Chapter 9: Have You Seen Her? - The Broken Road

Kadyn was sitting perfectly still on the couch, jaw clenched, silently watching the clock approach three-thirty a.m. He looked down and briefly patted Cade, who was lying curled up next to him on the couch. “Hey, little buddy,” he whispered softly. “Where is she?”

Cade whimpered softly. He nudged Kadyn’s leg with his head.

“Yeah, I agree,” he replied worriedly. Kadyn rose from the couch and crossed the living room in three long strides. He reached for the house phone, pulled up the Caller ID, and hit send.

“What?” Patrick growled sleepily.

That one word alone told Kadyn everything he needed to know. It was politeness more than anything that drove him to respond. “Patrick. Kadyn. Is Kri with you?”

“Kadyn? What’s going on? How did you get my number?” Patrick asked, thoroughly confused.

“Caller ID. Where’s Kri?” Kadyn deliberately articulated the last two words, since Patrick still hadn’t answered the question.

“Wait. What? She’s not with you?”

“If she were with me, I wouldn’t be calling you,” Kadyn gritted through his teeth.

“Dude, I don’t know. She left the office before I did… sometime around midnight.”

Kadyn’s voice was low and bordering on deadly. “Did she park her jeep under the Thurgood Marshall Building?”

“I don’t know. I think so,” Patrick responded anxiously.

Kadyn hung up the phone.

Fifteen minutes later, Kadyn eased his bike into the parking garage under the Thurgood Marshall Building. He lowered his boot to the ground, allowing his bike to idle as he sat staring at the jeep. The vehicle wasn’t drivable. All four tires were slashed and resting on their rims. He nudged the bike closer and turned it off.

He slid his helmet off and slowly walked around the jeep. He tried each of the doors. Locked. He peered inside the window. No Kri, no keys, no purse, and no cell phone. Kadyn looked under the jeep.

He walked around the jeep once more as he studied the ground. He strode to the few cars that were parked on the same level of the parking garage and examined them. He scoured the parking garage for a security guard but didn’t see anyone.

Kadyn entered the stairwell and took the stairs to the lobby two at a time. He quickly located the security desk tucked just inside the main entrance to the building. He strode purposefully toward the guard.

The security guard stood. “Can I help you?”

Kadyn closed the distance between them. “Yes. Do you know anything about the black jeep in the parking garage… the one with the tires slashed?”

The security guard silently studied Kadyn. He was obviously weighing his response.

Kadyn quickly filled the silence, understanding the scrutiny but annoyed with the delay. “The jeep belongs to my girlfriend. She’s missing.”

A look of understanding passed over the guard’s face, then quickly disappeared. He wasn’t necessarily buying what Kadyn was selling. “You got a picture?” he asked.

Gritting his teeth irritably, Kadyn pulled up a picture from his cell phone. He handed it to the security guard, who was now living on borrowed time. He wanted answers and he wanted them now.

Kadyn’s eyes were trained on the guard’s face as he examined the picture on the cell phone. He saw recognition flash in the guard’s eyes before he spoke. “Yes. This young woman approached me shortly after midnight. She told me her tires had been slashed and said she’d have the vehicle towed in the morning. She left me her business card. Then she went out there to catch a cab.” He nodded his head toward the glass doors which faced the roundabout in front of Union Station.

“I don’t suppose you saw which cab she got into,” Kadyn responded drily.

The guard shook his head. “No. I’m sorry. I didn’t see which cab she chose, but maybe the sax player did. I saw her approach him when she left.” He paused for a minute, then added, “I haven’t heard him play for a while. He may have left for the night.”

Kadyn glanced toward the glass doors. “Know where I can find him?”

The guard shrugged. “He could be anywhere. I think he’s homeless. He gets kicked out of Union Station a lot. You might find him sleeping in there somewhere.”

Kadyn nodded once. “Thanks.” He strode out the door, determined to track down the sax player or a cab driver who remembered seeing Kri. He glanced down at his watch. It was four-thirty in the morning… too early for rush hour, the metro, the train, and pedestrians.

Kadyn looked around. The place was like a friggin’ ghost town. For the first time that morning, he noticed the ground was dusted with a thin layer of snow. Kadyn walked around looking for someone… anyone… to talk to. The few homeless people lingering around looked at Kri’s picture, but they all said the same thing. Not a single one of them had seen her.

He leaned against the base of the statue of Columbus and tried to call Kri’s cell for the sixth time that morning. Nothing. He called her house phone. Nothing. His eyebrows furrowed as he weighed his options. It wouldn’t be long before the sax player and the cabs began showing up. He was familiar with the sax player the guard had mentioned. He’d been with Kri when she gave him money and knew he regularly performed around Union Station. Surely, he’d be back for the morning rush hour. A high traffic time like that had to bring in some good tips.

