The Broken Road (The Broken Series) (35 page)

Phil
made a rustling sound as he slid out of bed. “Do you see any security cameras
on the exterior of those buildings that would capture the area where the cabs
park?”

Kadyn
scanned the area, immediately annoyed that he hadn’t thought of the cameras.
“Yes.”

“Good.
Talk to the security guard. See if he can get you access to those tapes. If
not, call Ryan Schaeffer over at Federal Protective Services. Give him my name.
He owes me in a big way. I’m sure he can get you the tapes.”

“Ryan
Schaeffer,” Kadyn repeated as he committed the name to memory.

“I’ll
clear my schedule. Text or e-mail me a picture of Kri so I can begin contacting
the cab companies.” Phil paused briefly. “Should I limit myself to legitimate
means?”

“Why?
Do you think you can hack into their computers?” This was precisely the reason
Kadyn had called Phil.

Phil
snorted. “Piece of cake. I’ll compile a list of cab companies and drivers who
reported picking up passengers from Union Station between 11:30 p.m. and 1:00
a.m., which should be a sufficient window of time. Then I'll track down the cab
drivers, show them the picture of Kri, and see if any of them saw her or picked
her up. Of course, we'll be banking on the fact that our driver came from one
of the major cab companies and doesn’t have anything to hide.”

“Kri
wouldn’t have flagged an independent cab. I'm certain she would have only used
a well-known company. Just make sure you're working from a secure network and
you burn the trail.”

“Did
you forget who you're talking to?” Phil responded jokingly.

“No.”
Kadyn wasn’t in a joking mood.

“Kadyn?”
Phil asked hesitantly. “Do you know anyone who might have a grudge against your
girl… anyone who might want to hurt her?”

Kadyn’s
hand clenched around the phone. “At least two.”

Phil
sighed. “You best get someone on them.”

Kadyn
nodded. “I’m on it. Call me if you learn anything.”

“You
do the same,” Phil replied before ending the call.

Kadyn
glanced at his watch and winced. This next call was going to hurt more than the
last. It was only 2:45 a.m. in Montana. Kadyn scrolled through his list of contacts,
thankful he’d thought to add Dan when he was in Montana.

The
phone rang once. “What?” Dan answered gruffly.

Kadyn
began pacing across the worn bricks. “Dan, this is Kadyn. I need your help.”

“With
what?” Dan asked. He articulated each word in an openly suspicious tone.

Kadyn’s
feet ground to a stop. “Kri is missing.”

“You
have got to be shitting me! How the hell did
that
happen?” Dan’s voice
exploded across the phone line.

Kadyn
winced as he pulled the phone away from his ear. He quickly repeated the same
story he’d told Phil, but then added the plans that he and Phil had made to
view the security tapes and hack into the computer networks from the major cab
companies.

The
phone line grew silent as Dan processed the information. “Did you pull in the
DC police?” he finally inquired.

“She
hasn’t been gone long enough to file a missing person’s report,” Kadyn responded
as he resumed pacing. “Dan, she’s in serious trouble. I can feel it.”

“This
shit stinks to high heaven,” Dan mumbled as he contemplated how best to help.
“Do you need me to get on a plane and head to DC?”

Kadyn
shook his head. “No, not yet. I need you to rule out some suspects.”

“Garcia?”

“And
Campbell.”

“I’m
on it.” Dan responded curtly. Then he hung up the phone.

Kadyn
stalked back to the security guard in the Thurgood Marshall building to ask
about the security tapes.

“Any
luck?” he asked as Kadyn approached the desk.

“No.
Do you have access to the security tapes from the cameras on the outside of this
building? The footage from earlier should help narrow down the cab company she
used.”

The
security guard looked thoughtful as he considered the request. “I can’t leave
this desk, and I don’t have access to the security tapes, but I know someone
who does. Let me make some calls.”

While
the security guard argued with someone on the other end of the phone, Kadyn
spotted the saxophone player setting up outside. He caught the security guard’s
eye. “I’ll be right back.”

