Ollie
I immediately went to our bedroom to see if Andy was there, he wasn’t. I called him, he didn’t answer his phone. I was starting to panic now. I scrolled through my contacts looking for any of Andy’s coworkers. I found Lisa Foley, she had called me last Christmas, she was Andy’s secret Santa and was looking for a gift idea.
I knew it was early, but I had to find out where Andy was. She sounded groggy as she answered, “Hello.”
I said, “Lisa, this Ollie, Andy’s husband. He didn’t come home last night; do you know where he was going for dinner with your visitors?”
I know I was talking a mile a minute, she said, “Wait, what? Who is this?”
I took a deep breath, I said, “This is Ollie, Andy’s husband.”
She said, “Oh, yes. Ollie, what’s going on?”
I took another breath, “Andy went out with your visiting lab techs last night, he never came home. Do you know where they were going for dinner?"
Lisa said, “They just wanted to eat at their hotel the night I took them out. I would guess that’s where they went again.”
I asked, “What hotel were they staying at?”
My stomach dropped when she said, “The Elser.”
When I didn’t immediately respond, Lisa asked, “Did you try to call him?”
I sighed, “Yes, he didn’t answer.”
She said, “Maybe he had too much to drink and decided to stay at the hotel instead of driving. Those guys he is with like to party.”
I said, “He would have called me if he was doing that. I’m sorry to wake you so early, I have to go look for him.”
She said, “No, it’s fine. My alarm is set to go off in a few minutes anyway. Please, Ollie, call me as soon as you find Andy, just to let me know that he’s okay.”
I said, “I will, and please call me if he shows up at work.”
Lisa said, “Of course.”
I ended the call and quickly got dressed.
I drove straight to the hotel; I decided that would be the best place to start. I called the Captain on my way there.
Captain answered, “What’s up, Ollie?”
I said, “Andy didn’t come home last night. He went to the Elser Hotel with some coworkers; he didn’t call or text.”
He said, “Slow down Ollie. I’m sure he just got busy and forgot to call you.”
I protested, “He would never do that. If he wasn’t coming home he would tell me where he is.”
Captain paused, “Okay, I’ll send Elliot to the hotel as soon as he gets in this morning.”
“Thanks Captain. If his car is still there, I will talk to Jeff Taylor and have him start going over any surveillance footage they have. I’ll talk to all the staff to see if anyone saw anything. Then I will…”
He interrupted me, “Ollie, slow down a little bit. I’m not sure you should be investigating this if Andy really is missing. You are too close; I don’t want you taking any chances that you wouldn’t take with a normal victim.”
I said, “I am going to search until I find Andy, Captain. I don’t care if you fire me, I am not stepping away from this.”
Captain sighed, “I forgot I was talking to one of Ridge’s proteges. That is exactly what he would say if he was in the same situation. Please, just wait for Elliot before you get in too deep.”
I took a deep breath, “Tell him to hurry.” I ended the call as I arrived at the hotel. Since I had been there the last two days, I was familiar with the parking lot. They have a lot for hotel guests, and separate area for restaurant and bar patrons. There is also a lot in back for hotel staff. I assumed Andy would park in the lot for the bar patrons, that is actually where I parked during my visits this week. As I drove down the second row, I saw Andy’s car. I parked beside it and ran to the car to see if Andy was inside. He wasn’t.
I pulled my phone out to try to call him again, my heart sank when I heard his phone, I knew his ringtone anywhere. It was coming from under the car; I retrieved the phone. From the crack I saw on the corner of the screen, it looked like the phone had been dropped. I slid my finger across the screen; I knew Andy’s password. I entered the password and his text message screen appeared. He was sending me a text that he was on his way home.
I took a deep breath; someone must have grabbed him as he got to his car. What the hell is going on? First, two guys from out of town are pulled from their hotel rooms, and now Andy is taken in the parking lot. Andy had nothing in common with the other two guys, he lives and works in Miami. He was just a guest in the bar; he wasn’t staying in the hotel. My mind raced, trying to tie the cases together.
Once again my stomach flipped when I had another thought. Did Andy hook up with one of the lab guys that was visiting? The other two guys both had sex with a local guy before they were taken. Shit, was Andy the local hook up, and they grabbed the wrong guy? I shook my head; Andy would never do that. I know he would never cheat on me.
Andy
I woke with a massive headache. As I tried to move my hands to rub my head, I realized they were tied behind my back. My legs were also bound and my eyes were covered; I had no idea where I was. I began to struggle with the bindings as I heard a door open and close.
A voice said, “There is no use struggling, you won’t be able to get loose.”
