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The officer shoved her into the back of a brown police sedan and slammed the door. At least the inside of the vehicle was warm, a stark contrast to the brittle winter day outside. The scent of evergreen filled the air, strangely comforting. But only for a moment.
The man in the front seat turned toward her, his eyes perceptive and hard—yet disturbingly beautiful with their crystal coloring. He was broad and imposing with light brown hair, a square jawline and a five-o’clock shadow.
“Ms. Ryan,” he started. “My name is Detective Mark James. We need you to answer a few questions.”
“Of course.”
“What did you do with Sarah Novak?” His voice sounded all business, like he wasn’t the kind of person to be messed with or questioned or who you wanted on your bad side.
“Nothing. I have no idea where Sarah is,” she told him, sagging into the seat.
Laney needed to contact her boss, Nicholas Mclean. He would be able to explain who Laney was, why she was trustworthy and incapable of this. Her job with the CIA was classified, and they even used a different company name as a front.
“Don’t play games, Ms. Ryan. We have a witness that proves you were the last person to be seen with Sarah. There’s no need to draw this out. You’ll only make this harder on yourself.”
What was he talking about? That couldn’t be true. Plenty of people would have seen Sarah since then. First at the bus stop. Then at school. “I’m telling you—I would never do anything to hurt Sarah. I think of her like a daughter.”
He raised his chin, his gaze still assessing. “Like the daughter you always wanted? How far were you willing to take that?”
Her mouth dropped open at his implications. “What are you saying? That because I’m childless I would kidnap someone else’s daughter and stow her away somewhere?”
“Yes, that’s precisely what I’m saying.” Those beautiful crystal eyes now looked steely blue.
She shook her head with every ounce of her strength. She had to get through to him and convince him of her innocence. “You’re dead wrong. I would never do that. Never. I don’t know where all of this came from, but the last time I saw Sarah, she was with her father and she was about to head to the bus stop.”
“A witness places her back at your house at 11:30 this morning.”
Her jaw dropped. “11:30? That’s ridiculous. I wasn’t even home at 11:30. I was walking around the neighborhood, getting in my exercise, just like I always do.”
“Can anyone prove that?”
She let out an audible sigh, realizing the futility of her argument. “A couple of drivers passed me, but no one I know. I walk almost every day at the same time. It’s part of my routine.” A routine that anyone observant enough would have noticed.
Laney should have been more careful. But she’d always been a creature of routine. Routines brought her comfort, something she immensely needed in her life since the murder of her husband three years ago.
“So, no? You have no one to corroborate that?”
She nibbled on her bottom lip, the first touch of despair creeping into her psyche. This was bad. Really bad. But once the police dug deeper, certainly they would see her innocence. They’d know whoever placed Sarah at her house at eleven thirty was wrong.
“No, there’s no one I know of who can verify that,” she finally said. “I live alone. I’m a bit of a loner.”
Why couldn’t she have run into someone today of all days? Normally she’d at least catch a glimpse of a neighbor as she was out. But not today. It had been cold and overcast out, the kind of weather that kept people inside. Up until six months ago, it would have kept Laney inside also. She’d used any excuse possible. She’d been so proud of herself for stepping outside of her comfort zone, for taking baby steps toward a more normal routine and out of the isolation that had consumed her.
“Mr. Novak said you’d been arguing with him about his daughter lately.”
Laney let out a little gasp. How in the world had that come up? And did the police really think it was relevant? Obviously they did since the detective had mentioned it. They thought it gave her motive.
“I just hated to see her so unhappy,” Laney started, the car suddenly feeling hot and stuffy. “It wasn’t my place to speak up about how Sol was raising her. I admit that. I even apologized to Sol for interfering. Sarah just looked like she needed someone to talk to.”
The detective shifted, his eyes perceptive and keen as he watched her every reaction. “What didn’t you agree with?”
Laney had done nothing wrong, she reminded herself. She just had to speak the truth and trust that honesty would win over the accusations against her. “Her father was so hard on her, and she’s such a good girl. She was never allowed to do anything. She came home, took care of the house after school and did her schoolwork. Day after day. She had no life. No chance to hang out with friends. Sol took being overprotective to the extreme.”
“I take it he didn’t react well to your reprimand?”
Laney frowned. “Not at all. I apologized for interfering. I usually keep to myself. But I guess my talk did some good because Sol finally decided to let Sarah go to the school social this weekend. I was going to be a chaperone. It was the only way he would say yes. I’d never seen Sarah look so happy.”
