She nods her head yes.
"Can you tell me this guy's name?" I ask her.
"Called himself Ryan," she whispers.
"What did he look like? Any scars? Tattoos? Anything special about his appearance?"
"He had brown hair, brown eyes, shaved sides and longer on top. He was wearing cargo shorts and a plain white T-shirt." She closes her eyes like she is trying to picture him. "Oh, and he had a tattoo." She opens her eyes. "I just remembered. It was a diamond with the word Peace under it on the inside of his right wrist. I remember it now. I saw it when he grabbed my wrist and squeezed me."
I look over at Mick, and he walks out of the room. He's going to be checking the database for the tattoo.
"Did he tell you where he wanted to take you or what he wanted to do?"
"He said his friends were having a party, so he wanted to bring me to show off how hot I was." She looks down at her hands, which start shaking again. "I almost went. Then I remembered hearing a story about some missing girls." She looks up at me. "I don't know what it was, but it didn't feel right. I didn't want to be another one of them."
Before I can answer her, there is a knock on the door, and Mick comes in with a silent nod, followed by Maya's parents, who both rush to hug her.
We step outside to give them some privacy. I look at Mick, waiting for some answers. "What did you find?"
"Name's Ryan King, calls himself Diamond Boy. We have an address, and an undercover is heading there now to see if we can pick him up."
"So we wait?" I ask him.
"We wait." He turns, walking to his desk as I walk to my computer to search anything else I can find on this Ryan King. Nothing really pops up. Semi-decent family, a couple of misdemeanors, but as a minor, they'll be sealed as soon as he turns eighteen in three days.
The phone on Mick's desk rings, and he picks it up. His answers are curt. Hanging up the phone, he looks at me as he says the words that will change the course of the next couple of hours. "We got him."
I nod at him and begin getting ready for when they bring in Ryan King. It takes about twenty minutes to bring him in and install him in a room on the other side of the building so Maya won't see him.
I look over at Mick, who is practically bouncing on the heels of his feet like a boxer getting ready to enter the ring.
"I think it's safe to say I'm going to be the one doing the talking. You should sit back and listen. Yeah?" I ask him, opening the door, and coming face to face with our first real lead in these cases.
He sits there in baggy sweats, tight T-shirt, and one of those stupid flat-billed baseball hats with diamond logos all around it. He looks like the punk that he is.
"Hey, Ryan, thanks for coming in." I'll start easy with him.
"Well, I didn't really have a choice since they cuffed me, put me in a car, and brought me here." I sit back, throwing the pen on the table, already knowing this little shit is going to push me to my limits.
I'm also hoping he doesn't push me so far that Mick has to take over.
"All right then, let's cut the bullshit. Where were you yesterday afternoon?"
"Out and about," he answers with a smirk.
"You go to the mall yesterday?" My voice is calm and even as I wait for him to dig his own hole.
"Yesterday? I don't really know. Maybe I should check my calendar." Such a wise-ass. I can feel my blood pressure ticking up.
"No need to check your calendar. You see, we have video." It's a stretch. We haven't seen the video yet, and I have no idea what's on it, but Ryan's expression immediately changes.
His smirk gone, the vein in his neck starting to pulse faster.
"What video?" His face pales as he asks the question.
"Come on, Ryan, smart guy like you? You have to know there are cameras all over that mall. It's all going to be there, my man."
He swallows, his leg starting to bounce. "I was told they weren't working," he mutters.
Bingo. "Who told you that? Dude, you got played. It's all there. Gotta say"-I shake my head at him-"you had us going there for a bit, but it was only a matter of time."
"I didn't do anything." He pushes himself forward, placing his hands on the table.
"See, Ryan, that's where you're wrong," I tell him and when he doesn't say anything further, I continue. "I gave you a chance to tell us your side of the story, but you think you're smarter than us." I lean back into my chair while Mick is leaning against the wall with one foot folded over the other.
"I did nothing wrong." He looks at both of us, trying to convince us.
"That isn't what the video shows. You know it." I point to Mick. "We know it."
"Listen, I don't know what you have, but I did nothing wrong."
"You baited them." Short and sweet, I tell him, "The video shows you even slipped them something."
"That's bullshit! I didn't give them shit till after we left!" And just like that, he buried himself. He knows it now just like I know it.
"Really? Then it's my mistake. You drugged them after you left, took them to wherever it is you took them, and now you are going to go down for drug possession, kidnapping, assaulting, and I gotta be honest with you, Ryan, no one in jail likes someone who drugs helpless women. Let alone sex offenders. They get the worst treatment in jail."
"I didn't kidnap anyone. They came with me willingly."
"Where are they then?" I ask him. "Give me a location."
"I...I..."
This is when I snap. "You what? Did you kill them?" I raise my voice.
He just shakes his head no.
"You drugged them, lured them out, raped them, and then killed them." My voice gets louder. "Then you disposed of their bodies. Where are they?" I slam my hand on the table, making him jump. "Pretty boy like you in prison, going to be rough keeping the boys at bay. Tell me what you did with them. TELL ME!"
"I get paid to find the girls and drop them off. That's it!"
"Who pays you?"
"No clue. Calls himself Chucky, like the Chucky doll. I bring them to him. He pays me ten grand per girl."
"How many?" I ask him, hoping he isn't going to stop talking.
"Three so far." He looks at us. "I wanted to stop, but he wouldn't let me. He kept calling, said he'd dump them off at the cops and all they'd have was my name."
"Where did you drop them off?"
"Some cheap motel off the interstate. I walked them in pretending we were going to a party, and then once we were inside, I just left. He had his guy waiting for them there."
"So you brought those three innocent girls to the devil's doorstep."
"I did nothing wrong."
Mick finally snaps. "You lured three young girls away from their families through the use of an illegal substance. You then brought them to someone who rapes and probably beats them, while you walked away with thirty grand. And you think you didn't do anything wrong here, Ryan? If any of those girls are dead, you will be charged with accessory to murder."
Mick leans over the table, looking him in the eye, and says, "And you better fucking believe I'll be the one to put you in there. I'll lead you in there like you led them in there. How is that?"
He doesn't get to answer before my cell phone goes off with the alarm company name.
Getting up, I answer the phone. "Hello."
"Hey, Jackson. It's Brian. Are you home?"
"No, I'm at work. Why?"
"The silent alarm was just triggered. We called the house and nothing. Tried the cell phone and nothing," he says and the hair stands up on my neck.
"What about Brenda?" I ask, running out of the room to get my keys.
"Nothing. We called everyone. I have someone arriving right now. I'm sure it's nothing. He's calling in now. Give me a sec."
"Mick," I yell for him, and he comes out of the room, slamming the door shut behind him.
"Silent alarm was just triggered at Bella's. Someone is on the scene, but I'm waiting for an update from Brian." I put him on speakerphone so Mick can hear.
"Jackson, where are you?" His voice is tight. It's curt and angry.
"Give it to me."
"They have an ambulance going there now. Brenda has been beaten pretty badly. Lilah was the one who ran and hit the alarm."
"Where the fuck is Bella?"
"Jackson." He exhales a deep breath. "She's nowhere to be found." And in that minute, my phone flies across the room, my knees buckle, and I almost fall down.
Mick looks at me. "We will get her back."
I look at him, trying to wrap my head around all this.
"We will fucking get her back." He grabs me by the shirt, shaking me. "You need to snap the fuck out of it and help me find your woman. You need to lock your shit down and fucking focus here, Jackson."