by Mike Ryan
“And?”
“And what?”
“Anything interesting about it?”
Nicole shrugged. “Looks like the three girls came back to New York a week later.”
“You sure?”
Nicole nodded. “Positive. They were on flights back to New York, and I’ve checked their social media pages. They’ve all posted to their respective accounts in the past few days. All in New York.”
“You’re sure?”
“No, I’m lying. Why do you ask? You sound like you’re thinking about something.”
“It was just… I was thinking… if this was some kind of trick… then…”
“Then the friends would be in on it and would come back like nothing happened?”
“Something like that.”
“That’s a terrible thing to think. To think that a girl would pull something like that on her own father? That’s terrible.”
Bridge shrugged. “Well, we are in a terrible kind of business.”
“Still… that’s terrible. And what would she need to do that for, anyway?”
“You heard it. The father was cutting her off. She wanted to get back at him. And they’re not that close to begin with.”
“He’s still giving her a thousand dollars a month. That’s pretty good money for not having to do anything to earn it except walk around.”
“Well, when you’re used to having an unlimited pocketbook, then you’re only getting two fifty a week, that can be a blow to the ego.”
Nicole shook her head. “No, don’t even go there. This isn’t her.”
“Anything on these girls’ social media pages about Ava? Talking to her, missing her, wondering where she was? Anything?”
“No. Except the one.” Nicole pulled up the page. “She posts a picture of her and Ava down in Florida, lounging by a pool. Then she captions it by saying ‘wish I was still down there with you.’ That makes it seem like the story checks out, doesn’t it? That Ava stayed behind for whatever reason and they all knew about it.”
“Maybe.”
“I don’t know how we’re gonna find this girl before the next ransom is supposed to take place. We’ve got no leads and no idea where to go.”
“Especially since Dermott can’t think of anyone he’s got an issue with that would wanna do something like this to him.”
“It’s gonna be tough.”
Bridge rubbed his face with both hands and yawned. “OK. Check the flight manifests and see if there was anyone else on the plane down that also stayed at the same hotel as Ava.”
“Thinking maybe they followed her down?”
“Anything’s possible at this point. Then, let’s hit up her credit cards, ATM withdrawals, whatever’s got her name on it, especially in the days after her friends left. Maybe we can get some clues there.”
“I’m on it.”
They didn’t get too far into their search before Bridge’s phone rang again. Bridge looked at it and smiled.
“It’s our friendly neighborhood FBI agent,” he said happily.
Nicole shook her head. “You know, one of these days you’re gonna tease him too much and he’s gonna belt you.”
Bridge laughed. “Not over the phone, he’s not.”
“He’ll wait until you’re within arm’s reach.”
“Possible. But it’s too much fun to stop.” Bridge then put the phone to his ear. “Yo Happster. What’s shaking?”
Happ didn’t bother responding. He was just used to it. “Ran the hits on Ava Dermott’s passport.”
“And?”
“No hits?”
“Damn.”
“What were you looking for?”
“Wasn’t looking for anything. Just was hoping.”
“For what?”
“Something unexpected.”
“If this girl’s been kidnapped, you really didn’t think they were just gonna go right through a border and have her flash her passport, did you?”
“Ehhh…”
“What’s bugging you about this?”
“I don’t know. Maybe it’s just because I don’t have many answers. Only questions.”
“Well, what exactly is the deal?”
Bridge explained everything they knew up to that point, and while he didn’t relay every message word for word, he said the gist of them.
“From everything you’ve said, this was planned. It’s not a random event. She was targeted. And likely has been for a while.”
“You don’t think maybe she spouted off while she was down there about how much money her family had?” Bridge asked. “Maybe the wrong person heard it, decided to do something.”
“Unlikely. That would be a spur-of-the-moment thing. This sounds like too much planning’s been involved.”
“Yeah, you’re probably right.”
“You say she stayed behind on her own while her friends went back home?”
“Well, I mean, that’s how it looks so far.”
“Ask her friends about it?”
“Could, but if they don’t know what’s up, then they start panicking, telling people, putting it on social media, then the kidnappers find out, that could be a problem.”
“Yeah. I’ll tell you what it sounds like to me.”
“OK?”
“Sounds to me like she stayed behind to either meet with someone or stay with someone.”
“Her friends were going back.”
“Exactly. You’re telling me an eighteen-year-old woman wanted to stay behind without her friends in a city where she doesn’t know anyone? Doesn’t make sense to me.”
“Maybe she was having a good time.”
“Then she’d have her friends stay with her.”
“Maybe they had to work?”
“I’m not buying it,” Happ answered. “She traded one group of people for another. I’m almost sure of it. Now, maybe she knew these other people well—or person if it’s just one—maybe she didn’t. Maybe she thought she was staying back with some good people, and they turned on her, but I’d be willing to bet just about anything that she wasn’t staying behind by herself.”
“Maybe a boyfriend.”
