Chapter 6
Josie
I tried to think positively, tried not to imagine the worst, but as I watched Big open those files on his computer, all these horrific scenarios came crashing through my mind. It had already been six days. Anything could have happened to her, and I couldn’t help but wonder if we were too late. I thought back to my parents’ funeral, the pain I felt staring down at their graves, the emptiness I felt, and I couldn’t imagine going through that again, not with my sister. I just couldn’t do it. I was about to spiral into a pit of despair when my attention was drawn up to the three monitors mounted on Big’s wall. Each screen showed a different angle of the surveillance video, allowing us to see everything that was happening in the airport. Eager to see if there was any sign of her, I leaned over Big’s shoulder to get a better view. Hope washed over me when I spotted Tristen sitting at her gate. She was wearing her favorite hoodie with a pair of jeans, and there was a bright smile on her face. I could see the excitement in her eyes as she looked around at all the people passing by.
“There she is!”
“Mmm-hmm.” Big reached for a chair and pulled it next to him. “Sit.”
I was momentarily distracted by the authoritative tone in his voice. Surprisingly, I wasn’t turned off by it, not even a little. In fact, a part of me actually liked it – along with the scent of his cologne and the way his bottom lip twitched when he tried to fight a smile. He was getting to me. My list of likes was slowly growing by the minute, but it didn’t matter. As soon as I found my sister, I was getting the hell out of there.
When I realized I was still standing, I quickly sat down and looked back up at the screen. Lenny had gathered all the footage he could find of Tristen. There were twenty second lapses as the cameras scanned the other areas of the airport, but we still had a clear view of Tristen. We watched silently as she fiddled with her phone and played with her hair. Ten minutes had passed when a young blonde approached her. I assumed it was Amanda when Tristen jumped up and gave her a big hug. It wasn’t until she turned around and sat down next to her that I realized it wasn’t Amanda. At first I didn’t recognize the woman, but there was something familiar about her. When I spotted the rose tattoo on her neck, it hit me. I knew exactly who she was. She’d changed a bit since I’d last seen her. Her brown hair was now platinum blonde with black tips and there were tattoos covering her left arm. She was much thinner than I remembered, and apparently she’d gotten herself a new set of boobs—big ones, but she still had that same shifty look about her. “That’s not Amanda. It’s her sister Lisa.”
When the footage skipped again, the time stamp at the bottom of the video showed that it was 7:45 pm. Tristen’s flight was supposed to depart from Los Angeles at 8:30 pm. It was getting late, and there was no sign of Amanda. So many questions raced through my head, making me almost dizzy as I sat there hoping to find some answers. Neither Tristen nor Lisa seemed the least bit concerned about Amanda’s absence as they got up and strolled over to one of the small coffee shops. The video blipped again, and Tristen was suddenly standing at the checkout line. Once they both placed their orders, they took their coffee and walked over to one of the tables. Tristen was just about to sit down, when she turned back towards the checkout counter.
Big nudged me softly with his elbow. “Did you catch that?”
“What?”
Big rewound the video several seconds and zoomed in on Lisa. “Keep your eyes on Lisa.”
My focus had been totally on Tristen, so I missed it when Lisa slipped something out of her purse and dropped it into Tristen’s coffee. “What was that?”
“Not sure. Looks like she might’ve drugged her. It would explain why Tristen was complaining about feeling dizzy.”
“Drugged her? But why?” I took a deep breath. “Big, none of this is making any sense.”
“I know, but we won’t know anything until we see how this plays out.”
I couldn’t take my eyes off the screen. It was like watching some horror flick as I watched my sister come back to the table with her dinner. She seemed so happy sitting there eating and talking, totally unaware that her life was in danger. It wasn’t like Lisa had given her any signs that something was up. Instead, she acted all innocent and sweet, like they were the best of friends, and I hated her for it. I’d never felt such rage as I watched Tristen lift the cup up to her mouth and take another sip of coffee. I wanted to shout at her, warn her about Lisa, but it was too late. There was nothing I could do except sit there and watch.
“What else can you tell me about Amanda and Tristen? How long were they friends?”
“A couple of years I guess. They’d gotten close over the years. They looked out for one another. I always thought a lot of Amanda. She was there for Tristen when she really needed someone.” My heart ached at the thought. When Tristen shut me out, I felt so lost. She was blinded by her resentment and never realized that I needed her just as much as she needed me. While I was glad that she had Amanda, it still hurt that she turned to her friends instead of me.
“Gotta wonder why she didn’t show.”
“It’s not like her. Something must be wrong.”
“What about Lisa? Any reason why she might wanna hurt Tristen? Some kind of grudge or something?”
“Not that I know of… Honestly, none of this makes any sense. Lisa was a little rough around the edges, messed with the wrong crowd and ran into trouble from time to time, but I never dreamed she’d ever do something like this.”
I looked up at the screen and watched as Tristen got up and emptied her tray into the garbage. Lisa followed her back to the waiting area and sat down. Tristen’s smile quickly started to fade and a concerned look crossed her face. When she leaned back in her chair, I knew the drugs were starting to take their effect. She looked panicked as she reached into her purse and took out her phone.
