Chapters (42)
“I am here, Mr. Castro, because Jim told me that you are considering going to the police to report your daughter missing. If you do that, there are going to be a lot of questions and you need to be prepared for them. You say no one at her dorm has seen her in more than a week, she isn’t answering her phone, and she hasn’t been on social media. All that is concerning. But she also may or may not have checked into a hotel, and she may or may not have withdrawn a large sum of cash. Claudia is an adult. No one saw her being grabbed off the street. No one saw her get into a stranger’s car. The only reason you have to believe she might be in danger is that video. And what I’m telling you is that that video is a can of worms. Half of the NYPD hates Ridley Drake, but the other half knows he pays extremely well for investigative assistance from former cops. They know he’s got dirt on their bosses and their bosses’ bosses, and they know that getting a DA to agree to bring a case against someone he’s representing—let alone someone he’s related to—is not going to be easy.
“Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying you should do nothing. She might be in danger. Or she might come home when she’s ready. There’s no way to know. I’m just saying you need to be prepared.” Ingrid paused again. “Take a few hours. You have my cell. I can meet you at the precinct if you want to go that way, or we can talk about hiring someone to do a bit of digging privately.”
Jim and Ingrid showed themselves out.
“Was that supposed to make us feel better?” Edie asked. It occurred to her that without all the money, if it was Nathan’s sister suddenly missing, they’d already be at the police station. Should they be?
The buzzer at the garden level door trilled through the walls.
“Did they forget something?” asked Michelle, looking around.
Gabe got up and went to the door.
“Hello?” Edie heard her father say.
A male voice, tinny over the speaker: “Hi. I’m a friend of Claudia’s.”