“Do you want to know what I think?” I asked, my mind busy.
“Not in the slightest,” Jake replied.
I ignored his answer. “I think Sandy made amends with her father because she needed someone to grab Danny and Sierra,” I said. “I think she dangled reconciliation as long as her father performed a favor. She knew he was off the grid, and she figured even if someone suspected her father they probably wouldn’t be able to track him down.”
“For what reason?” Jake prodded. “What does having the kids kidnapped do for her? How does she benefit?”
I wet my lips and concentrated on putting the pieces together. “We know the kids were treating her poorly,” I said. “Bridget was going out of her way to cajole the kids into terrorizing Sandy. That had to wear thin on a woman who thought she was going to get happily ever after once she married her high school sweetheart.”
“Okay, I get where you’re going in theory,” Jake said. “That still doesn’t explain why she took only Sierra … or what she thought that would accomplish.”
“Sandy is desperate to hold on to Daniel,” I said. “What if she asked her father to help and promised to make amends with him after their years apart. He was supposed to take both kids, but they separated and Stanley probably couldn’t find Danny.
“He most likely bribed Sierra out to the car with some lame promise so she wouldn’t make a scene,” I said. “I still can’t figure out how he missed the cameras at the mall – I guess that’s something we’ll have to ask him when we finally find him – but he got Sierra outside and into his van.”
“There really was a white van,” Eliot said, his expression rueful. “We thought that was a crock of crap, but your witness was right.”
“That could be a coincidence,” Jake said. “I never put a lot of faith in that witness. Everyone sees a white van. It just happened to be true in this case. What else do you have?”
“Stanley went into the baby store because that’s where he was supposed to send a signal to Sandy,” I said. “He was out of place there, but he knew that would be the easiest way to make sure he got out of the mall before they put it in lockdown. They picked that store for a strategic reason. We were too blind to see it in the beginning.”
“Okay, if you’re right, that means Stanley waited by the door until Sandy came in,” Jake said. “They exchanged a signal. Do you think Sandy knew her father had only one kid?”
“Probably not,” I said. “They most likely agreed to have no communication because they knew the police would go through cell phone records. The Newmans are hiding from bad credit – and maybe something worse, for all we know – and yet Sandy found them. I’m guessing that’s where Boyd comes in. He put the family back together.”
“So if Stanley took Sierra, what do you think he planned to do with her?” Jake asked.
“I think he was going to hold her so Sandy could miraculously save the kids and be a big hero,” I said. “I think Sandy and Daniel’s marriage is already on the rocks.”
“Did you think that before or after you saw him nailing his ex-wife in the parking lot of the Best Western?” Jake asked.
“Before,” I answered. “They were never affectionate. There wasn’t any passion when Daniel talked about Sandy. She might have doted on him and given him the attention he craved, but I don’t think that equaled the love match Daniel thought he would get.”
“Do you think he’s still in love with his ex-wife?” Jake asked.
That was a tough question to answer. “I’m not sure how love works in their heads,” I admitted. “They don’t seem to feel things like normal people feel them. I do think there’s more passion in Daniel and Bridget’s relationship, though. I also think Sandy realized that, and she was trying to steal the spotlight for herself.”
“To what end?” Jake asked.
“If she could somehow keep the kids from finding out who kidnapped them and return them during a big media event there’s no way Daniel could leave her,” I explained. “He would have to stay or everyone would turn on him. Even Bridget would have to be thankful, and if she was thankful that means she wouldn’t try to steal Daniel back from Sandy.”
“This sounds like the worst soap opera ever,” Jake said. “Are you sure you don’t believe this because you’re desperate for Sierra to be alive?”
“I know you and Eliot believe I’m losing my head over this, but I’m not,” I said. “Do I want Sierra to be alive? Yes. I would be lying if I said otherwise. I’m not stupid, though. I don’t let emotions rule my brain. This whole thing has stunk from the beginning.
“Think about it,” I continued. “It never felt like a stranger abduction because there was no way for a stranger to grab Sierra without anyone noticing. She had to leave with someone she knew. She doesn’t live in this area. She lives in another state with her mother. She didn’t have time to make friends with anyone and convince them to pick her up.”
“That’s a good point, Avery,” Jake said, causing me to flush with pleasure. “Have you considered the possibility that she met a predator online and he pretended to be her age and asked for a meeting? She could’ve told him she was going to be at the mall, arranged to ditch her brother, and found an adult waiting for her.
“She’s a teenager,” Jake continued. “Teenagers make stupid decisions. I know this because we were two of the dumbest teenagers ever and the fact that we’re still alive is a miracle. She might not have sensed danger when the guy she was talking with online turned out to be an adult. She could’ve gone with him willingly and got in over her head.”
“That doesn’t explain Stanley Newman’s appearance at the store.” I am stubborn when I want to be. Just for the record: I almost always want to be.
“It doesn’t,” Jake agreed. “I admit that’s suspicious. For all we know Sandy split with the kids to meet with her father for another reason. Maybe they finally decided to make amends and it just happened to coincide with a kidnapping. Stranger things have happened.”
