“I don’t have enough,” said Davy. “I tried to get all of it. I asked my parents. I also asked my boss. Everyone refused to help me.”

  “What did she mean that she ‘knows’ you have it? How does she know that?” I asked.

  “Well, I guess, I, um told her about my savings account,” said Davy.

  “When?”

  “A couple months ago when Tiffany moved back. I knew she moved back here from her videos and I worked out which building it was so I waited for her. Plus, I wanted to see Elf, her dog. I got him a gift a three years ago when she came to visit and I send him something every Christmas. I wanted to make sure Tiffany got all of them. Do you know what happened to him? Is he okay?”

  “He’s fine. I found him in the apartment and he was a little scared but he’s being looked after by the police vet. Tiffany’s assistant might foster him.”

  “That’s a relief. I guess,” said Davy, looking anything but relieved.

  “And the money?” I prompted. “How did Tiffany know?”

  “I told her that I was in a good position to look after her now. I’ve saved up all I can for starting our married life. I can provide Tiffany with whatever she wants. I’ve got a nice apartment until we put a down payment on a house and she won’t have to work or make those videos anymore.”

  “I think Tiffany already has everything she wants,” I said.

  “Yeah, but she still has to pump out all those videos to make money and some of her followers are creepy. They seem obsessed with her.”

  “I think Tiffany likes making those videos. That’s why she has hundreds of them. They help her get sponsorship deals and other opportunities,” I said, wondering if I should feel sorry for this guy or tell him to wake up and smell the coffee.

  “That’s what she said, but now she won’t have to. She can be Rose again.”

  “Did she ask you how much you saved or did you tell her?”

  “I don’t remember.” Davy glanced away, giving me the opportunity to share a look with Solomon. I could easily see Tiffany asking him very directly how much he had even if she had no intention of ditching her flashy life for his humdrum one. However, I could also see Davy shoving the amount in her face as a lure. He had every right to be proud of saving so much, but I wasn’t sure he did it for the right reasons. He was trying to buy a woman who didn’t want to be bought, at least, not for so little. I was pretty sure Tiffany would have a different opinion if a billionaire made the same offer. “I might have embellished a little bit,” he added in a small voice.

  Solomon drew a deep breath and said nothing, which was good because the only word I could think of was: idiot. Finally, as the silence grew more uncomfortable, he asked, “Where were you when Tiffany was kidnapped?”

  Davy glanced away. “I don’t want to say.”

  I leaned in, and in my most menacing voice, I said, “Tell us now or we’re turning you over to the police.”

  “Fine! Jeez! I was with my therapist, okay? She’s helping me get over Tiffany so I can move on.”

  “And your therapist will verify that?”

  “Yes, and I got a parking ticket while I was there. I’ll show you.” Davy got up and hurried over to the desk in the corner. He scrabbled through the small stack of paper, cluttering the right side, and returned, waving the parking ticket over his head. “Here!”

  I checked it. “He’s telling the truth. His car was parked miles away from Tiffany’s apartment only minutes before she was kidnapped.”

  “And here’s my therapist’s business card,” said Davy, pushing it toward me. “You can call her. I’ll text her and tell her to confirm my appointment. I didn’t hurt Tiffany! I would never! I love her!”

  “I believe you,” I told him, “and so will the police when they see this video.”

  “But they’ll hurt her!”

  “Davy, that’s not on you,” I told him, “they’re looking for her already and this kind of clue could break the case wide open. You would be saving her. Wouldn’t that feel great? Knowing that you helped save Tiffany?”

  “But I’m going to do that when I take the money to them!”

  “You’re twenty thousand dollars short.”

  “They won’t know that right away! Plus, it’s still a lot of money!”

  “They’ll know,” said Solomon as a knock came on the door. Seemingly unsurprised, Solomon went to answer it. When he returned, Garrett and Maddox were with him, both of them wearing overalls and carrying toolboxes. I wondered if either had bothered to add real tools, or they just held a couple of bricks to give the appearance of weighty tools.

