A Deadly Influence (Abby Mullen Thrillers #1)(77)
When he logged in to Twitter, he noticed a new tweet from Gabrielle. It instantly drew his eye because it was the same image he’d been meticulously scrutinizing since that morning.
Gabrielle had posted Nathan’s picture and written, The kidnapper sent us this image of Nathan, to prove he’s still alive. She’d cropped the background, leaving only the part of Nathan holding up the newspaper. It was a smart move. Eric had already seen people commenting online that Gabrielle had made up the kidnapping. If they saw a picture of Nathan in his own room, they’d point it out as proof.
He frowned at the image. Something was wrong.
There.
He dialed Gabrielle’s number.
“Hello?” she answered immediately.
“Gabrielle, it’s Eric.”
“What is it?” Abrupt, impatient, but it was understandable. Her nerves were shot to hell. She probably hardly slept. His heart clenched for her.
“Listen, the photo you posted—”
“Not you too,” she said, annoyed. “I already had that detective call me and rant about it. I needed to post it. To make people see.”
“But is that the image the kidnapper sent you?”
“Of course it is. What, you think I took it myself?”
“No, it’s just . . . is it the only one you got?”
“Eric, I don’t have time right now. I need to talk to the guy organizing the donations; there’s some kind of problem with the money. And the kidnapper might call at any moment.”
“But this is important—”
She hung up.
He stared at the image again. There was no doubt.
Then he dialed 911.
CHAPTER 52
“What if they don’t let her leave?” Brian asked.
“They’ll let her leave. It’s in their best interest,” Abby answered distractedly.
They were leaning on the hood of her car two miles away from the Tillman farm, waiting for Wong and Leonor to show up. Wong had agreed to go into the farm alone and tell Otis that the bald man with the tattoo Leonor had seen might match a suspect in the kidnapping. They needed to talk to Leonor at the station. Abby believed if the NYPD stayed out of it, Otis might be in a more cooperative frame of mind, since it was established that the Suffolk County Police were in his pocket.
But deep in her heart, she shared Brian’s misgivings. What if Otis told Leonor she couldn’t leave? If she refused to come, there was nothing they could do.
Wong had seemed confident that she could present a good case, make it sound like it was in everybody’s interest to finally get the NYPD off Tillman’s back. She’d hint that once Leonor identified the bald guy with the tattoo, the NYPD would have no reason to keep Karl in custody.
Otis surely cared more for his nephew than he did for a girl who dared interrupt him when he talked.
Or maybe not.
“If she doesn’t want to come with us, can we just . . . take her?”
“No. Back in the seventies, they used to do that. People would abduct cult members, lock them up somewhere safe, and forcefully deprogram them, sometimes for weeks. In many cases it did more harm than good. Even if the process was successful, it was traumatic for the subject. Not to mention it’s illegal. No, she has to agree to come.”
“Yeah, but—”
“There.” Abby pointed as Wong’s vehicle rounded the curve. The sun reflected off the windshield, and Abby squinted, searching.
“Leonor is with her,” Brian said, relieved.
“Yeah.” Abby grinned. “Are you ready?”
“I guess.” Brian sounded doubtful. “I wasn’t kidding before. Leonor never listens to me. I’m her dumb stoner brother.”
“Just convince her to hear me out,” Abby said. “I’ll do the rest of the talking.”
Wong pulled the car to the side of the road and said something to Leonor. Then she got out and took a few steps away from the road, finally pausing by a large tree. She leaned on it and lit a cigarette.
Abby joined her. Wong offered a cigarette, and Abby shook her head.
“Detective Mullen,” Wong said in a monotone voice. “Fancy meeting you here. What an amazing coincidence.”
Abby turned around and watched Brian approach Wong’s car, leaning to wave hello at Leonor. Leonor’s smile was confused, but there was no doubt in Abby’s mind. She was overjoyed to see her brother.
“What did you tell her?”
“Exactly what we agreed. She’s supposedly coming with me to the station to look at mug shots. She was crying when I showed up.”
“Crying? Why?”
“No idea. They had just gotten out of their communal lunch. She walked out alone.”
“Did she ask for permission to leave?”
“Oh yeah. Went directly to Otis and asked him in front of me. He gave her permission and told me if she wasn’t back in a few hours, he’d make a few phone calls. Told her she was ‘under his protection.’” Wong uttered the last words with uncharacteristic disgust.
“What will you do if she comes with me and your commander gets another angry phone call from the county executive asking where the hell Leonor is?” Abby asked, watching the brother and sister talk. Brian shook his head, pointing behind his shoulder.