Gone (Deadly Secrets #2)(88)
Alec’s stomach twisted as he pushed away from the counter. Hunt was talking about abductions. Gilbert was the one who’d kidnapped those unsuspecting kids and hauled them away. “I need you to get this information to Jack Bickam at the FBI.”
“I will. I wanted to tell Raegan not to go meet with Miriam Kasdan first, though.”
“What?”
“Tell her not to go. The FBI will have enough information here to question Arnold Kasdan about Gilbert and this whole thing. We don’t want to tip him off or give him a reason to run. I can’t seem to locate the guy, so I don’t know if he’s here in Portland or halfway around the globe.”
“Slow down. You’re confusing me. Who is Miriam Kasdan?”
Hunt sighed. “Arnold Kasdan’s mother. She lives here in Portland. Raegan was going to meet with her this morning to feel her out.”
The blood drained from Alec’s face as a new fear rushed through him. “Oh shit.”
“What?”
Alec glanced around the empty apartment. “Raegan’s not here.”
“She already left?”
He pulled his cell from his pocket and stared at the blank screen. “And she’s not answering either of our calls.”
CHAPTER NINETEEN
Raegan rounded on Miriam Kasdan and only barely held back from strangling the woman. “Tell me what happened.”
The older woman folded her hands in front of her and moved back to stand in the doorway, blocking Raegan’s exit from the office. “Your daughter was not the type of child we normally rescue—no older siblings, educated and successful parents—but one of our couriers picked her up by mistake.”
“A courier,” Raegan repeated as she stared at the older woman, disbelief swirling like a tornado in her gut. “You mean John Gilbert. We both know he didn’t take her by mistake.”
“Yes. Gilbert.” Kasdan’s lips turned down in disgust. “He was adept at moving inventory, but he was a liability when it came to his personal life.”
The woman was speaking about these children as if they were objects rather than living, breathing people. Sickness swirled along with the disgust inside Raegan.
“Unfortunately for you,” Kasdan went on, “Mr. Gilbert’s personal affairs were intertwined with your husband’s. By the time I learned what Gilbert had done, it was too late to correct the error. The repercussions would have been innumerable. Then I looked into your husband’s background, and, well, I knew the child was better off being relocated.”
“What do you mean better off?” Raegan snapped. “She’s not better off anywhere but with me.”
“Oh, but she is. You see, with her new family, there is never any threat of John Gilbert touching her ever again. You know how dangerous that man can be. Look at the bruises on your face, Ms. Devereaux. Is he the sort of man you’d allow near a young, vulnerable child? Imagine what he would have done to that poor girl had I not stepped in to save her.”
A new wave of understanding hit Raegan as she lifted her hand to the yellowing spots near her temple. “Did you hire him to make me back off these cases?”
Mrs. Kasdan pursed her lips. “A very unpredictable man indeed. I hear he was involved in a car accident last night.” She glanced down at her manicure. “Knowing him, he’ll likely survive. Pity, isn’t it? Your daughter is still not safe.”
The last of Raegan’s patience erupted in a fury that colored everything red. Her hand closed into a fist at her side as she stepped toward Miriam Kasdan. “Where is my daughter?”
“Careful, Ms. Devereaux. If you harm me in any way, you’ll never find your daughter. If, on the other hand, you agree to cooperate, I can take you to her.”
Raegan’s heart stuttered, drawing her up short. “What does ‘cooperate’ mean?”
“It means exactly what you think it means. You agree never to speak of what you know to anyone. In exchange for your silence, I’ll give you your daughter. All you have to do then is leave the country. I have powerful friends, Ms. Devereaux. We can give you new names, new identities. Say the word, and you can both have the same new start I’ve given dozens of children.”
“Disappear.” Raegan’s gaze skipped over the framed hearts on the walls. The woman wanted her to disappear just as those children had disappeared.
“Disappear with means. There’s a big difference. Come, now. If you love your daughter the way you say you do, you’d want her safe from the likes of John Gilbert, and we both know so long as Gilbert is alive, she will never truly be safe. His need for revenge is never-ending. He will use your daughter however he can to get that revenge.”
Raegan’s mind swam. Could this be real? Could this woman really take her to Emma? She looked back at Miriam Kasdan. “W-what about her father?”
“Mr. McClane? Isn’t he an alcoholic?”
“He’s been sober almost three years.”
“That’s not what my sources tell me.”
Raegan’s eyes narrowed. “What do you mean?”
“My sources informed me that he was seen just this morning entering a tavern on the west side. He stayed there for over an hour. What does one do in a tavern in the morning besides drink, Ms. Devereaux?”