The Girl Who Disappeared Twice

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

It didn’t take long for the FBI lab to analyze the pill.

Casey, Marc, Claire, Patrick and the entourage of law enforcement had just returned to the Willises’-leaving behind a massive manhunt that spread over two counties-when Peg got the call.

The confiscated pill was a ten-milligram tablet of Memantine-a drug used to treat moderate to severe Alzheimer’s disease.

“Alzheimer’s?” Casey blinked. That one had come out of left field. “I don’t understand. How could Linda have orchestrated all this if she were suffering from such a debilitating disease?”

“Maybe it was moderate. The beginnings of dementia,” Patrick suggested.

“Nope.” Peg shook her head. “According to my medical experts, ten milligrams is not an initial dosage. On the other hand, every patient is different. Linda could be lucid most of the time. She also could have a visiting nurse who stops by, drops off prescriptions and stays for brief enough periods of time that she has no clue there’s a child being held captive in the basement. We won’t know any of these answers until we find Linda.”

“That explains the red string we found,” Casey mused aloud. “Linda probably ties it around her finger to remember things. It’s a pretty common thing to do. And a necessary one, in her case.”

“So we know what we’re looking for,” Bennett said. “We’ve already got law enforcement pounding the pavement, flashing pictures of Linda Turner at every pharmacy within a twenty-mile radius. Now we’ve got more than her face to go on. It’s time to get the necessary warrants to match the drug with the patient.”

Marc pulled Casey aside the minute he could speak to her in private.

“Can’t Ryan hack into some drug company database or something-bypass all that crap? Especially with the new HIPAA laws. We’ve got to speed things up.”

“Ryan can hack into anything,” Casey replied, visibly distracted as she spoke. “The problem is, he’d still have a gazillion pharmacies to check out. And even then, we’d have to hope Linda Turner used her real name. It’s very possible she didn’t, since she doesn’t want to be found. Which means we’d be right back where Sergeant Bennett just described-taking our list of pharmacies and flashing photos of Linda to every one of them that filled a Memantine prescription, hoping that a pharmacist or employee recognizes her. That would take almost as long as circumnavigating HIPAA.”

“You have another idea?” Marc recognized the look on Casey’s face.

“Actually, yes. I have a possible theory. And if it’s got merit, we can skip a whole bunch of steps and go to the head of the class.” She glanced around the room, eyeing the large number of law enforcement agents. “I can’t get out of here without the entourage noticing. And Peg will have my hide if she thinks I’m up to something. Can you slip away and text Ryan? Tell him to drive up here and bring his laptop-we’ll meet in his van.”

“Just give me three minutes. I’ll be gone and back.”

Ryan made it to Armonk in record time.

But it was long enough for Casey to separate herself from the pack, many of whom had disbanded to join the manhunt.

She, Marc and Ryan clustered together in the van, Hero stretched out beside them.

“Marc filled me in on where things stand,” Ryan began. “So tell us what you’re thinking.”

Casey blew out her breath. “My grandfather had Alzheimer’s. It’s a horrible, debilitating disease. If Linda Turner is taking ten milligrams of Memantine at a time, it’s very likely she’s taking twenty milligrams a day. And that means she’s not in a good place. Also, these drugs only go so far in slowing the progression of the disease. I just can’t imagine her being clearheaded and cunning enough to pull off this whole kidnapping scheme alone.”

“You’re saying you think she had an accomplice,” Ryan said. “Are you reverting to the mob theory?”

“I don’t think so,” Marc interjected. “This is personal. It’s got to be Linda’s idea-she’d just need help with the execution.”

“Agreed.” Casey picked up where she’d left off. “I don’t buy the whole visiting nurse idea. I think that whoever’s getting Linda’s medicine, making her medical arrangements and assisting in her overall health issues, is also assisting in Krissy’s captivity.”

“Okay, I’ll buy that.” Ryan inclined his head, studying Casey intently. She had more on her mind than what she’d already said. “Are you thinking of someone in particular?”

“I have no idea. But I do have an avenue I want to pursue. It could be a far-fetched dead end.”

“But you don’t think so.”

“No.” Casey raised her chin, glanced from Ryan to Marc and back. “I think we need to revisit Claudia Mitchell’s murder. We’ve all been operating under the assumption that it was mob related. But if the mob wasn’t involved in Krissy’s kidnapping, then that eliminates any motive they might have had to silence Claudia.”

“Which means someone else wanted or needed Claudia Mitchell dead,” Marc continued for her. “Someone she surprised, rather than the premeditated murder we originally suspected. And the place where she surprised them is at the health care facility where she had her interview. Sunny Gardens. A facility that treats patients with everything from physical illnesses to dementia and Alzheimer’s.”

“You think Linda Turner is a patient there?” Ryan asked.

“More likely, a recent one,” Casey qualified. “Which means she’d need her accomplice to come to her.”

