Page 26 of Girl Lost
Corbin straightened, pushing away from the mirrored wall. This was going nowhere fast. Time to rattle his cage. “Cut the bull, Abercorn. You’re not telling us anything.” He thumped Blade on the shoulder. “C’mon, might as well just throw him in lockup and be done with it. Let the Feds take care of this.”
Abercorn’s eyes widened. He looked from Corbin to Blade. “The Feds? What for?”
“A Taser was used to kidnap someone this morning, Charles. We traced the serial number on one of the AFID dots to you.” Blade kept that soothing tone, and Corbin admired his ability to compartmentalize. To navigate anything life or their job threw at him with a calm exterior.
“Let me break it down for you.” A wave of stale cigarette smoke and sweat wafted off Abercorn as Corbin walked behind him. “We’ve got you on conspiracy to commit kidnapping, aggravated assault, unlawful restraint, and use of a weapon during the commission of a felony. That’s just for starters.”
Blade nodded, picking up the thread. “Don’t forget potential charges of false imprisonment, and interfering with a 911 call if the victim tried to use his phone. Oh, and since this happened right outside a restaurant, we could add endangering public safety to the list.”
“Plus,” Corbin added, “if he was injured in any way during this little stunt, we’re looking at aggravated battery charges too. And if he crosses state lines? Now we’re in federal territory with interstate kidnapping.”
The handcuffs clanked against the ring welded to the center of the table as Abercorn fidgeted. Corbin saw the torn edges of the man’s cuticles, the surrounding skin frayed and bleeding where it had been worried away.
Blade tapped his pen on the table again. “All told, you’re looking at multiple felonies. We’re talking decades in a maximum-securityprison, Charles. Decades. And that’s if the victim is found alive and well. If something’s happened to him...”
“Then I guess you’ll only have one choice, Charlie boy.” Corbin slapped him on the shoulder. “Electrocution or lethal injection.”
Abercorn twitched and wiped his cheek on his shoulder. Good. He was sweating now.
Corbin straightened. “So you can keep playing dumb and we’ll throw the book at you. Every. Single. Charge. Including manufacturing a controlled substance and reckless endangerment for turning your house into a hazard. And you can wait it out in county for the next few years. Or you can start talking. Tell us what you know, and maybe—just maybe—we can work something out with the DA.”
Abercorn’s eyes darted between Corbin and Blade, his breath coming in short, rapid bursts. “I ... I can’t.”
“Charles, Charles.” Blade shook his head and took his time tucking his pen in the inner pocket of his blazer. “We’ve laid out what you’re facing. Now’s your chance to help yourself out. What’s it gonna be?”
“Fine.” Abercorn licked his dry lips. “I didn’t use the Tasers, okay? And I don’t know nothin’ about a kidnapping. I traded ’em.”
Blade leaned forward. “Traded them for what, Charles?”
“Drugs. Pills, man.” Abercorn dropped his gaze to the table. “I needed a fix, and I was out of cash.”
“I’m not buying it,” Blade said. “Why buy pills when you have all that meth cooking in your bathroom?”
Abercorn was shaking his head before Blade finished the question. “I told you, man. I wasn’t cookin’ no meth. I don’t touch the stuff. It’s oxys I need. Ever since my car wreck, I can’t function without ’em.”
“So, you’re telling me you traded police-grade Tasers for prescription pills?” Blade asked.
“Yeah, my script ran out and—”
“Hold up,” Corbin said. “You had money for Tasers but not for pills? I’m no mathematician, but even I know that doesn’t add up.”
“No, man ... You don’t ...” Abercorn groaned. “All right, all right. Here’s what happened. I was hurtin’ bad, you know? Needed my pills somethin’ fierce. So, I asked around, see if any of my buddies knew where I could score. This friend of mine, he says he knows a guy who needs something done. The guy said he could trade me the pills I needed if I did him a favor. Said he needed some Tasers, but he couldn’t buy ’em himself ’cause he’d never pass the background check. So, he offered to front me the cash, I buy the Tasers, and then we make the swap. I get my meds, he gets his Tasers without the paperwork. Seemed like a sweet deal at the time. I swear I didn’t know about no kidnapping.”
Corbin took a step closer. Abercorn reeked of a man in over his head. “Who’s the guy you traded them to? We need a name.”
Abercorn’s head snapped up. Genuine fear filled his bloodshot eyes. “I can’t ... he’ll kill me if I give him up.”
“We can help you,” Blade said. “But only if you give us something to work with. Who are these people?”
Abercorn shook his head. Sweat beaded on his forehead. “No, no, you don’t get it. This guy ... he’s connected. He’ll find me.”
Corbin slammed his hand on the table, making Abercorn jump. “Listen, you little weasel. Right now, the guys who used your Taser are out there, free as birds, while you’re sitting here taking the fall. Is that what you want? To go down for a kidnapping you didn’t even do?”
“If they find out I talked, I’m dead.”
Blade leaned in. “Charles, right now, you’re the one facing serious charges. What do you think will happen to a guy like you in prison? The only way out of this is to help us. Give us something we can use.”
Abercorn’s eyes filled with desperation. He looked from Blade to Corbin, then back again. “I ... I don’t know, man. I don’t know if I can do it.” Abercorn was cracking. They were almost there.
