Snatched, page 13
“Looks like a similar thing here, too. A new theme park opened in Sugar Land in October 2007, yet again, owned by the Sloan-Ironwoods.”
“Was anyone ever brought in for questioning?” Blayze paused from pacing and leaned on the table, looking at all the agents in front of him frantically tapping away on their laptops. “Well?”
“There doesn’t seem to be anything from those dates on file,” Agent Shannon stated.
“What! Nothing at all?”
“No, nothing. Either nothing was ever done, or some records have been deleted.”
“I’m coming up with nothing, either,” Agent Davis added.
“Same,” Agent Wright said, looking up at Blayze.
Blayze stood upright, convinced that this was definitely the same man, but that someone was hiding something. “I know someone who may be able to shed some light on this.” He grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair.
“Where are you off to?” Agent Wright asked.
“Texas.”
Chapter 16
The two-hour, twenty-five minute flight wasn’t that bad from Orlando International to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas. Blayze was so used to flying all over for his job that he always used the travel time to catch up on missed sleep. It was like his body knew when take-off and landing happened, as that’s when he would go straight to sleep and then wake with no disturbance.
Blayze made his way outside with just his carry-on luggage in hand and saw a white truck parked up. The horn beeped, and a hand popped out of the window, waving towards him. There was his friend, Peter, who he had not seen since his academy days. They had kept in touch over the years, but only on social media or the occasional phone call. Blayze knew that if he needed to get answers, then Peter was definitely his man.
“Hey, man, so good to see you. You’re looking as handsome as you ever did back then. Still a pretty boy, hey?” Peter joked.
“Fuck off, you,” Blayze responded with a chuckle. “Good to see you, too. Blayze looked Peter up and down, noticing his denim jeans, cowboy boots and checked shirt, but mainly his hat, as he had always worn the same one, even back in the old days. “Still pretending to be a cowboy, I see, with your big white stetson on.”
“Once a cowboy, always a cowboy.”
“How’s the missus?”
“Same old, same old. Still nagging at me to quit my job and spend more time at home with her. What she doesn’t get is that the more she nags, the more I want to stay at work. And how’s your girl?”
“That’s a long story, but I’m back to being single again.”
“Oh well, you can try to have some fun while you’re over here. We can’t get into the ‘office’ until the morning now, so how do you fancy a beer and a catch up?”
“Sounds good to me.”
Peter drove straight down the East Highway 290, reaching Henly, his home town, in just under an hour. They would have probably got there much sooner except the traffic getting out of the airport had been ridiculous because of some sort of crash that they couldn’t see. Partway down the highway, Peter had pointed out the entrance to The Factory, where he worked and where Blayze would hopefully get his answers from, but it was dimly lit so Blayze couldn’t really make it out.
After dropping off Blayze’s bag at Peter’s house, he wanted to take Blayze to his local for a drink, and to meet his wife, Brenda, who agreed to meet them both there after her shift at the diner. They had only walked ten minutes when they arrived at Peter’s local, The Loop. Brenda was sitting waiting for them, still in her work uniform, and waved them over to sit with her. Blayze noticed her pink and white uniform first as they approached, but as they got closer, it was apparent why Peter had gotten with her. She was his very own Dolly Parton. Hair permed, and a lot of it, a face full of makeup, but the biggest reason was her set of huge tits that grew bigger and bigger as they approached the table.
“Darlin’, this is my old friend, Blayze Carlson,” Peter said, as he slid himself down next to her.
She lifted her hand and Blayze didn’t know whether to shake it or kiss it. Opting for the awkward shake, he grabbed her limp hand. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”
She let out a little chuckle. “I’ve not been called ‘ma’am’ in a long time. It’s usually darlin’, honey, beautiful, or sometimes sexy, but that’s only when this one——” she nudged Peter in the ribs, “——comes in for his burger at lunchtime.”
“Brenda works at Billy’s Burger Barn, which is right close to The Factory. Most of us nip in there for lunch. The food at work is okay, but Billy’s burgers are the best.”
Just as Peter finished, a waitress came over to the table. “Hey, Brenda, Peter and handsome.” She winked at Blayze and smiled back. “What can I get you all?”