  I wanted to ask how? but I hated to appear like I was out of the loop in front of Davy. “This is Lieutenant Graves and Special Agent Maddox,” said Solomon. “I sent them a message asking them to come. I have a plan.”

  “And you’re going to be the hero in the middle of it,” said Garrett.

  “I don’t know what’s going on,” said Davy, dropping onto the couch. “What if they’re watching?”

  “No one is watching but we took precautions just in case,” said Maddox, pointing to his maintenance worker overalls. “If you could get us up to speed, that would be great, then we can fine tune our plan.”

  I told them what Tiffany’s sister told me, how we tracked Davy down and that he was willing to put up most of the money to rescue Tiffany. I was careful to include Tiffany’s knowledge that he had the money prior to her tearful request because something about it rankled me. Did she tell the kidnappers he was good for the money after Abigail didn’t give them enough? There was no other reason to contact him. He wasn’t a regular feature in Tiffany’s life, unlike the far wealthier Jonathan Brett. And now that I thought about it, wasn’t it strange that Jonathan was never contacted by these people? If anyone were likely to scrape up the money, surely it would be the person that was rumored to love the victim and desperately want her back. The idea that was niggling me came clear all at once: of course Jonathan wasn’t contacted. Tiffany knew he wouldn’t pay any ransom, but this chump, Davy would. And she’d asked for it before the kidnappers arranged the drop with Abigail.

  “I say we continue with the plan to drop the money. We can pad it out with fake bills,” said Solomon. “We put trackers on the money and inside the bag, and we set up a sting so tight, the kidnappers can’t possibly escape it.”

  “I agree,” said Garrett, looking at Maddox, who nodded.

  “We need to control the drop zone in advance,” added Maddox. “This could be our best shot at a rescue.”

  “But I’ll still do it, right?” asked Davy. “I’ll still be there when they hand over Tiffany?”

  “It’s unlikely she’ll be immediately released,” I explained although I wondered if she would be released at all. Would she have the gall to take the money and run? It was very possible. Then I thought about all the lucrative deals that would flood in once she resurfaced after her “ordeal.” A rescue on camera would play into everything the news outlets, and Tiffany, loved. Right now, the most important thing was placating Davy so he didn’t screw up. “She’ll probably be dropped at a random location as soon as the money is collected and they think they’ve gotten away. Lieutenant Graves will make sure Tiffany knows she was only released because of you.”

  “Okay, cool,” said Davy, nodding. “Will you be here?”

  “We need to chase down another lead, but I’ll check in on you,” I said. “Does that sound okay?”

  “Yes.”

  While Maddox sat with Davy and took his phone to watch the video, Garrett, Solomon and I retreated to the entryway. “What’s the other lead?” asked Garrett.

  “The rest of Tiffany’s family. We want to speak to them. It doesn’t sound like she was in contact with them, and her half-sister, Catherine didn’t have much to say about them that was kind. But they still might be able to shed some more light on Tiffany. My suspicions about her are growing rapidly,” I finished.

  “How so?” asked Garrett.

  “The kidnappers never asked Jonathan for money, only Davy. Why didn’t they go to the rich boyfriend? Why tap the ex-boyfriend from when she was just a kid? It doesn’t add up, unless you factor in Tiffany’s acceptance that she and Jonathan were through and he was unlikely to pay up. Meanwhile, Davy is a lovestruck sap who already told her he has lots of money stashed away for their future.”

  “You think she’s playing him?” asked Garrett.

  I nodded. “I think it’s a strong possibility. She didn’t get enough from Abigail. Regardless of what she got there, she had already lined up Davy to tap as the next sucker on her list.”

  “That would mean she’s behind the whole thing,” said Solomon.

  “We have to consider she might have done this as a publicity stunt, but I wonder if it’s more about getting the immediate, untraceable cash,” I said. “It’s still weird that they don’t demand a bank transfer that they could digitally move to another account in seconds. That’s far easier to set up than the withdrawal of huge wads of cash.”