“Could be. When’d you say Dermott’s getting the next email?”
“Probably tonight or tomorrow,” Bridge replied.
“Looks like you’re gonna have a long night.”
“You’re telling me.”
“What are you gonna do if they wind up in Mexico?”
“Oh, don’t start. I’ve already heard enough of that already.”
Happ laughed, hearing the teasing Nicole was giving her boyfriend over it in his mind. “I’ll tell you what, I’ll run some quick checks on her, see if I can come up with anything of note. If I do, I’ll send it your way.”
“I appreciate that.”
Bridge hung up and tossed his phone down on the desk.
“I take it he didn’t come up with anything?” Nicole asked.
“Nada. No hits on her passport.”
“Not really surprising.”
“No. Just… disappointing.”
“Well, now that the easy way to find her has been eliminated… guess we gotta go to work.”
7
It was a little after ten o’clock, and they’d been going at it all day without much luck finding any clues. They were close to winding it down and getting ready for bed, knowing they would likely have another long today tomorrow.
“Are you ready to wrap this up?” Bridge asked. He yawned and rubbed his face, then looked over at his girlfriend, who appeared to not hear him. She was staring at the computer screen of her laptop. Bridge nudged her arm. “Hey. You hear me?”
“What?” She looked at him briefly before turning her attention back to the computer.
“Ready to wrap it up? We should get some sleep. We’ll probably be on the move tomorrow if Dermott gets the next email on where to go.”
“Yeah, in a little bit.”
“You seem preoccupied. You got something?”
/>
“Yeah. I think so.”
“What?”
“A name.”
“What kind of name?”
“There’s one person on the same flight that Ava and her friends took from New York to Miami who also stayed at the same hotel.”
“Who’s that?”
“A man named Derek Hatch.”
“Who’s he?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out. Now so far, I’ve uncovered that he booked the hotel room for only him. No guests.”
“What about the flight down?”
“Sat a few rows behind the girls. One ticket. Sat with two other people in the row but they weren’t together.”
“Sure about that?”
“Positive. The couple he sat with were in their sixties and they live in Florida. Hatch is from New Jersey and has been living in New York for the last few years. They’re not related.”
“How old?”
“Twenty-four.”
“In the range of a possible boyfriend. Anything else to tie them together?”
“Not so far. Haven’t uncovered any messages or calls between them or anything. I’m still digging.”
“Any purchases that can be traced back to Ava after her friends left?”
Nicole shook her head. “No, it’s clean. She either used cash or didn’t make any.”
“Well, if they were together, there’s something that’s going to tie them together.”
“Here’s something interesting.”
“What’s that?”
“Hatch checked out of his hotel room the same day that Bodie Dermott dropped off the payment.”
“Now that’s a coincidence.”
“Isn’t it?”
“They stayed at a different hotel than the one Dermott dropped the money off at, though, right?”
“Yes. There’s something else interesting.”
“What?”
“We assumed that Ava went missing and just never checked out of her hotel, right?”
“Yeah? I’m guessing you’re about to tell me something different?”
“Oh yeah,” Nicole replied. “She checked out of her hotel too.”
“When?”
“Same day as Hatch.”
“So let me get this straight. Both Ava and Hatch are on the same flight to Miami, check in on the same day at the same hotel, and then checked out at the same time as well.”
“That’s the gist of it.”
“And then Ava goes missing and is never heard from again.”
“Correct.”
“Kind of makes you think that there’s something going on there.”
“Sure does.”
“Maybe we need to figure out where Hatch is. Find one, maybe find the other.”
Nicole nodded. “I’m thinking that might be a good bet.”
“Guess we’re not going to sleep anytime soon now.”
“We’re not gonna have time for more than two or three hours, probably.”
“I’m gonna shoot a message over to Eric and see if he can pull up anything on this guy. Maybe his passport has been hit lately.”
“He’s probably sleeping now.”
“Maybe. Even if he is, if he sees it first thing in the morning, maybe we’ll still get a heads-up, depending on when Dermott gets that email.”
As Nicole started digging up everything she could on Derek Hatch, Bridge’s phone rang a few minutes later.
Nicole snapped her head toward him. “Guess Eric’s not sleeping.”
Bridge looked at his phone. “It’s not Eric.”
“Who is it?”
“Dermott.”
“The email.”
Bridge nodded, then answered. “Bodie, what’s up?”
“I just got the email.”
“What’d it say?”
“Says I’m to take a 9 a.m. flight tomorrow morning.”
“To where?”
“Florida.”
“Florida? Again?”
“Says I’ll receive further instructions once I’m there. But it says to make sure I have my passport with me. I’ll need it in Venezuela.”
“Forward the email to me so we can go over it.”
“OK. What are we going to do?” Dermott asked.
“Well, if Venezuela’s the place, then we’ll check out the flights down there, see if we can get there ahead of you. We’ll figure it out from there.”