The first round of drinks went down a lot quicker than anticipated, and so did the second and third. Blayze arrived back to the table after nipping to the bathroom and ordering yet another round on his way past. Peter had gone outside for a cigarette and Blayze was now alone with Brenda. Suddenly, he felt her leg brush up against his under the table. He looked up at her and she just smiled like nothing was happening. Blayze quickly moved his legs out of the way. This was not what he wanted. Peter was an old friend and did not want his relationship ruined, especially not by his wife.
“So what are doing in Texas, Blayze, anyway?”
“I’m working on the child abduction case over in Orlando right now. I need Peter’s help with something.”
“He works too much. And when he’s not at work, he’s usually in here. He’s hardly ever home these days.”
“I know the feeling. Not that I spend all of my downtime in bars, that is, but work is non-stop at the minute.”
Peter showed up and sat back down. “You guys are getting along, I hope,” he said.
“I’m just telling Brenda why I’m here.”
“You never really talk about work to me,” she stated, staring at Peter.
“You know that’s because I can’t. I can’t have you getting drunk and blabbing out government secrets now, can I?”
She huffed and grabbed her drink, downing half of it in one go. Blayze could tell she wasn’t happy, but knew that Peter’s job was very important to him.
“Anyway,” he said, trying to change the subject. “Enough about work. How did you guys meet?”
“It was at Billy’s,” Peter started, “I was sitting there with some work friends in our regular spot and just as we were about to leave, this sexy little thing,” —— Peter grabbed hold of Brenda and pulled her in close —— “slipped me her phone number and winked.”
“He was sexy, so why not?” she responded.
Peter leaned back a little and looked down at her. “What do you mean, was?”
“Don’t worry, honey, you still are to me.” She stroked Peter’s face with her free hand and then sat back up to take another drink.
Blayze had noticed that there was something just not quite right about Brenda. He couldn’t tell if she was really in love with Peter or if she flirted with everyone, and while Peter was at work, was just doing who she wanted when she wanted.
Blayze decided it was time to stop drinking and asked that they head back to their place for some sleep. He wanted to be fresh for the morning and have a clear head, as he didn’t know what he was going to find out.
BLAYZE HAD AWOKEN EARLY and was sitting at the dining table waiting for Peter. Brenda was up first and walked into the kitchen in nothing but a slinky, silk dressing gown.
“Morning, handsome. Did you sleep well?” she asked, filling up the kettle in the sink.
Not wanting a repeat of the night before, Blayze took the coffee he had already made for himself moved towards the door.
“Don’t worry, darlin’, he’ll be out soon. Then you boys can get back to work as usual.”
“Thanks, ma’am,” Blayze quickly said and left the kitchen and headed back to the bedroom they had offered him for the night.
He began packing the overnight case he had brought. It was all he had needed, as straight after his visit to The Factory, he was heading back to Orlando on the next flight.
“Morning, Blayze. You almost ready?” Peter asked, popping his head around the door.
“Yeah, I’m ready.” He grabbed his things and followed Peter to the front door.
“See you tonight, darlin’,” Peter shouted back through the house.
“Bye, boys,” came Brenda’s voice from afar.
After a short drive, they reached the entrance to The Factory. Blayze noted how heavily protected it was, with a tall fence all the way around, guarded by barbed wire. He had been told that they were expecting him and that he should have his badge ready for inspection.
They drove up to the security gate. After the relevant checks and the car had been searched, they parked up and headed in. Peter led Blayze straight to the elevator and hit the second floor button. As the doors opened, Blayze’s vision was filled with rows and rows of desks with computers on. At the end of the room were a couple of offices.
“Follow me,” Peter said.
As Blayze walked down the center of the room behind Peter, he noticed that behind every computer screen was a person sitting there with headphones on, typing away.
“Morning, Peter,” came a voice from behind one computer as they passed, to which Peter just replied, “Morning.”
They reached one of the offices at the back of the room. Peter knocked and just walked straight in, not waiting for a reply.
“Morning, Peter. This must be Blayze. Derek Dilingham, nice to meet you.” Derek stood up from behind his desk, offering his hand to Blayze, who reciprocated.
“Good morning, Derek. Thanks for letting me be here. I just hope you can help me find what I’m looking for.”
“I hope you understand that what you see in here cannot be taken out of the building. For security reasons.”
“I’ve already warned him about that, DD. Don’t worry, he knows the score,” Peter added.
“I’ll let you get to it, then. Nice to meet you again.”
