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Ithadtakenmostof the day to sort through the chaotic situation, but the end result was that Abe’s daughter was safe and sound. Trina Bitonio hadn’t been abducted, she hadn’t been missing, and she hadn’t been harmed in any way. She’d basically taken the day to join a friend for breakfast, luxuriate in a manicure and pedicure, and attend a doctor’s appointment…all without her cell phone. She had simply forgotten it at home in her rush to leave, and she hadn’t wanted the hassle of going back to retrieve it.
“I am so sorry, Dad,” Trina said for the umpteenth time. She’d taken a seat in one of the chairs at a table in the common area. Leaning forward, she gently rested her hand on her father’s forearm. “I was in a hurry this morning, and I left the house without my phone. I was already running late, so I didn’t bother to turn around and waste another twenty minutes.”
“This old ticker ain’t what it used to be,” Abe said with a chuckle. The small laugh was light enough that it didn’t irritate his lungs. He reached over with his other hand to pat hers in reassurance. “It’s a good thing that I have a crack team of former FBI agents at my disposal, huh?”
Brook didn’t bother to correct his assumption regarding her previous employment with the Bureau. She hadn’t been an agent. She’d been a consultant, but Theo and Sylvie had been agents. There was a major difference between the two roles, but it wasn’t worth explaining at the moment. Brook simply lifted the corner of her mouth in acknowledgement before asking a question that would help satisfy her curiosity.
“Trina, have you noticed anything off in your daily life? Misplaced items? Picture frames moved around the house at all? Maybe even an uneasy sense that someone is watching you?” Brook asked, not really needing to tack on the last two questions. Trina had started to shake her head after the second inquiry. “If you do, would you please call 911?”
After Trina agreed to the request, Brook stood from her chair to give Abe and his daughter some alone time. Today’s events had spurred Brook to reconsider Theo’s previous suggestion about giving a statement to the press. Doing so would have the unsub either speeding up his timeline, changing tactics, or simply fading into the shadows like he had three years ago. None of those options were helpful to the investigation, but giving fair warning to any woman associated with the nursing facility had just become paramount under the circumstances.
“Ann?”
Special Agent Ann Nelson had been hands-off the entire investigation, but the potential of dealing with another abduction had required all hands-on deck. Thankfully, she’d cooperated in every way needed today.
“I was just about to head out,” Ann replied as she shrugged on her black dress coat. She then pulled out a pair of matching gloves from one of the pockets. “Do you need anything else?”
“I think Bit covered everything earlier,” Brook replied, commenting on the additional warrants that they had requested regarding Levi Kittle. “I wanted you to know that I’m going to issue a press release tomorrow. It will be worded carefully, but any woman who has even the slightest association with the nursing home needs to be looking for any signs or evidence that someone might be stalking them in their day-to-day activities.”
“You really want to give the unsub the upper hand in this investigation?” Ann asked as she finished securing her leather gloves. Her tone indicated that she wasn’t in agreement, and Brook understood the agent’s concern. She had the same ones, but there were times when the risks were simply too much. “That’s not like you, Sloane.”
At one time, Ann had referred to Brook by her first name, but that was when they had worked for the same agency. Brook purposefully ignored the slight to focus on the topic at hand.
“You’ve worked with me long enough to know that my decisions are based on the merit of each case. In this instance, it’s best for those involved to be given fair warning now that the unsub’s timetable is closing in on us.” Brook would have liked to add a few more things, but none of them would have been complimentary. She had to look at the larger picture. Ann might be difficult to work with, but it was a necessity in cultivating connections. “Look around, Ann. With all the police presence, the cat is out of the bag, anyway. I’ll put a press release together, email it to you for your approval, and have it released to the media first thing in the morning.”
Ann’s gaze drifted toward Abe and his daughter.
“I think you’re getting soft on me, Sloane.”
Once again, Brook wisely chose to remain silent. She would need a few glasses of wine after today, but at least she could drink it knowing that a woman’s life wasn’t going to be cut short tonight.
As Ann walked toward the hallway that would take her to the front entrance of the nursing home, Brook took in the view of the common area. Most of the residents had finished their dinner, with some even still working on dessert as they watched television. Abe hadn’t eaten a thing, and she would see to it that both Abe and Trina were brought something out to enjoy now that the situation had resolved itself.
It had taken most of the day, especially given that Trina had been holed up in an out of the way nail salon that had no outside security cameras nearby, but they’d finally located her. Bit had pinged the woman’s phone to her home. The police had conducted a wellness check. While Trina’s phone had been on her counter, there had been no sign of foul play.
Sylvie had been the one to call all the hospitals and doctor’s offices that had been connected to Trina’s hysterectomy. Once it had been determined that she’d had an appointment this afternoon, Theo had gone directly to that location to wait for the woman in hopes that she hadn’t been abducted by the unsub.
Thankfully, Trina had arrived with a beautiful manicure.
Brook had been holding her cell phone for the last hour, exchanging texts with Bit. He’d been monitoring the activity outside the nursing facility in hopes of catching sight of anyone who seemed out of place. Granted, Cody Jennings was still inside the building, as was Jim Risner. Noah Clark had the day off, but Bit had been monitoring the cell phone towers for any movement. She quickly shot off a text asking if Bit’s program regarding windshield replacements had produced any results.
Grace Willow had claimed to see a black truck following her in the days leading up to her abduction. Levi Kittle wasn’t the only one driving a black truck. Noah Clark owned one, as well. Risner and Jennings currently drove sedans, but that didn’t mean that they didn’t have access to a dark-colored pickup truck.
Brook lifted her phone once again, typing in another request.
“Brook?”
“Yes?” she asked as she finished typing out the message. Sylvie waited patiently for Brook’s focus to shift from her phone. “I’m having Bit run a property search on Risner, Jennings, Clark, and Kittle. The unsub would need to be taking his victims somewhere remote. He’s holding them for a period of time, forcing them to comply with leaving their bloody handprints, and then disposing of their bodies. That would generally require land somewhere out of the way. Or maybe a warehouse. Junkyard. The list goes on, but he has to be disposing of the bodies somewhere.”
“Let’s hope that Bit can find something for us to search, because we might have a problem,” Sylvie said quietly as she glanced over her shoulder. “Cody Jennings just pulled me aside. Apparently, he heard you asking Trina Bitonio if she’d noticed anything odd recently.”
“And?” Brook asked cautiously as she noticed that the man in question was speaking with Theo. He even had his small notebook out and was jotting down important details that Cody Jennings seemed to be providing in their discussion. “Please tell me that this has nothing to do with Amelia.”
“Unfortunately, I can’t tell you that.” Sylvie took time to scan the large room. “Cody mentioned that he’d noticed a picture frame moved in his mother’s living room. She also thanked him for the flowers that had been delivered to her home yesterday, but he had no clue what she was talking about. He just put two and two together, so he went to ask his mother to come and speak with you. Brook, she’s not at the front desk. I asked two police officers to quietly go room to room throughout the building.”
Brook didn’t bother with the messaging app.
She called Bit directly.
