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five minutes alone with them, that s all.
Believe me, the Bureau shares your anxiety, Mr. Ramirez. Truly. The agent
turned back to Wendy. I know that right now it seems inconceivable to you
that there could be another explanation for what s happened to your daughter,
Mrs. Ramirez, but we often run into surprising solutions to seemingly
straightforward cases. For example, you must have noticed that there s been no
ransom note.
Arriaga let out a short, leaden laugh. Wendy said hollowly, We don t have
any money. There are other . . . reasons for kidnapping someone. Particularly
a young girl.
But not usually from her own bedroom, Mrs. Ramirez. I think you can rest
easy on that score. We ve also established that nothing was missing from her
room, so robbery of some kind wasn t the motive.
After considering all the information there is only one other reason for an
abduction that I can think of. At least, only one that makes any sense. This
is only a preliminary hypothesis on my part, you understand.
Ramirez stopped as if shot and turned to take up a stance behind the couch,
his hands resting on his wife s shoulders. Wendy stared anxiously at the agent
while the Sheriff waited curiously. Benbrook was ever willing to learn.
The sheriff here mentioned that you were involved in an incident in front of
your house several days ago, Mr. Ramirez, during which you surprised some
would-be car strippers at work on your van?
Arriaga nodded slowly. Wendy looked up at him, took one of his hands in hers
and squeezed hard.
The agent continued. It s possible that those you surprised might have been
so upset that they decided to come back and take a modicum of revenge. Sheriff
Benbrook informs me that he s pretty sure they were from out of town. Urban
professionals would be much more inclined to risk a return to the scene of the
crime to try something along that line. Especially since the sheriff tells me
you apparently hurt one of them pretty badly.
I think I broke his goddamn face, Arriaga muttered. I should ve put the
pipe all the way through his head.
Roeland nodded understandingly. He looks like he agrees with me, Arriaga
thought. He d never thought that the agent might turn out to be sympathetic.
Hard, professional, cool and calculating, yes, but not sympathetic. But then,
maybe this guy had a wife and daughter at home, too. Everybody reacted pretty
much alike where violent crime was involved, he was discovering.
The agent rose to leave. Wendy stopped him. What do you think, Mr. Roeland?
I mean, when do you think you might know something? She would not let herself
consider the ultimate ramifications of the agent s theory. If someone had
taken poor Amanda for purposes of revenge, then they might not find her...
might not find her....
She couldn t hold back the tears anymore. Arriaga was there instantly,
enveloping her in his arms, comforting her.
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The agent waited respectfully until the sobbing slowed. I ve no way of
knowing, Mrs. Ramirez. I wish I could be more informative, but you must
understand that I ve only just been assigned to this case and have only now
arrived here. I haven t even begun my work, really.
The first thing I ll do is inform Houston that in my opinion we have a real
kidnapping on our hands here. Your daughter s description will go out
nationwide, though our efforts will naturally be concentrated in this area. We
work closely with all local law enforcement agencies, as Sheriff Benbrooic can
tell you. Hopefully we ll have something soon. As soon as we know anything at
all you ll be informed. He glanced at Arriaga, then took Wendy s right hand
in his own, patted it gently.
Keep in mind that we don t know exactly who abducted your daughter or why,
or even if that s what happened. My suppositions are no more than that. So
there is no reason for you to be conjuring up gruesome scenarios until we know
something for certain. If she was kidnapped the people who did it might have
been drunk rather than coldly calculating. They may have sobered up, realized
what they were getting themselves into, and dumped her quickly and unharmed.
It s . . . difficult for your daughter to get around. If she was dumped in a
rural area it might take her a long time to attract attention or make her way
to the side of a busy road. She might be sitting in a gas station right now
trying to borrow a dime to make a phone call with. Or she might be on her way
to a hospital to be treated for nothing worse than exposure. He pointed at
the telephone.
The best thing you can do for her now is to stay here and wait for some word
from her or from my people. If the kidnappers get in touch with you, stay
calm, tell them you ll do whatever they want, and then get back to me. I ll
handle things from there.
Keep in mind that I ve been in on cases like this one before, Mrs. Ramirez.
The Bureau s rate of success in kidnappings is very high, much better than
you d be led to believe by the media. You can reach me through the sheriff s
office.
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