I couldn’t argue with that. Well, I could. I can argue with anything. “Why wouldn’t Sandy own up to it if that was the case?”
“Maybe she didn’t think it was important,” Jake suggested. “Maybe she didn’t want to volunteer it because her parents are hiding from creditors. We’re just not sure yet.”
“Have you pulled the parents’ financials?” Eliot asked. “How far in the hole are they?”
“Almost six hundred thousand dollars,” Jake answered. “Is that enough for mostly rational people to go underground? Probably not. Is that enough for people making less than fifty grand a year to go underground? I think it just might be.”
“I don’t understand how they got that far in debt,” I said. “That’s a lot of money to owe.”
“Yes, well it seems Stanley liked to gamble and whenever he got a good run he made huge bets,” Jake said. “We’ve tracked a lot of his activity at the Hamtramck Race Track. It seems he owed at least four different people when he disappeared.”
“Bookies aren’t known for being gentle,” Eliot said. “Stanley must’ve realized he was never going to win the money he needed to pay off the leg-breakers, so he decided to run. I’m guessing he didn’t run very far if he was close enough to come here and grab Sierra.”
“See! Eliot believes he grabbed Sierra. I’m not the only one.” The combination of weariness and Jake’s attitude was making me petulant.
“Do you believe Stanley Newman took Sierra?” Jake asked Eliot.
“I think it’s too much of a coincidence to be anything else,” Eliot answered, not missing a beat. “I was like you at the beginning. I thought Avery was going to get her heart broken and I was legitimately worried. Things are different now.”
“Do you think Sierra is alive?”
“I think odds are that Sierra is alive,” Eliot confirmed, his answer causing my chest to warm and the weight on my shoulders to ease. “There’s no benefit to killing Sierra except to shut her up, and I’m not sur
e that’s a big enough reason for Sandy to become a murderer.
“Now, I don’t know enough about Stanley Newman to comment on his survival instincts,” he continued. “For now, though, I think they’re still trying to figure out a way to drop Sierra somewhere and make Sandy a hero for finding her.”
“That’s an interesting theory,” Jake said. “It brings me to the real reason I wanted you guys to come here so early this morning.”
“I thought it was because you wanted to torture me for sticking my nose into your case,” I muttered.
“That was just an added bonus,” Jake said, winking. “I have an idea. I need your help to pull it off.”
“I’m in,” Eliot said.
“I can use your help, too, but I already knew you would play ball,” Jake said, shifting his eyes to me. “I need Avery’s help to do what I want to do.”
Uh-oh. This couldn’t be good. “What do you want me to do?”
“Play dumb.”
I stilled. “I don’t understand what that means.”
Eliot and Jake chuckled in unison as Jake leaned back in his chair and steepled his fingers over his stomach.
“I’m going to call a news conference at ten, and I need you to be your usual self and aggressively ask questions,” Jake said. “The problem is you’re going to know I’m lying at the conference. I need you to adjust your questions accordingly and not point out I’m lying. Do you think you can do that?”
“What are you going to lie about?”
“I’m going to pretend we have no idea who Stanley Newman is and plaster his photograph all over the place,” Jake said. “We’re going to call him a person of interest and say a witness came forward with a description of him and we found him on the security cameras.”
“Won’t that put a lot of pressure on him?” I asked, worry for Sierra’s well-being causing my stomach to flip. “What if he panics and kills her?”
“That’s a definite possibility,” Jake said. “I think it’s our best move, though. We need people looking for Stanley Newman. We need him to be too afraid to risk getting rid of Sierra. We need him to hunker down and hide.”
“What happens if Sandy panics?” Eliot asked.
“I’m putting deputies on her,” Jake said. “We’ve managed to get ears in the house. It’s not admissible in court, but if she calls someone we’ll have enough proof to pressure her about Sierra’s location.”
“What do you hope to gain from this?” I asked.
“In an ideal world Stanley will release Sierra and run,” Jake answered. “He’ll drop her off at a gas station or someplace and flee. Then Sierra will call for help and we’ll go from there.”
“What happens in a world that’s not ideal?”
Jake bit the inside of his cheek as he decided how to respond. “Stanley could kill Sierra and run. We’re still not sure how his wife plays into any of this, or even whether she’s still around. She might try to protect Sierra. She might try to kill her on her own. We simply don’t know.”
I glanced at Eliot. “What do you think?”
“I think it’s the best plan we have,” Eliot said.
“Fine,” I said, offering Jake a half nod. “I have a condition, though.”
“Oh, here we go,” Jake muttered. “What is your condition?”
“I want to be with you when you go after Sierra.”
“I … no,” Jake said, shaking his head. “That puts you in potential danger.”
“I’m not asking to be the first through the door,” I argued. “I’m asking to be there when you take Stanley into custody and hopefully find Sierra safe. I’m going to let you lie, but I want the exclusive when we get a good outcome. That’s my condition.”
Jake made a disgusted sound in the back of his throat and locked gazes with Eliot. “Are you okay with that?”
“I am,” Eliot said. “You won’t let anything happen to her, and she needs to see that kid alive. She’s not going to relax until this is over and … well … she’s a lot more fun when she’s relaxed. She’s really fun when she gets a scoop. This is the best of both worlds.”
