“I think in Potomac. She married the Chad.” He rolled his eyes. “That guy is the biggest douchebag ever.”
“So you’ve met him?”
“Once. A long time ago.” He shrugged. “They’re nothing to us. My dad and I have been a team for years. We don’t need anyone else.”
“Why’d you want Ethan and Tomas to invite Luna out, then?”
“I didn’t. They did that.”
“Brecken, the text messages show you encouraging them to invite her and them resisting. The messages from them to her are from after they stopped responding to their parents. That means you knew her, and you used their phones to get her to come out so you could see her. Is that right? Was that the reason you bothered to kidnap Ethan and Tomas? Because she’d respond to them in a way she never would to you?”
Brecken’s eyes narrowed, indicating his displeasure with the question. “I’d seen her around. She’s nothing special. Just another bitch who thinks her shit doesn’t stink.”
“How do you know that about her if you’ve never spent time with her?”
“I know her type. They’re all the same. They walk around like they’re something important and people need to pay attention to them. But I see through that bullshit.”
“Does your dad have a girlfriend?”
“Hell no. He says they aren’t worth the bother.”
“Has he had any girlfriends since your mom left him?”
“She didn’t leave him. He kicked her out when he found out she was cheating on him. He made sure she got nothing but the clothes on her back, that lying cunt.”
“Whoa,” Avery said. “That’s a nasty word to call your mother.”
“Nasty people deserve nasty words.”
The kid’s eyes were so cold and devoid of emotion that Jake felt a chill go down his spine.
“Has your dad had any girlfriends since then?” Avery asked again.
“Nah, he says he’s better off alone than dealing with their crap.”
Neither one of them could attract female attention, so they’d become bitter toward all women, Jake concluded. He was sure Avery was thinking the same thing—that they needed to talk to Brecken’s mother right away.
“Did your parents fight over you in court?”
“Yeah, she tried to take me away from him, but I wasn’t having that. I didn’t want to live with her and her asshole lover.”
“What’s her name?” Avery asked.
“Why does that matter?”
“Because I’m asking, and when the FBI asks you a question, it’s a good idea to answer it.”
“Her name is Melanie. She took Chad’s last name. I don’t remember it.”
Jake got up and left the interrogation room to find Ruiz, who was still in her office after having pulled an all-nighter. “Brecken Mayfield’s mother is named Melanie, and she’s married to a guy in Potomac. There was a custody dispute over Brecken between her and his father, Asher. We need to find her and talk to her ASAP.”
“I’m on it.”
“Can you assign it to one of your people and go home to get some rest?”
“I’m invested. I want to find Luna.”
“Thanks for sticking with it.”