Derek sat down as Peter led Blayze out of the office and into the other one just next door. “Is this yours?”
“Certainly is. Not bad, is it?” Peter looked around to emphasize the amount of space he had.
“An enormous space for just one person. It is nearly the size of our situation room, which has five of us in most days.” Peter gestured for Blayze to have a seat at his desk. As Blayze sat down, he asked, “So why do you call Derek ‘DD’?”
“It’s what he likes to be called around the office. Thinks it makes him feel more friendly, or something like that, using just his initials. To everyone else in here, it stands for Dickhead Derek as he’s not that well liked.”
Blayze chuckled to himself. “I don’t want to imagine what people would call me behind my back if I went around calling myself BC.”
He stood watching as Peter logged into his system on his desk.
Peter looked up from typing. “So, come on, then. What is it you want to know?”
“I need everything you have on Senator Baily and the Sloan-Ironwood family. We could only find what was available on the internet and there seems to be a lot missing. Also, anything you have on missing children from 1997 to 2000 in Garland, Dallas County. Then 2007 to 2010 in Sugar Land, near Houston.”
“Okay, that’s gonna take me some time. Let me show you where you can chill out for a bit while I find what you are looking for.”
Peter led Blayze back to the elevator and up onto the third, and top, floor.
“This is where we come to relax during our breaks.”
“Bloody hell!” Blayze exclaimed as he saw everything there was for the staff.
“Make yourself comfortable and I’ll come and get you when I have some information for you.”
“Cheers, man.”
Blayze wandered around the floor. They had meditation pods and mats rolled out, ready for people presumably to do some yoga or stretching on. As he carried on round there were board games and computer games, along with drinks machines and cafe-style seating.
The place looked massive, yet he didn’t know what to do with his time, as he didn’t know how long it would take to get answers. Grabbing a coffee from one machine, he took a seat in the cafe area and sat there looking out of the window, watching the cars pass by on the main highway in the distance.
An hour had passed, and Peter had come and collected Blayze and taken him back into his office.
“Well, I’ve searched for everything that you asked for and there isn’t that much on the Sloan-Ironwood family, but we have some information on the senator.”
“Go on,” Blayze said eagerly.
“As you know, the FBI vets everyone thoroughly before giving them the position of Senator. What was not checked, though, at the time was his family history.” Peter invited Blayze around to see his screen. “Look at this.”
Blayze jumped up and looked over Peter’s shoulder. “What am I looking at?”
“We, here at The Factory, have a copy of all listed family members so that if anything should happen to anyone, we can help let those who need to know, know. Check out the names we have for Senator Baily.”
Blayze looked hard at the list, having to make a mental note as he wasn’t allowed to write anything down. “But I thought he only had——”
“Exactly,” Peter interrupted.
“Wow. Okay,” Blayze said, walking back around to take his seat.
“I don’t know if that is of any use to you, but I know this. That name appeared while searching those dates you gave me as a person of interest in the abduction of some children. The only way I found it was to find the original files, as the name was in a redacted file that was on the primary system. It looks like no one ever saw the original and so nothing was ever done back then.”
“Interesting. Do you have a current address for them?”
“The last known address we have was for here in Texas. Unfortunately, we don’t have any recent photographs, but I can tell you that the person is forty-two years old.”
Blayze was excited as he finally had some information he could use; something up his sleeve to get more answers out of people. “I can’t thank you enough.”
“Please remember, Blayze, that that name is not to be shared anywhere or with anyone, otherwise my neck is on the line. And so is yours.”
“Got it.”
Peter popped his head into Derek’s office to let him know he was taking Blayze to the airport and that he would be back later.
They both headed back down to Peter’s car and Blayze got in and closed the door. “I owe you one for this.”
Peter started the engine. “Too right you do. Let me know when you’re back in New York and I’ll have to come and visit. I haven’t been there for ages and it would be good to get away for a few days.”
“Sure, man, I’ll let you know.”
They arrived at the airport and, with a brief hand grab and brotherly hug, they parted ways. Blayze watched as Peter drove away, but before heading inside the airport, he got out his phone and called FBI headquarters to speak to Assistant Director Stone.
Chapter 17
Back at Headquarters, Blayze headed straight into Assistant Director Stone’s office to update her on his progress at The Factory. After explaining to her that, because of national security, nothing he saw or was told while he was in there was allowed out of the building, all he could say was that there was a person of interest he wanted to look into and it involved Senator Baily. She did not look too pleased about this, but as soon as he mentioned the missing children spanning two decades, she had no choice but to let him continue.