Big looked over at me and said, “This must be when she called you.”
I checked the time at the bottom of the screen and saw that it read 8:25. “I think so, but we can check my phone records to be sure.”
While she was still talking on the phone, she stood up and started walking towards the bathroom. As soon as she was gone, Lisa took out her phone and sent a text message to someone. My eyes widened as I watched her grab Tristen’s bags and head towards the bathroom. Moments later, she came out of the bathroom with Tristen leaning against her. Tristen’s arm was wrapped around her shoulder, and her eyes were barely open. She could hardly walk as Lisa led her out of their terminal and towards the front of the airport.
“What is she doing?” I whispered to myself. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. Tristen stumbled several times, almost falling flat on her face, and not one person asked if they needed any help. No one even attempted to stop them. They just sat there silently as Lisa tugged my helpless sister out of the airport and to the pick-up lane. Lisa stopped at the curb and waited as a black SUV pulled up. A tall, muscular Hispanic man got out of the passenger side of the truck and walked to the rear of the vehicle. After he opened the back door, Lisa shoved Tristen inside. I felt the air rush out of my lungs when she slammed the door shut, trapping my sister inside. I brought my hands to my face, covering my mouth as I muttered, “Oh, God. Where are they taking her?”
Knowing I was about to lose it, Big placed his hand on my thigh and gave me a gentle squeeze. I looked down at my leg, surprised how comforting a simple touch could be, especially from a man like him. He seemed so strong, so self-assured, and yet there was a gentle side to him, a side I couldn’t help but find appealing. “I can’t make you any promises, Josie… but I give you my word, I’ll do everything I can to bring her back home.”
I placed my hand on his as I said, “I know you will.”
After a quick nod, he turned his attention back to the man on the screen. “Have you seen him before?”
“No. Never.” There was no way I could ever forget a man like that. His jet-black hair was combed back away from his face, revealing his cold, black eyes. Tattoos covered his arms, hands, and neck, but these were nothing like Big’s tattoos. His were ominous and threatening, just like the rest of him. And there was something about the number tattooed on his neck that caught my attention. I knew very little about gangs, but I figured their ink held some kind of importance. Something told me we weren’t dealing with just some thug off the street.
“Let’s see if our facial recognition software will bring anything up on him.” Big took a screenshot of the man’s face and plugged it into the program. We both waited silently to see if we could get a hit on the photo. After forty-five minutes of searching, Big stopped the program. “Let’s try a different angle.”
He took a new, clearer picture and uploaded it onto his computer. Once he had it up and running, he leaned back in his chair and stared up at the screen. When several pictures popped up on the screen, I leaned forward to get a better look. “It’s him!”
“Victor Aguilera, aka El Toro.”
“It says he’s a member of Calaveras de la Muerte.”
“He is.”
“That’s the Mexican cartel.” Panic surged through me. “That’s bad, right?”
With little expression on his face, Big stood up and started for the door. “Need a word with Cotton. Go through the video again. See if you pick up anything we might’ve missed. When I get back, we’ll see what we can find out about Amanda.”
“But, what about Victor?”
“Check the video, Josie.” His voice was hard and cold, and I could see from the tense look on his face that he was concerned. I wanted him to talk to me, to tell me what was running through his head, but he cut me off and left me to worry alone, making me freak out even more.
I tried to push back all the emotions swirling inside me as I scooted over into his chair. I had to focus and couldn’t let my doubts stand in the way of finding my sister. I went through the film for a second time, making sure I didn’t miss a single detail, but ended up with more questions than answers. I couldn’t help but wonder if Amanda had some part to play in Tristen’s kidnapping. I tried calling her more times than I could count, but she never answered. Maybe they’d gotten her too, but it seemed unlikely. I couldn’t imagine why Lisa would put her sister in danger like she had mine. My frustration level was reaching an all-time high, so I turned my focus back to the video. I scanned back to the SUV.
No matter how much I zoomed in, I couldn’t make out who was behind the wheel, but I was able to get the license plate number. Just as I was about to start searching for the owner of the vehicle, Big returned. The expression on his face was a tad intimidating as he walked over to me. “Is everything okay?”
“As well as it can be. You find something?”
“I got the license plate off the SUV.”
“That’s good.” He sat down beside me and leaned back in his chair. “Let’s see what we can find out.”
He waited patiently as I started my search. When the results came up, I knew we’d reached a dead end. “It’s registered to a Louise Carlton. An eighty-year-old woman from Nebraska.”
“Stolen plate.”
“Now what?”
“Let’s see what we can find on Lisa.”
After forty-five minutes of searching, I came up empty handed. “I can’t find anything. No home address. No phone number. It’s like she vanished after she left Washington.”
“You said she moved to LA with her sister, right?”
“As far as I know, she did. Maybe everything is under Amanda’s name.”
“You got an address for her?”
I couldn’t think. It was too much. All of it. The video. Lisa. Victor. The Mexican cartel. How in the world would we ever get my sister back? The worry I felt was all-consuming, making it impossible for me to get a hold of my fear, and I could only imagine what my sister must have been feeling.