by Julia Derek
“That’s completely understandable,” Wil commented. A phone sounded in the apartment then, cutting through the noise of people interacting.
“That’s my cell,” Kate said and fumbled in her pocket, eager to find it. She soon did and checked who was calling her. She frowned at the screen, then answered the call.
“This is Kate. Who’s this?”
Kate’s eyes widened and her entire body went stiff. “Trevor. What have you done with Luis and Anna? Are they okay? Please tell me they’re okay.” Kate’s voice was desperate and she stared at Wil and Larry with frightened eyes. “Oh, thank God,” she said next. “Please don’t hurt them.”
Wil mouthed, “Tell him you want to hear their voices.”
“Can I please hear them say something?” Kate asked, grasping the cell so firmly her knuckles had turned white. “I need to hear they’re okay with my own ears.”
“Good job,” Wil whispered encouragingly to Kate, who remained stiff like a rod as she waited to hear her children’s voices.
Kate’s entire face suddenly lit up. “Hi, Luis. Hi, Anna. Are you okay?” There was a brief pause, then Kate said, “Mommy’s right here. Everything’s going to be okay. Don’t worry. I’ll soon come get you from Uncle Trevor, okay? I love you. Bye.”
Her face turning dark again, Kate listened as Trevor must be saying something to her, then said, “Okay, I understand.”
She removed the phone from her head and looked at Wil and Larry. The plain-clothes detectives, the older woman Wil assumed was Kate’s mom, and the younger woman had joined them.
“What did he say, Kate?” Larry asked when Kate didn’t immediately speak.
“That he has Luis and Anna and that I will receive further instructions in regards to what will happen next, so I better make sure my cell is working if I want to see them again.”
“That’s it?” Larry said.
Kate looked at him glumly. “Yes, that’s it.”
* * *
Chapter 37
The plain-clothes detective dressed in a black leather jacket and dark slacks asked Kate for her phone so he could have the techies at his station trace the call. Wil and Larry knew him as Rico Juarez, a seasoned detective in his forties.
“But no number was displayed,” Kate protested as she handed the man the phone.
“That’s okay,” Detective Juarez said and called someone on his own cell phone. The short, swarthy detective was quiet for a couple of beats, then said, “Nick, I need your help to locate a cell phone.” His deep-seated, black eyes went to Kate. “What’s the number to your cell?”
Kate gave him the number and Juarez repeated it to Nick on the other end of the line. When he was done, he said that he would stay on the line until Nick had located the caller.
“Do you think he’ll find them?” Kate asked Detective Juarez, clutching her fists to her chin, her face pale and tense.
“Let’s hope so,” Detective Juarez replied in a stern tone, his olive features grim. “We should know soon.”
“Okay,” she said. “What do you think he meant by saying he would call me back with further instructions?”
Detective Juarez’s full mouth turned into a thin line as he gave a light shrug. “I’m not sure, ma’am.”
Kate’s fists moved up to her lips and she gnawed at them, her breathing picking up speed. “Really? You’re not sure… That’s not good…” She looked like she was close to having a panic attack.
“Kate,” Wil said and wrapped an arm around the young widow’s shoulders. “Take a deep breath. At least we know that Luis and Anna are alive and seem okay, right? That’s good. And soon we’ll know where Trevor called from. And then we can go and find him and the children. It’s going to be okay.”
Wil spoke with a lot more confidence than she felt. Her gut told her that it would not be nearly as easy to get the kids back from Trevor as she tried to make it seem. She had the sneaky suspicion that Trevor was not doing this because he wanted money from Kate in exchange for the children. He wanted something else, and whatever that else was, money, even lots and lots of it, would have been vastly preferable. She hoped she wouldn’t have to tell Kate this, that her gut would be wrong and that Nick would get back to them with the location. That they would not only find Trevor and the kids, but also get them back from him alive.
For now, though, there was absolutely no point for Wil to mention her fear, despite that she exchanged a look with Larry and could instantly tell that he was thinking something along her lines.
“Yeah?” Detective Juarez suddenly said into the phone in his hand. “Where? Can you text me the location?” A beat went by and he thanked the person on the other line, then disconnected.
“We’ve got him,” Juarez said to Larry and Wil. “Let’s go get the kids.”
“Oh, thank God!” Kate exclaimed, nearly jumping with excitement. The older woman and the younger one had joined her and were hugging Kate, who gratefully returned the hugs.
“Kate, you should come with us as we go after them,” Wil said and put a hand on the widow’s arm. “Trevor might call you again and we need to know what he tells you.”
Kate removed her arms from around the other women and nodded. “Of course. Of course I’ll come with you.”
“Grab a warm coat,” Larry said to her. “It’s freezing outside.”
Kate rushed into the hallway and found a knee-length, blue down coat that she threw on, as well as a thick, gray scarf. When she was all bundled up, she looked at Wil and Larry. “Can my mom and Joanna come with?”
“No, it’s best they stay here,” Larry said. “We don’t know what’s awaiting us. It can get dangerous, so the fewer civilians we bring with us, the better. The only reason you’re coming with us is because Trevor may call, and we need to know what he has to say.”