I asked, “Who are you?”
“I will tell you that soon enough.”
I pulled at the bindings one more time, “Why am here? What do you want with me?”
I heard a chuckle, “Boy, you are just full of questions.” The voice continued, “Sorry I had to get a little rough with you, but I didn’t think you would talk to me otherwise.”
I sighed, “You never know, you should have asked before you hit me over the head. Why did you want to talk to me?”
“We’ve actually talked before, but it has been a few years.”
I asked, “What the hell are you talking about? If you wanted to talk to me, you should have just been a man about it and talked to me. You really didn’t help your case by being a coward and sneaking up behind me.”
His tone changed, “What’s the use, you would have just snuck away in the night, just like last time.”
I was trying to figure out what the hell he was talking about, I had no idea. I said, “You should know that my husband is a Detective with the Miami Police Department. I’m sure he is looking for me right now.”
He chuckled, “Poor little Ollie, I’m sure he must be frantic by now. I know he is busy looking for two other missing persons. I also know that his hero, Ridge, is not here to help him. Your sweet Ollie just may be in a little over his head right now. But don’t worry, he will soon be taken care of.”
I heard the door open and shut again, and then another door closed. I assumed he left the house, apartment or whatever building we were in. What hell did he mean that Ollie would soon be taken care of? I started to panic and pull at my restraints again; they only seemed to get tighter. I let out a deep breath, Ollie, I need you, but please be careful.
Ollie
After I pushed the thoughts of Andy cheating on me out of my head, I quickly scanned the parking lot, there a couple of cameras on the light poles. I went inside the hotel to talk to Jeff Taylor. He was just arriving at work for the day as I walked into his office. I told him what was going on, the color drained from his face.
He said, “Good God Ollie. I have worked at this hotel for five years; I can count the times I have had to call the police for help on one hand. Now you are telling me we have a third abduction in a week. You have to believe me; we really do run a good, safe hotel. Just tell me what you want me to do first.”
I nodded, “I appreciate your help and I know this is a good hotel, but this case just got very personal to me, Jeff. This missing man is my husband; I’ll rip this place apart with my bare hands to find him if I have to.”
Jeff sighed, “Let’s start with the camera footage, no need to rip anything apart just yet.”
Jeff loaded up the footage and asked, “Do you have a time frame we should search first?”
I shrugged, “No, not really. Shit, I guess I’m getting ahead of myself and not thinking straight right now. I need to get more information first”
Just as I was trying to gather my thoughts, I heard a voice say, “He’s right in there Detective, you can go right in.”
“Thank you.”
I assumed Elliot had arrived, I was glad to have someone else to help me keep focused. I turned to update him; I was shocked to see Blake walk in the room.
I asked, “What are you doing here?”
Blake gave me a hug, “Captain called and told me what happened, what can I do to help?”
I said, “But, what about Hannah and baby? You should be with them.”
He shook his head, “As soon as Hannah heard that Andy was missing, she told me to come help you. She and the baby are fine, she called her mom to come help so I could be here.”
I let out a deep breath, “I really appreciate it.”
Just knowing that Blake is here, calmed me down. Elliot and I were working well together, and he was a lot of help, but knowing that Blake has my back is always comforting. I quickly updated Blake on Cody and Eric’s case and what I knew about Andy’s.
He asked, “And you think all three cases are related?”
I sighed, “I’m sure Cody and Eric are. I still don’t know what to think about Andy’s case.”
As we were talking about it, Elliot walked in with two cups of coffee. He saw Blake and said, “I’m sorry, I didn’t know you were going to be here…”
Blake smiled, “No problem, I came straight from home when the Captain called me. I’m sure the hotel has a coffee shop; I can grab a cup when I have a minute.”
We brought Elliot up to speed on what I knew about Andy’s disappearance.
Elliot asked, “Do you think it’s the same guys that took Eric and Cody?”
I shrugged, “I’m not sure yet.” Just having Blake in the room helped me clear my head a bit. I said, “I think we start by talking to the guys that Andy had dinner with last night.”
Jeff said, “I’m sure they can help us narrow down the time frame. I’ll go with you to the front desk to get their room numbers so we can talk to them.”
Jeff explained to the desk clerk what we needed. He quickly had the names and room numbers of the three visiting lab techs. He and his security guard went to their rooms to bring them down to talk to us. We were set up in the same meeting room where we interviewed all the other employees over the last few days. While we were waiting for Jeff to return, Elliot offered to go get a cup of coffee for Blake.
Blake smiled at Elliot, “Thanks, I would appreciate that.”
