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“Yes, I… I do.”
“No police. If I see any, I will put a bullet in her head.”
“I… I understand.” May was calmer now, likely riding endorphins and slipping gracefully into shock.
“Good. You put the money in a bag and drop it into the garbage can near the swings by ten AM. I’ll be there to collect it. Don’t be late.”
“Will she be there? Will I get Kat… Katherine, then?”
“You leave the money, and she will find her way home to you.”
The click of the call ending.
Amanda took the headphones off and passed them to Trent. No one prompted her for her thoughts, and she was thankful for the reprieve. The caller wasn’t Lowell Mooney, which was expected. The call came in at nine thirty when she and Trent were questioning him. But Lowell could be working with this man. Regardless, none of what she had just heard was any good. She might be plucking the man’s words apart, but the underlying message sent chills through her. Not once did the shooter promise Katherine’s safe return, just that May would see her again.
THIRTY-SIX
Amanda impatiently waited as Trent listened to the ransom demand. There were several times that he met her gaze and adjusted the headphones. She’d guess he wanted to throw them across the room, as if that would somehow make it so the call never happened.
When he finished, he handed the headphones back to Detective Greenway.
“So?” This prompting came from Malone after a brief period of silence.
“It’s not good.” They were the only words she could initially push out. “But why Prince Park? It’s not a hotspot. There’s no way for him to blend in.”
“I don’t think he’s concerned about that so much,” Greenway said. “This is essentially an open-ended drop.”
“Meaning?” Trent asked.
“He gave a deadline for the money drop, but he can show up at any point after that to collect.”
Amanda lowered her voice and said, “In your experience, does he have any intention of returning Katherine alive?” Her question had the energy darkening in the room, and it became darker still when the detective shook his head.
“Not from my experience,” Greenway amended. “That doesn’t mean it won’t turn out differently in this case.”
Amanda wasn’t one to put faith in optimistic thinking, but she wasn’t about to give up either. If only for that sweet older woman in the other room, she’d get Katherine back safely. She tore the man’s words apart from another angle. “Ten AM. He stressed that time. Why, if he isn’t intending to be there to collect around then? And he mentioned if he saw police. That suggests he’ll be there and watching.”
“It is possible,” Greenway said. “We will need to watch our steps, take precautions.”
“Does it concern you that he didn’t bother to disguise his voice?” Trent asked. “Is that something we should worry about?”
Amanda watched the detective, curious about the answer.
“It’s not necessarily good or bad, but it might be telling us that he doesn’t fear being identified by voice or getting caught. The call came into Ms.Byrd’s cell phone. I was informed it’s unlisted, unlike her landline.”
“He forced Katherine to give it to him,” Malone concluded. “Possibly threatened her aunt’s life if she didn’t comply.”
At times like this, Amanda’s life was surreal. For most people murder, kidnapping, and ransom requests remained in the realm of fiction and entertainment, not reality. Amanda envied others’ ignorance.
“No matter how he got Ms.Byrd’s cell number, he did,” Greenway said, as if putting a lid on the discussion. “We need to deal with what’s in front of us now. His number was blocked, but we will be doing what we can to run it down. Moving on, we have a time and place and the request for a hundred thousand dollars. I don’t suggest we try to pull anything underhanded—fake bills, marked, or ink bombs—or we will have as good as signed Katherine’s death warrant. With all that said, we’ll have undercover officers dispersed among the park in the area near the playground. Others will be posted on the surrounding roads and streets on the lookout for a white Ford van. Now, it comes down to the cash. Do we have it? Can we get it?”
Amanda squared her shoulders. “I’ll handle it. No problem at all.”
Malone and Trent looked at her.
“You’ll be able to get that together in time?” The detective sounded skeptical.
“I am certain of it.” She had that much money in a high-interest bank account. The turnaround was dependent on the institution, but she was certain if she flashed her badge around enough and threatened to move her business to another bank, they’d move on it.
