TWENTY-ONE

 

My jaw dropped to my toes. “I never considered that. She’d be about the right age. Did Cormac Murphy have any daughters?”

“Three, according to Ledbetter. And two sons. All in the family business.”

“If not a daughter, she might be a daughter-in-law.”

“Another possibility. We’ll know more later. Right now, neither of them is talking, and they’ve both lawyered up.”

“Have they been charged?”

“Not yet, but Ledbetter assured me they won’t be released anytime soon. He was waiting for a hit from fingerprints and facial recognition. The woman won’t even tell them her name. I wanted to get back to make sure you were okay.”

Zack laced the fingers of his right hand through my left hand. Before we headed into the living room, I turned to face him and asked, “Are the boys at Shane’s?”

He nodded. “They know you’re safe. Shane offered to keep them overnight.”

“Good. I think that’s best with Gigi here. She’s skittish enough as it is.”

“Plus, Ledbetter still needs to get statements from the two of you. He’ll be here within the next hour or so. By then he also may have more answers for us.”

We found Gigi huddled in the corner of the sofa, her arms wrapped around her knees. Leonard crouched with his head in his paws a short distance away. He silently eyed Gigi. I couldn’t tell if he was guarding her or thought he was guarding us from her.

With her ultra-thin body lost in my way-too-big-for-her New York Mets sweatshirt and sweatpants, she looked even younger than her sixteen years. She ignored Leonard and stared warily at Zack.

I took a seat beside her, placed my hand on her forearm, and asked, “How about a cup of hot cocoa?”

When she nodded, Zack smiled at her and said, “Hot cocoa coming up. I’ll bet you like marshmallows.”

Some of the fear faded from her eyes. The corners of her mouth curled up slightly, and she nodded.

As Zack made his way into the dining room, Gigi whispered, “Is that your boyfriend?”

“Fiancé.”

She glanced down at my ring. “I didn’t notice before. It’s very pretty.”

I chuckled. “You’re forgiven. We were kind of busy.”

Gigi turned her head to watch Zack in the dining room while he prepared the cocoa. As I followed her gaze, for the first time I noticed the dining room was no longer as crowded as when I left the house this morning. Although cartons of food and dishes still filled the floor, the refrigerator and microwave were missing, as was the coffeemaker. I’d completely forgotten the new appliances had been scheduled for delivery this afternoon.

Cup in hand, Zack strode into the kitchen. A moment later I heard the new microwave nuking the cocoa.

“He’s kinda cute,” said Gigi, dragging my attention back to her.

“And taken. You need to start dating guys your own age.”

Her eyes grew wide. “I didn’t…I meant no…”

“Hey, it’s okay.” I placed a calming palm on her knee and smiled at her. “I was kidding.”

“Oh.” She heaved a deep sigh. “I guess you’re right, though. You and my mom.” Her eyes pleaded with me. “You’ll still call her for me, won’t you?”

“Of course. There’s someone coming to the house to take our statements. I’ll phone her once he leaves.”

Gigi’s expression grew anxious. “What kind of statement?”

With Ralph perched on his shoulder, Zack returned to the living room. He held the mug of hot cocoa in one hand, an ice pack in the other. “For your bruises,” he said, handing me the ice pack before passing the hot cocoa to Gigi.

Gigi stared wide-eyed at Ralph, her mouth agape.

“He won’t hurt you,” I assured her. “Ralph is very friendly.”

“And smart,” added Zack.

“Ralph, huh?”

I shrugged. “He belonged to my great-aunt. I inherited him when she died.”

“Can I pet him?”

Zack handed Gigi the mug and reached into his shirt pocket for a sunflower seed. “Offer him this.”

She placed the sunflower seed between her thumb and forefinger and tentatively raised her arm until the treat was within Ralph’s reach. He dipped his head and grabbed it with his beak. Gigi giggled.

Afterward, she turned back to me, her expression once again wary. “You didn’t answer my question about the statement.”

“About what happened to us,” I said. “Our statements will help law enforcement determine the extent of the crimes Denny and that woman committed.”

Gigi gripped the mug with both hands as she stared at us, puzzlement written across her face. “Who’s Denny?”

Zack and I shared a quick look before I refocused on Gigi. “The man you ran off with. Dennis Clancy?”

She shook her head. “I don’t know anyone by that name.”

I placed my hand on her shoulder. “Gigi, you don’t have to be scared anymore. They’re both in police custody. They can’t hurt you. You can tell us the truth.”

“I am telling you the truth,” she said, growing defensive. “I don’t know anyone named Dennis or Denny Clancy. I swear.”

Zack whipped out his phone and brought up the surveillance video from this morning when Denny arrived to grout the backsplash. He turned the phone so Gigi could see the screen. “Do you know him?”

“That’s Nathan. Nathan Curtis.”

Or not. Considering Zack’s theory that my kidnappers were related to Cormac Murphy, they both might use multiple aliases. “He told us his name was Dennis Clancy.”

