On the Wings of Murder

by Patti Benning

  “You got fired for helping an elderly woman?” Linda asked. “That’s horrible.”

  “I’m not very happy about it, of course, but I can understand why they did it. I just hope I can find something else soon. My daughter is depending on me. Her father disappeared when she was three. It’s been the two of us for the last five years.”

  “I wish I could offer you a position here, but I can’t even afford my own bills.” Linda sighed.

  If Nonna comes out of this alive, I’m going to do everything I can to help Linda keep this place open. These two women are being so kind to me, and they don’t even know me, Ellie thought.

  “Did the police ever tell you who the dead person was?” Sandra asked suddenly. “If we knew who they killed, that might tell us more about who they were.”

  “They haven’t said anything to me. I’m going to call the detective again after we’re done eating, to see if they have made any progress. I’ll ask about the murder victim then,” Ellie said.

  “Hold on,” Linda said. She got up and returned a moment later with a laptop. She set up on the table and turned it on. After typing for a moment, she sat back with a look of triumph on her face. “It was a guy named Carlos Santiago. The news says that it he was found with drugs on him, and they’re considering it gang violence.”

  “So, he was possibly some sort of drug dealer?” Ellie bit her lip. “Where would someone like that hide a kidnapping victim?” This sort of thing was so much easier in Kittiport.

  “I could ask my brother,” Sandra said. “He got mixed up with that world a couple of years ago. He managed to find his way out—most people don’t—but he might still have connections. Can you get a copy of the video recording that showed the three men leaving the hotel with your grandmother? I can see if he recognizes them.”

  “I’ll see if Billy can make a copy,” Ellie said. “Thank you so much, both of you. I don’t know what I would do without your help.”

  “Just don’t give up hope,” Linda said. “You’ll find her. I just know it.”

  CHAPTER TWELVE

  * * *

  Ellie walked into the hotel alone. Sandra was waiting outside for her to get the video of the three men. She found Billy in his security room, and asked him if he still had any copies of the footage from the night before.

  “Yeah, I gave the police copies of everything, but I still have the originals. What do you need?”

  “I need the footage of the men from last night,” she told him. “I know someone who said they might be able to help identify them.” She didn’t want to mention Sandra if she didn’t have to. She’d already gotten the poor woman into enough trouble.

  She waited while he made a copy of the footage, and thanked him profusely when he handed her the flash drive. She owed him too; he had been every inch as helpful as Sandra had been.

  “I hope you find her,” he said.

  “Me too.”

  She met Sandra outside the hotel and handed her the flash drive. “You’ll call me the instant your brother comes up with something?”

  “Of course. I really hope he can help. I’ll let you know as soon as I know anything.”

  After that, there was nothing that Ellie could do but wait. It seemed that everyone in the world was looking for her grandmother except her, but she didn’t even know where to begin. With a sigh, she returned to her room and sat outside on the small balcony. It couldn’t have been a more beautiful day, but she just wanted it to be over. When would this nightmare end? She leaned back in her seat and closed her eyes, going over everything the night before in her mind. There must have been something that she missed, something that might lead her to her grandmother.

  The phone rang. The sound made her jump. She hurried back inside and grabbed the device off the table. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw the caller ID. It was Nonna.

  “Nonna, where are you?” she asked, pressing the phone to her ear.

  “If you want to see your grandmother alive again, bring $100,000 to the Ocean Cove Marina at midnight on Wednesday. Keep your phone on you. We’ll contact you again with more specifics."

  “Wait, I need to talk to my grandmother,” Ellie said quickly, hoping that the man hadn’t hung up already.

  A beat later, she heard her grandmother’s voice on the line. “Ellie? I’m okay, don’t worry about me. They’re feeding me, I’m comfortable. You be careful, okay? I love you, dear.”

  That was all she got before the man’s voice was back. “Midnight tomorrow,” he barked, then the phone went dead.

  Ellie stared at the device for a second, then tried ringing her grandmother's number again. It went straight to voicemail. Her phone had been turned off. She realized that she was hyperventilating, and force herself to stop. A hundred thousand dollars. She didn't have that sort of money. Could she take out a loan for something like this? There was no way the money would be in her bank account on time.

  She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She needed to focus. Now wasn’t the time to panic. Opening her eyes, she looked at her phone. Russell. Russell would know what to do. She dialed his number.

  “Russell… I got a call.” She took another deep, slow breath, trying to calm her shaky voice. “Nonna has been kidnapped. They want $100,000 by midnight tomorrow night. Russ, I don't have that sort of money. What do I do?”

  “Ellie, slow down. I need you to go through this step by step. We’ll figure something out, I promise.”

  She told him about the call and repeated the man’s demands word for word. By the end of it she was crying, and held the phone away from her face so that she could wipe her tears.

  “Have you contacted the police yet?” he asked her.

  “No, you’re the first person I called. It was the only thing I could think of to do.”