Kate looked pale, but she nodded and squared her shoulders. “Okay. Let’s go then.” She glanced at her mom and Joanna. “I’ll call you as soon as I know more.”
“Go, go,” the older woman said. “You need to get there as soon as possible. Find Anna and Luis.”
“Yes,” Kate said and kissed the woman on the cheek. “I’ll call soon.”
She swiveled around and followed Detective Juarez, who had already joined his partner, an Asian man in his thirties who stood near the front door. Larry and Wil followed them out of the apartment.
They were soon out on the street and climbed into their squad cars. Kate came with Wil and Larry, taking a seat in the back.
“Where are they?” Kate asked, leaning toward Wil, who was seated in the front passenger seat.
“In Astoria,” Wil replied. “If traffic stays light, we should get there in fifteen minutes.”
Traffic did stay fairly light, and when it wasn’t, Larry used the road’s shoulder to circumvent it. They and the other squad car reached the location Nick had scouted for them in fourteen minutes sharp. They parked behind Detective Juarez’s vehicle and got out at the same time as the other detectives.
“Where exactly are they supposed to be?” Wil asked Juarez at the same time as she pulled her coat tighter around her. The icy winds made the day feel fifteen degrees chillier. They were near a big construction site that took up an entire block.
Juarez nodded his glossy, black head toward the construction site. “In there somewhere.”
“So they haven’t moved since he was first located?” Larry asked.
“No, it’s in the same spot,” Juarez replied in a grim tone that did nothing to ease the discomfort quickly expanding inside Wil. This was not good. They had to make the best of the situation, however, which meant leaving Kate in the car while they entered the construction site in search of Trevor and the kids.
“Someone’s got to stay with Kate while the others go in,” Wil pointed out.
“You stay with her while we go in,” Larry said.
“No, Larry,” Wil said, gazing straight into his eyes. “You know I can move quicker than you can. It’s better I go
. Stay with Kate.”
Larry didn’t look happy with Wil, but he soon acknowledged that she was right; being a lot younger and more agile, she would be more effective in the search of Trevor and the kids. He took Kate by the arm and led her back toward the car.
“Why can’t I come along?” Kate protested, shaking herself loose. She glanced at Wil. “Isn’t it better if I go with you?”
“No, it isn’t,” Larry said, grabbing hold of her again. “You need to stay with me. Trust me, it’s the wisest approach. They’ll be back in no time.”
Reluctantly, Kate climbed into the car when Larry opened the door. Watching him walk around the car, Wil turned toward the other two detectives. She gave them a nod and they headed toward the construction site entrance.
* * *
Chapter 38
The construction site consisted of five floors and it appeared that it was more than halfway done. Because it was a Saturday, no one was working on it, though. As Wil walked inside it, she noticed that the entire building was eerily quiet. Too quiet. With their guns at the ready, she and the two detectives walked around each floor on the lookout for Trevor and the kids. They didn’t want to call for the kids, as that would alert Trevor to their presence, and none of them thought that was a good idea. Chances were he was aware of the police having been notified and on his case already, but they didn’t want to confirm that for him. Instead, they would have to work hard, scouring each corner and nook closely, in the hopes of spotting them somewhere.
Twenty minutes later, they had yet to find any living creature besides a stray cat that had taken all of them by surprise when it crossed their path. The fear that they wouldn’t find Trevor and the kids grew larger in Wil’s chest the longer they kept looking with no results.
“Hey,” Detective Cho called out suddenly. He had taken a few steps to the right, away from them. “Check this out.”
Wil and Juarez hurried over to where Cho was squatting, looking at something on the ground that was littered with hunks of cement. As Wil neared him, she discovered that it was a basic cell phone, the kind you could buy at Walmart and throw away after having used it, also known as a burner phone. A yellow Post-it note was attached to it with something scribbled on it.
“What does the note say?” Wil asked, trying to get a glimpse of it. She had expected that all they would find was a disposable cell phone.
Cho picked up the phone and read the note out loud: “You really think I’d make it that easy for you?”
No, we didn’t really, Wil thought but didn’t say. We only hoped that you would. She knew that to be true without even having to ask her colleagues.
“Bring it with you and let’s get the hell out of here,” Juarez said in that grim voice of his. Cho pulled out a plastic evidence bag into which he dropped the disposable phone with the note.
They hurried back to Kate and Larry in the car parked on the street. When they arrived, Wil, who had taken the lead, saw that Kate was on the phone, talking to someone.
“Kate’s on the phone with someone,” Wil said to the others as they approached the police car. “Let’s see if it’s who I think it is.”
She opened the car door where Kate sat in the front passenger seat. The widow’s face was paler than before, and she looked terrified, her blue eyes huge.
Wil caught Larry’s eye, and he signaled to Wil to be quiet, which told her that Trevor must be on the other line, just like she had suspected.
“I really don’t know what you’re talking about,” Kate almost yelled into the phone, her voice frantic. “I didn’t kill your little sister!”
Wil frowned at Kate. What were they talking about? Maybe she wasn’t talking to Trevor.