“There’s just one problem with all of this, Blayze. The theme parks are due to close in four days, so your time is running out.”
“There are a few that remain open though, throughout the year, aren’t there?” he asked.
“Yes, there are. But as we know, this man only strikes in the holiday season, and within a four-year period. We are coming up to the end of that four-year period now and if we don’t catch him soon, it could be another seven years before he may strike again.” She leaned forward on her desk. “Have any of those children in the previous decades ever been found, do you know?”
Blayze paused for a second before lowering his head and shaking it from side to side. “Unfortunately, no, they haven’t. But he hasn’t finished for this holiday season yet, has he? If the pattern is to match exactly, then he needs to kidnap nine children. But Dion escaped, which means there is still a chance we can catch him in the act.”
They both sat there for a few moments. All Blayze could hear was the ticking of the clock on the wall. It seemed to get louder and louder as his mind concentrated on it.
“Blayze,” Stone said, to no response. “Blayze,” she shouted louder, which got his attention. “What is your plan, then?”
“If I’m going to do this in time, I need the entire team on board.”
“You have it,” Stone quickly replied. “Anything you need.”
“That includes Agent Scott.”
“Blayze, you know I can’t do that. She leaked information to the press about an ongoing investigation.”
“I know she did, and I know she’ll be kicking herself about it. But she has done more work on The Holiday Snatcher over the past three years than anyone on this team, and I need her on this with me. That’s the deal.”
Stone took a moment to think about her response. Then, with a gigantic sigh, she gave in.
“Okay, you can have her back, but on one condition. If even one thing gets reported or printed involving this investigation without my approval, she will be out, and this time with no hope of coming back,” she said, waving her finger at Blayze’s face. “I’ll let you tell her that.”
Blayze headed for the door. “Thank you. I’ll call her now.” He walked out of the office.
“Blayze, just remember,” she shouted just before the door closed. “You have four days to catch this son of a bitch. If you haven’t caught him by then, it will be down to you to inform the families that there may be no hope of ever seeing their children again.”
“Was anyone ever brought in for questioning?” Blayze paused from pacing and leaned on the table, looking at all the agents in front of him frantically tapping away on their laptops. “Well?”
“There doesn’t seem to be anything from those dates on file,” Agent Shannon stated.
“What! Nothing at all?”
“No, nothing. Either nothing was ever done, or some records have been deleted.”
“I’m coming up with nothing, either,” Agent Davis added.
“Same,” Agent Wright said, looking up at Blayze.
Blayze stood upright, convinced that this was definitely the same man, but that someone was hiding something. “I know someone who may be able to shed some light on this.” He grabbed his jacket from the back of his chair.
“Where are you off to?” Agent Wright asked.
“Texas.”
Chapter 16
The two-hour, twenty-five minute flight wasn’t that bad from Orlando International to Austin-Bergstrom International Airport in Texas. Blayze was so used to flying all over for his job that he always used the travel time to catch up on missed sleep. It was like his body knew when take-off and landing happened, as that’s when he would go straight to sleep and then wake with no disturbance.
Blayze made his way outside with just his carry-on luggage in hand and saw a white truck parked up. The horn beeped, and a hand popped out of the window, waving towards him. There was his friend, Peter, who he had not seen since his academy days. They had kept in touch over the years, but only on social media or the occasional phone call. Blayze knew that if he needed to get answers, then Peter was definitely his man.
“Hey, man, so good to see you. You’re looking as handsome as you ever did back then. Still a pretty boy, hey?” Peter joked.
“Fuck off, you,” Blayze responded with a chuckle. “Good to see you, too. Blayze looked Peter up and down, noticing his denim jeans, cowboy boots and checked shirt, but mainly his hat, as he had always worn the same one, even back in the old days. “Still pretending to be a cowboy, I see, with your big white stetson on.”
“Once a cowboy, always a cowboy.”
“How’s the missus?”
“Same old, same old. Still nagging at me to quit my job and spend more time at home with her. What she doesn’t get is that the more she nags, the more I want to stay at work. And how’s your girl?”
“That’s a long story, but I’m back to being single again.”