“It also means her accomplice probably did the actual kidnapping. And that would mean we’re dealing with a female accomplice.” Marc deduced what Casey already had. “Do you think it’s someone in Hope Willis’s circle? Someone Claudia would have recognized?”

“It makes sense, doesn’t it?” Casey’s reply was more a statement than a question.

Ryan let out a low whistle. “It’s quite a theory. But we’d be crazy not to check it out. The question is, how? Sunny Gardens isn’t going to give us squat. Law enforcement would have a hard enough time getting privileged information, and we’re not law enforcement. We have zero leverage.”

“We have Marc.” With absolute confidence, Casey eyed her colleague. “I’d be willing to bet that, on a dime, you can come up with a plan that will get us what we need.”

Marc looked thoughtful. “We need to verify that Linda Turner is actually a patient at Sunny Gardens. I’ll have to scale the gates and bypass the security cameras. Get around without being noticed. Blend in and disappear…not a problem.”

“I could go with you,” Ryan offered. “If I can install Gecko-”

“Let me handle this one alone,” Marc interrupted. “At least for now. Covert Ops is my thing. If Linda Turner’s there, I’ll find her. And I’ll find out what name she’s registered under. We’ll have our answer tonight. And if we’re right, then you and the little critter can go on a field trip together.”

“You’re planning something again.”

Patrick came up behind Casey the minute Ryan’s van and Marc’s car disappeared around the bend.

Casey’s head snapped around. “Where did you come from? Are you spying on me?”

“I saw Marc leave.” Patrick stuck his hands in his pockets and stared her down. “Then you slipped away. I used to be a federal agent. I’m pretty good at spotting the obvious.”

“My team was just meeting to discuss our options.”

“And the option you picked is something you don’t plan on sharing with the task force. Which means you’re coloring outside the lines again.”

“Coloring outside the lines?” Casey had to grin at his choice of words. “Does that mean you’re going to tell on me?”

“That depends. What do I have to tell?”

“Nothing.” Casey kept her expression carefully nondescript.

Patrick didn’t avert his gaze. “You’re a hell of a liar. I’d believe you, except that I’ve learned the way Forensic Instincts operates.”

“Then you’ve also learned that it’s best not to ask questions. Just accept our results with grudging admiration.”

Not so much as a blink. “That puts me in an awkward position. Because I have a strong feeling that you were bugged by what we just found out, and that you meandered your way to the same possibility I did. And I have to know whether or not to share that with the task force.”

Casey kept her cool. But she wasn’t happy.

“What possibility are we referring to?” she asked.

Patrick’s lips thinned into a narrow line. “In other words, show my hand first. Okay, fine. Normally, I wouldn’t. But we’re playing with a loaded gun here, and we’re racing time. So I’ll start. But no games, Casey. I want the truth.”

“You’ll get it.”

“Fine. You and I are both thinking that Linda Turner is in no condition to kidnap a kid. That she has a very active accomplice-one who actually did the work for her. Am I on track?”

“Yes.” Casey could read Patrick’s expression as if it were a polygraph. He knew. He wasn’t fishing. This was the real deal.

Time for her to give him something in return.

“I think Linda Turner is ill enough to be confined to a facility.”

“And you think that facility is Sunny Gardens, the place Claudia Mitchell interviewed at. You also think that when she was there, she saw someone she shouldn’t have, and was killed because of it.”

“Right. And, if Claudia recognized someone with a connection to Judge Willis, it probably means that our accomplice is someone Judge Willis knows from her time on the bench.” Casey was past wondering what Patrick knew and into worrying about what he planned to do about it. “I don’t care how this person hooked up with Linda Turner, nor does it matter right now. We just have to find her.”

“It has to be a woman,” Patrick agreed. “Based on every description we got from the crime scene and from the gardener.” He stiffened, and Casey could see the FBI agent surface in him. “If we figured this out, what makes you think the task force won’t?”

“I’m sure they will. But they’ll have hoops to jump through to get what they need. We won’t.” Casey let down her guard, and let her emotion come through. “Please, Patrick, just buy me some time. Let me run with this. Let my team run with this. Don’t tell Peg we’re following this lead. You’re not impeding anything, because you don’t know what we have in mind. But it might save Krissy’s life. Let the task force come up with this, and pursue this, on their own. I’m not asking you to stop them. Just don’t fuel the fire by ratting us out. Please. We just need a little time first, to try it our way.”

Patrick watched her from beneath hooded lids. “I’d never say yes,” he admitted flatly. “But I have a personal interest in this case. And I’ve seen how good you are. So do what you have to. Spare me the details. Just get it done, and get it done fast. As for Peg, I won’t tell her we talked. But I can’t stop her from doing what she has to. I’d do the same, if I were her.”

“Fair enough.” Casey paused. “And I’ll find a way to keep you in the loop,” she added quietly. “In a way you can swallow. I know how much this case means to you.”

“Both cases,” he corrected her. “I care what happens to Krissy Willis. And I need to know what happened to Felicity Akerman.”