“You two make me sick,” Jake complained, exhaling three times in short succession and nodding. “Okay. Avery, as long as you put on a good show – and I don’t mean go over-the-top or anything – you can be with us when we move. You know I can’t guarantee Stanley won’t dump Sierra at a church or something and take off, right? There might not be a takedown.”
“I know that,” I said. “I’m not asking for the impossible. I’m asking for you to do your best.”
“Okay. I can agree to that,” Jake said. “It’s going to be a long day, kids. You’d better get some breakfast before the conference. I think things are going to move fast after that.”
28
Eliot, Jake and I settled in a booth in a local diner after leaving the sheriff’s department, me taking the center spot while they flanked me. Conversation was light and mostly revolved around what would happen at the news conference in a few hours, but I was so relieved to think Sierra might actually be alive that’s all I could focus on.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Which one of us?” Jake asked, reaching for a small cup of creamer to add to his coffee.
“Um … Eliot first,” I said, flashing Jake an apologetic look and glancing at Eliot. “Do you really think Sierra could be alive?”
“Is that what you’re sitting there worrying about?” Eliot asked, adding a packet of sweetener to his coffee. “And here I thought you were reveling in your win.”
“I thought you were still waking up,” Jake teased, smirking when I darted a dark look in his direction. “There’s that sunny Avery disposition I remember from early mornings back in the day.”
“Only really old people say ‘back in the day,’” I snapped.
“Listen, Grumpy, I was joking,” Jake said. “I didn’t mean to ruin your mood. Please continue with your deep thoughts.”
“Thank you so much for your permission,” I muttered, turning my expectant eyes back to Eliot. “You said you thought she was dead. Do you still think that? I mean really and truly.”
“I don’t know,” Eliot hedged.
“Do you not know because you’re worried I’ll get my hopes up and be crushed if Sierra is dead?” I pressed.
Eliot blew out a frustrated sigh. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”
“No.”
“I think she’s alive, Avery,” Eliot said. “I also think she’s still in danger, so I need you to keep your head. Do you understand what I’m saying?”
“Yes. You’re like a parent making sure his kid doesn’t get too excited to see a real-live dinosaur when they have that animatronics thing at the zoo every year.”
“You have a wonderful way of looking at life when you’re tired,” Eliot said, rolling his eyes. “We did have fun at that dinosaur exhibit last year, though. Do you want to go again this year?”
“Yes.” I turned my attention to Jake. “Do you think she’s alive?”
“Is this off the record?” Jake teased.
“Don’t make me kick you in your naughty place,” I threatened.
“I think she’s alive, too,” Jake said. “I want to keep her that way. That’s why Derrick and I came up with this plan.”
“What plan?”
The three of us jolted in tandem when Cara appeared at the edge of the booth.
“Hey! What are you doing here?” Jake’s voice was unnaturally high as he greeted his girlfriend.
“Well, I was going to pick up breakfast and drop it off at your office because I knew you got up early today,” Cara said. “I didn’t realize your early meeting was with Avery.”
“And Eliot,” I interjected, pointing to my left for emphasis. Eliot merely waved and nodded.
“I see Eliot,” Cara said, forcing a smile. “He’s hard to miss.”
“That’s especially true when he’s naked,” I said.
“Don’t make
things really uncomfortable, Avery,” Jake said. “Do you want to join us for breakfast, Cara?”
“Sure,” Cara said, sliding in next to Jake. Her demeanor was hard to read. She put on a brave face, but I could tell she was still uncomfortable around me. “What are you guys doing together so early this morning?”
“Avery and Eliot found an important lead on Sierra Jackson last night,” Jake explained. “The three of us had to coordinate a plan for the conference so we can use their information. We’ve been talking about that.”
“I see,” Cara said. “What information did Avery and Eliot find that couldn’t wait until the sun rose?”
“To be fair, we didn’t call Jake,” I offered. “I called Derrick last night. He called Jake and then Jake called us at an altogether ungodly hour to set up this meeting.”
“I wasn’t accusing you of anything, Avery,” Cara said. “I’m simply confused about what information you stumbled on that the police missed.”
“We can’t really talk about that,” Jake hedged. “If things go as planned, I’ll be able to talk about it this afternoon.”
“That’s good, right?” Cara asked. “That means you’re getting close to the end of this one. Things will get back to normal after that.”
“They will,” Jake agreed. “I’m hopeful we’ll get a good resolution today.”
“We’re all hopeful for that,” Eliot said, sliding an arm over my shoulders.
“Well, I can’t say I’m not relieved,” Cara said. “Jake has been so busy the past few days we’ve barely had any time together. Have you two had that problem, too?”
I knew what she was asking. She was fishing for information because she was worried I’d spent time with Jake instead of Eliot. “No,” I answered, opting to put her out of her misery. “Eliot and I have pretty much been joined at the hip.”
“That’s true,” Eliot said. “We’ve spent so much time together this week I have no end of stories to tell. I think my favorite is still the one where we followed a married man, watched him have sex with his ex-wife and Avery threw up on my shoes.”
avery shaw 08 - misprints & mistakes Page 23