“Oh well, you can try to have some fun while you’re over here. We can’t get into the ‘office’ until the morning now, so how do you fancy a beer and a catch up?”
“Sounds good to me.”
Peter drove straight down the East Highway 290, reaching Henly, his home town, in just under an hour. They would have probably got there much sooner except the traffic getting out of the airport had been ridiculous because of some sort of crash that they couldn’t see. Partway down the highway, Peter had pointed out the entrance to The Factory, where he worked and where Blayze would hopefully get his answers from, but it was dimly lit so Blayze couldn’t really make it out.
After dropping off Blayze’s bag at Peter’s house, he wanted to take Blayze to his local for a drink, and to meet his wife, Brenda, who agreed to meet them both there after her shift at the diner. They had only walked ten minutes when they arrived at Peter’s local, The Loop. Brenda was sitting waiting for them, still in her work uniform, and waved them over to sit with her. Blayze noticed her pink and white uniform first as they approached, but as they got closer, it was apparent why Peter had gotten with her. She was his very own Dolly Parton. Hair permed, and a lot of it, a face full of makeup, but the biggest reason was her set of huge tits that grew bigger and bigger as they approached the table.
“Darlin’, this is my old friend, Blayze Carlson,” Peter said, as he slid himself down next to her.
She lifted her hand and Blayze didn’t know whether to shake it or kiss it. Opting for the awkward shake, he grabbed her limp hand. “Nice to meet you, ma’am.”
She let out a little chuckle. “I’ve not been called ‘ma’am’ in a long time. It’s usually darlin’, honey, beautiful, or sometimes sexy, but that’s only when this one——” she nudged Peter in the ribs, “——comes in for his burger at lunchtime.”
“Brenda works at Billy’s Burger Barn, which is right close to The Factory. Most of us nip in there for lunch. The food at work is okay, but Billy’s burgers are the best.”
Just as Peter finished, a waitress came over to the table. “Hey, Brenda, Peter and handsome.” She winked at Blayze and smiled back. “What can I get you all?”
The first round of drinks went down a lot quicker than anticipated, and so did the second and third. Blayze arrived back to the table after nipping to the bathroom and ordering yet another round on his way past. Peter had gone outside for a cigarette and Blayze was now alone with Brenda. Suddenly, he felt her leg brush up against his under the table. He looked up at her and she just smiled like nothing was happening. Blayze quickly moved his legs out of the way. This was not what he wanted. Peter was an old friend and did not want his relationship ruined, especially not by his wife.
“So what are doing in Texas, Blayze, anyway?”
“I’m working on the child abduction case over in Orlando right now. I need Peter’s help with something.”
“He works too much. And when he’s not at work, he’s usually in here. He’s hardly ever home these days.”
“I know the feeling. Not that I spend all of my downtime in bars, that is, but work is non-stop at the minute.”
Peter showed up and sat back down. “You guys are getting along, I hope,” he said.
“I’m just telling Brenda why I’m here.”
“You never really talk about work to me,” she stated, staring at Peter.
“You know that’s because I can’t. I can’t have you getting drunk and blabbing out government secrets now, can I?”
She huffed and grabbed her drink, downing half of it in one go. Blayze could tell she wasn’t happy, but knew that Peter’s job was very important to him.
“Anyway,” he said, trying to change the subject. “Enough about work. How did you guys meet?”
“It was at Billy’s,” Peter started, “I was sitting there with some work friends in our regular spot and just as we were about to leave, this sexy little thing,” —— Peter grabbed hold of Brenda and pulled her in close —— “slipped me her phone number and winked.”
“He was sexy, so why not?” she responded.
Peter leaned back a little and looked down at her. “What do you mean, was?”
“Don’t worry, honey, you still are to me.” She stroked Peter’s face with her free hand and then sat back up to take another drink.
Blayze had noticed that there was something just not quite right about Brenda. He couldn’t tell if she was really in love with Peter or if she flirted with everyone, and while Peter was at work, was just doing who she wanted when she wanted.
Blayze decided it was time to stop drinking and asked that they head back to their place for some sleep. He wanted to be fresh for the morning and have a clear head, as he didn’t know what he was going to find out.
BLAYZE HAD AWOKEN EARLY and was sitting at the dining table waiting for Peter. Brenda was up first and walked into the kitchen in nothing but a slinky, silk dressing gown.