Gigi’s eyes grew wide, and her lower lip trembled. “You met him? What was he doing here?”

“Working for our contractor,” said Zack, taking a seat in one of the wingback chairs across from the sofa.

Gigi blew a ragged breath into her mug, took a sip, then shook her head before saying, “That make no sense.”

“Why is that?” I asked.

“Why would he be working for a contractor? We’re supposed to be on a vacation. Besides, they’re super-rich. Nathan always took me shopping and to concerts and out to expensive restaurants. That’s why I didn’t understand why we were staying in such a crappy motel.”

Zack’s forehead wrinkled, a sure sign the wheels in his brain were furiously spinning. “Did he charge things or pay cash?” he asked.

“Cash. Always. Why?”

“No reason,” said Zack. “Just curious.”

I had an idea where his thoughts were leading. I offered a bread crumb along the path. “Gigi mentioned Nathan and the woman would carjack vehicles, then switch out the license plates to avoid detection.”

When he locked eyes with me and offered a near imperceptible shake of his head, I knew we were both thinking about yesterday’s bank robbery in Union, the one committed with a carjacked SUV abandoned on the railroad tracks.

Gigi wrinkled her brow. “What’s that got to do with paying cash instead of using credit cards?” she asked.

“Nothing,” I said. “Just something you told me that I thought I should mention.”

“People go to ATMs to withdraw money all the time, don’t they?”

“Of course, they do,” I assured her. I then changed the subject. “Gigi, do you now feel comfortable enough to tell us your last name?”

“I guess.” She balanced the cocoa mug between her knees and stared into it as she answered. “It’s Abbott.”

“And the name of the woman with Nathan?” asked Zack.

As Gigi concentrated on fishing a mini marshmallow from the mug, she sucked in her lower lip. Neither Zack nor I pressed. Finally, she plucked a marshmallow from the mug, sucked it into her mouth, and said, “Maeve.”

“Is Maeve related to Nathan?” I asked.

“His mother.” Then she ducked her head and mumbled, her voice ragged, “I don’t know what I did wrong. They were both always so nice to me before we arrived here.”

“You didn’t do anything wrong,” Zack assured her.

Her head whipped up, and she focused on him. “How do you know?” she asked, revealing typical teenage angst. “You weren’t there.”

This wasn’t the time to explain to Gigi that she had been groomed, that Maeve and Nathan were predators. Hopefully, her mother would get her the help she’d need to move on from her harrowing experience. Instead, I said, “I think what Zack means is that sometimes people don’t show us their true nature when we’re first getting to know them.”

Ralph squawked. “There the action lies in his true nature. Hamlet. Act Three, Scene Three.”

Gigi’s eyes bugged out. “He knows Shakespeare?”

Zack rewarded Ralph with another sunflower seed and said, “I told you he was smart.”

“Weird.” She returned to sipping her cocoa and after a minute said, “It’s like Maeve and Nathan became different people after we arrived in New Jersey. Like that story about Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde but without the murders.” Her eyes grew wide again, and she said, “Or maybe not.”

I saw comprehension slowly dawning in her eyes. “Do you really think they were going to kill us, or did you say that to get me to help you?”

“I believe they would have killed us.”

She shook her head. Even after all she’d gone through, I knew she didn’t want to believe me. “If you’re right,” she finally said, “how can you ever trust anyone you meet?”

“You take your time,” I said. “You don’t rush into anything.”

“Like running off with people you’ve only known for a month?”

“Like that,” I said. “And trusting your gut instead of your hormones.”

A tear trickled down her cheek. She swiped at it with the back of her hand and said, “Life was a lot simpler when all I wanted was a Barbie Dream House. Maybe I should become a nun.”

I laughed. “There are many options besides Barbie’s Dream House and the convent. You’ll figure it out, Gigi. You’re a smart kid.”

She snorted. “If I’m so smart, how come I was so stupid?”

A sixteen-year-old with a knowledge of Shakespeare and Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde wasn’t stupid. Perhaps too sheltered, but I had high hopes that Gigi would move on from this ordeal and not let it define the remainder of her life.

“Everyone makes stupid mistakes,” said Zack. “Smart people learn from them and don’t make them again.”

Gigi offered up a rueful grin. “I guess I still have lots to learn.”

With Gigi feeling more comfortable around Zack, I said, “If you’ll both excuse me for a moment, I promised the veterinarian I’d call to let him know we arrived home safely.

~*~

Special Agent Aloysius Ledbetter arrived a few minutes later. I was pleasantly surprised to see Detective Spader with him, given the possessive nature of law enforcement when it came to cases that crossed jurisdictions. The detective took one look at me, shook his head, then handed me my purse and said, “Let me know if anything’s missing.”

After I introduced the two men to Gigi, Spader pulled a phone and wallet from his pocket and handed them to her. “Same for you, Miss Abbott. Let me know if anything is missing.”

Agent Ledbetter then said, “We’d like to interview Miss Abbott first, then you, Mrs. Pollack. I know everyone has questions. We’ll answer as many as we can after we get your statements about what happened.”

