"Hold on." His voice was professional, a contrast to the laughter Nate heard in the background. The laughter got quieter, and a door slammed. "You calling to tell me where I can find Marisa Vega?"

"Do you really think she stole that money?"

"I think she's wanted in connection to a federal case."

"She gave you the information you needed to bring down G&K."

“Are you calling about that?"

Nate paced back toward the cabin. "I've had contact with Marisa. Her daughter's been kidnapped."

The squeak of a chair came through the phone. "She has a kid?"

"Adopted. Four years old. She was with Marisa's sister, Leslie. They were both snatched from...a city in Mexico."

"She report it?"

"Kidnappers told her if she did, they'd kill them both."

"Hmm. And rather than call the cops, she contacted you."

"She trusts me."

"Because you always believed she was innocent."

"I know she is."

"How?"

Nate couldn't very well tell Kopp about the house where Marisa had been living. And Kopp wouldn't be impressed by Nate's gut instinct. He went with the same argument he'd made years before. "First, she was afraid to leave the hotel."

"Or so she told you."

"Second, she wouldn't have gone near that building for all the gold in Ft. Knox. She was trying to stay alive."

A snort from the other end.

"Third, she wouldn't have had access to the bank account numbers. She was a nighttime cleaning lady."

"She had access to Vinnie."

"You think Vinnie, the smallest cog in the machine, had Charles Gray's personal bank account information?"

"Somebody stole that money."

"Yeah, and somebody wants it back."

"Meaning?"

"She was told to get the money in exchange for her daughter and sister. In fact, the kidnappers said they wanted her to turn over the money or tell them who stole it."

A long pause. "The kidnappers want the money or—"

"Proof she didn't steal it."

"How peculiar."

Nate let the information simmer and hoped Kopp would say something helpful. After a minute, he said, "Well, all I can do is refer you to somebody at the FBI. I'm retired."

"If she goes to the cops, Ana and Leslie are dead. I'm only talking to you."

"Why? 'Cause we're such good friends? As far as I'm concerned, you're harboring a fugitive."

Nate's pacing became more like stomping. "For the thousandth time, I didn't know where she was."

"Didn't know," Kopp said. "Past tense."

Crap. "Don't put words in my mouth, Kopp. Marisa took off as soon as she knew you'd arrested Gray."

"As soon as the money was stolen. Interesting coincidence."

"Not her fault the money was stolen before you guys stormed the place. For all I know, you took it."

A humorless chuckle. "If you could see this house, you wouldn't wonder about that anymore."

Nate pictured Marisa's shack in Mexico. Wherever Kopp lived, it was a mansion compared to that.

"What do you want from me?" Kopp asked.