“Morning, handsome. Did you sleep well?” she asked, filling up the kettle in the sink.
Not wanting a repeat of the night before, Blayze took the coffee he had already made for himself moved towards the door.
“Don’t worry, darlin’, he’ll be out soon. Then you boys can get back to work as usual.”
“Thanks, ma’am,” Blayze quickly said and left the kitchen and headed back to the bedroom they had offered him for the night.
He began packing the overnight case he had brought. It was all he had needed, as straight after his visit to The Factory, he was heading back to Orlando on the next flight.
“Morning, Blayze. You almost ready?” Peter asked, popping his head around the door.
“Yeah, I’m ready.” He grabbed his things and followed Peter to the front door.
“See you tonight, darlin’,” Peter shouted back through the house.
“Bye, boys,” came Brenda’s voice from afar.
After a short drive, they reached the entrance to The Factory. Blayze noted how heavily protected it was, with a tall fence all the way around, guarded by barbed wire. He had been told that they were expecting him and that he should have his badge ready for inspection.
They drove up to the security gate. After the relevant checks and the car had been searched, they parked up and headed in. Peter led Blayze straight to the elevator and hit the second floor button. As the doors opened, Blayze’s vision was filled with rows and rows of desks with computers on. At the end of the room were a couple of offices.
“Follow me,” Peter said.
As Blayze walked down the center of the room behind Peter, he noticed that behind every computer screen was a person sitting there with headphones on, typing away.
“Morning, Peter,” came a voice from behind one computer as they passed, to which Peter just replied, “Morning.”
They reached one of the offices at the back of the room. Peter knocked and just walked straight in, not waiting for a reply.
“Morning, Peter. This must be Blayze. Derek Dilingham, nice to meet you.” Derek stood up from behind his desk, offering his hand to Blayze, who reciprocated.
“Good morning, Derek. Thanks for letting me be here. I just hope you can help me find what I’m looking for.”
“I hope you understand that what you see in here cannot be taken out of the building. For security reasons.”
“I’ve already warned him about that, DD. Don’t worry, he knows the score,” Peter added.
“I’ll let you get to it, then. Nice to meet you again.”
Derek sat down as Peter led Blayze out of the office and into the other one just next door. “Is this yours?”
“Certainly is. Not bad, is it?” Peter looked around to emphasize the amount of space he had.
“An enormous space for just one person. It is nearly the size of our situation room, which has five of us in most days.” Peter gestured for Blayze to have a seat at his desk. As Blayze sat down, he asked, “So why do you call Derek ‘DD’?”
“It’s what he likes to be called around the office. Thinks it makes him feel more friendly, or something like that, using just his initials. To everyone else in here, it stands for Dickhead Derek as he’s not that well liked.”
Blayze chuckled to himself. “I don’t want to imagine what people would call me behind my back if I went around calling myself BC.”
He stood watching as Peter logged into his system on his desk.
Peter looked up from typing. “So, come on, then. What is it you want to know?”
“I need everything you have on Senator Baily and the Sloan-Ironwood family. We could only find what was available on the internet and there seems to be a lot missing. Also, anything you have on missing children from 1997 to 2000 in Garland, Dallas County. Then 2007 to 2010 in Sugar Land, near Houston.”
“Okay, that’s gonna take me some time. Let me show you where you can chill out for a bit while I find what you are looking for.”
Peter led Blayze back to the elevator and up onto the third, and top, floor.
“This is where we come to relax during our breaks.”
“Bloody hell!” Blayze exclaimed as he saw everything there was for the staff.
“Make yourself comfortable and I’ll come and get you when I have some information for you.”
“Cheers, man.”
Blayze wandered around the floor. They had meditation pods and mats rolled out, ready for people presumably to do some yoga or stretching on. As he carried on round there were board games and computer games, along with drinks machines and cafe-style seating.
The place looked massive, yet he didn’t know what to do with his time, as he didn’t know how long it would take to get answers. Grabbing a coffee from one machine, he took a seat in the cafe area and sat there looking out of the window, watching the cars pass by on the main highway in the distance.
An hour had passed, and Peter had come and collected Blayze and taken him back into his office.
“Well, I’ve searched for everything that you asked for and there isn’t that much on the Sloan-Ironwood family, but we have some information on the senator.”
“Go on,” Blayze said eagerly.
