Diana nodded.
“So maybe he has some reason for wanting a hundred thousand dollars.And a reason for wanting you to believe it’s not him who wants it.”
“So he can give it to the tramp,” Diana said grimly.
Or so they had some seed money for running away together.But I wasn’t going to point that out.Instead, I glanced at Mendoza, silently throwing him the ball.
He said, “It’s possible.If Steven is part of this, and he’s watching the bank accounts, it would probably be best to withdraw the money.He’ll see the withdrawal, and believe you’re getting the money turned into cash in order to give it to him.Or her.Or them.It will ensure that he’ll show up at the drop point tonight.”
“Or her,” I said.“Or them.”
Mendoza nodded.“Safer to make it look like we’re complying with the request.”
“I’ll go to the bank this morning,” Diana said.“Is there anything else I can do?”
“I’ll take the note in for fingerprinting.While I’m there, I’ll send out a BOLO for both Steven and the blonde, using the name we have and the drawing.”
A BOLO, for the uninitiated, is a police acronym for Be On the LookOut.Mendoza would make sure every police officer and squad car in Nashville had seen Steven’s face and that of the blonde, and would keep an eye out for them.
“It’s been twenty-four hours,” Mendoza added, “so you can file an official missing person’s report on Steven.Although with the note, it’s pretty well moot.”
Pretty well.Whether Steven was behind it or not, with a ransom note, Mendoza had to take Steven’s disappearance seriously.And I assumed that if it was discovered that Steven was behind it, there would be charges to follow.
I hoped there would be.Part of me was pretty sure he was in on it, and that the whole thing was some sort of convoluted ploy to get a hundred thousand dollars out of the bank without his wife knowing that he was the one who wanted it.But the other part was a little less sure.If he wanted a hundred thousand dollars, he could just get it himself.It was his.There was no reason to scare Diana this way.
“I guess I’ll go to the office,” I said.“Unless you want me to stay with you?For moral support, or whatever.”
Diana shook her head.“Is something going on?”
Not really.At least not yet.I told her, “Last night, Zachary made the suggestion that the Russian girl looked like a stripper.I told him to look for Russian strip clubs.”
Diana’s eyes widened.“You sent Zachary—sweet, innocent Zachary—out to case strip clubs?”
Mendoza hid a smile.
“He’s not that innocent,” I protested, although I admit I squirmed a little.“He’s over eighteen.He said they’d let him in.And he seemed excited about it.”
Mendoza’s grin widened.
“Why wouldn’t he be?”Diana muttered, and raised her voice.“Let me know what he says.If he finds out anything.”
I nodded.Mendoza did the same.And the two of us headed out to let Diana get ready for work and her trip to the bank.
Ten
Mendoza leftus with a last scratch behind the ears for Edwina—nothing but a nod for me—and I climbed into the Lexus next to the dog, and headed for Music Row.
Morning rush hour had started while I was inside Diana’s kitchen, so the trip took at least three times longer than it had going the other way earlier.But when I got there, the office itself was still empty and closed.It was too early for Rachel, and since Zachary’s car wasn’t in the lot, I assumed he’d gone home to his mother’s house to sleep last night, after cruising the Russian neighborhood looking for strip clubs.
Given his excitement over the assignment, he’d probably stayed out much too late, and wouldn’t be coming in until noon.
Which left me with very little to do.
While Edwina squatted on a patch of dirt, I let myself into the lobby and turned on the lights.
Everything looked the way it had last night when I left.Not that I had expected anything different.
I scooped some food into Edwina’s bowl and refreshed her water, and left her to eat while I headed down the hall to my own office.
