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As we park up out the front, Mason says, “She’s obviously fully in panic mode; the place is crawling with security.”
“I would be too if my daughter had been taken,” I reply as I get out, the others quickly following me.
The front door bursts open before we even make it up the steps, and a harried-looking Mona appears.
“Good evening, I know you’ve had a full-on day, and I know that you had no intention of starting to work on this until tomorrow, so I really appreciate that you immediately came here,” she tells us sincerely as she opens the door wider and then leads us further into the house.
“Of course, it’s your daughter,” I reply simply because it really is that simple.
She leads us into a formal sitting room and has us all take a seat as she shuts the door behind us and two men take up guard outside.
“I’m not sure that this isn’t an inside job since it happened on these grounds, so I’ve only got my most trusted actually inside the house,” Mona explains.
“That’s smart,” Rome agrees.
“Alright tell us everything you can about your daughter and where it happened, I have to warn you that we might not be able to get much done tonight, but I can promise you that we will make a really good start,” I tell her truthfully.
“I understand,” Mona replies and then continues, “she’s sixteen, and she has been extremely well trained; she won’t have been easy to take.”
“Has she been trained in what to do in this sort of situation?” Rip asks.
Mona nods, “Yes, unfortunately, this isn’t the first time that she’s been kidnapped. That’s why I’m surprised that she’s been kidnapped in the first place. After the last time that it happened, she threw herself into her training, and she is now incredibly skilled.”
“Okay, what else can you tell us?” I ask.
“She was taken in the woodland surrounding the property, and there are signs of a struggle, with some blood on the ground as well, not enough to be of massive concern but enough to be noticeable. We don’t have any floodlights, so that’s something that you’re going to have to look at during the day tomorrow.”
Ace winces slightly, “I don’t suppose that you have security cameras out in the woods?”
Mona shakes her head, “Yes, we do actually. We also have them all around the outside of the house, in the hallways and all common areas inside the house apart from private bedrooms as well as the driveway out and the front gates.”
Ace nods, the wheels in his head turning, “Okay, so if they left the grounds, then we should be able to spot them, and hopefully, we’ll also be able to catch something on the cameras in the woods. I take it your security isn’t always this tight?”
Again, Mona shakes her head, “No, it’s not. We found out fairly quickly that she had been taken because she raised the alarm she had on her phone, but there was a window where someone who had the knowledge of how we work could have gotten her off the grounds.”
“Got it. Don’t worry, we will find her,” Ace reassures her, “do you have a laptop or a computer in here that I can access the cameras from and download copies of the videos so I can go through them at home. It will save us from taking up too much of your time. Also, can I ask why you haven’t gone through them yourself?”
Mona’s hand reaches into her pocket and pulls out a small USB stick, “Because I’m fairly certain that it has something to do with our security breach, which you’re dealing with anyway, and because your team has a certain skillset that we don't. I also know that I would kill first and ask questions later, and that’s not the best way to deal with this situation because of the information leak that we have,” she explains, and I nod in understanding. “I had a feeling you might want the footage. It’s safe to say that this takes priority over the stolen information, even though as I said, we are reasonably sure that they are related.”
Chapter Twelve
Inod and stand up, “Absolutely. We’ll come back in the morning to go over the area where she was taken, so if you can make sure that no one tramples it or interferes with it, that would be great. We’ll go over some of the footage tonight and carry on tomorrow. As soon as we find something, we will let you know. As always, but especially in this situation, I’m going to need you to leave it up to me.”
Mona nods, “I am aware, of course, that’s how you work. I fear that I will not be able to stay out of it this time, so I’m going to ask that you do not give me any updates until absolutely necessary. I will also ask that when you catch whoever took my daughter, you bring them to me and allow me to decide how to deal with them, especially since it's becoming more likely that it was one of my own that has done this. Which reminds me, I have also added a list of all my employees along with photographs so that they can easily be identified on the memory stick that I gave to Ace.”
“I understand. We can do that, especially since you’ve provided me with the photographs; we shouldn’t have to bother you until we’ve found her and brought you whoever is responsible for taking her,” I reply. I have always admired the way that Mona works; she is ruthless because she’s had to be, and that’s why she is in the position of power that she is in. “Do you have a picture of your daughter? And also, what time was she taken roughly?”
Mona’s eyes widen slightly as she realises that she hasn’t told us what her daughter looks like, “Oh yes, of course. She was taken around eight thirty-ish; it’s not uncommon to find her practicing various things in the woods; I didn’t think to tell her to change up her routine because we’re at home. She’s supposed to be safe here.” Reaching into her desk drawer, she pulls out an unframed photograph. This is where she does her business meetings; it would be unsafe to have a picture of her daughter on show in here, hence why she has it close but hidden. “This is Rylie.”
She hands the picture to me, and I stare at it in confusion before the reason why she looks familiar to me clicks. I ask carefully, “You said that she had been kidnapped before?”
Mona’s eyes narrow slightly as she picks up on the change in me, but she replies, “Yes, we found her as part of a human trafficking operation.”
Her words confirm it, “I know her. I knew her as R, though. Now I know who she is; I’m more confident in saying that she’s going to be okay. R is a fighter. I’ve never seen so much fire and determination in one person.”
Mona’s smile is soft and somewhat knowing, which suggests to me that R spoke to her about what happened. She doesn’t mention anything though; she just replies, “Yeah, that sounds like my Rylie.”
I share a smile with her and then clear my throat, “We’re going to take off now, we’ll be back tomorrow to look over the area where she was taken, and then we’ll let you know when we’ve found her.”