Once Elliot walked out of the room, Blake asked, “So how is Elliot to work with?”
I said, “He’s been very helpful, he’s a nice guy and a good cop.”
Blake nodded, “Good to know, Ridge has been talking with Captain about adding him to our team. I’m sure Ridge will be asking you about him when he gets back from his cruise.”
I sighed, “I hope I have this case solved before he gets back so he doesn't want to kick me off the team.”
Blake shook his head, “From everything you have told me, you have done everything that Ridge would have done. He won’t be kicking you off the team.”
Elliot returned with Blake’s coffee as Jeff led Cindy, Dave and Paul into the room. They were the three guests that Andy entertained last night.
Dave asked, “What’s going on? Is there something wrong?”
I said, “We have a few questions for you. Can you give me a timeline of what you did with Andy Chase last night, from the time you left the hospital and returned to the hotel?”
Paul said, “We got to the hotel between 5:30 and 6:00. Did something happen Detective?”
I sighed, “We’ll get to that, please tell me what you did after you arrived at the hotel.”
Dave said, “We went straight to the restaurant down the hall. We ordered a drink and then dinner.”
Blake asked, “Was it just the four of you, or did someone else join you?”
Paul said, “No, it was just us.”
Elliot asked, “What time did you finish eating dinner?”
Cindy answered, “It was between 7:30 and 8:00.”
I picked up the questioning, “Did you go back to your rooms after that?”
Dave chuckled, “No, we decided to celebrate a good week of training and went to the bar.”
Blake asked, “Again, just the four of you?”
All three nodded to the affirmative. I asked, “How long did you stay at the bar?”
Cindy rolled her eyes, “I left at a little after 9:00, these guys are a little too much for me. I have no idea what time they left.”
Paul said, “Yeah, we stayed a little longer, I think it was a little after 11:00 when I got to my room.”
Dave agreed, “Yes, I felt bad for Andy. I think he wanted to leave earlier, but we don’t get the chance to have fun on our boss’s dime very often. He stayed with us, I think he was being a gracious host.”
Elliot asked, “Did Andy leave the hotel, or did he go to either of your rooms?”
I braced myself; I knew the question needed to be asked but I didn’t want to ask it or hear the answer.
I exhaled when Paul answered, “No, he left the hotel. He started to drink water right after Cindy left. Like Dave said, he was being a good host.”
Dave noticed we were asking a lot questions about Andy. He asked, “Did something happen to Andy? Please, Detective, if something happened, we would like to know. Of course, we will help in any way we can.”
I looked at Blake, he nodded, “Go ahead and tell them, Ollie. They might be able to help.” He stood to leave, he said, “I’ll go give the timeline to Jeff so he can start looking at the surveillance footage.”
Dave said, “Ollie? Not Andy’s husband Ollie?”
I nodded, “Yes, I’m Andy’s husband. He didn’t come home last night; his car is still in the parking lot.”
Cindy gasped, “Oh God.”
Dave said, “We have told you everything Detective, we were all here from about 6:00 to 11:00. No one else joined us, we didn’t even talk to anyone else all night. Well, other than our server at the restaurant and the bartender.”
Paul asked, “What else can we tell you?”
I shook my head, “You have been very helpful, thank you. What time are you scheduled to leave Miami?”
Dave said, “Our flight is at 1:00. We were going to eat a late breakfast and leave for the airport between 10:30 and 11:00.”
I said, “If you will each give me a phone number that I can reach you in case I have any further questions, I would appreciate it.”
They all nodded, “Of course.”
Cindy said, “I am so sorry Detective, Andy had so many nice things to say about you. I hope you find him soon and safe.”
I forced a slight smile, “Thank you. I appreciate that.”
Dave said, “And please, call us to tell us when you find him.”
I sighed, “Of course.”
Elliot sat at the table with his notepad as they gathered around to give him their information. We didn’t think they had anything to do with Andy’s disappearance. They all seemed to be upset when they found out why we were asking so many questions. We let them return to their rooms and Elliot and I left to join Blake and Jeff to see if the surveillance footage held any clues.
Blake said, “Jeff started at 10:00, we are up to about 10:30. So far we have not seen Andy in the parking lot.”
Jeff explained, “The cameras on the bar and restaurant parking lot move from side to side. They scan the lot every 30 seconds. Blake said that Andy left the bar around 11 so I am fast forwarding. If we see any activity, I’ll stop it and return to normal speed.”
