The Betrayal of Lies (9 page)

“Now, let me think.” She shut her eyes and paused for a moment, then her eyes flew open. “Oh, I remember. I was helping Elise with a new yoga pose, a rather complicated one, and she fell over and clobbered me in the face. That’s when it happened, she gave me a bloody nose. Elise jumped up and ran to the kitchen for some napkins.”

A bloody nose?

“Yes, that must be it.” Maggie appeared relieved. “I’d forgotten about it because it was really no big deal. I swear that’s all it was.”

“Hmmm…” Colin steepled his fingers and touched them to his lips. “How well do you know Jake Mitchell?”

Maggie’s eyes widened.

Emily recalled their talking about Jake after dinner the night before. What would she tell Colin now?

Maggie pressed her lips together as she considered her answer. “Well, I told Emily last night that I didn’t know him very well.” She turned and looked at the two-way mirror.

“And was that the truth?” Colin asked.

“Well, I couldn’t say anything with Camille sittin’ right there,” Maggie glared at the mirror before turning her attention back to Colin. “I did go out with Jake, but it was only twice. I tried to resist, but you know I’m a sucker for a handsome, charmin’ man.”

Yes, Emily and Colin knew all too well. So did their group of friends. Maggie was too kind and trusting for her own good and she’d been taken advantage of by more than one handsome, charming man in her life.

“Peter and I have never said we would be exclusive, you know, although…” Maggie’s eyes lowered to her hands folded in her lap, “it might have been implied.” She looked into the mirror again. “You won’t say anything, will you, Em? To Camille, I mean.”

Emily wouldn’t, but she would say something to Maggie when this was over. Peter was such a great catch. She hated to see Maggie screw that up.

“Back to the case,” Colin directed. “Maggie, did Jake ever mention anything about Elise to you?”

“Like what?”

“Well, Emily told me there were rumors at Serenity that Jake might be having an affair with Elise. Did he ever say anything to you about her, or about their relationship? Maybe about her husband?”

“Exactly what are you gettin’ at?”

“Emily told me that last night you mentioned that Serenity was seriously cutting into your bottom line. Perhaps Jake suggested a way for each of you to make some money and no one would be the wiser.”

Emily studied Maggie through the glass, hoping to read the truth in her response.

Maggie’s eyes narrowed and her full lips pinched into a straight line. “I grew up dirt poor, y’all know that, but at least our family was honest and moral. I’d rather go back to livin’ in a shack with a sod floor than do somethin’ so despicable.” Her words were deliberate and measured, her stare deadly serious. “I swear, I would never participate in kidnappin’ someone for ransom, no matter how desperate I was for money.”

Colin narrowed his own gaze and leaned forward. “Even if Elise was in on it?”

Maggie’s eyes rounded with surprise. “You think Elise was in on her own kidnappin’?”

“We have to consider all the possibilities.”

“Well, I don’t know anything about that.” Maggie shook her head, her thick golden ponytail swishing from side to side. “Are we done here? Or are you plannin’ to arrest me?”

“No, we’re not arresting you.” Colin rose from his chair. “But I hope for your sake that you’re telling us the truth.”

“Do I need to get myself a lawyer, Colin? Seriously.”

“That depends.” He splayed his fingers on the desk as he leaned toward Maggie. “Do you have something to hide?”

Maggie spun toward the mirror. “Is he kiddin’ me?”

Although Emily knew that Maggie couldn’t see her, she shook her head.

Colin sat on the corner of Maggie’s side of the table and faced her. “I know you and Emily have been good friends for a long time, but I’d better not find out you were involved in this.”

Maggie pressed her lips together for a second, obviously seething with indignation. “I’ll say it again.” Her words were slow and calculated as she rose to her feet. “I would never do anything to harm Elise.”

Colin moved to the door and opened it for her. “I certainly hope not, Maggie.” His voice was solemn. “As uncomfortable as this interview has been, I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t thoroughly investigate every possibility, every option, every piece of evidence. I hope you understand that.”

“Oh, I understand.” Maggie huffed. “But it doesn’t make it hurt any less.” She abruptly twisted toward the door and marched out.

Emily waited a moment for Maggie to leave, then she left the observation room and met Colin in the hall.

“What did you think of that?” he asked.