  “Hang up right now and call them, then call me back after. They’re the ones that are there right now, and they need this update. Time is of the essence. I'm going to do some research on my end. Don't give up hope yet. Remember, I love you. We’ll get her back, I promise.”

  She pulled the detective’s card out of her wallet and dialed his number. While she waited for him to answer, her thoughts were on her grandmother. What must Nonna be feeling right now? What was she going through? Ellie hoped that she wasn’t too frightened. She wished that she had had the chance to tell the older woman how many people were looking for her. It wasn’t time to give up hope, not for either of them.

  CHAPTER THIRTEEN

  * * *

  Ellie spent the next few hours with the police. They were waiting for the kidnapper to call again in hopes of being able to triangulate the call. She kept replaying the conversation over and over in her head. One hundred thousand dollars. How could she ever come up with that? She had savings, but not anywhere near that much.

  As the day wore on, she began to realize that the police might not be able to help her. If the man didn’t call back any time soon, then that would mean that she was wasting all these hours that she could be using to get the money. She didn’t want to take a chance with her grandmother’s life. Finding a way to pay off the kidnappers might be the only way she would ever see Nonna alive again.

  She had spent most of the time since the call thinking of ways to get the money by tomorrow, and there was only one option that she had been able to come up with that was even semi-realistic. She could sell the pizzeria. She hated the thought of that, but her grandmother was more important than the restaurant. Would she even be able to find a buyer that quickly? If she did, could she get that sort of money transferred to her bank in time for the trade? She had a horrible feeling that the answer to both of those questions would be no. Maybe the kidnappers would accept a little bit less. She could give them everything she had saved up. It wasn’t much, but it would be more than they would get if they killed Nonna.

  She stood up. She needed to make a couple of calls, but she wanted to do it away from the police. She told one of the officers that she was going to use
the ladies room, and promised to be back soon. Down the hall, she slipped into the bathroom, locked herself in a stall, and pulled out her phone to call Russell again.

  “What’s going on?” he asked. “Has there been any progress? Have the kidnappers called again?”

  “Not yet. That’s not why I’m calling. I think I need to sell the pizzeria, and I need to do it soon. Is there any way that you could find a buyer that would be willing to transfer the money into my account by tomorrow? I need to sell it for $100,000. I don’t care if it’s worth more; that’s what I need, and I need it now.”

  “Ellie, hold on a second,” Russell said. “Even if you have the money, there’s no guarantee that they’ll give her to you. Doing what the police tell you to do is your best bet. They have training for situations exactly like this.”

  “I won’t hand the money over until I see her,” she promised. “Why wouldn’t they give her back? The money’s all they want, isn’t it?”

  “Think about it. She saw them kill someone, saw their faces, and likely heard some things that she wasn’t supposed to hear. She probably knows a lot more about them than they like. They’re not going to let a potential witness go.”

  Ellie felt like she had been punched in the chest. What he was saying made sense. She had been too blinded with concern for her grandmother to see it.

  “Russell… what should I do?” she asked in a small voice.

  “Do you have a name yet? I can run them through the database and see if I can figure anything out,” he offered. “And my offer to fly down still stands. There’s a flight that leaves at eight that I could probably make.”

  “No names yet. I do have a friend who knows someone who might be able to identify them. I’m still waiting on a call back.” The thought of Sandra was a small relief. Maybe all hope was not yet lost. “You stay there. If all else fails, I’m still going to ask you to sell the pizzeria. I know you don’t think it will work, but I have to try.”

  “I’ll have my phone on me at all times. Don’t give up hope, Ellie. We’ll find her, somehow.”

  Ellie walked slowly back towards conference room that the police had taken over in the hotel, wishing that she could be out on the streets looking instead of locked inside with nothing to do but wait. Her phone rang again before she reached the door. This time it was a local number. She answered it with a surge of hope. Maybe the kidnapper was calling back.

  “My brother says he recognized the man who looked up at the camera.” It was Sandra. “He says the guy has a boat at the Ocean Cove Marina. He usually stays in it when he’s in town. He spends a lot of time sailing up and down the coast. He doesn’t know—or doesn’t want to give—any names. I’m going to keep talking to him, and if he decides to remember anything else, I’ll call you.”

  “Oh my goodness, thank you so much, Sandra. I’m going to update the police right away. If we find my grandmother, it will be thanks to you and your brother.”

  “Good luck, Ellie. Let me know if there’s anything else I can do. Our thoughts are with you.”

  Ellie burst into the conference room. She felt all eyes on her. “He might be keeping her at the marina. Hurry, we have to go and search.”

  Detective Hernandez stood up and told her to calm down and start over from the beginning. She forced herself to talk more slowly as she explained about Sandra and her brother. Before long, the lead detective was arranging two teams; one to go and speak with Sandra’s brother in hopes that he might give them more information, and a second team to go and search the marina. They each had a photograph of Nonna, so that they could recognize her if they found her. Ellie waited impatiently near the door, planning to go with them. Just as the men were getting ready to leave, the detective approached her.