“I see.”
Laney rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming on. “Look, I have no idea where she went or what’s going on, but I know every minute you spend focusing on me is a minute spent focusing on the wrong person.”
Her words didn’t seem to affect the detective. “I’ll be the judge of that.”
With that, the man exited the sedan, leaving Laney in the backseat feeling like she carried the weight of the world on her shoulders.
* * *
Mark James stepped from his police issued sedan and approached the head of the SWAT team, a man who also happened to be his partner. Jim Swanson stood near the porch of the stately brick home as the rest of the SWAT members filed out. A team of detectives now swarmed the inside, looking for any evidence that Laney had taken Sarah. If there was anything there, they would find it.
He mentally reviewed the time line. Sol got a call from school around twelve saying Sarah never showed up, so he’d reached out to a neighbor who said she’d seen Sarah go into Laney’s at eleven thirty. Sol claimed he tried to call Laney from work, but that her line had been busy. In a panic, he’d decided to head home and check things out himself.
While in his car driving home, he’d gotten a ransom call from someone claiming to have abducted Sarah. The kidnapper wanted one-hundred thousand dollars and indicated that Sol should stay tuned for directions. Sarah had been placed on the other line as confirmation that she was alive. Before she was cut off, she’d mentioned a woman and she’d said Laney’s name.
Mark could see Sol standing in his yard. The man’s eyes were glazed, his shoulders hunched and his expression haggard. Two officers surrounded him, making sure he didn’t do anything irrational. They were also monitoring his communications so they would know when Sarah’s abductors contacted him again and hopefully be able to trace the call and find out their location.
“What do you think?” Mark asked.
Jim Swanson shrugged. “She looked shocked when we came into the house. I didn’t see any guilt in her gaze. Only surprise and fear. You?”
Mark looked back at his sedan and remembered the moisture he’d seen running from Laney Ryan’s eyes earlier. He’d been in this line of work for long enough to know not to let tears get to him. They could be deceitful. But, for some reason, seeing this suspect crying clutched his heart.
“The woman across the street placed Sarah here at Ms. Ryan’s house before she disappeared,” Mark said. “They say the girl went inside and never came out.”
Jim shook his head. “Sarah’s not in the house now. If that’s true, where did she go? Where could Laney have taken her?”
“Our guys are checking out the backyard now to see if there’s any evidence of a scuffle back there, right?”
“That’s right. But what about motive? That’s what doesn’t make sense.”
Mark thought about the conversation he’d had with Laney in his sedan. “It’s hard to say, but she didn’t sound very impressed with Sol’s parenting skills. Maybe she was trying to help the girl in some kind of twisted way.”
“We need to bring her in until we can thoroughly investigate,” Jim said.
“I agree. I’m not sure we have enough evidence to keep her in custody, though.”
“We can stall for as long as possible, until something turns up.”
Mark turned back to the sedan and watched Laney for a moment. He hadn’t known what he’d expected, but certainly not the beautiful woman who’d been led out in handcuffs. The petite woman had light brown hair that was cut level with her chin. She was bookish and looked smart. Her green eyes had a hint of firecracker behind them while her voice had sounded soft and kind.
None of those things meant anything, though. The only thing that mattered was finding Sarah Novak. He wouldn’t let another girl disappear forever.
Just like Lauren had.
He’d never gotten over the loss. It was one of the reasons he’d requested to be on the Missing Persons Unit here with the Richmond PD. He didn’t want other people to go through what he had.
Just then, Sol began shouting into his phone from across the yard. His demeanor went from defeated to wired.
“Sarah? Is that you?” he yelled.
Mark rushed toward him. The man put his phone on Speaker, a frantic look on his face—a frantic expression Mark understood all too well. He’d lived it before.
“Dad?” The line was broken and only bits of sentences were getting through. “Help...me.”
“Darling, I want to help. Where are you?”
“Dad...don’t know...” Static filled the line. “But Laney...”
Sol’s face turned red. “Laney what? Laney took you?”
“I’m...” Garbled words filled the silence until she ended with “Please help.”
“Please, honey, can you tell me where you are? Who took you?”
“...Laney,” Sarah said again.
The line went dead.
