Page 6 of Played

“No, sir. But I think he could see her from the corner of his eye. The bairn was out playing with Mrs. Quinn at the time, sir.”

Da punches the table in frustration. “Idiot! If you had told us this from the start, we could have figured out who this bastard is!”

While da berates Zen, I’m texting Caleb, telling him that we may have a lead. Nathan Mackenzie is a rather common name, but if Zen is correct, and that is the man’s true name, I may be able to pinpoint him somehow. If he’s from Scotland, though, it may be more difficult, especially if he hasn’t migrated to the states. “Do you know if he lives here, Zen? Or if he’s still in Scotland?” I interrupt.

“Err…he said he was visiting. I presume he’s still in Scotland.”

“Dammit.” I mutter, turning back to the footage. It looks like Zen and Nathan part ways, and Zen goes off to another post, while I can see through another camera, Mrs. Quinn and Peg playing together. All looks good and well until moments later, when Mrs. Quinn goes inside. As da continues to yell at Zen, I watch closely. Something captures Peg’s attention from the other side of the yard. She lifts her head from her Barbie collection, and walks off the patio. From a distance, it looks like a small animal; a kitten, maybe.

Then I realize that it’s a lure. A toy cat, being pulled from a string of some sort. It pulls her to it faster and faster, until it falls out of view of the camera. The next camera shows a man waving to Peg from the other side of the fence, off in the distance. It’s a birdseye view, but I can distinctly see that it’s our Scottish friend from earlier, since he’s wearing the same denim jacket as in the last frame he appeared in. It looks like he coaxes her to open the gate, which is supposed to be locked and engaged with the security system, but it’s not.

“Da, where’s the panel for the security system?” I ask, interrupting the screaming.

“What’s up, Laney? Do you have something?” Da asks, suddenly less interested in shouting at Zen.

“The back gate looks disengaged. That’s how he got Peg.”

“It would have alerted us if it was disabled, Laney.” Da says, looking as unconvinced of that fact as I am, since I’m literally watching a four-year-old open it and walk straight out.

“He must have disengaged it, sir.” Zen offers. “It’s in fine working order.” Zen adds, pulling up the panel on his phone, and showing it to us. The green light above the panel coordinates clearly show that all is well.

“Dammit. He must have had someone watching over us for a while, figuring out how to tamper with the system.” Da says, frustrated. “He’s got to have someone on the inside though, as there is no way that anyone could have pulled that off without us seeing it on the security camera first.”

“Wait, we did have a technician come in last week, sir.” Zen adds. “He was from the security company. Had the credentials for it and everything.”

“These people are slick, Laney.” Da states. “We need to get in touch with the police straight away.”

“Not before I let Caleb know, da. That man had to have known Peg somehow. Even with the little toy lure, she would never have taken off with him.”

“No offence, lass, but bairns aren’t exactly the smartest.” Zen insinuates carefully.

“Zen, you don’t know Peg. She’s shy, scared, and her mama taught her well. She would never have done that unless she knew him. I swear to it.” Then something occurs to me. “Wait, you said that he’s from Scotland, right?”

Zen nods. “Aye.”

“Gretchen could have known him. He…he could have been one of her sponsors. She said that’s why she didn’t want to leave Scotland, on account of losing touch with them.”

“Do you know what organization she was sponsored with?” Da asks.

I tell him, since Gretchen shared the name of it, when I was still trying to build a case for her moving to the states. “I can look it up.”

“You do that, Laney, while I call the police, and give them the update.” Da says. Zen tactfully stays put, knowing full well that he hasn’t been dismissed yet.

And as I connect with Caleb, the conversation is short, yet shocking.

Caleb

I watch from my truck, as my men deliver a healthy beating to the slender, cowardly man. After the third punch in the ribs, I get out of the vehicle. “Enough!” I shout from the distance.

“Mr. Harris, you’re better off out of sight.” Clancy, the larger security guy, suggests.

“It’s okay, Clancy.” I lift a hand to him, watching this cowardly man bent over by the waist, looking like he wants to puke so bad. I address him. “Are you Ned?”

He nods. “Yes. And I’ll tell you what I told these guys, and that is that I don’t know a goddamn thing about any kidnapping. I live in my fucking car, and this rich dude offered me five hundred bucks to drive this car around, losing anyone that was following me.”

“Where did he tell you to leave the car?” I probe.

“He gave it to me. It was a win-win, man. My car’s a piece of shit.” I look at the Hyundai and think that if his car is worse than this one, I don’t want to know what it looks like.

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