Page 51 of Bring Them Home

“Unfortunately, she was abducted this past Saturday afternoon, along with her husband and daughter,” Amanda told him.

Emmerson’s mouth fell open. “What? No, you can’t be serious.”

“I assure you I am, and the people who took them are dangerous. Her husband’s body was found yesterday.” She paused when all color drained from Emmerson’s face. “And we believe Valerie’s and her daughter’s lives are in danger, so I’ll ask you again, why did she have a bad day?” Amanda repeated Trent’s question. The answer might have nothing to do with the case, but she wasn’t taking any chances of overlooking a potential lead.

“There was this customer who started screaming at her. It was so bad that the security guy had to see him out and got a black eye for his troubles.”

Amanda noticed Trent glancing at her through her peripheral. “Why was the client so upset?”

“She’d denied his request for a loan, which was the only choice she had. The numbers just weren’t any good. His projections for future growth weren’t based in reality. He couldn’t support being financially stable enough to make the payments.”

“I assume she explained her position to him?” Trent asked.

“Absolutely, and knowing Valerie, she would have done so in a calm, professional, and respectful manner.”

However Valerie handled the situation, it sounded like this client took the rejection personally. As Emmerson had said, the man’s business projections weren’t based in reality, but they might not be the only delusions he held. Did he think he could coerce a loan out of Valerie through extortion and violence? Desperate times, desperate measures. “We need to know everything about this customer.”

Emmerson shifted in his chair, and he leaned forward. “Why? Do you think he did this?”

“We’d like to talk with him to start. We’ll need his name, business name, addresses, phone numbers, all of it, please.” She slowly laid out the request, but her insides were jumping as she waited for a response.

“Just give me a minute here while I check her schedule.” Emmerson typed on the keyboard, and a few moments later, said, “William Johnson… Ah, correction. There’s a note here that he prefers to go by Bill. He owns a plumbing company called Down the Drain.”

“Are you serious?” Trent raised his eyebrows. “The guy sort of doomed himself with that name.”

Emmerson pressed his lips and nodded.

Amanda didn’t buy into fate or a name having that much impact. It was people’s choices that brought about consequences. And there was happenstance, those things that happened outside anyone’s expectations or control. “If we could get the rest of his information?” she prompted the assistant manager.

The location of the business fired tingles down her back. It was a short walk from America Bowls, where someone had used the pay phone to repeatedly contact Valerie. Had William Johnson called her and made threats from there in an effort to cover his tracks? But seven times… How delusional was this guy?

“If you’d like, I can show you the footage of the altercation,” Emmerson added. “Did you want to see it?”

Amanda stood. “Hold on to it. Detective Stenson and I need to leave.”

“Ah, sure.”

By the time the assistant manager spoke, she was already halfway out the door with Trent. While the video would show them Bill Johnson, taking the time to watch it would delay them getting to Valerie and Brooke. Their strongest course of action was to assume Johnson took them and track him down.

Back in the car, Trent logged in to the onboard system and brought up a background on William Johnson. “No record.” He pulled up a few other reports and sat back to give her the update. “So Johnson’s married but separated from his wife. There’s an order here he’s to pay her two grand a month in alimony.”

“Which, from the sounds of it, he doesn’t have.”

“Right. Then he gets turned down for a loan, his business is in the tank, he’s desperate…”

“And if his income is threatened, that could rope in the ex too. If he doesn’t have money, he can’t pony up the alimony.”

“So she could be the woman in the hoodie.”

“Bring up her information. Is she the right size?”

Trent brought up the DMV record for Peggy Johnson. “She’s five-foot-four. It could have been her.”

“What else do you have on her?”

Trent tapped on his keyboard, and shook his head. “Well, she’s currently unemployed.”

“Which would mean she relies on the alimony payments to pay her bills.”