Page 82 of Pied Sniper

“I assume you answered it?”

“Of course. They said they were watching me and asked if I had the cash. The voice was weird though, it sounded electronic.”

“Voice changing apps are easy to install,” said Solomon.

“This was tinny and strange. I kind of thought it was unprofessional?”

I glanced at Solomon but he shrugged. “Go on.”

“I told them I couldn’t get all of it but I had more than half. The line went very quiet before they said they wanted all of it. I said, how could I get it on such short notice and after the banks were all closed? I pleaded for them to release Tiffany and they said they’d take whatever I had. But I said I needed to hear Tiffany speak to me first. I knew there was no point paying the money without getting proof of life. You told me that. They argued with me but I insisted. Then Tiffany came on the line and she was sobbing. She asked me to give them whatever they wanted. I asked if she was badly hurt but she didn’t get a chance to answer. The man told me to get on the next bus and ride it two stops, then put the money through the mail slot of an empty shop. He said they’d be watching, then he hung up.”

“Did you follow his instructions?”

“I did. I put the envelope through the mail slot and waited half an hour but Tiffany never showed up. Then the police arrived! Detective Graves was so angry. He said I never should have done that. Then the FBI guy kicked down the door but the money was already gone.”

“They were probably waiting inside. In and out in a few minutes,” said Delgado. “I can check it out.”

“Tell Lucas to also check for cameras,” said Solomon as Delgado pulled out his phone and got to his feet. “For the original location and the shop. I want him to look at the lease on the shop too and who has access. Landlords, tenants, maintenance workers, real estate agents. We can assume Maddox and Garrett already did that but I want the information too. And find out who had access to Ms. Swanson’s room service order.”

“What happened to the phone? Did they call you again?” I asked.

Abigail gulped. “I kept it. I thought they might call again but they didn’t.” She reached into her pocket, pulled out a phone and pushed it across the island. It was an older model and as basic as it could be, the type that became obsolete when fancy smartphones stole the market. My mother’s aged Irish mother had a similar model, which was a relief for everyone. No one needed a witchy curse cast on them via video call. The ones by text were bad enough. “I know I should have given it to the police but, honestly? I was pissed at them. I thought they scared off whomever had Tiffany. But now I know Tiffany was never released at all. No chance of that until her kidnappers got all the money. I thought they would call me again but nothing.”

“How short were you?”

Abigail spat out the number and I winced. “I don’t think I can get it,” she added. “Tiffany has some money due from other deals but notthatmuch. She doesn’t have a corporate sponsorship that we can apply to either.”

“Have you asked her friends?”

“I asked everyone. They all said no. Some of them said she already cost them too much. One made a good point, saying that they were all targets if it became known that ransoms would be paid. By not paying, they were protecting everyone in the future. That can’t be true!”

“Unfortunately, it is,” said Solomon. “One of the best ways of protecting a wealthy family is for them to be very public that no ransoms will ever be paid and then hope like heck no one ever calls them on it.”

“But what if their loved one is killed because they didn’t pay?”

“Then the others won’t be. It’s a terrible lesson to learn and a terrible price to pay.”

“But you did pay something,” I said to Abigail, “and we can’t change that now. Can you remember anything from the call that you haven’t told us? Was it a man or a woman? Young or old?”

“It sounded like a man but I guess that could be changed too?”

I glanced at Solomon and he nodded. “What about their style of speech? Well-spoken or rougher?”

“Average, I think. Not broken English but not high society either. But I really wasn’t paying attention to how he spoke, just what he said. Why? Is it important?”

“No,” I decided. “Just covering all our bases.”

“What do I do now? The police and the FBI are both annoyed with me, I can tell. They even followed us over here.”

“Maybe try and do exactly what they ask,” I suggested as gently as I could. “They can help if they know what’s going on in advance. They won’t do anything to jeopardize Tiffany’s safety.”

“Boss,” said Delgado, passing his phone over to Solomon. Solomon glanced at it and said, “We have to go. Delgado will take you back to your hotel.”

“But what do I do?” asked Abigail. “I can’t just sit there. She could be dead!”

“Just stay there for now,” said Solomon. “We’ll be in touch when we have more news and you must call one of us when you have something too.”

Abigail nodded silently and gathered her purse, then followed Delgado to the door. I trailed behind them. When Delgado stepped out to get the car, Abigail said softly, “I know what I did was stupid. I really did just panic. I might have cost Tiffany her life.”

---