TWO (#ulink_f867d5bc-1094-5837-a60e-6c5a849adccc)
An hour later, Laney sat across from the handsome yet cold detective at the police station. Since they’d been in the room, he’d been even-keeled—not friendly, not angry. In fact, he’d been so calm that it was almost unnerving. He had eyes that didn’t easily trust. A gaze that was assessing. Body language that screamed cautious.
She might be trained as a computer programmer, but her entire life she’d practiced reading people. She’d always preferred to stay on the fringe, in the places where she could observe and study others. Her peers had thought she was strange in high school because she’d been so quiet, but she’d always thought that she was being the person God created her to be. She’d rather be different than compromise her authenticity.
Her gaze flickered around the room now. The space reminded her of the detective: stark and neat. There was no table, nothing to use as a barrier to separate herself from the man across from her. There were only two chairs. The setup left her feeling exposed and vulnerable.
Laney was sure they’d planned it that way.
She was the police’s number-one suspect, she realized. They weren’t focusing on anyone else right now—just her.
That was a mistake.
That meant that the real person who’d abducted Sarah was getting farther and farther away. The thought made her gut turn with disgust.
Earlier, when she’d been given a phone call, she’d tried to reach Nicholas, her boss with the CIA. He hadn’t answered—and he always answered. What did that mean?
Panic tickled her gut, her nerves, her thoughts.
At the moment, silence filled the room—probably another method of trying to get Laney to talk. It was working.
“You’re focusing on the wrong person.” Laney had already repeated that several times, but no one seemed to care. How could she get through to them?
“Ms. Ryan, Sarah called. She said your name.” The detective leaned toward her, his gaze like a laser.
Her heart lurched. She knew how it sounded. But she also knew the truth. “She was probably calling out for my help. She trusts me. She knows I’d never hurt her.”
“Which makes it even worse that you would betray her like this.”
“But I didn’t betray her!” Tears rushed to Laney’s eyes, and she pulled her sleeve-covered hands over her face as despair bit deep.
This system seemed so messed up, and she was helpless to do anything about it. She was at the mercy of this detective. Of the justice system.
She’d just started trusting again. After her husband’s murder, it had been difficult. Panic attacks had plagued her, as well as nightmares. She’d been making progress, but now this. Her therapist had his work cut out for him when all of this was over.
Detective James leaned closer and lowered his voice. “Just tell me what you did with her.”
Laney closed her eyes, exhausted from repeating herself. “I’m sure witnesses told you that no one saw me leave the house with Sarah. Because I didn’t leave the house with her. I don’t know why she came over while I was on my walk. I don’t know how she got inside or where she went from there. But I didn’t do anything with her.”
He sighed and leaned back as if weary from the conversation. “Anyone else have a key?”
“No.”
“You sound concerned about her. Were you desperate to get her away from her father?”
Laney shook her head more adamantly. “No. Not at all. Why won’t you believe me? I’ve been framed for this. I’m innocent here. Check my record. It’s clean.”
“We did check it. You’re right. You have no priors. Stranger things have happened, though.”
She leaned back, determined to think everything through. Something wasn’t making sense to her, and she needed to pinpoint just what that was. Finally, it dawned on her. The way everything had played out today didn’t make sense.
The situation had escalated too quickly. The police had just barged into her home and deemed her guilty. She realized the urgency of the matter, but something was missing.
“Don’t you think sending a SWAT team to my house is a little extreme?” she started. “You could have just questioned me.”
“In situations like this, time is of the essence. An Amber Alert has already been issued. Sarah mentioned your name when she called, a neighbor confirmed Sarah showed up at your house, and financial records show a large sum of money was recently taken from your account.”
Her jaw dropped open. “A large sum of money? I sent that to my in-laws to help with some medical bills.”
“We’ll have to confirm that.”
“All of that was enough evidence to get a no-knock warrant?”
He stared hard at her. “Yes, it was, as a matter of fact. We couldn’t risk you harming the girl.”
This was getting old. How long were they going to keep her there? Were they going to lock her up? Would they question her until she confessed purely out of exhaustion to a crime she didn’t commit?
Her head ached, her mouth was dry, and her muscles cried out for relief. She had to try a different approach here. She shifted, determined not to be defeated. “Please, you’ve got to listen to me. I’m innocent and the real bad guy is getting away with this.”
“Who do you think the real bad guy is, Ms. Ryan?” Detective James leaned toward her again, obviously changing tactics himself.
