‘It can transmit sound, just like a telephone.’
‘I thought Vince had to take it apart to determine that.’
‘He did. Didn’t take him more than a few minutes to figure it out, but you’d already left.’
Fled. She pressed her fingertips to her temple, trying to think through the headache that invariably came with her tears. Which was one very good reason not to cry. Ever. ‘What was the range of the listening part of the device?’
‘There isn’t one. It’s digital, runs off the satellite, same as the GPS. Like a Skype line,’ he added when she frowned up at him in confusion.
‘Oh.’ Now she understood. ‘That means there wasn’t any place she could go where she couldn’t be heard. My God. That poor kid.’ And then she really understood and she sucked in a hard breath. ‘They wouldn’t hear just her voice. They’d hear anyone she talked to. Like Marcus. In the park and in the alley last night.’ And if they had heard Tala in the alley? Scarlett’s heart began to beat harder. They’d know that Marcus had heard her last words. ‘Could they record or would they have had to be listening at that moment?’
‘I’m sure they could record if they had the right equipment.’
‘I’m sure they had all the bells and whistles,’ Scarlett said grimly.
‘Not all,’ Deacon said softly. ‘The device didn’t have a camera.’
She frowned. ‘So?’
‘So, they could hear her in the park and they could see where she was on the map, but they couldn’t see her. She walked that dog all by herself, along the paths, through the trees, for at least a few weeks. Maybe longer. Invisible to them.’
‘You think she left some kind of message in the woods? Something someone might use to rescue her and the baby?’
He shrugged. ‘Maybe. It’s worth taking a walk through the park to check it out. We don’t have our meeting with Agent Troy at the field office for several hours. We have time.’
Scarlett considered it. ‘While we’re at the park, we can see if the uniforms have made any progress. They’ve been out since sunup, canvassing the houses in a mile radius of the park with photos of Tala and the dog. Last update I got, nobody had recognized either of them. If they still haven’t found anybody who remembers them by the time we get to the park, I’ll move on to the list of groomers.’ She hesitated, then decided it would be better to check on Marcus and feel like a fool when he was safe and sound than the alternative. ‘On the way to the park, let’s swing by the Ledger’s office.’
Deacon’s brow furrowed. ‘Why?’
‘Because Marcus O’Bannion’s called attention to himself as being the last person to see Tala alive.’ She held up her phone, showed him the article.
Deacon read it with a groan. ‘And I thought I had a flair for drama. He’s made himself a damn hero.’
Scarlett rolled her eyes. ‘If anyone was listening to Tala’s last moments, Marcus has made himself a damn target.’
‘The tracker. Shit. They’d know he knew that Tala was a slave. They’d believe he knew about Malaya.’
‘And if that tracker was still transmitting when I got there? Whoever was listening got the prologue in the park too. So they’d know this wasn’t a chance meeting the way he insinuates in the article.’
‘Did you call him?’
Scarlett huffed in frustration. ‘I’ve been calling his cell phone all morning and he hasn’t answered. I called his office and the young chickie who answered the phone said that Mr O’Bannion was in conference and could not be disturbed. I called his mother’s house, but the maid hadn’t seen Mr Marcus for several days and his mother was sleeping and couldn’t come to the phone.’
Deacon sighed. ‘That means she’s either doped herself up or she hit the bottle too hard again. I feel really bad for the woman, losing Mikhail like that, but she’s well past the point of concern. She needs help, but no one in the family will admit it.’
Scarlett’s heart hurt for Marcus’s mother. But her priority right now had to be keeping Marcus alive so that the poor woman didn’t lose another son. ‘Be that as it may, Marcus wasn’t there. I even called Jeremy, but Marcus wasn’t there either.’ She’d been hesitant to make the call, worried that Marcus’s stepfather would hold a grudge against her for what had gone down nine months ago. If he had, he would have had good reason. But he’d been pleasant, helpful even. ‘Jeremy called Marcus’s apartment for me, but just got voicemail. He even went over there and checked the place out, but Marcus wasn’t there and hadn’t slept in his bed.’
‘Let me try. Maybe he’ll pick up if it’s my caller ID. What’s the number for his cell?’
Scarlett read it out to him. ‘That’s the disposable he used to call me this morning.’ She waited quietly, her worry increasing when Deacon’s call got voicemail too. She knew she was being irrational. Marcus was probably simply busy. But she had a nagging feeling in her gut that he wasn’t safe, and long ago she’d learned to listen to her gut.
‘He’s probably working,’ Deacon said, ‘but if it’ll set your mind at ease, we can split up. You go by the Ledger, and I’ll meet you at the park.’
‘Hey,’ Scarlett called when he turned to walk away. ‘How will you know where to start looking? We don’t know which bench Marcus was sitting on, so we don’t know which direction Tala came from.’
Deacon looked over his shoulder. ‘Ask Marcus when you see him,’ he said, then disappeared into the CPD building.
‘Yeah,’ Scarlett muttered. ‘I’ll do that.’
Ten
Cincinnati, Ohio
Tuesday 4 August, 9.15 A.M.
Demetrius closed Ken’s office door behind them, having followed him back from the conference room. Ken sank into the chair behind his desk and waited as Demetrius settled into one of the wingback chairs, looking far more comfortable than Decker had a few hours before. Physically comfortable, anyway. There was tension in his friend’s face. Ken knew his own face reflected the same tension.
‘Did you know that Reuben’s wife left him?’ Demetrius asked without preamble.
Ken managed to control his blink of surprise, both at the news and that Demetrius would have known it before he did. ‘No. When? Why?’
‘Yesterday. He didn’t tell me, by the way.’
Ken’s mind was racing. An angry wife, a sudden trip coinciding with the disappearance of both Reuben and one of his trusted men . . . Ken didn’t know how or if it was connected, but none of this boded well. Especially if Reuben’s wife had found out what he really did for a living.
‘How did you know then?’
‘His wife showed up on my doorstep last night, crying. Demanded to know who else he’d been screwing.’
Ken rubbed his forehead. ‘Who else? What does that even mean?’
‘Remember I told you this morning about the wife of the Brazilian?’
‘The one with roving hands who Reuben was supposed to protect you from?’ Dread was a sudden vise squeezing his heart. ‘Because Reuben liked the attention? Did Miriam find out about the Brazilians?’
‘No, but she did find out about the Indians.’
Ken slumped back in his chair. ‘Reuben was screwing our Indian supplier too?’
‘Not the supplier,’ Demetrius hedged. ‘Just the guy’s daughter.’
‘Holy shit.’ Ken closed his eyes, wishing he had Reuben in front of him right now. He’d beat the hell out of him. Each one of the four founding members had their proclivities, but they’d all learned to control their baser instincts for the greater good of the business – or at least to not get caught if they indulged elsewhere. Reuben’s job was to identify security threats from within the company and without, but it was Demetrius and Ken who dealt with those threats.