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Authors: Derek Ciccone
Tags: General Fiction
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in even more serious danger if her captor felt trapped, and I shouldn’t reveal his identity.”
“If publicity really would put your wife in dire circumstances, then why did you agree to do this interview?”
“Because you told me you thought it would help Lilly.”
“While it’s very trendy to blame the media, Mr. McLaughlin, was I not completely straight with you prior, when I expressed my suspicion of your possible involvement in this crime?”
McLaughlin said nothing, which made him look guilty. Eicher figured he was probably just guilty of having poor taste in reporters, and seemingly in women in general.
“I think it’s time to stop the lies and withholding of information.”
He stared ahead in a trance, unresponsive.
“The only way to set Lilly free is by telling the truth, so I am now going to reveal the identity of her abductor.”
“Please no, please no,” Eicher began mumbling over and over.
“It could put Lilly’s life in danger,” Darren desperately tried to stop her.
She didn’t appear to be listening. She held up an odd-shaped photograph trimmed with scissors.
When Eicher saw who it was of, he bent over in pain. Jessi smiled proudly onscreen. Maybe it was the glare of the sun, but it was one of the most beautiful smiles Eicher had ever seen. She was like the angel of death.
“This is Brett Buckley, a seventeen-year-old student at South Chandler High, and not surprisingly a student in Lilly McLaughlin’s class. I have confirmed that he was the one who drove off with your wife, but I suspect you already know this.”
Darren’s tears turned to anger. “If anything happens to Lilly, I will personally hold you responsible.”
“Brett Buckley is the name the police and FBI gave you as the name of their lead suspect, isn’t it?” Jessi pushed on.
“I never told you any name.”
“If you must know how I discovered his identity—I did a search of your room and found a picture of your wife’s tutoring group. While you were in the living room preparing your story for the interview, I made a quick call to the school to see which of her students called in absent today, and the only one was Brett Buckley. I searched the yearbook I found on Lilly’s dresser, and Buckley wasn’t in it. So I matched the other kids in the tutoring photo to their yearbook pictures, and by process of elimination I discovered which one was Brett Buckley. I took the liberty of cutting the other students out to protect their identities.” The proud smile grew wider.
Eicher felt like he needed to sit down, but discerned that he already was, so he stood. Nick’s picture was now splashed on the screen for the entire world to see, including Viktor Sarvydas. She had exposed his Brett Buckley alias and placed him in Arizona, not to mention, ID’ing their vehicle and providing a full bio on his traveling companion.
Jessi’s satisfied look told Eicher that she likely didn’t understand what she’d done. Darren didn’t look like he understood the full ramifications either, but he seemed to realize that Jessi had just put his wife in greater danger.
That was, if Lilly McLaughlin wasn’t the one inflicting the harm on Nick. Her sudden presence in Nick’s life was still gnawing at Eicher. He mocked Fitzpatrick’s famous last words: We have it all under control. The teacher won’t be a problem.
Dava patted Eicher on his slumping shoulder. “We’ll get him back,” she said, as if Nick was their child, and not a witness they failed to protect. “He’s a levelheaded kid. There must have been a perfectly good reason for him to leave, and now he has an even better reason to let us know where he is, so we can pick him up.”
“We can’t wait for him to call,” Eicher declared, thinking of the gruesome package he received this morning from Ivan. He turned to the eternal optimist, hoping for some positive reinforcement. “Any glass half full ideas, or at least can you get me a glass half full with a
“If publicity really would put your wife in dire circumstances, then why did you agree to do this interview?”
“Because you told me you thought it would help Lilly.”
“While it’s very trendy to blame the media, Mr. McLaughlin, was I not completely straight with you prior, when I expressed my suspicion of your possible involvement in this crime?”
McLaughlin said nothing, which made him look guilty. Eicher figured he was probably just guilty of having poor taste in reporters, and seemingly in women in general.
“I think it’s time to stop the lies and withholding of information.”
He stared ahead in a trance, unresponsive.
“The only way to set Lilly free is by telling the truth, so I am now going to reveal the identity of her abductor.”
“Please no, please no,” Eicher began mumbling over and over.
“It could put Lilly’s life in danger,” Darren desperately tried to stop her.
She didn’t appear to be listening. She held up an odd-shaped photograph trimmed with scissors.
When Eicher saw who it was of, he bent over in pain. Jessi smiled proudly onscreen. Maybe it was the glare of the sun, but it was one of the most beautiful smiles Eicher had ever seen. She was like the angel of death.
“This is Brett Buckley, a seventeen-year-old student at South Chandler High, and not surprisingly a student in Lilly McLaughlin’s class. I have confirmed that he was the one who drove off with your wife, but I suspect you already know this.”
Darren’s tears turned to anger. “If anything happens to Lilly, I will personally hold you responsible.”
“Brett Buckley is the name the police and FBI gave you as the name of their lead suspect, isn’t it?” Jessi pushed on.
“I never told you any name.”
“If you must know how I discovered his identity—I did a search of your room and found a picture of your wife’s tutoring group. While you were in the living room preparing your story for the interview, I made a quick call to the school to see which of her students called in absent today, and the only one was Brett Buckley. I searched the yearbook I found on Lilly’s dresser, and Buckley wasn’t in it. So I matched the other kids in the tutoring photo to their yearbook pictures, and by process of elimination I discovered which one was Brett Buckley. I took the liberty of cutting the other students out to protect their identities.” The proud smile grew wider.
Eicher felt like he needed to sit down, but discerned that he already was, so he stood. Nick’s picture was now splashed on the screen for the entire world to see, including Viktor Sarvydas. She had exposed his Brett Buckley alias and placed him in Arizona, not to mention, ID’ing their vehicle and providing a full bio on his traveling companion.
Jessi’s satisfied look told Eicher that she likely didn’t understand what she’d done. Darren didn’t look like he understood the full ramifications either, but he seemed to realize that Jessi had just put his wife in greater danger.
That was, if Lilly McLaughlin wasn’t the one inflicting the harm on Nick. Her sudden presence in Nick’s life was still gnawing at Eicher. He mocked Fitzpatrick’s famous last words: We have it all under control. The teacher won’t be a problem.
Dava patted Eicher on his slumping shoulder. “We’ll get him back,” she said, as if Nick was their child, and not a witness they failed to protect. “He’s a levelheaded kid. There must have been a perfectly good reason for him to leave, and now he has an even better reason to let us know where he is, so we can pick him up.”
“We can’t wait for him to call,” Eicher declared, thinking of the gruesome package he received this morning from Ivan. He turned to the eternal optimist, hoping for some positive reinforcement. “Any glass half full ideas, or at least can you get me a glass half full with a
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