“I need access to any footage you find,” Ryder said. “I’ll contact the sheriff to send someone to secure their weapons and ID. Did you see any cell phones?” He had already put in a request to track them.
“Yes, two phones were charging on the desk. You’re concerned something happened to them?”
“Agent Costa would never leave his identification behind.” Not even to go to the beach, Ryder thought.
Ryder ended the call as Michael stepped into his doorway. “What happened?”
“Matt and Kara didn’t make their plane last night, neither are answering their phones, and they aren’t at the resort—though their guns and badges are in their room. I need to call the sheriff.”
“I’ll call the sheriff,” Michael said. “You get us booked on the next flight back to Florida.”
“I need to inform AD Greer first.”
“Whatever you have to do, but I’m going to be on the first plane down.”
4
Tony Greer walked into the conference room less than ninety minutes after Ryder learned that Matt and Kara were missing. Tony was in his early fifties, of average height with the lean body of a lifetime runner. His steel-blue eyes looked around the room as he demanded, “Where are we in locating my agents?”
Ryder and Michael were the only people in the room.
Ryder said, “We’ve retraced their steps up until late Sunday morning.” He crossed to the whiteboard and quickly ran through the details. He hadn’t expected Tony to show up in person; he’d been prepping for a video conference. But he was ready, anxious to get this over with because he had all of them booked on a flight that left in less than ninety minutes.
“Matt and Kara were at the Flagler County Sheriff’s Department Saturday morning from 8:00 a.m. until 3:45 p.m., except for a two-hour window where Kara joined Detective Fuentes to do a second search of Reid’s known apartment and vehicle. Michael and Sloane were there until they left for the airport at noon. Matt and Kara arrived back at the resort at 4:10 p.m. Theyleft at 6:20 p.m. for dinner off-site, taking an Uber to and from a restaurant in Ormond Beach approximately twelve minutes south. They returned to the resort at 9:30 p.m.
“At 8:30 Sunday morning they left their room and went to the gym,” Ryder continued, “where they worked out then played three sets of racquetball, arriving back at their room at 10:50. They ordered room service at 11:10, which was delivered at 11:35 a.m. and signed for by Matt.”
“And?” Tony said. “No one has seen them since eleven thirty yesterday morning? Nearly twenty-four hours?”
“Brian Valdez, the security chief, is in the process of interviewing every staff member who interacted with Matt or Kara. Housekeeping came at one that afternoon but there was a Do Not Disturb sign and they didn’t enter. When the security chief bypassed the lock this morning, their weapons, credentials, and luggage were present. Flagler Sheriff’s Department is checking the restaurant they ate at Saturday evening and will grab the security footage.”
“They can’t just have disappeared,” Tony said. “Theories.”
Michael said, “Our best guess is Garrett Reid has a friend who is trying to help him by making it seem like he’s innocent.”
“That’s fucking ridiculous,” Tony said.
Catherine walked into the room. “I don’t know what happened, but whoever took Matt and Kara had a very small window to do so. Sloane just spoke with the head of housekeeping. They didn’t enter the room, but while servicing the cottage next door shortly after 1:00 p.m., they spotted trays outside on the patio of cottage 14. They collected them and cleaned up. However, they are holding the room so we can search ourselves.”
“Security footage?”
“Valdez is reviewing it now,” Ryder said. “If he sees something, he’ll call. I have reservations for the team to go down in—” he looked at his watch “—seventy-five minutes.”
“By the time you land, I want answers,” Tony said.
“We’ll do our best, Tony,” Catherine said, “but we have another issue.”
“Nothing takes precedence over finding Matt and Kara,” Tony said.
“The case against Reid is falling apart.”
“How?”
“Flagler County has found nothing to tie him to the first six homicides. He fits the profile,” Catherine added quickly, “all the way down. Single, thirty, Caucasian, attractive, nonthreatening, intelligent but working in a menial job which gave him access to the victims. The lawyer is going to ask to release him on a low bond, and we need to keep him in jail. If he called on someone to help make it look like he’s innocent, they could be holding Matt and Kara until he’s released, and then—well.” She cleared her throat nervously.
No one wanted to think what Reid would do to them when he got out.
“If he’s released, we stick to him like glue. Work with the local jurisdiction, but if we have to take this case, we will, understand?”