Kadyn played absently with his cell phone. He watched a yellow cab drive by, then looked back down at the phone. Slowly, a plan started to form. He scrolled through his list of contacts. His thumb hovered over Phil’s name. Then he made the call.

“This had better be good,” Phil grumbled.

Kadyn rubbed his hand over his smoothly shaven head. “It’s not good. That’s why I’m calling.”

“What’s wrong?” Phil asked, suddenly alert.

“Kri’s missing. I need you to help me find her.”

“What do you mean she’s missing?” Phil responded sharply.

“She had to go into work late last night. The tires on her jeep were slashed. She left the parking garage around midnight to catch a cab, but she never made it home. I haven’t heard from her. I've tried calling multiple times, but her cell phone is going directly to voice mail,” Kadyn explained.

“Where are you now?”

“I'm down at Union Station, where Kri was last seen. I’m trying to track down the cab driver. That’s my only lead… well, that and the sax player. A security guard from the Thurgood Marshall Building saw her talk to the sax player before she caught a cab.”

Phil made a rustling sound as he slid out of bed. “Do you see any security cameras on the exterior of those buildings that would capture the area where the cabs park?”

Kadyn scanned the area, immediately annoyed that he hadn’t thought of the cameras. “Yes.”

“Good. Talk to the security guard. See if he can get you access to those tapes. If not, call Ryan Schaeffer over at Federal Protective Services. Give him my name. He owes me in a big way. I’m sure he can get you the tapes.”

“Ryan Schaeffer,” Kadyn repeated as he committed the name to memory.

“I’ll clear my schedule. Text or e-mail me a picture of Kri so I can begin contacting the cab companies.” Phil paused briefly. “Should I limit myself to legitimate means?”

“Why? Do you think you can hack into their computers?” This was precisely the reason Kadyn had called Phil.

Phil snorted. “Piece of cake. I’ll compile a list of cab companies and drivers who reported picking up passengers from Union Station between 11:30 p.m. and 1:00 a.m., which should be a sufficient window of time. Then I'll track down the cab drivers, show them the picture of Kri, and see if any of them saw her or picked her up. Of course, we'll be banking on the fact that our driver came from one of the major cab companies and doesn’t have anything to hide.”

“Kri wouldn’t have flagged an independent cab. I'm certain she would have only used a well-known company. Just make sure you're working from a secure network and you burn the trail.”

“Did you forget who you're talking to?” Phil responded jokingly.

“No.” Kadyn wasn’t in a joking mood.

“Kadyn?” Phil asked hesitantly. “Do you know anyone who might have a grudge against your girl… anyone who might want to hurt her?”

Kadyn’s hand clenched around the phone. “At least two.”

Phil sighed. “You best get someone on them.”

Kadyn nodded. “I’m on it. Call me if you learn anything.”

“You do the same,” Phil replied before ending the call.

Kadyn glanced at his watch and winced. This next call was going to hurt more than the last. It was only 2:45 a.m. in Montana. Kadyn scrolled through his list of contacts, thankful he’d thought to add Dan when he was in Montana.

The phone rang once. “What?” Dan answered gruffly.

Kadyn began pacing across the worn bricks. “Dan, this is Kadyn. I need your help.”

“With what?” Dan asked. He articulated each word in an openly suspicious tone.

Kadyn’s feet ground to a stop. “Kri is missing.”

“You have got to be shitting me! How the hell did that happen?” Dan’s voice exploded across the phone line.

Kadyn winced as he pulled the phone away from his ear. He quickly repeated the same story he’d told Phil, but then added the plans that he and Phil had made to view the security tapes and hack into the computer networks from the major cab companies.

The phone line grew silent as Dan processed the information. “Did you pull in the DC police?” he finally inquired.

“She hasn’t been gone long enough to file a missing person’s report,” Kadyn responded as he resumed pacing. “Dan, she’s in serious trouble. I can feel it.”

“This shit stinks to high heaven,” Dan mumbled as he contemplated how best to help. “Do you need me to get on a plane and head to DC?”

Kadyn shook his head. “No, not yet. I need you to rule out some suspects.”

“Garcia?”

“And Campbell.”

“I’m on it.” Dan responded curtly. Then he hung up the phone.

Kadyn stalked back to the security guard in the Thurgood Marshall building to ask about the security tapes.

“Any luck?” he asked as Kadyn approached the desk.

