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Amanda put a hand to her forehead and paced in a circle as she ruminated on the number. “Does May even have that kind of money? What are we going to do?” The downward spiral was real and made her head spin from the lack of control. It was made worse because this nightmare involved someone she loved. May Byrd was a mother figure of sorts to her. She’d been there for Amanda while she was growing up.
Malone slowly shook his head. “I don’t know, but we’ll figure this out.”
“Where’s the exchange to happen?” Trent asked, his voice comforting her. He was managing to keep his emotions compartmentalized, his focus objective.
“At Prince Park, near the playground.”
Thankfully, her adrenaline had finally kicked in and was helping her mind focus. That park was used as a burial site in a past case. It had been the one that had touched close to home for Katherine. Was the choice of location made based on that or coincidental? Her father would say nothing was a coincidence, but this time, Amanda didn’t see how it was anything but. That investigation had been stitched shut.
The park did make for an odd choice though. It didn’t draw crowds for the shooter or his accomplice to fade into, but it would also be more difficult for them to stay hidden. “Could it mean they’re holding her somewhere nearby? There could be some light in that. Right?” Though she was grasping to accept it. The neighborhoods in the surrounding area were heavily populated. It wouldn’t be easy to hold Katherine hostage in one of the homes, though not impossible. They could have snuck her in through a garage and been holding her in a soundproofed room. Amanda pinched her eyes shut. There was no easy way to narrow any of this down.
“Maybe, maybe not,” Malone said. “You need to know there are some stipulations to this request.”
“Hit me.” She set aside her sensibilities, dipping into the present for the sake of a good outcome.
“It’s not to be a person-to-person exchange.”
“What do you mean?” she spat. She wasn’t an expert at kidnappings and ransom demands, but her common sense told her that if Katherine wasn’t there and the swap made live, the likelihood of getting her back was slim. “I want to hear this request for myself.”
Malone gestured toward the one-way mirror. “And this guy?”
Amanda glanced at Lowell Mooney. He was slouched in his chair and staring defiantly at the mirror. “He’s facing unrelated charges, but we’re not done with him.”
“Fine by me.”
Malone summoned an officer to wrangle Lowell back to holding, and the three of them headed out to May Byrd’s house in Dumfries. Malone went in his SUV, while she and Trent took a department car. May’s home was a few blocks from where Amanda lived and was a brick bungalow much like her place. The difference was while she had updated the interior with Kevin to make it open concept, May left the original blueprint of the home intact.
May’s yellow Volkswagen Bug was in the driveway. The color she would have chosen to denote her cheery approach to life, which somehow in the light of recent events struck Amanda as mocking.
Behind May’s car was a bright-blue Ford Mustang, which Amanda recognized as belonging to May’s best friend, Dee. Presumably, May would have had her support when the call came in.
One cruiser was parked on the street out front, currently unoccupied and there was no sign of the uniformed officer. He or she was likely inside. An unmarked cop car was in the driveway. It most probably belonged to the detective responsible for standing by in case of a ransom request. He came from another unit of the PWCPD, but Amanda hadn’t had any run-ins with them before.
Amanda was the first inside, Trent right behind her, and Malone following him.
May’s voice traveled to the entry, and Amanda headed for her. When she rounded the doorway to the dining room, May was talking to the detective and uniformed officer seated at the table. Dee was standing behind May, a hand on her shoulder.
May stopped talking at the sight of Amanda. Her chin quivered, and tears pooled in her eyes as she stood. Amanda rushed over and swept the older woman into a hug. She didn’t let go but let May end the embrace.
“They have her, Mandy. They are going to—” She slapped her hand over her mouth and sobbed.
Amanda hugged her again, rubbing her back in a way she’d soothe a baby. “They’re not going to kill her. They want money. We pay them, then she comes home alive. Okay?”
“They’ve already hurt her.” May palmed her cheeks. “Did you see her picture?”
Amanda glanced away briefly, finding everyone else’s eyes were on her and May. “I did see it,” she admitted. “But Katherine’s strong. We’ll just get the money together and do as they say.” She was just about to request that the detective play the ransom demand so she could hear it when May started whimpering. “We’ll get her back.” Amanda laid a reassuring hand on her forearm.
May shook her head. “You heard how much they want? I don’t have that lying around. They want it by ten tomorrow morning. It’s ten PM now. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do.”
Amanda squeezed May’s arm, trying to stop her downward spiral. “We will figure this out.”
“How?”
Amanda had been thinking about this very thing from the moment she heard the amount. When her husband, Kevin, had died he had a life insurance policy on him, and Amanda came into a substantial amount of cash. She’d refused to spend it because of how she had received it. It didn’t stop her from putting some in a bank account, for a possible future rainy day, and squirreling the rest into investments as recommended by a financial advisor. He managed everything from watching the stock market to selling and buying. Sometimes, she opened the statements that came in the mail. She’d watched the money continuously grow over the last eight and a half years. It brought her little satisfaction as she viewed it as blood money, but it was set to be passed on to Zoe when Amanda died. “Don’t you worry about it at all.”
May met her gaze, and a light flicked in her eyes. She bobbed her head slowly. There was an unspoken understanding, a telepathy of sort behind them. “You are like a daughter to me.” May hugged Amanda, and it took all her willpower and determination not to cry. But she was no good to May if she didn’t retain a strong front.
Amanda dipped her head at Dee, and the woman came in for a quick hug too.
