. He lifted the pot and poured two mugs, placing both on the table.
She looked at the selection of tasty treats on the cart and smiled. “Now this I can handle,” she said, as she reached for a muffin and a croissant.
“We can get a real meal later,” he said. “I just wanted to make sure you don’t crash and burn.”
“This’ll raise me and drop me,” she said, holding up the treats.
“What do you normally eat?”
“Meat and veggies,” she said. “When I eat anyway. I’m straddling both ends of the spectrum, full-out eating to none at all. I tend to get so focused on my work that I forget. So I keep a whole drawerful of power bars that I can eat if I have to.”
“And how often do you have to?”
“Too often,” she admitted. “I should just order in.”
“You should be cooking your food,” he corrected. “It’s far better for you than eating out.”
“I know,” she said, “but that means taking extra time I don’t really have.”
“How many hours do you work in a day?”
She stared at him. “Too many. And obviously these questions have nothing to do with our current situation.”
“You mean, with the kidnapping? Of course it does. What if people thought you were too driven and that maybe the older couple should be stepping down from the company and that you should now be the owner and CEO of the company?”
“Wow, somebody must really hate me then,” she said. “Put me in a boardroom and not in a lab? That’s cold.”
“It’s possible.”
“Not likely,” she said and took a big bite from her croissant.
“What about potential boyfriends or boyfriends you’ve turned down or snubbed?”
She shook her head.
“Dating apps?”
She just shot him a look.
He grinned. “I guess not, huh?”
She nodded. “Guess not.”
“So what then?”
She shrugged. “Since my marriage broke down, I figured I didn’t have the temperament for it.”
“Why?”
“He always complained that I was at work.”
“But didn’t he know what you were like beforehand?”
“I thought so,” she said, peeling back a layer of her croissant and popping the golden flaky piece into her mouth. “But, once we got married, he had these weird expectations that I would give up my job and would become a stay-at-home wife and look after him.”
Shane laughed out loud at that.
She shrugged and smiled. “I know, right?”
“Gavin should really be having this conversation with you,” Shane said, chuckling.
“And why is that?” she asked.
“Because you two are perfect together. He’s a workaholic too.”
“What does that have to do with having a conversation like this?”
Shane calmed his laughter, then smiled at her and said, “No reason, except for what I just said. You two are perfect together.”
“We hardly know each other,” she said, staring at him, stunned. “People just don’t hook up like that.”
“Unfortunately,” Shane said, “they do. People hook up li
ke that all the time.”
“Not me,” she said, with a shake of her head. She glanced at the door and asked, “Where is he anyway?”
“I rather imagine he’s questioning your sister,” Shane said. “And likely without any argument from Steve.”
Gavin knocked on the door, his rap hard and curt. He had perfected that type of knock to let people on the other side know that he would not tolerate anything but him getting his job done.
When the door opened, Steve’s face immediately flashed into anger. “So what the hell is this?” he asked. “Shane sent you because we’re friends?”
“Is she still sleeping?” Gavin asked.
“Of course she is,” he said. “She’s been through a lot.”
“Wake her up,” Gavin said.
Immediately fury crossed Steve’s face. “No way in hell.”
Gavin pulled out his phone and said, “You do it now, or I’ll have you removed not only from this case but from the island.”
Steve stared at him in shock. “You’re not kidding me, are you?”
Gavin shook his head. “No. I have absolutely zero tolerance right now for any personal interference. You got yourself in on this detail, but, have no doubt, I will have you taken off. I’ll not only have you taken off, I’ll have you taken a hell of a long way away. I will talk to her, and I will talk to her now.”
“Wow,” Melinda said, as she stepped into the small living room. “You don’t pull any punches, do you?”
He studied her face, seeing absolutely no sign of her recently sleeping. “Did you know that Shane was up here trying to talk to you a little bit ago?”
She shrugged. “I’m tired,” she announced. “I wanted time to myself before I got barraged with questions.”
“Got it,” he said. “So it’s all about you then. Absolutely nothing about your parents, who are still missing. You do realize how critical the first twenty-four hours after a kidnapping are? Correct?”
She stared at him, a feral look of animosity in the back of her gaze.
Interesting, he thought to himself. Now we have yet another suspect.