  “We need you to stay here. My men need to be able to focus on their jobs. If they have to worry about your safety as well as their own, that is just going to be a distraction.”

  “Are you saying I can’t go and look for my grandmother?” she asked.

  “I’m saying that things are going to be much easier for them if they are able to focus solely on finding her, not on protecting you. Besides, you’ll be more useful here. We still need to keep you close in case they contact you again. If this is a false lead, then we’re back to square one.”

  Ellie nodded. “You’re right. It sounds like I might be here for a while. Would it be all right if I grabbed a book out of my hotel room?”

  “Go ahead. We’re ordering in subs for dinner soon. If there’s something special you want, tell John on your way out.”

  CHAPTER FOURTEEN

  * * *

  Ellie went up to her room as she had promised, but instead of grabbing a book, she changed into long pants and pulled a dark sweatshirt over her top. She left the room and walked towards the stairs instead of the elevator. She took the stairs down and pushed her way through the door at the back of the hotel, near an empty parking lot. Keeping an eye out for police who might recognize her and try to stop her, she made her way to the front of the building. She found her rental car, got in, and started it up. Driving only a few blocks, she parked in the pizzeria’s parking lot. She needed somewhere safe and quiet to tell Russell what she was doing.

  “I might know where she is,” she said when he answered the phone. “The men who took her have a boat that they keep in the marina. They might be keeping her there.”

  “Are the police going to search for her?” he asked.

  “They’re putting together a team now,” she said. “I’m going to go too.”

  “Ellie, this is dangerous. Don’t you think it would be safer to stay behind? Your grandmother wouldn’t want you to get hurt trying to help her. I don’t want you to get hurt, not for anything.”

  “I can’t just sit in that conference room and wait for them to tell me what’s happening,” she said. “I’ll never forgive myself if it’s too late when they find her, and there might have been something I could have done to help.”

  “Ellie…” He hesitated, and she braced herself. In the end, all he said was, “Be careful.”

  She ended the call and turned on the car’s GPS. She was looking for the marina that Sandra had mentioned when someone knocked on the driver’s side window. She jumped and barely bit back a shriek. When she saw who it was, she rolled down the window.

  “Linda, you nearly gave me a heart attack. Sorry, I won’t be hogging your parking lot for long.”

  “You can park here for as long as you need. It’s not like we’re busy. Have they found out where your grandmother is yet?”

  Ellie quickly caught her up on what was going on. “So, I’m going to go look for her by myself,” she said.

  “I’m coming with you,” Linda said.

  “I can’t let you do that. You hardly know me, and it might be dangerous.”

  “It doesn’t matter. You need help. You shouldn’t go looking for people who are comfortable with kidnapping and killing on your own. Do you even know how to find the marina?”

  “I was just looking it up on the map when you knocked on the window.”

  “You need someone who is familiar with area. Let me come.”

  “Fine, I’m not going to argue,” Ellie said. She didn’t want anyone else in danger, but her grandmother was her priority just then.

  The phone rang again. This time, she recognized the detective’s number. She answered in case he was calling with news about her grandmother.

  “Ms. Pacelli, where are you?” he asked.

  “I stepped out,” she said.

  “I specifically told you to stay in the hotel. What if the kidnapper calls back? We need to be able to triangulate the call.”

  “My grandmother is scared and alone. I can’t just do nothing. If the kidnappers call, you’ll be the first to know, I promise.”

  “Ms. Pacelli—”

  She hung up. Her heart was pounding. She knew that there might be consequences to her actions later, but she would be willing to face them—after h
er grandmother was safe and sound.

  She put the car into gear and turned to face Linda, who had climbed into the passenger seat.

  “All right,” she said. “Tell me how to get to the marina.”

  ***

  Ocean Cove Marina was much larger than the small marina in Kittiport. Ellie was shocked by the sheer size of some of the boats. She bit her lip and tried not to feel hopeless. It seemed impossible, but even though they had hundreds of potential places to search, she was still determined to do what it took to find her grandmother.

  “Where should we start?” Linda asked.

  “I’m going to call Sandra,” Ellie said. “She might be able to get a description of the boat from her brother.”

  She dialed the number, and when her new friend answered, she explained their problem.

  “Well, my brother is speaking to the police right now. I heard him describe it to them, though. It’s a white yacht with a blue stripe. Its name had something to do with swans. He didn’t remember it exactly. He said it was one of the bigger yachts. He was impressed with how much it must have cost them. That’s all I really have, I’m sorry. I hope you find her.”

  Ellie thanked her and hung up. She shared the description of the boat with Linda and the two of them began walking the docks, looking for a large white yacht with a blue stripe and a swan-related name.

  It was hopeless. There were too many boats, too many people, and not enough time. She had just over a day to get the money. If they couldn’t find her grandmother here, it might be too late to do anything to save her.

  “I might have something,” Linda said. “It’s a sailboat, but it has a blue stripe. It’s called the Goose Chase. The name doesn’t have anything to do with swans, but maybe your friend’s brother was just remembering it wrong.”