“OK. I just hope…”
“We’ll get your daughter back. Try to get a good night’s sleep. You’ll need it.”
“Yeah. I’ll send that email over to you.”
“Thank you.”
Bridge hung up. “Looks like Venezuela’s the place.”
“Should I check email?” Nicole asked.
“Yeah. He should be sending it over.”
They only had to wait a minute before it showed up in their inbox. “Here it is.” They opened the email.
Mr. Dermott,
At 9 a.m., there is a flight heading to Orlando. Be on it. Once there, you will check your email for further instructions. There will be another flight from there to Venezuela, so make sure you bring your passport. We will tell you the specific flight to get on once you’re in Orlando. Bring the two hundred thousand in your carry-on luggage. Remember, no cops. Or else.
Gemini
“What do you make of that?” Nicole asked.
“I dunno.” Bridge then looked at the other messages they’d printed. He spread them out on the desk to look at them.
“You see something?”
“Nothing specific. They’re all a little different, though.”
“What do you mean?”
“In two of them, they call him by his full name. Bodie Dermott.”
“So?”
“In two more, they don’t greet him with any heading. They just go right into the email.”
“So?”
“This one they say, mister.”
“And?”
“Seems strange that it’s not consistent.”
“Maybe they’re deliberately trying to use different wordage to throw people off the track.”
“Could be. Can you check flight times for Venezuela?”
Nicole pulled up the flights. “Earliest flight is six.”
“Guess we’ll be on it.”
“No, wait. That’s got a couple stops. Will get to Caracas in twelve hours at 6:16 p.m.. There’s another flight at seven, wind up getting there at the same time. Smaller layovers in between stops.”
“How many stops?”
“Two.”
Bridge grunted. “I hate layovers. Why can’t these planes just fly to the place they’re going without stopping?” Nicole shrugged. “I really hate stopping and getting on new planes.”
“Anyone ever tell you that you have a lot of quirks?”
“Yeah.”
“Who?”
“You.”
Nicole laughed. “Oh.”
“Anyway, if we can get there after six and it’s a twelve-hour flight at best, Dermott’s plane to Venezuela’s not gonna get there until well after ours. We should have a few hours to prepare.”
“Maybe more. Some flights are seventeen hours. Depends on which flight they have him take down there. Wonder why they want him on specific planes?”
“Probably just a way for them to keep an eye on him and track him. Make sure he doesn’t do anything they don’t want him to.”
“Smart. Should I book tickets?”
Bridge sighed, thinking about the layovers. “Yeah.”
Once they booked their plane trip to Venezuela, they went back to digging up what they could on Derek Hatch. They quickly found a police record, which spurred their interest in him that much more. It was mostly small-time stuff, though. Receiving stolen goods, theft, parking tickets, nothing that would indicate he could be a mastermind behind a kidnapping plot.
“According to his grades, he barely made it out of high school,” Nicole said. “Never we
nt to college.”
“Doesn’t mean he’s not smart enough to do this. Just means he wasn’t interested in school. And he didn’t have the money to pursue it. What’s he do for a living?”
“Auto mechanic.”
“An auto mechanic who suddenly becomes a kidnapper? Big leap. Where in Jersey was he from?”
“Hoboken.”
“That’s what… twenty-five, thirty minutes to New York?”
“Something like that. Not a far drive. The place he works at is actually in New York. So he makes the drive every day.”
“How far exactly is the auto dealership from the Dermott house?”
“Half hour.”
“That’s a long way to go for a tune-up.”
“Maybe the car’s not the only thing he’s tuning up,” Nicole said with a smirk.
“Well, where there’s smoke, there’s fire. He works in New York, where she is, half hour from their house, same flight down, same flight while there; it’s not a coincidence. Even if he’s not behind it, he’s involved. I know he is.”
“It would seem that way.”
“Can we put her at that mechanic at any point?”
“Working on it.”
“Haven’t discovered any messages between them?”
“No phone calls, messages, nothing. At least nothing that’s public and easily available.”
“What do you mean?”
“Might have used alternate methods.”
“Such as?” Bridge asked
“Kids today don’t just text and send emails. There are messaging apps disguised as calculators, secondary phones, I mean, I could go on and on.”
Bridge nodded and grunted. “Doesn’t make it easy.”
“No. But it makes it possible that they connected some other way.”
“Somehow, this kid knows her. If we figure out how, we might be able to figure out who else is involved.”
“We’re not gonna have enough time tonight,” Nicole said, looking at the time. “Seven o’clock is coming early.”
“We’ll just have to figure it out as we go. And hope we get lucky.”
8
Bodie Dermott got off his flight in Orlando and went to a waiting area, just as he was instructed to do, and checked his email. There was nothing there yet from Gemini. He looked around as he waited, knowing the email should come through shortly. They said he would get it as soon as he got off the plane. He found an empty seat and sat down until the message came through. He waited five more minutes before the email finally showed up.