  “We can reconvene during dinner at Mom and Dad’s,” said Garrett. “The sting won’t go down until midnight tonight and I could do with an hour off and some decent food and entertainment.”

  Solomon looked at me and said nothing.

  “We’ll be there,” I said, “but at the first sign of entertainment, I’m out the door.”

  Garrett snorted. “If Tiffany is behind this, I’ll make sure she gets a big, fat bill for wasting police time. She’ll regret it.”

  “Maybe. She’s the kind of jerk who seems to always land on her feet though. Even if things don’t play out as Tiffany intended, we need to take a closer look at her life. And get a late lunch. I’m hungry.”

  “I like that plan. Let’s start with her parents. The real ones, this time,” said Solomon, checking his phone. “Apparently, they just got into town and they’ll meet us at the agency.”

  Chapter Eighteen

  Tiffany’s parents couldn’t have looked more unlike the parents I imagined. That is, the ones I originally imagined. Along with the rest of the world, I thought Tiffany was orphaned and her former parents were a rich all-American couple. Their lives were cut tragically short under circumstances Tiffany never chose to explain. With the news of her scholarship, I figured they were a fairly average couple instead. But these two looked like they had plenty of money. Scads of it. Her mom was decked out in only famous labels and the dad had an Italian brand emblazoned across his sweater as he toyed with a Mercedes key fob. Expensive sunglasses were perched on his head, which seemed unnecessary since it wasn’t sunny. On the table between us lay every piece of evidence we needed: birth certificate, school report card, and photographs of Tiffany as a baby right up until her late teens.

  “People used to think we were sisters,” said the mom, brushing some imaginary lint off her Chanel jacket with a perfectly manicured finger. “Now my poor baby has been kidnapped! It’s just so unbearable!”

  “I’m sorry,” I said, “I know this must be hard for you, Mrs. Busch.”

  The mom reached into her over-sized purse, pulling out a delicate, lace-edged handkerchief and dabbed her eyes. “Call me Dolores,” she said. “And this is Jeffery. I just can’t imagine what my little Rose Busch is going through.”

  “The police will get her back, honey,” said Jeffery. “She’ll come home where she belongs.”

  “I understand you haven’t been in contact with your daughter for a while,” I started.

  Dolores sniffled into her handkerchief. “There was a misunderstanding.”

  “Who told you that?” asked Jeffery.

  “Catherine.”

  “Who?”

  I paused. What kind of question was that? “Your older daughter.”

  “Ohhh,” he drawled, nodding. “Right.”

  “Catherine? That angry, little bitch never has a nice word to say about anyone. She’s just like her mom,” snipped Dolores.

  “Right.” Jeffery nodded. “So what does it cost to set up a place like this?” he asked.

  “Catherine was always jealous of my little Rose,” Dolores cut in. “We used to call her Catty Cathy after all her mouthing off.”

  “Angry kinda gal,” added Jeffery.

  “Rose was always special, you see. She had star quality. She used to win pageants and prizes and Catherine never had the looks or the talent that Rose did! Rose was clever too so we had to enroll her in a good school.”

  “I see,” I said. I thought Catherine was very pretty in an understated sort of way. Not flashy like Tiffany.

  “We had to move a few times but Rose’s grades were always high,” said Jeffery. “Star quality. She could have grown up to be anything after attending that school.”

  “Why did you move?” I asked.

  “Oh, um, work-related stuff,” he said.

  “That’s right. My husband is an entrepreneur. He earns six figures and we have a huge house with a covered pool,” said Dolores. “We’re thinking of retiring in Hawaii.”

  “Do you work in the business too?” I asked.

  “Sometimes. I worked in the cosmetics industry for a long time. I was a top executive with Tammy Mae.”

  Solomon glanced at me and I wondered if he recognized the name too. “Wasn’t Tammy Mae a multi-marketing scheme that went under?” he asked.

