Stolen Power

worry Millie. The call went on longer than I expected…” Chase trailed off. Pausing to collect himself he continued, “After ten minutes I came back. And Millie was gone.”
“You didn’t check on her for ten minutes?” Casey questioned.
“It was an important call,” He shrugged. “There were so many other people around, I thought she would’ve been fine. I never expected this. Not in Lincoln Park.”
“And nobody saw anything?”
“Not a thing. I was panicking, and then this text comes through about five minutes after I get off the phone. It was when I knew that she hadn’t just wandered off.”
I’d dealt with a kidnapping once before. The parents contacted me when their child didn’t come home from school, and they received a ransom note, stating no police and a five-thousand-dollar ransom. The problem was, the ransom note contained the watermark from a local cake-making business. I pretended I was a customer, busted the place up, and found the child watching television in the back. It was an Aunty who wanted money from the wealthier part of their family. I took some cake⁠—Boston Cream Pie, my favorite, and it was pretty good too⁠—returned the kid, and told them to behave in the future. Nothing like finances to fire up a long-running family drama.
“Will Tanya get suspicious if you don’t return Millie on Sunday?”
“This week, Tanya asked if I could have Millie for an extra couple of days so she could pick up an extra couple of shifts at the bar she works at. Millie’s only five, but we divorced three years ago. Apparently, money is a bit tight for her at the moment.”
Casey and I exchanged a knowing look as Chase grabbed his phone, providing his ex-wife’s contact and address details.
“And she works at a bar, and you live here?” Casey raised her eyebrows.
“We signed a prenup before we got married.”
“How romantic.”
“I knew it wouldn’t last, but she got pregnant, so we got married.” Chase shrugged. “I was right—it didn’t last long.”
“And Millie spends most of her time with Tanya?”
“I pay alimony but Tanya is legally required to use it for Millie, if she wants extra spending money, Tanya has to earn it herself. I’m not a charity, and I don’t believe in hand outs. I’ve pulled myself up, done it the hard way, that’s how character is built, through struggle. In the long run I’d be doing her a disservice, not a favor, by dropping money in her lap.”
“Uh-huh,” Casey replied disinterestedly.
“New wife or girlfriend?” I asked.
“I have a new girlfriend. Ruby Jones. She’s an Instagrammer.” He smirked. “Only twenty-five. Dumb as a log, but hot. So damn hot.”
“Romance isn’t dead,” I said. “And do you know where Ruby was when Millie disappeared?”
“Ruby?” Chase looked faintly amused by the idea. “Well, she stayed overnight but I left her here when I went to pick up Millie. She was still asleep when I left and playdates at the park aren’t really Ruby’s thing. She’s more of an indoor play sort of girl, if you get my meaning.”
I managed to ignore his wink, but I noticed Casey couldn’t quite stifle her grimace. For the sake of Millie and the case I decided to change gears again.
“Tell me more about Tanya’s connections. Are you still in contact with any of her relatives?”
“Damon Hardy, that’s Millie’s grandfather, Tanya’s father. Tanya and I didn’t separate on good terms, but Damon has stayed in my life. I think he secretly hopes we’ll get back together for Millie’s sake, you know.” He rolled his eyes, then suddenly became more serious. “He’s a good guy though,” he said, nodding his head with a sigh. “He’s got cancer, and won’t live much longer, so he wants to spend as much time with Millie as possible. The rest of the family doesn’t speak to me.”
“New partner for Tanya?”
“Kyle Waters. Ex-army. Tough guy, but an alright guy. We get along okay when we have to. He drives trucks now that he’s not in the army.”
Chase handed a picture of Millie across to me—blonde, blue eyes, gorgeous smile. An angel if there ever was one. I passed the photo to Casey.
“Any idea who would do this? Anyone in mind?”
“I don’t think my ex-wife would do it. And I don’t think her family would’ve done it, but there’s one group of people that immediately came to mind.” He drew a long breath and ran his hand through his hair. “I’m an investment broker, and this one group of investors lost a million dollars five months ago. That’s what my first thought about this was. They’ve been chasing me for the investment the last five months, but the money was lost and there was nothing I could do.”
“How was the money lost?”
“In an investment gone bad. It was supposed to be a simple transaction into a start-up company that was going to challenge the way buses operate. They were designing an app that let the user track the bus, call for it to come to their door if on a main road, or make it wait up to a minute while the user ran to it. We were going to triple the money once the company went public. Almost guaranteed. But the company folded and declared bankruptcy as soon as the investment went in.”
He shrugged as though this was no big deal.
“However,” I sat back on the couch. “I bet that you still took a commission. Say five percent.”
“Ten percent.” He smiled proudly. “A hundred thousand.”
“So even though you lost all their money,” Casey raised her eyebrows. “You still made a hefty return.”
“That’s the game we play.” He smiled again, hands opened wide. “It was all above board. I did nothing illegal. And there was no recourse against the company, because it was based overseas.”
Casey could barely hide her disgust.