Page 2 of All He Takes
Recently, and thanks to Felix, Nicky had been given a major hint. She suspected the kidnapper was someone who knew her father, back in West Virginia; but on top of that, the last time she saw Felix, she had finally gained the upper hand.
She'd tricked Felix into revealing a crucial detail about the kidnapper.
The kidnapper was someone who had mentored Felix. Nicky was sure of it, and Felix's reaction had confirmed her suspicions. He hadn't given up a name, but Nicky was damn sure he knew the identity of the kidnapper, and she had to find a way to make him talk.
Nicky looked down at her phone in the console of her car. She picked it up, smoothing her thumb along its surface.
It had only been two days since she'd talked to her father.
He'd called her. It was the most contact Nicky and her dad had in years. The man was a drunk, and was never a great father, but Nicky knew she might need him. She couldn't reveal anything about Felix, or about the potential kidnapper.
But sooner or later, she was going to have to go back to Nelly, West Virginia, and see her father... and see what he might know. While she felt confident in the theory that her father might have known the killer in real life, Nicky never suspected her father necessarily had anything to do with the kidnapping. That would be… unthinkable, really. Her dad had loved Rosie, more than he’d loved Nicky, and she couldn’t imagine a world in which he’d let someone hurt her or get away with hurting her.
Then again, her dad did also become even more drunk and unhinged after Rosie’s disappearance. Could guilt be a factor?
Nicky considered it, but it just didn’t check out in her mind. No, it seemed more likely that the kidnapper could be someone her dad knew, even casually. A co-worker, a mechanic, someone who Nicky and Rosie had never seen before… but someone who could have seen them, stalked them…
After all, when he’d followed them home from the mall that day, it had seemed so deliberate. Maybe he did randomly choose them from the pick of teenage girls at the mall, but then again, it was possible he’d scoped them out.
Nicky just didn’t know. There were so many unanswered questions—too many.
Taking a breath, Nicky faced the prison again. She'd been building her game plan up, but Felix was smart, and she didn't know if it would work. It had been hard enough for Nicky to get an inkling of information from Felix.
But maybe someone else could.
An informant.
Nicky was hoping she could bribe another inmate into cozying up to Felix and getting information. Open on her passenger seat was a file, and Nicky picked it up.
Fred Garrison. In for robbery. Only a year left on his term, and he'd had good behavior. Nicky looked at the mugshot of Fred, a gruff man with a scar down his face. His criminal rap sheet was surprisingly short, but he looked the part, with tattoos and all. However, there was one event in his past that had made him stand out to Nicky among the pool of potential candidates. During a robbery at the bank, Fred had kidnapped a woman and taken her hostage. Of course, Felix knew more than a few things about keeping women hostage, so maybe Fred could use this to relate to him.
Either way, Nicky doubted Felix would suspect a man like Fred would be an informant for the FBI.
Could he get the information she needed?
She hoped so.
Nicky grabbed the file, along with her handbag, and locked her car. She took a breath and headed toward the prison. The hot Florida sun beat down on her, but she pushed on.
It was time to meet Fred.
Inside, the prison was as dark and cold as it ever was. The guard, a man behind plexiglass, had grown used to seeing Nicky, and he nodded at her.
"Agent Lyons, I saw you scheduled something with us," he said.
"I did," Nicky replied.
"Good. I'll let them know you're here."
The guard radioed up to the prison, and before Nicky even had time to sit, the guard told her she could proceed. She opened the doors, passing through the metal detectors and getting patted down.
The guard led her down the long, imposing hallways of the prison, and Nicky was filled with a sense of dread. There was no guarantee that Fred would agree to this, or that he was trustworthy, but he seemed to be the best candidate.
Once they reached a door, the guard opened it for Nicky.
"Go right in. Garrison will be out shortly."
The door buzzed, and Nicky walked in. The visitation hall was small, with a few tables and chairs. A television was mounted on the wall, and there was a clear divider between the prisoners and the visitors. There was a single door on the other side of the divider; it opened, and Fred came out. He was a big man, with huge shoulders and a thick chin. His arms were covered in tattoos, and he had a scar across his face. His green eyes were piercing.