“Anastasia and I will be in the den while you speak with Gigi,” said Zack, “unless you’d rather we head up to the apartment.”

“The den will suffice,” said Ledbetter.

As Zack and I began to leave the living room, Gigi latched onto my arm. “Can she stay with me?”

The two men conferred for a moment before Ledbetter nodded his consent. “Mrs. Pollack may stay, but she’s not allowed to offer any input. You can’t confer with her in any way before answering our questions. Do you understand, Miss Abbott?”

“Yes,” said Gigi. She heaved a sigh of relief. “Thank you.”

Gigi and I reclaimed our seats on the sofa. She tucked her legs beneath her and continued to hold onto my arm. Ledbetter and Spader each settled into one of the wingback chairs opposite us. Both men whipped out pens and notepads, but Spader remained silent while Ledbetter questioned Gigi.

By this point, Gigi had already told me enough that when Ledbetter’s questioning ended nearly half an hour later, I hadn’t learned anything new other than she came from a small town outside of Atlanta, Georgia. So much for Denny—or Nathan—traveling from New Mexico to New Jersey in search of a construction job. That, too, was a lie.

Gigi answered every question posed to her except for those which she didn’t know the answer to, such as how Maeve and Denny knew about the jewelry or the cabin in Sussex County. Throughout the questioning, her answers were consistent with what she’d earlier related to me.

Ledbetter turned to Spader. “Anything I’ve missed?”

Spader flipped his notepad closed. “I think you’ve covered it all.” He turned to Gigi and said, “Thank you for your cooperation, Miss Abbott.”

Gigi’s eyes darted between both men. “Anastasia…Mrs. Pollack said you’d protect me. What happens if they get out on bail?”

“They won’t,” said Ledbetter. “Between what you’ve provided us and other evidence we’ve collected, we have more than enough for indictments. Those two are going away for a long time.”

“What other evidence?” she asked.

“We’ll explain that after we speak to Mrs. Pollack, okay?”

Gigi reluctantly stood. Leonard followed her as she headed toward the hallway. Once at the foyer, she hesitated and glanced back over her shoulder. “We won’t be long,” I assured her.

She nodded and headed down the hallway toward the den, Leonard at her heels.

Once we heard Gigi enter the den and the door closed, Spader asked me, “You believe her?”

His question surprised me. “Don’t you, Detective?”

“I’d like to, but I also know she could be a darned good actress. I’ve seen it before.” He tilted his head toward Ledbetter. “We both have.”

“You’re wrong. I’ve spent enough time with Gigi today to know otherwise. She’s as much a victim as I am. Maybe more so.”

“Meaning?”

“I used to be a teacher, Agent Ledbetter. I’m trained to spot child abuse.”

“Explain,” he said.

“In my opinion, this is classic manipulation of a young girl coaxed into a situation, believing she’s found love. She was manipulated and physically abused when she didn’t do as she was told. I saw it with my own eyes. The only thing that child is guilty of is being naïve and impressionable. Don’t expect me to testify against her if you decide to charge her as an accessory to kidnapping and this goes to trial.”

Ledbetter eyed Spader, then flipped his notepad to a fresh page. “Let’s move on for now. Tell us what happened today.”

By the time I’d finished, another half hour had passed. I was emotionally drained, physically exhausted, and once again ravenously hungry.

Ledbetter stood and stretched. “Need a break?”

“What I need is a beach vacation with an endless supply of umbrella drinks. You offering?”

He snorted. “Unfortunately, I think Uncle Sam would balk if I tried to expense that. Try this guy,” he said tilting his head toward Spader.

The detective laughed. “Sorry, Mrs. Pollack. That’s way above my pay grade.”

I sighed. “You guys are no help.”

“We do have some information that might interest you, though,” said Ledbetter. He pulled out his phone and shot off a text. A moment later Zack and Gigi returned to the living room, Ralph on his customary perch of Zack’s shoulder and Leonard following closely behind.

I suggested we move to the kitchen. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I need to eat something. You can all help us inaugurate our new kitchen.”

Without waiting for an answer, I strode through the dining room and into the kitchen where I stopped short and soaked up the view. Zack came up behind me, wrapped his arms around me, and rested his chin on my head. “Well?”

“No peeling linoleum? No chipped Formica? No cabinets from another century?” I turned to face him, threw my arms around his neck and kissed him. “What’s not to love?”

“Does that mean my standing as head chef is in jeopardy?”

“Heck, no. I’m quite happy to remain your sous chef for life.”

I pulled cheese, crudites, hummus, a bowl of grapes, and an assortment of beverages from the new refrigerator while Zack placed Ralph back in his cage. Then he grabbed crackers, plates, glasses, and utensils from the boxes in the dining room.

Once we were all settled on stools around the new kitchen island, except for Leonard, who took up a position near Gigi’s stool, Ledbetter said, “We’re still in the early stages of investigating, but we now know we’re dealing with Shauna Doyle Gallagher and Aiden Gallagher.”