“No. Do you have access to the security tapes from the cameras on the outside of this building? The footage from earlier should help narrow down the cab company she used.”

The security guard looked thoughtful as he considered the request. “I can’t leave this desk, and I don’t have access to the security tapes, but I know someone who does. Let me make some calls.”

While the security guard argued with someone on the other end of the phone, Kadyn spotted the saxophone player setting up outside. He caught the security guard’s eye. “I’ll be right back.”

The security guard nodded while still speaking into the phone.

Kadyn walked over to Union Station. He grabbed a Mountain Dew and ordered a cup of coffee and two bagels from Au Bon Pain. He asked them to package the bagels in two separate bags. He walked back outside, crossed the roundabout, and handed the coffee and one of the bagels to the sax player.

The sax player looked surprised, but he accepted the gift. “Thanks, buddy.”

Kadyn cut right to the chase. “I need your help. My girlfriend was here around midnight.” Kadyn showed him the picture from his cell phone. “She spoke with you before she caught a cab, but she never made it home.”

“I know that woman. She works up the hill.” He nodded toward the Senate buildings. “Pretty lady. Nice legs. Good tipper too,” the guy recalled as he warmed his hands on the coffee cup.

Kadyn tamped down the anger that was building over the guy’s observations. “Did you happen to notice which cab she climbed into?”

“Sure. It was one of the blue tops. She seemed to know the driver.” He eyed Kadyn skeptically. “What did you say your name was?”

“I didn’t. The name’s Kadyn.” He handed the sax player a business card from his wallet. “Please call me if you remember anything else.”

“Will do. I hope you find her. She seems like a really nice lady.”

“Thanks,” Kadyn replied as he turned and walked away.

The guard waved Kadyn over to his desk as soon as he entered the building. “Is this your girl?” He pointed to a grainy picture that was frozen on his computer screen.

Kadyn examined the picture closely. The face was obscured by the hair, given the angle of the camera, but the clothes and purse were the same ones Kri had left the house with. “That’s her.”

“That’s an Arlington Blue Top Cab,” the guard noted.

Kadyn’s phone rang. He looked at the Caller ID. “Phil, what do you got?”

Phil briefed Kadyn quickly. “None of the cab drivers I’ve talked to recall picking up a woman with long blond hair at Union Station last night. However, there is a cab driver who went off the grid unexpectedly around that same time, and he didn’t report for his shift this morning. I think it may be connected.”

Kadyn closed his eyes as he dared to hope. “Does he work for Arlington Blue Top Cabs?”

“Yes. Someone named Habib Ahmadzai. I have his cab number. I've pulled in some additional people to scan footage from the traffic cameras along all the major highways in and out of DC between the hours of midnight and one a.m. I’ll call you as soon as I have something.”

Kadyn lowered his voice as he walked away from the security desk. “Good. Thanks, Phil. I’d like an address for Ahmadzai. Kri told me about a cab driver she befriended when she first moved here. I think he may be the same guy. The sax player seemed to think she knew the cab driver.”

Phil immediately began typing. “I’ll text you the address now.”

Kadyn’s voice hardened. “Listen, Phil. I want to meet with this guy personally.”

Phil stopped typing. “I know. I won’t send anyone over without you.”

Kadyn ended the call with Phil. He walked back to the security guard and handed him his business card. “I really appreciate your help. I need to follow up on a lead. Please let me know if you discover anything you think might be relevant. I’ll call a tow company and have the jeep towed to a tire shop this morning so it’s not sitting in your garage.”

The security guard glanced at Kadyn’s business card. “Okay. Thanks.” He handed Kadyn his business card. “I hope you find her.”

Kadyn turned toward the stairwell. “Me too.” He called Mason on his way back to the bike. “Hey buddy, I need your help.”

* * *

Kadyn glanced at his watch. It was five-thirty a.m. He eyed the Arlington Blue Top Cab parked a half block away as he ate the last of his bagel. He washed it down with Mountain Dew. His eyes narrowed as he watched Mason approach with Cenia, Roger, and Matt. Each of them was dressed entirely in black. “Well?”

Mason spoke first. “There appear to be three people in the house… two men and a woman… all sleeping in separate rooms. The bathroom window is cracked open, and I’ve already unlocked the back door. This should be a piece of cake.”

Kadyn’s cell phone rang. The entire group froze. Kadyn looked at the Caller ID and switched over to speaker phone. “Phil?”

“Kadyn, I’m sorry man, but it doesn’t look good. I have footage from one of the toll booths on the west bound side of the Dulles toll road which clearly shows Kri in the front passenger seat of Ahmadzai’s cab. There's a man in the back seat who has a gun pointed at her head.”