She turned and glanced down the hallway, watching the heavy security door close. “I can’t believe Maggie would be involved in a kidnapping, but if the whole thing was Elise’s idea and she offered Maggie some cash to help her out, she might have gone along with it. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over the years, it’s that anything is possible.”

Chapter 9

Finished with the interview, Colin and Emily headed over to the Murphy apartment, knowing the crew there would be preparing the husband for the money drop at noon. When they entered the home, Isabel was standing in the dining room, along with Ernie, another officer, and the tech from the Sheriff’s office manning the recording/tracking devices.

“Hey, Isabel,” Emily greeted, giving her shoulders a light squeeze. “Is Mr. Murphy ready to take the ransom money downtown?”

“Yeah, he’s in his study with his attorney.”

Emily wondered what was going on behind the closed door. “Giving the man some words of encouragement, no doubt.”

Isabel shrugged. “All I know is that he has a green duffle bag, like the kidnapper instructed, stuffed with unmarked bills.”

“Is everyone in place down at the drop site?” Colin asked.

“Yes.” Isabel nodded slightly. “Between Chief Nelson, Captain Decker, and the Sheriff, they have a number of people already situated around the immediate area—incognito, of course.”

“You mean like a couple of utility workers? A panhandler? Window washers?” Emily asked.

“Yeah, something like that.” Isabel grinned.

Emily remembered working with the able Captain Decker, of the Boise Police Department, on a previous operation where they broke up a sex-slave ring and rescued a number of young women. He was organized and disciplined, and he ran his team with precision.

Patrick Murphy and his lawyer emerged from the study. Patrick was dressed casually, khakis and a white polo shirt, toting the bulging canvas bag.

Colin leaned over to Isabel and whispered. “Is he driving himself?”

“Yes. The kidnapper said to come alone.”

“Good. I was afraid he was going to let his lawyer drive him. They seem to be joined at the hip.”

“We’d better get down there before he does,” Emily said, keeping her voice low too, “and get in position to watch for the pick-up.”

“I’ll make sure he leaves on time,” Isabel said.

“Remind him he has to leave as soon as he makes the drop,” Colin said. “We can’t have him hanging around waiting for the kidnapper.”

“I’ll tell him. Now, you guys need to get going.”

~*~

At ten minutes before noon, Colin and Emily found a parking spot in downtown Boise, on Fifth Street, not far from the city trash bin where the drop was to take place. The joint task force between the Paradise Valley Police, the Boise Police, and the County Sheriff’s office manned the incognito positions, with Captain Decker in charge of the operation.

Colin listened to the conversation between the officers on the police radio, as Emily studied the people around the area.

Right on time, at twelve noon exactly, Patrick Murphy shoved the duffle bag down into the trash can on the corner and walked away.

Now they would wait.

Time ticked by, but no one came. Still they waited.

At twelve twenty-two, a grungy-looking man with a scraggly beard and a dirty red ball cap, pulled the bag out of the trash can. He was descended upon, with guns drawn, by the cops who had been hiding in plain sight.

“You stay here,” Colin said to Emily. He sprang from the vehicle and raced to the man.

Colin seized the man by the shirt. “Where is she?” he yelled.

The filthy man’s dark eyes grew wide and he pulled back. “Where’s who?”

“Elise Murphy!”

“What’s going on?” the man said, peering nervously at the guns pointed at him.

“You got the ransom money. Where’s Elise?”

“Huh? Ransom money? This?” The man held the bag out and one of the policemen grabbed it. “I just saw this bag in the trash and I thought there might be something I could use in it.”

“Damn!” Colin spat.

The man appeared to be a simple vagrant, scrounging around in the garbage, looking for anything of value.

Patrick Murphy came running at them. “Where’s my wife?” he demanded, grabbing the grimy old man by his jacket.

“Hey, hey! This guy isn’t the kidnapper, Mr. Murphy,” Colin shouted, separating Patrick from the homeless man. “Just some homeless guy poking around in the trash. Besides, you shouldn’t be here.”

“How could I stay away?”

Colin turned to the officer that was holding the duffle bag of money and in a low voice instructed him to take the old man to the station for further questioning. Colin took the bag from him as Patrick grabbed his arm.

“What went wrong?”

“Listen, the kidnapper didn’t show up,” Colin said, yanking his arm away. “The bag was there for almost twenty-five minutes. If he was coming, he would have already taken it.”

