An idea pops into my mind, “Wait! Go to the date that I visited. I was told that Craig had a visitor right before me that day. Start that tape.”
The officer switches the feed and rewinds through my visit with him. The tape starts to play as Craig sits at the table and we notice that it’s the same visitor from the first tape.
Rob states, “Alright, so that has to be him, right?”
I nod, “Yes, most definitely. Now we need to find out what they were talking about.”
I look at the officer, “Can you raise the volume?”
He nods his head and pushes the volume control, making it easier for us to decipher the words.
Craig glances at his visitor, “How is everything at Alder? I trust that it is under control during my absence.”
The visitor responds, “Yes, everything is running smoothly. The estate is flourishing and there’s even a surplus. The patron list has expanded tremendously and the overall rate of satisfaction has sky-rocketed.”
Craig smirks, “That’s great to hear. I’m very proud of you for taking on the business while I’m here.”
“Thank you, Sir. These past few years have been rocky, but I believe with the right management and attitude, Alder can prosper.”
Craig smiles approvingly but notices something and points, “What happened to your neck?”
The visitor reaches up to touch it.
“I apologize, Sir. I didn’t realize it started bleeding.”
Craig’s voice deepens, “What happened?”
“Nothing, it’s just her. She got a good hit on me and scratched me. She’s been a feisty one ever since she came to us. But don’t worry, I have an idea on how to handle her. It’s just that she surprises me sometimes, especially those eyes of hers. They’re so exquisite and mesmerizing; like an angel.”
“Well, I’m glad you found her. Keep me posted about the plans.”
“I will, Sir.”
And with that, the visit ends and all I see is red. He said “her eyes”. I know who he meant. If there’s anything I know about Craig, it was that he loved her eyes. And now, this other prick is talking about her. What did he mean by handling it? He better not fucking touch her.
Rob notices the anger seeping from me and rushes me out of the room.
“Duke, relax. We’ll find him. There’s still another tape left. We’ll watch it.”
I shrug my shoulders out of his grasp and seethe.
“Rob, he has her. He’s had her all this time. It’s been five years and she’s been trapped somewhere, trying to escape.”
Pacing up and down the hall, I’m trying to breathe calmly in order to prevent another outburst in this place. My thoughts go back to my visit with Craig. He said that I’ll never find her. He knew that because he had her. That’s why he acted the way he did. He knew he won.
Rob’s concerned voice echoes, “We don’t know that for sure. We need to gather more information and find this guy, okay?”
My jaw tenses, “Oh, I’ll find him and he’ll wish that I never did.”
Duke
After our trip to Auburn, my nerves are shot. I haven’t been able to sleep for a few days now, and the exhaustion is slowly catching up to me. Rob and his firm are still working on locating Craig’s visitor, but what they don’t know is that I already found him.
It’s not hard trying to find someone when you know how to search for a needle in a haystack. With the help of my boss and a few buddies at the precinct, we were able to find a match with the facial recognition software.
Davis, my boss, notices the match, “Look, it found the guy. Looks like he’s been spotted all over New York City.”
I glance at the screen, “Okay, what do we have? A name? A birth date?”