“Trevor, I swear I didn’t have anything to do with the death of your sister,” Kate said agitatedly. “I didn’t even know you had a sister. I—” Kate brought a hand to her face suddenly, blocking her nose and mouth.
Wil put a hand on the woman’s shoulder. “Are you okay, Kate?” she whispered.
Kate ignored Wil and, after removing her hand from her face, she said into the phone, “You must be talking about my sister. She happens to be my twin… I only found out about her existence this year. She told me she was involved in an incident that led to someone’s death when she was a teenager, which is why she has dedicated her life to helping bullied kids as a social worker. Not only is my sister identical to me, but she also has the same name. According to her, my real name is Josie, not Kate. That’s her name.”
Wil and Larry stared at Kate, both of them captivated by the words coming out of her mouth. What the hell is the woman talking about? Wil wondered. She had a twin sister with the same name? Why hadn’t she mentioned that before? They needed to hear what Trevor was saying, whom she was obviously speaking to after all.
“Put him on speaker,” Wil urged Kate, squeezing the woman’s shoulder.
Much to Wil’s relief, Kate immediately removed the phone from her ear and pressed the Speaker button. A man’s voice came out of the phone.
“…believe that? How come you never mentioned your twin sister if you had one?”
“I just told you—I didn’t know about her myself until a couple of months ago,” Kate persisted frantically. “That’s when she came to see me. She and I were adopted and didn’t know about each other’s existence until very recently. She moved from Oklahoma to New York to start over.”
Trevor was quiet on the other side of the line. Wil turned around and hissed at Detective Juarez to call his guy at the station so they could locate the phone from which Trevor was calling.
“Please believe me, Trevor,” Kate said into the phone. “It’s my twin sister you want to get even with, not me. I have nothing to do with what she did to your sister. I barely know my twin sister. We only met once for lunch after she called me at home one day. She’s like a total stranger to me. All I know is what I learned during that lunch. She hasn’t even met Diego. She went on a trip to England a few days after and was going to stay there for a month, then we were going to meet up again. I’m so sorry that she hurt your sister and I understand that you’re furious with her, but you have to understand, it’s not my fault what she did. Please give my children back to me, Trevor. You’ve been pursuing the wrong person, can’t you see that now?” Kate was sounding increasingly desperate. “I’ll give you her contact information as long as you give me my children back, okay?”
An ice cold chuckle came out of Kate’s phone, then, “That’s a good try, Kate. Very clever. For a moment there, I almost believed all the lies you’re trying to ram down my throat.”
“Trevor, I swear I’m not lying to you! You have to believe me. How about I give you her contact information right now, and then you can check for yourself? Check that she exists and that I’ve been telling you the truth. Her name is Kate McBride and she lives on the Lower East Side with a roommate. If you want me to, I’ll give you her exact address and phone number so you can verify that I’m telling you the truth. As you know, my maiden name isn’t McBride but Sanders.”
“You changed your last name because you didn’t want anyone to associate you with the horrible thing you did to my sister,” Trevor said in a flat voice.
“That’s not true, Trevor. Kate’s last name is still McBride. While she’s ashamed and deeply regrets what she did to your sister, she hasn’t done anything to change her identity.”
“Kate, you idiot,” Trevor snarled, “no one names their children the same name! Or are you gonna tell me that your biological mother did? You told me you were three when you were on that Greyhound bus. Your real mother must have put you there.”
“Yes, probably. But she must have mixed up me and Kate and written the wrong name on the note that was with me. That’s how I ended up named Kate as well when it really should have been Josie.”
“Uh-huh. And how is it that the real Kate—damn, this is like a bad soap opera”—Trevor let out a cold laugh—“that the real Kate knows your real name should have b
een Josie?”
“Because she did research into her background and found out about our real parents and what happened to them. That’s also how she found out about me. Her adoptive parents are gone and she has no family, so she wanted to meet me, see if we could have a relationship.”
There was a brief pause on the other end of the line. “Okay, give me your so-called sister’s address and phone number, and I’ll check out if there’s any truth to your story. You know, just because I’m a nice guy. Of course, if it turns out you lied to me, I will kill your children the way I intended to. Rest assured of that.”
Kate nearly cried. “Oh, no, Trevor, please leave my children alone. I swear to you. I’m telling you the truth. Please believe me and check her out for yourself. She’s for real.”
“Give me her address and phone number.”
“Hold on. I’ll have to look it up in my phone. Can I forward it to your phone once I find it?”
“Go right ahead. You better make sure it’s the right contact information if you want to see Anna and Luis again.”
“I will.” Kate removed the phone from her face and began searching through her contacts with trembling hands. She seemed to have found it and forwarded it to Trevor, then put the phone back to her ear.
“Did you get it?” she asked him anxiously.
“Yes. I’ll get back to you with instructions soon.”
The line went dead.
“Hello? Trevor?” Kate tried anyway. “Are you there?”
“I think he’s gone, Kate,” Larry said.
Wil turned to the other two detectives. “What’s his location? You have it, right?”
“Yes,” Detective Juarez replied. “We’ve got it. He’s in the South Bronx.”
Wil sighed. “Well, let’s go see if he’s still there. My guess is he’s pulling another one on us, but for now it’s the best we have.”