“Now what?”

“Now you need to leave.” Colin handed the bulky bag of cash to him. “Sanchez!” He called to one of his officers, who moved quickly over to them. “Take Mr. Murphy to his car and make sure he gets home.”

Captain Decker joined them. “Looks like he’s toying with us, boys. We’ll need to regroup.”

“You guys screwed up.” Patrick’s expression twisted in panic. “How do we find her now?”

As soon as the words passed his lips, Patrick Murphy’s cell phone began to ring. “The screen says
Blocked Call
.” He held the phone up for Colin and Decker to read.

“Quiet everybody!” Colin shouted to those standing nearby.

“Put it on speaker, then answer it,” Decker instructed.

Patrick complied. “Hello, this is Patrick Murphy.”

“I said no cops,” the altered voice snarled. “Say good-bye to your wife.”

The sound of a loud gunshot emanated from the phone and Patrick’s head jerked toward Captain Decker, terror pooling in his eyes.

“He shot her.” Patrick’s voice cracked and tears welled up. “I brought the money, just like he asked, and he shot her anyway.”

Emily joined the group. “We don’t know that,” she said, patting his shoulder. “We heard a gunshot, but it doesn’t mean he shot Elise, not if he really wants the money.” She looked at Colin, then Captain Decker, as if hoping for some encouraging words from them.

“He must have been watching from somewhere.” Captain Decker’s gaze darted around at the buildings surrounding the area.

“Let’s not jump to conclusions until we know something definitive,” Colin said. “We won’t know anything for sure until we find Elise.”

“Or her body,” Patrick said, his shoulders slumping sadly.

~*~

As Colin and Emily were climbing back in the Jeep, he received a call from Nelly.

“Let me put you on speaker,” he said, holding it between them.

“I’m processing the fingerprints from Jake Mitchell’s apartment,” she said. “Besides his prints, I also found Elise Murphy’s and Maggie Sullivan’s.”

“That means both women were at his apartment, which confirms what we already know.” Colin looked over at Emily. “Anything else?”

“His computer showed a few emails back and forth between him and Elise Murphy.”

“Should I take a look at them?” he asked.

“There’s nothing in them that has to do with her disappearance. I’ll send them over to you, just in case.”

“Thanks, Nell.” Colin clicked the phone off.

“We know Jake Mitchell is involved in some way,” Emily began.

“But we don’t know exactly how.”

“Either he took Elise and is holding her for ransom,” she continued, “or he’s helping her get away from her husband.”

“If she’s in on it, why the ransom calls?” Colin asked. “Maybe whoever is helping her got greedy and decided he wanted some of her husband’s millions.”

“Unless we find the two of them, we’ll never know which it is. Either way, I sure hope Maggie isn’t involved.” Emily thought of her friend and the hardships she’d endured, sometimes because of poor choices on her part, other times because bad things were thrust on her.

“Me too.” Colin started the car. “I’ll call Ernie and have him issue an ATL on Jake’s car and alert the airports, bus stations, and borders. We’ve got to find this guy if we have any hope of finding Elise.”

“Don’t forget to have him flag the guy’s credit cards too.” Emily pulled her seatbelt on.

Colin shot her a little frown. “Boy, you and Isabel must think I’d be lost without the two of you telling me what to do.”

“Sorry.” Emily gave him a rueful smile. “Speaking of Isabel, I’ll call her and have her meet us at the station. Maybe between the four of us we can figure this thing out.”

“Let’s grab a couple of burgers on the way, Babe. I’m starving.”

Chapter 10

Within the hour, Isabel joined Emily, Colin, and Ernie at the Paradise Valley Police station.

“What do you have so far?” Isabel asked, looking at the huge whiteboard in Colin’s office. The board had photos of the people involved, as well as a sketchy timeline.

“We know the husband was out of town for three days,” Colin said, pointing to the photo of Patrick Murphy on the board. “He found Elise gone and part of the house in shambles when he returned. That was Wednesday.”

“Yes, late Wednesday,” Ernie added.

“I met with Elise and the girls that morning.” Emily pointed to the timeline. “And Maggie did a workout with her around noon. Her husband reported her missing late that night, so that means she had to have gone missing sometime between one pm and ten pm.”