Page 140 of Nailing the Billionaire

He turned to Zack and Phil. “In the meantime, we have a party to get back to. Not a word of this to any of the others until we know more.”

Zack started to object. “But—”

Dad cut him off. “Not a word to anyone—not a single, solitary word. Understood? That means you too, Phillip.”

We all nodded. Dad’s tone said he was serious, and there would be no changing his mind. The decision had been made, a task had been assigned, and the rules stated—end of discussion.

In a blink, everything I’d known about Debbie’s disappearance had changed. The kidnapper had died in a shootout with the authorities, and since his communications had said Debbie had less than a week of air, we’d all assumed the worst when she couldn’t be located.

Dad and Uncle Seth had paid privately for a search after the FBI stopped looking, but nothing ever came of it.

We’d never known of an accomplice in Debbie’s kidnapping. But if she was still alive, there had to have been one.

“We should leave Dennis to it,” Dad announced as he herded the others back inside. “And I’m serious about keeping this under wraps.”

I closed the door after them and spoke to the FBI agents. “I’m Dennis Benson. Debbie’s my cousin. So tell me what we know.”

“Special Agent Liz Parsons,” the woman said, introducing herself. “And my partner, Special Agent Paul Newsom.”

She offered her card.

Evidently the FBI didn’t shake hands.

I accepted both agents’ cards and stashed them in my pocket.

The man was obviously the junior partner here, as Parsons did the talking.

“When Deborah was abducted, her DNA was entered into the National Missing Persons Database. A search was initiated on a sample obtained in Maryland that generated a hit on Deborah’s record today. The original agents on her case have retired, so we’re now lead on her disappearance.”

I noticed she’d switched fromabductiontodisappearance. “How sure are we it’s her?”

“It was a total match. The sample is definitely hers.”

I breathed a long sigh. After a lack of closure, this was welcome news. “You said something about a bank robbery. Was she injured?”

The agents looked at each other before Parsons continued. “She’s a suspect.”

“That’s not possible.”

Parsons held up her hand. “I understand it’s a shock. But all we know at the moment is that DNA evidence collected at the scene of the robbery matches Deborah Benson.”

“A shock? I told you, it’s not possible she’d be involved in something like that,” I argued. She was a Benson, and I knew she wouldn’t have, couldn’t have changed that much.

“Sir, don’t get belligerent.”

“Belligerent? First you guys shoot the kidnapper so we can’t get her back, and now you want to accuse a helpless girl of bank robbery?”

I must have given off a dangerous vibe, because Agent Newsom braced, as if expecting me to lunge at him.

Parsons advanced on me instead. “Dennis, you need to calm down.”

The switch fromsirtoDennissurprised me.

“I worked with your sister-in-law Ashley in Boston, and I’ve met your brother Vince. I asked to be assigned to this case because I’m on your side here. This is a notification visit only. You know as much as we do at this point.”

That changed my perception of the pint-sized agent, and put an item on my to-do list. I was calling Boston first thing to get the lowdown on this woman.

“The local field office in DC is working the robbery case, and that’s all they’ve shared with us so far,” Parsons said.

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