“As you know, the FBI vets everyone thoroughly before giving them the position of Senator. What was not checked, though, at the time was his family history.” Peter invited Blayze around to see his screen. “Look at this.”
Blayze jumped up and looked over Peter’s shoulder. “What am I looking at?”
“We, here at The Factory, have a copy of all listed family members so that if anything should happen to anyone, we can help let those who need to know, know. Check out the names we have for Senator Baily.”
Blayze looked hard at the list, having to make a mental note as he wasn’t allowed to write anything down. “But I thought he only had——”
“Exactly,” Peter interrupted.
“Wow. Okay,” Blayze said, walking back around to take his seat.
“I don’t know if that is of any use to you, but I know this. That name appeared while searching those dates you gave me as a person of interest in the abduction of some children. The only way I found it was to find the original files, as the name was in a redacted file that was on the primary system. It looks like no one ever saw the original and so nothing was ever done back then.”
“Interesting. Do you have a current address for them?”
“The last known address we have was for here in Texas. Unfortunately, we don’t have any recent photographs, but I can tell you that the person is forty-two years old.”
Blayze was excited as he finally had some information he could use; something up his sleeve to get more answers out of people. “I can’t thank you enough.”
“Please remember, Blayze, that that name is not to be shared anywhere or with anyone, otherwise my neck is on the line. And so is yours.”
“Got it.”
Peter popped his head into Derek’s office to let him know he was taking Blayze to the airport and that he would be back later.
They both headed back down to Peter’s car and Blayze got in and closed the door. “I owe you one for this.”
Peter started the engine. “Too right you do. Let me know when you’re back in New York and I’ll have to come and visit. I haven’t been there for ages and it would be good to get away for a few days.”
“Sure, man, I’ll let you know.”
They arrived at the airport and, with a brief hand grab and brotherly hug, they parted ways. Blayze watched as Peter drove away, but before heading inside the airport, he got out his phone and called FBI headquarters to speak to Assistant Director Stone.
Chapter 17
Back at Headquarters, Blayze headed straight into Assistant Director Stone’s office to update her on his progress at The Factory. After explaining to her that, because of national security, nothing he saw or was told while he was in there was allowed out of the building, all he could say was that there was a person of interest he wanted to look into and it involved Senator Baily. She did not look too pleased about this, but as soon as he mentioned the missing children spanning two decades, she had no choice but to let him continue.
“There’s just one problem with all of this, Blayze. The theme parks are due to close in four days, so your time is running out.”
“There are a few that remain open though, throughout the year, aren’t there?” he asked.
“Yes, there are. But as we know, this man only strikes in the holiday season, and within a four-year period. We are coming up to the end of that four-year period now and if we don’t catch him soon, it could be another seven years before he may strike again.” She leaned forward on her desk. “Have any of those children in the previous decades ever been found, do you know?”
Blayze paused for a second before lowering his head and shaking it from side to side. “Unfortunately, no, they haven’t. But he hasn’t finished for this holiday season yet, has he? If the pattern is to match exactly, then he needs to kidnap nine children. But Dion escaped, which means there is still a chance we can catch him in the act.”
They both sat there for a few moments. All Blayze could hear was the ticking of the clock on the wall. It seemed to get louder and louder as his mind concentrated on it.
“Blayze,” Stone said, to no response. “Blayze,” she shouted louder, which got his attention. “What is your plan, then?”
“If I’m going to do this in time, I need the entire team on board.”
“You have it,” Stone quickly replied. “Anything you need.”
“That includes Agent Scott.”
“Blayze, you know I can’t do that. She leaked information to the press about an ongoing investigation.”
“I know she did, and I know she’ll be kicking herself about it. But she has done more work on The Holiday Snatcher over the past three years than anyone on this team, and I need her on this with me. That’s the deal.”
Stone took a moment to think about her response. Then, with a gigantic sigh, she gave in.
“Okay, you can have her back, but on one condition. If even one thing gets reported or printed involving this investigation without my approval, she will be out, and this time with no hope of coming back,” she said, waving her finger at Blayze’s face. “I’ll let you tell her that.”
Blayze headed for the door. “Thank you. I’ll call her now.” He walked out of the office.
“Blayze, just remember,” she shouted just before the door closed. “You have four days to catch this son of a bitch. If you haven’t caught him by then, it will be down to you to inform the families that there may be no hope of ever seeing their children again.”