  “I wouldn’t know anything about that,” said Dolores, suddenly studying her fingernails. “I was merely a saleswoman. Nowhere near the top. And I was never indicted!”

  “I recall they stranded a lot of people with thousands of dollars of bad stock that they couldn’t sell, leaving them no way to recoup their money back. It was a big disaster,” said Solomon, which was an understatement. Fifteen years ago, Tammy Mae was at the peak of the home-selling cosmetic market. They recruited saleswomen with promises of fat commissions and glamorous rewards. Trips, cars, cash, all were there for the taking while they moved up the ranks. To receive all the perks, their mission was to recruit more saleswomen who bought their exorbitantly priced starter kits. I knew all the details because Lily and I considered doing it once.

  “So where’s our Rose now?” asked Jeffery. “What are you doing to find her?”

  “Yes. Where is she?” asked Dolores. “Why haven’t you located our baby girl? Her face is all over the news. Surely someone saw something? When we speak to the press later, we have to tell them something newsworthy!”

  “You’re speaking to the press?” repeated Solomon.

  “Absolutely! Parents always do an appeal when a kid goes missing.”

  “Did the police ask you to do that?”

  “No. Why would they?” asked Dolores. “We called the news station directly. They’re very interested in learning all about Rose for a special edition. I think we might end up making the rounds of the morning talk shows.”

  “I don’t know about that, honey,” said Jeffery. “We need to discuss expenses first.”

  “But we also have to make sure the public know Rose’s name! And who better than her loving mother?” pleaded Dolores.

  “Okay, okay,” I said, holding up my hands to make them stop. “Is there anything you can think of that might help us find Tiffany?”

  “Like what?” asked Jeffery. “She’s been kidnapped. We haven’t been contacted. You should probably talk to that boyfriend of hers. The one we see in all the videos.”

  “We have. And we spoke to her ex-boyfriend, Davy too.”

  “Davy? Davy Morris? Hah! That wet blanket!” he scoffed.

  “She dumped him years ago,” said Delores. “What’s he got to do with this? Even Todd ditched him.”

  “Todd?”

  “Our son. Rose’s older brother,” explained Dolores. “He’s in business too. Only thirty-one and he already owns three properties and always travels business class. You should see his Rolex collection. Beautiful! He only dates models.”

  “What kind of business?” asked Solomon before I could ask model whats?

  “Transportation.”

  “And where is he now?”

  Dolores puffed up with pride. “Closing a deal in Mexico. He’s been there a week.”

  “Was Tiffany close to anyone in particular in the family?” I asked, curious about what else Tiffany might have left behind.

  “She spent a lot of time playing with her cousins, Caleb and Huey when they were all kids but left them behind when she got the school scholarship. Rose was going places, and those boys were never destined to become leaders. They’re my sister’s kids. Not the brightest. Not like my Todd.”

  “Followers, not leaders,” added Jeffery.

  “To the Clare School?” I asked, trying to swing the interview back in the right direction.

  “Yes. It was a very fancy boarding school too. We knew she’d fit right in there with all the other children of business moguls, like us, with plenty of money. The money we spent on getting her there was the right thing to do.”

  I frowned at the blatant lie. “Do you know why Rose gave everyone the impression she was orphaned?” I asked.

  Dolores bristled. “I don’t think she did that intentionally. It was just a story. Look, is there anything else you want to ask us because we need to go?”

  “If you can cut us a check, we still have to make an appointment with the news people,” said Jeffery, standing now and stretching his arms.

  “Check?” I asked.

  He nodded. “For the reward?”

  “I don’t follow,” I said.

  “The reward that was advertised on the tip line. That’s why we’re here now. We gave you information about our daughter and now you give us the check in return.”

  “We came a long way,” said Dolores. “We got the first available flights and they weren’t cheap. Neither is our hotel. Our baby wouldn’t want us slumming, so we took a suite.”