The
security guard nodded while still speaking into the phone.

Kadyn
walked over to Union Station. He grabbed a Mountain Dew and ordered a cup of
coffee and two bagels from Au Bon Pain. He asked them to package the bagels in
two separate bags. He walked back outside, crossed the roundabout, and handed
the coffee and one of the bagels to the sax player.

The
sax player looked surprised, but he accepted the gift. “Thanks, buddy.”

Kadyn
cut right to the chase. “I need your help. My girlfriend was here around
midnight.” Kadyn showed him the picture from his cell phone. “She spoke with
you before she caught a cab, but she never made it home.”

“I
know that woman. She works up the hill.” He nodded toward the Senate buildings.
“Pretty lady. Nice legs. Good tipper too,” the guy recalled as he warmed his
hands on the coffee cup.

Kadyn
tamped down the anger that was building over the guy’s observations. “Did you
happen to notice which cab she climbed into?”

“Sure.
It was one of the blue tops. She seemed to know the driver.” He eyed Kadyn
skeptically. “What did you say your name was?”

“I
didn’t. The name’s Kadyn.” He handed the sax player a business card from his
wallet. “Please call me if you remember anything else.”

“Will
do. I hope you find her. She seems like a really nice lady.”

“Thanks,”
Kadyn replied as he turned and walked away.

The
guard waved Kadyn over to his desk as soon as he entered the building. “Is this
your girl?” He pointed to a grainy picture that was frozen on his computer
screen.

Kadyn
examined the picture closely. The face was obscured by the hair, given the
angle of the camera, but the clothes and purse were the same ones Kri had left
the house with. “That’s her.”

“That’s
an Arlington Blue Top Cab,” the guard noted.

Kadyn’s
phone rang. He looked at the Caller ID. “Phil, what do you got?”

Phil
briefed Kadyn quickly. “None of the cab drivers I’ve talked to recall picking
up a woman with long blond hair at Union Station last night. However, there is
a cab driver who went off the grid unexpectedly around that same time, and he
didn’t report for his shift this morning. I think it may be connected.”

Kadyn
closed his eyes as he dared to hope. “Does he work for Arlington Blue Top
Cabs?”

“Yes.
Someone named Habib Ahmadzai. I have his cab number. I've pulled in some
additional people to scan footage from the traffic cameras along all the major
highways in and out of DC between the hours of midnight and one a.m. I’ll call
you as soon as I have something.”

Kadyn
lowered his voice as he walked away from the security desk. “Good. Thanks,
Phil. I’d like an address for Ahmadzai. Kri told me about a cab driver she
befriended when she first moved here. I think he may be the same guy. The sax
player seemed to think she knew the cab driver.”

Phil
immediately began typing. “I’ll text you the address now.”

Kadyn’s
voice hardened. “Listen, Phil. I want to meet with this guy personally.”

Phil
stopped typing. “I know. I won’t send anyone over without you.”

Kadyn
ended the call with Phil. He walked back to the security guard and handed him
his business card. “I really appreciate your help. I need to follow up on a
lead. Please let me know if you discover anything you think might be relevant.
I’ll call a tow company and have the jeep towed to a tire shop this morning so
it’s not sitting in your garage.”

The
security guard glanced at Kadyn’s business card. “Okay. Thanks.” He handed
Kadyn his business card. “I hope you find her.”

Kadyn
turned toward the stairwell. “Me too.” He called Mason on his way back to the
bike. “Hey buddy, I need your help.”

*
* * * * *

Kadyn
glanced at his watch. It was five-thirty a.m. He eyed the Arlington Blue Top
Cab parked a half block away as he ate the last of his bagel. He washed it down
with Mountain Dew. His eyes narrowed as he watched Mason approach with Cenia,
Roger, and Matt. Each of them was dressed entirely in black. “Well?”

Mason
spoke first. “There appear to be three people in the house… two men and a woman…
all sleeping in separate rooms. The bathroom window is cracked open, and I’ve
already unlocked the back door. This should be a piece of cake.”

