Rick Mofina - In Desperation

“Cora,” Hackett started, “I need to know more about Tilly. Does she have any medical condition we should know about?”

“No.”

“Does she have a boyfriend?”

“God no, she’s eleven.”

“Does she use drugs? Is she flirtatious? Does she spend a lot of time chatting on the internet?”

“No.”

“Is she a good student?”

“Yes. She has above-average grades. She likes school.”

“Describe her relationship with you.”

“She’s a good girl. We have a strong relationship. There’s just the two of us in our family. We’re as close as any mother and daughter can be.”

“Where’s Tilly’s father?”

“I don’t know. He’s been out of the picture from the start. I raised her alone.”

“Again, characterize your relationship with Lyle Galviera. You indicated it’s more than boss-employee.”

“I started working there five years ago and last year we started dating.”

“Are you engaged?”

“No. A few months ago we talked about marriage but we decided to keep dating, see where things go.”

“Describe Lyle’s relationship with Tilly.”

“He adores her and she likes him.”

“Can you think of anyone who would have reason to take this kind of action against you?”

Cora was stabbed by the memory of California.

No one must know what happened. It can’t be connected to Tilly’s abduction. She can’t be the one to pay for my mistake. I have to keep that night in California secret. No one must know. Not Jack, not the police, no one. I have to protect Tilly. This is the one thing I have to keep secret until I know who took Tilly.

The one thing.

The kidnappers said this was about Lyle, not me. Please let that be true.

“No.”

“What about Lyle and his company-any enemies?”

“I can’t think of one. Everyone likes Lyle.”

“Is the company involved in the trafficking of narcotics?”

“I told you, no, not to my knowledge. I know we were facing some hard financial times. Lyle had to lay off a couple of people and told me to watch office costs, but drugs? No, this is all wrong.”

“You said that this morning the kidnappers called you at your office?”

“Yes. When I got loose, I went there immediately to try to find some clue as to where Lyle was. They called me on my cell phone and put Tilly on.”

“Did she give you any idea where she was?”

“No, it was only for a second and she sounded so scared.”

“How did they get your number?”

“Tilly would have given them my cell phone number.”

“Have you ever been involved with illicit drugs, Cora?”

She was struggling to hold herself together and covered her mouth with her cupped hands, feeling her brother’s eyes upon her. “Yes.”

“Elaborate.”

“For about ten years, starting when I was seventeen, I was addicted to drugs-pot, coke and crack. I was messed up. I drifted across the country. I hit bottom. I cut myself off from my family. Then I got pregnant with Tilly. I got clean for her, started over with her. I changed my name from Cora Gannon to Cora Martin.”

“Why did you change your name?”

“To put my past behind me and start over. I moved to Phoenix, put myself through college and started a new life. I got clerical jobs. I’ve been clean since.”

“So it’s been about twelve years since you’ve used?” Hackett asked.

“Yes, about that.”

“Did you deal?”

“I didn’t deal. But I knew dealers.”

“Do you associate with them now?”

“No.”

“Do you think anyone from your past could be involved in this?”

“I knew bad dealers, but that was a long time ago, another life. Anything is possible, but no, I hope not.”

“Can you provide us with names of those old dealers?” Hackett asked.

“I never knew their real names-they were street names. There was Deke, a white guy in Boston about fifteen years ago. Before that, Rasheed, a Middle Eastern guy in Toronto.”

Larson made notes.

“When did you last have contact with people in the drug trade?”

“About twelve years ago. My old life is dead, behind me.”

Hackett stared at Cora. Fine threads of doubt and apprehension webbed across his face before he said, “Are you telling us everything we need to know?”

Several moments passed before she answered.

“Agent Hackett, I’ve made mistakes. I have not lived a perfect life but I am a good mother and I swear to you I am not involved.”

“All right.”

Larson’s cell phone rang. After listening for about ten seconds, she said: “They’re almost finished processing the kitchen and the living room.”

Hackett adjusted his sleeves.

“We’ll take both of you back to the house in Mesa Mirage. The task force will set up. We’ll have people from VAP, our victim specialist unit there too, to help you with anything you may need. You’re going to have a lot of police keeping you company.”

“Whatever it takes,” Cora said. “But there’s something I need from you.”

“What’s that?”

“Your word that you will do all you can to bring Tilly home.”

Cora’s request gave him pause. It was identical to the plea he’d heard from the mother of the aid worker from Toledo, Ohio, who’d been taken hostage by Colombian drug traffickers.

“Give me your word you will bring my daughter back.”

He did.

But he brought her home in a coffin.

Now, looking into Cora’s face, Hackett told her the truth.

“I give you my word I will do all I can to find your daughter.”

“Thank you.”

He stared at Cora. “And to arrest the people responsible.”

Phoenix, Arizona

Afew miles north of Mesa Mirage, at the South Desert Bank & Trust, Bill Grover, the assistant manager, realigned the stapler and pen holder on his desk.

The two FBI agents sitting across from him were studying the files Grover’s branch had assembled with some urgency. The action was in response to a warrant to provide the FBI with records on all of Lyle Galviera’s financial dealings and those of his courier company.

The agents, Ross Sarreno and Winston Reeve, were the Phoenix Division’s white-collar crime experts. They wore dark suits and somber expressions. Whatever they were chasing, it was serious, Grover thought.

First, they confirmed that there’d been no activity on any credit or bank cards held by Galviera since the day before he was to depart for his California business trip. However, on that day, there was a cash withdrawal from one of his accounts for nine thousand dollars.

This guy was planning something, Reeve thought after he and Sarreno studied the company’s banking files.

“These records show the company is in trouble,” Reeve said.

“Yes.” Grover cleared his throat. “The big boys were securing their hold on Quick Draw’s regional market. About two years ago, Lyle’s outstanding debts climbed to about four million dollars. A few times he came close to not making payroll. We could no longer extend his line of credit. Things were getting dire. We were talking about Chapter Eleven.”

“Then he turns things around, appears to have found a source of business and funds,” Reeve said. “Ten months ago he begins knocking down his debt with significant weekly payments, fifty-, seventy-, ninety-five-thousand-dollar range.”

“He said it was the result of a new business model.”

“But all of the transactions were in cash,” Reeve said.

“That’s correct.”

“This is a courier business. It does not deal primarily in cash. The transactions could be indicative of money laundering. Under the law there’s an obligation to report this activity,” Reeve said.