Page 102 of Fatal Betrayal

Andi nodded, compassion in her gaze. "I get the feeling Solange has no idea how far down the dark side her son has gone."

"Okay," he said. "What about the near miss by the bar? Was Daniel in the car with Tyler? Was it Kristine?"

"Good question." Andi thought for a moment as she munched on her pizza. "I wonder if someone from the bar that night contacted Kristine. I asked questions about her before I sat down with you, TJ, and Naomi. We didn't leave for at least forty-five minutes. Plenty of time for someone to sound an alarm about my questions. Whether it was Kristine or Daniel in the car with Tyler, I don't know. I'm leaning toward Daniel, because I think Kristine was in the house that night, solidifying her alibi of being heartbroken about Elisa's disappearance. But she could have called Daniel in a panic, or she contacted someone else who sent Daniel and Tyler down to the bar to scare me or take me out. I'm not sure what the intent was. But it was sloppy and amateurish, completely unlike the rest of the attacks on us. Which suggests a less experienced, low-level criminal."

"So, not Agent Burnett."

"I don't think so."

"Getting back to him—why would someone kill Burnett? What did he do wrong?"

"That's a question that keeps going around in my head. He met with me the day before he was killed. He also sent me a text several hours before someone showed up at his house and shot him in the head. Maybe someone thought Burnett was playing both sides or was going to try to save himself. I do wonder what he wanted to tell me. He was very angry and antagonistic the day before."

"I think he wanted to meet with you to lure you into a trap."

"Except that he was the one who was killed. From what Flynn said, it looks like Burnett had a double life going for twenty years or more."

"Which makes me wonder again why take him out now? We weren't that close to nailing him."

"They might not have known that. The other reason could be the fact that he was taken off Elisa's case. If Burnett couldn't help, then he might not have had any value," Andi said slowly, as she puzzled it out. "He was desperate to get back into the investigation. That's why he fed me information. He wanted me to include him in the case. But I wasn't going to do that, because I didn't trust him."

"And you didn't trust him because you knew he screwed up Hannah's investigation."

"I was definitely a concern to him. It was bad timing that I showed up when I did."

"But even if you hadn't moved back to LA, Damon was going to take him off the case because of Burnett's altercation with me and Neil. He still wouldn't have had the investigation."

"Maybe not, but it only came to my unit because I was there. Our kidnapping specialist is on maternity leave. Without me, Damon would have probably assigned it to someone else in his office, in which case Burnett would have still had some access to the investigation. He could have manipulated facts more easily."

"That makes sense. Do you think this operation is being run by a foreign group?"

"Could be foreign and domestic. I suspect we've only seen the tip of the iceberg."

Her words were chilling. "But that tip can still kill a lot of people," he muttered. "And I'm worrying most about Elisa. Is she somewhere safe? Has she been sold to some loving family and is happily ensconced somewhere? Or is she being held in limbo? That duffel bag of baby items had to be for her, which implies she's still in transit." He frowned at his own words. "God, I hate to think of that sweet little baby being trafficked. It's so cruel. I don't think Neil and Claire will ever be able to forgive themselves if they don't get her back. They'll blame themselves for bringing Kristine into the family, giving her access to their baby. How can they survive that kind of guilt?"

"Let's hope that doesn't happen. As you said earlier, we'll get her back. That's what we need to focus on."

He'd said that with confidence before, but he wasn't feeling that confident now. They'd made some progress, but there was still a lot they had to learn. "And then there's Natasha," he said.

Andi met his gaze. "Yes. I could be wrong about her being Hannah. But I don’t think I am. Either way, she works at the boutique. She took the duffel bag. She's involved. One way or another, we have to get her story."

"It would be a huge coincidence for her to have a scar like Hannah's."

"I agree. But what I don't understand is why she would even be in Los Angeles. If this is a human trafficking operation, then she was kidnapped to be sold to a family desperate for a child. But it doesn't feel like that happened. And with all the media reports at the time, why would anyone have kept her in this area? It would have been too risky."

"She could have been gone for a long time and just recently returned."

"True. However it happened, she seems to be part of the organization. She might be complicit in the kidnappings of other kids."

"Without even knowing that she, herself, was taken," he said, thinking that was a bizarre twist. "They would have had to tell her some story about herself. She's twenty years old. She'd have a birth certificate, a social security number."

"I'm sure her entire identity has been created for her. But what she knows about herself is really the question." Andi paused. "Part of me wishes we had split up in the park and one of us had gone after her. But when Kristine ran, all I could think was that she was going to Elisa."

"She was more important than Natasha at that moment," he agreed. "You didn't make the wrong call, and Kristine is alive. With a little good luck, she comes out of this coma and tells us where Elisa is."

"Good luck?" she asked dryly. "We haven't had much of that."

"Are you kidding? We've been almost run over, blown up, and gunned down, and we're sitting here eating pizza with only a few scratches and bruises. I'd call that good luck."

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