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I look at him confused. I haven’t spoken to Stephen about his dad yet, but I have read about it online so I am not totally unaware. I just can’t figure out what any of this has to do with Jasmine’s disappearance. Byron thinks my confused expression has to do with not knowing about Stephen’s past rather than the fact that he has no idea that Stephen is nothing like his father and has had nothing to do with Jasmine’s disappearance at all.
“Shit, you don’t know about him, do you?” he continues, like I am the last person on earth to know about Stephen’s family. “His dad was Ray Sullivan, the business tycoon who was found guilty of money laundering and kidnapping his niece Scarlett Sullivan about two years ago. Rumors say that Stephen is just like his father, a ruthless businessman only after money. Perhaps he took Jasmine for ransom?”
I look at Byron, not sure how to respond. I have only been at work for an hour and already my brain is fried. “Ransom? Are you sure you are thinking straight, Byron? Jasmine is a foster child, there is no money to be had holding her for ransom,” I say exasperated.
“Look, forget I said anything, just be careful with him, okay? He is not a nice guy.”
Shaking my head to clear my thoughts, I look back to my screen and the task at hand. Jasmine.
“I need to get these reports done for Kelly, so if you don’t mind,” I say as I nod to my office door, my head feeling fatigued all of a sudden, and I want him gone.
“No problem, but just before you do, can you walk me to my car? I have some paperwork for you from the hospital for your gran, and I need to leave now to head back there but I don’t have my pass to get back into the building once I exit.”
It is an odd request, but the sooner I get him out of here the better. His comments about Stephen's father have me a little frazzled, and to be honest, the coffee he has given me is now making me feel a little dizzy - perhaps too much caffeine is not a good thing during a time of crisis?
Slowly, I stand, feeling unsteady on my legs, and I walk with him to the back door. On the way to his car, I do wonder why he is parked out the back, given our staff parking lot is around the side. It is an odd place to park, there is no one around and no need to park back here.
It is an area reserved for the garbage collectors who come once a week. It smells like rubbish and has graffiti all around on the walls. I stand next to his car as he opens the trunk, and before I can ask him to hurry up, he grabs me and shoves me inside, my head hitting the trunk door frame, hard.
As I recoil in pain, I am literally thrown into the trunk and the last thing I remember is the slamming of doors and the car jerking away from the building before my vision blurs and I black out.
***
27
STEPHEN
As I sit in my office, contemplating the email from Doctor Evans I received this morning, there is a knock at my door and Jake walks in. Jake is a great guy, but whenever he is about to deliver serious news, his eyebrows crease together and he has a troublesome look on his face. It is the same look he has now, so I know whatever he needs to say I’m not going to like. As he takes a seat across from my desk, I take a deep breath and he looks at me.
“Jai is on his way in, I think I have found the other ringleader of the trafficking situation.” I’m not sure how Jake comes into such information, and I don’t want to know the methods he has used to find out. Being friends with former FBI and CIA agents gives him access to things that, quite frankly, would keep me up at night more so than I already am.
He passes me a file, a thick file, filled with photographs, copies of security footage and paperwork listing names and details. As I look at the paperwork, I think my eyes are playing tricks on me, because the person in the photo staring back at me is Doctor Byron, or as his details outline Byron Woods, a lifetime conman who has a criminal history pages long. Shuffling through, I see that he has conned women out of their life savings, conned businessmen out of their hard earned cash, and if the information I read is correct, then his education, while it does include a few years of medical school, it doesn’t include a medical degree and he is not a medical professional at all - especially not a doctor.
“Fuck! Jake, this is Doctor Byron who has been treating Molly’s grandmother!”
“What! Jesus, he is even more entwined with us than I thought...”
Flipping through the rest of the file, I see images of different young girls from nightclubs around the city on John’s arm. Then images of John and Byron together, in the shadows or meeting together at night at different places, confirmation of sorts that they are working together. But that isn’t the most disturbing thing. As I look at the young girls, I see that they have missing person reports attached to their photos, and I have a sinking feeling that these may be the girls Molly was referring to earlier. The dates certainly add up.
“Fuck!” I say, looking frantically at the photos, trying to see how many there are. It is then that Jai comes in and takes a seat.
“What? What is it?” Jake asks, his voice rising.
“These young girls, these must be the ones that Molly spoke about. They belong to the Boys and Girls Club; Molly said a few girls have gone missing over the past few months.”
Looking at Jake and Jai, I can see them thinking, processing the information.
“You know, there is one common denominator to all of this at the moment,” Jake says, looking at me.
I think about his words for a few moments until it hits me. Molly.
“Molly! Fuck. She is at work because Jasmine went missing this morning. I’ve got to call her. Call Shaun and Marco, emergency meeting now!” I yell as we all spring into action.
My adrenaline is pumping now as I grab my phone and dial her number while Jake makes the necessary calls from his cell and Jai is also calling his people. It is about time he took some action; this has been going on for way too long.
As I dial Molly’s number, I am kicking myself for not connecting the dots earlier. I can’t believe I didn’t see it. I knew something was off with Byron. I knew in my gut something wasn’t right, just like I did with Dad all those years ago, but I still didn’t protect Molly from it. It is like history repeating itself, and I am enraged at myself for letting someone so evil near Molly. My angel.
She doesn’t answer, so I leave a message on her voicemail, aware that she would be frantic at the office, trying to piece together where Jasmine may have gone. Just as I look at Jake and Jai, Shaun and Marco walk in, they were on their way in already when Jake called them, and Jake briefs them as I keep trying to get in touch with Molly.
