A Deadly Influence (Abby Mullen Thrillers #1)(109)

“What if they kept Nathan somewhere along the road between Albany and Manhattan?” Carver said, trailing the road on the map with his finger. “Suppose Liam saw something while he drove home, something he shouldn’t have.”

“Yeah, that could work.”

“Still a long road. We have no way to know where it happened.”

Abby nodded. “What about forensics? Shouldn’t we have a match to the footprint by now?”

“Maybe, I got here ten minutes ago; I didn’t get around to checking.”

She took out her phone and dialed Ahmed.

“I was just about to call you,” Ahmed said as soon as he picked up. “Do you want the good news or the bad news?”

“Let’s start with the good news.”

“Those boots you retrieved over there are all the right brand, matching the footprint from both crime scenes. Four pairs are even the right size. And I talked to Gomez. The knife model is a very good match for the murder weapon.”

“Fantastic.”

“Now for the bad news. You don’t have it.”

“What don’t I have?” Abby asked.

“The murder weapon. Or the boots. The tread-wear patterns of the boots from the farm don’t match the footprint from the Layton crime scene. And you remember the small chip that broke from the blade? We checked all the knives you brought us, and it doesn’t match any of them.”

Abby chewed her lip. “Okay, thanks, Ahmed.”

“I’ll let you know if I find anything else.” He hung up.

Abby filled Carver in. “Maybe they got rid of the boots and the weapon,” she suggested.

“Maybe,” Carver said doubtfully.

“What’s bothering you?”

“We have a missing pair of boots, a missing knife, and a missing Luther,” Carver pointed out. “Doesn’t it sound like they’re all missing together?”

Abby thought about it. “It’s possible.”

“You know what else has been bothering me? Remember when we interrogated David, and he talked about how they made a plan to kidnap Nathan? And then he said God is punishing them for it, that the police are murdering them one by one.”

“Right.”

“The only one the police shot was Karl. Why ‘one by one’? It sounds like we’re killing them methodically. Otis and David are obviously not dead.”

“So you think Luther was also killed by the police?”

“No. I think David thinks Luther was killed by the police.”

Abby caught on. “Otis kept telling the community that everyone who leaves his protection dies. That the police are killing them off.”

“Exactly. What if Luther is one of the people who left the cult? And Otis told the community the police killed him?”

“That’s what Otis wants to offer,” Abby said, feeling excited. “This is what he figured out last night! When you told him we have a match to the boots and knife, he was confused at first, because maybe they really didn’t kidnap Nathan. But then he realized he knew who did. Luther, who worked out the initial plan with Otis, David, and Karl.”

“Luther might still have the boots and the knife from the time he spent in the Tillman cult. And he enacted the plan that they’d originally thought of. But he did it alone.”

“If Otis knows how to contact Luther, he might be able to lead us to him. And to Nathan.”

“That’s true. A phone number would be enough to nail him.”

“We have to make that deal,” Abby blurted.

Carver gave her a long stare. “Yeah.”

“You don’t think so?”

“I think Nathan could be dead. And that Otis is incredibly dangerous. You want him to keep on raping his community members? And what about Leonor? How would she feel about this?”

She saw his point. If they made this deal, what would she tell Leonor? And what about Ruth and the rest of the women who appeared on those thousands of videos?

“Okay,” Carver finally said. “Suppose we’re right. Luther is the one who kidnapped Nathan. How does that tie into Liam Washington’s murder?”

“Maybe we were right the first time,” Abby said. “They worked together.”

Carver frowned. “It’s possible, but when I investigated Liam’s background, I didn’t find anything that pointed to him. And we went through his schedule; all his recent engagements check out. Phone calls all correspond to his wife, friends, and clients. I don’t think he’s related to the kidnapping either way.”

“Then, like you said, he saw something that he shouldn’t have. On the way back home from Manhattan.”

“Okay.” Carver inspected the map closely. “So the road he would have used is the I-87.”

“It’s a highway,” Abby said. “What would he have seen on it?”

“Maybe he saw the kidnapper with Nathan in the car,” Carver suggested.

“That makes sense. But then how did he end up dead?” That car, the blood on the window. “According to forensics, Liam sat in the driver’s seat, and the murderer stood outside, stabbing him through the window. I can’t see that happening on a highway unless they both stopped somewhere to eat or—”