“Fuck!” Kadyn exclaimed.

Kadyn’s friends exchanged looks at the expletive that had never been a part of his vocabulary.

Roger looked at Cenia. “You grew up in this area. What’s out west?”

Cenia looked thoughtful. “Dulles Airport, obviously; but that place has too much security. He wouldn’t have taken her there.”

“Then where?” Mason interrupted impatiently. “The guy’s cab is sitting empty in front of his house. He’s inside, and Kri clearly is not.”

Cenia glanced at Kadyn, uncertain as to how frank she should be. “Well, he’s either dumped her somewhere or transferred her to someone else. There are a number of car rental places out by the airport, but I’d put money on the small executive airport out in Leesburg. If I was trying to get someone out of this area without getting caught, that's where I would go.”

Kadyn nodded. “You got that Phil?”

“Let me make some calls,” Matt interjected. “I’ve been taking flying lessons out at that airport, so I know some of the guys who work out there.”

“Okay. You and Phil work that angle. The rest of us will go talk to the cab driver. We’ll regroup in twenty minutes.” Kadyn ended the call. He nodded toward the house. “Let’s move. The sun will be up soon, and that’s going to make it a lot more difficult to get in and out of that house without being seen.” Kadyn looked at Cenia. “You secure the female.” He nodded toward Mason and Roger. “We’ll take the men.” He glanced at Matt. “Draft a text message to all four of us and send it if we need to evacuate the house.”

Matt immediately began typing the message. He walked back toward his car and positioned himself so that he had a clear view of the cab driver’s house. He nodded at Kadyn before settling against the car to make his first phone call.

The rest of the group set their cell phones to vibrate as they made their way to the back door of the small brick house. The four stole silently into the house. Cenia took her place in front of the bedroom housing the female. Mason slid quietly into a second bedroom. He pulled a wallet from some pants that were draped across a chair. He looked over the contents, then nodded once at Kadyn. Roger observed the exchange before disappearing into the third bedroom. Mason positioned himself in the doorway to the cab driver’s room as Kadyn nudged the sleeping man.

Habib’s eyes flew open. He immediately scrambled against the headboard.

Kadyn’s fists clenched. When he spoke, his voice was low and eerily calm. “I think you know why I’m here. No one will get hurt if you tell me where Kri is.”

“I don’t know where she is,” he responded shrilly. His eyes flitted toward the door.

Mason folded his well-muscled arms across his chest. He widened his stance in the doorway as he glared at Habib.

“I didn’t have any choice. The man was holding my sister at gun point. I had to take Kristine to him. It was the only way I could get my sister back,” Habib hurriedly explained.

Kadyn took a single step back. “I want a name.”

Habib glanced at Kadyn’s feet. His face registered his relief. “I don’t know what it is. He didn’t give me a name. He said he was Kristine’s fiancé.”

“Where did you take her?” Kadyn demanded through gritted teeth.

Habib shrank against the headboard. “Leesburg Airport.”

“Do you know where he was taking her?” Kadyn persisted.

Habib shook his head. “No, but he had an airplane.”

Kadyn’s eyes met Mason’s. “Describe him.”

“I don’t know. It was dark, and it was raining. He… he had my sister. I just wanted to get my sister back,” Habib complained.

Kadyn’s brow furrowed. “Try. Think about what he was wearing.”

Habib closed his eyes as he sought to recall what the man was wearing. “He was tall. He was wearing dark clothes and a ski mask.”

“Did he have an accent?” Kadyn asked.

Habib shook his head. “No. Not that I can recall.”

Kadyn studied Habib intently. “And the man who held a gun to Kri’s head… the one in the back of your car?”

Habib swallowed nervously. “My brother.”

“The man sleeping in the other room?”

Habib nodded.

Kadyn’s eyes met Mason’s. He nudged his head toward the other room.

Mason disappeared from the doorway.

Kadyn returned his attention to Habib. Silence spun between them. Finally, Kadyn spoke. “I understand why you did it, but if she’s harmed in any way, you will pay. Tell your brother he’s forgiven… for now.”

Habib looked on in shock as Kadyn turned and strode from the room. Cenia, Roger, and Mason followed him out the back door.

“Did you take care of the brother?” Kadyn asked as they approached their vehicles.

Roger smiled. “Yes. He’ll be incapacitated for some time. It will take them hours to get all of that duct tape off.”

A slow smile spread across Kadyn’s face, then abruptly disappeared. It was then that it struck him. Kri was likely bound and gagged too.