Kadyn’s
cell phone rang. The entire group froze. Kadyn looked at the Caller ID and
switched over to speaker phone. “Phil?”

“Kadyn,
I’m sorry man, but it doesn’t look good. I have footage from one of the toll
booths on the west bound side of the Dulles toll road which clearly shows Kri
in the front passenger seat of Ahmadzai’s cab. There's a man in the back seat
who has a gun pointed at her head.”

“Fuck!”
Kadyn exclaimed.

Kadyn’s
friends exchanged looks at the expletive that had never been a part of his
vocabulary.

Roger
looked at Cenia. “You grew up in this area. What’s out west?”

Cenia
looked thoughtful. “Dulles Airport, obviously; but that place has too much
security. He wouldn’t have taken her there.”

“Then
where?” Mason interrupted impatiently. “The guy’s cab is sitting empty in front
of his house. He’s inside, and Kri clearly is not.”

Cenia
glanced at Kadyn, uncertain as to how frank she should be. “Well, he’s either
dumped her somewhere or transferred her to someone else. There are a number of
car rental places out by the airport, but I’d put money on the small executive
airport out in Leesburg. If I was trying to get someone out of this area
without getting caught, that's where I would go.”

Kadyn
nodded. “You got that Phil?”

“Let
me make some calls,” Matt interjected. “I’ve been taking flying lessons out at
that airport, so I know some of the guys who work out there.”

“Okay.
You and Phil work that angle. The rest of us will go talk to the cab driver.
We’ll regroup in twenty minutes.” Kadyn ended the call. He nodded toward the
house. “Let’s move. The sun will be up soon, and that’s going to make it a lot
more difficult to get in and out of that house without being seen.” Kadyn looked
at Cenia. “You secure the female.” He nodded toward Mason and Roger. “We’ll
take the men.” He glanced at Matt. “Draft a text message to all four of us and
send it if we need to evacuate the house.”

Matt
immediately began typing the message. He walked back toward his car and positioned
himself so that he had a clear view of the cab driver’s house. He nodded at
Kadyn before settling against the car to make his first phone call.

The
rest of the group set their cell phones to vibrate as they made their way to
the back door of the small brick house. The four stole silently into the house.
Cenia took her place in front of the bedroom housing the female. Mason slid
quietly into a second bedroom. He pulled a wallet from some pants that were
draped across a chair. He looked over the contents, then nodded once at Kadyn.
Roger observed the exchange before disappearing into the third bedroom. Mason
positioned himself in the doorway to the cab driver’s room as Kadyn nudged the
sleeping man.

Habib’s
eyes flew open. He immediately scrambled against the headboard.

Kadyn’s
fists clenched. When he spoke, his voice was low and eerily calm. “I think you
know why I’m here. No one will get hurt if you tell me where Kri is.”

“I
don’t know where she is,” he responded shrilly. His eyes flitted toward the
door.

Mason
folded his well-muscled arms across his chest. He widened his stance in the
doorway as he glared at Habib.

“I
didn’t have any choice. The man was holding my sister at gun point. I had to
take Kristine to him. It was the only way I could get my sister back,” Habib
hurriedly explained.

Kadyn
took a single step back. “I want a name.”

Habib
glanced at Kadyn’s feet. His face registered his relief. “I don’t know what it
is. He didn’t give me a name. He said he was Kristine’s fiancé.”

“Where
did you take her?” Kadyn demanded through gritted teeth.

Habib
shrank against the headboard. “Leesburg Airport.”

“Do
you know where he was taking her?” Kadyn persisted.

Habib
shook his head. “No, but he had an airplane.”

Kadyn’s
eyes met Mason’s. “Describe him.”

“I
don’t know. It was dark, and it was raining. He… he had my sister. I just
wanted to get my sister back,” Habib complained.

Kadyn’s
brow furrowed. “Try. Think about what he was wearing.”