As the time stamp turned to 11:01 we saw Andy walk into the view of the camera. Jeff resumed normal speed on the footage. Andy appeared to be typing on his phone. I assume he was typing the unsent text to me. Just as the camera scanned away from Andy, another person entered at the bottom of the frame. They looked like they were following Andy and was trying to catch up to him. They were out of frame before anything happened. When the camera returned to the same location, my heart stopped. We just saw Andy’s legs disappear between two cars.
It looked like the attacker was dragging Andy away. Because he was between the cars, we did not get a good picture of them. Jeff checked all the other cameras in the parking lots, Andy or the person dragging him away didn’t appear on any of them. We have no idea if he was taken away in another vehicle or if he was dragged back into the hotel.
Elliot said, “It looks like it could be the same person that carried Cody and Eric out of the hotel.”
I nodded, “The build is similar, but they were careful to not turn toward the camera. But there were two people carrying Cody and Eric, I only saw one dragging Andy.”
Blake said, “But they were out view of the cameras, maybe the second person was waiting between the cars.”
I asked Jeff, “Do you have any other camera views?”
He sighed, “Sorry, no. The owners of the hotel said that they were more worried about having cameras in all the halls and on the hotel guest parking lot. They didn’t think the lot for bar guests would be as important.”
Blake said, “I haven’t seen the footage of Cody and Eric being carried away yet. Can we look at that again, just so I compare the people carrying them?”
Jeff said, “Of course, I will show you anything you want.” He quickly brought up the footage and we compared the suspects, trying to see if they were the same.
Blake sighed, “It’s a little hard to tell. Yes they have similar builds, but it’s hard to judge their height. The hallway footage is closer than the parking lot footage. I really wish they would have turned toward the camera, so we could get a look at their face.”
Elliot said, “Can we see any footage of the other parking lots? We know what the SUV that they transported Cody and Eric looked like, maybe we can see if the same SUV is in the lot last night.”
I nodded, “Yeah, that is a good idea. If we can determine it’s the same car, then we will know we are looking for the same person. I wanted to check on that SUV today anyway; I also want to see what kind of car Marla Nelson drives.”
Jeff asked, “Do you think Marla is involved in this?”
I nodded, “She is the one person that could see our victims in the bar and then has a view of the elevator to see them take their friends to their room. I know she would need help, but I need to eliminate her as a suspect, if nothing else.”
Blake said, “She is someone we certainly need follow up on.”
Jeff went to work going through the footage of all the parking lots. Good lord, all these SUVs look alike, and in the dark, it’s hard to tell a gray car from a white car. We were still assuming the SVU we saw in the earlier footage was white, but it could be gray or even light blue or tan. All this footage was not making things any easier.
Cody and Eric
Cody and Eric were sitting on the bed in the room that they were being held in. They heard the door being unlocked. They knew it was early morning; the sun was starting to shine through the cracks in the cardboard that was covering the small window on the outside wall. Just like the last few mornings, their captor handed them two fast food bags.
Cody asked, “Why are we still here? What do you want with us?”
The captor said, “You, stand up against that wall.” He pointed at Eric.
Eric asked, “Why?”
The captor replied, "Just shut up and do it.”
Eric complied and the man pulled out his phone a took a picture of Eric. He had Cody do the same thing.
Cody asked, “What are you going to do with those pictures?"
The captor said, “Just shut up and eat your breakfast.”
The door was locked as the captor left. Cody and Eric heard the man ask someone outside the room, “What is your plan with those two?”
Eric and Cody moved close to the door, hoping to hear their fate. Another muffed voice said, “I don’t know yet. They just need to learn their lesson.”
The man that had given them their food said, “We can’t keep them here forever, you need to figure something out soon.”
Eric looked at Cody, he said, “That voice sounds familiar.”
Cody nodded, “Yeah, I’ve heard it before too. I just can’t remember when.”
Ollie
Jeff said, “I’m sorry guys. I will keep looking through the footage, just to make sure we haven’t missed anything.”
I said, “Thanks Jeff.” I sat back and ran my hands through my hair. I turned to Blake, “We should go back to the station. I would like for you to look through the forensic reports and all the other evidence we have collected. Maybe you will see something that Elliot and I have missed.”
Blake nodded, “Sounds like a good idea. It would help me to have all the information; I’m kind of coming into this a bit cold. I think I have a good idea of what happened, but it won’t hurt to have a few more details filled in.”
Blake, Elliot and I stood to leave, I told Jeff to call us if he found anything and if he wanted any help with the footage, I was sure Mark and Kyle would be happy to come back to the hotel to help him.
Les O’Neill, the late-night security guard was at the door when we opened it.
Jeff said, “Hey Les, what are you still doing here?”
He looked at us; he seemed a bit nervous. He said, “I heard there was another abduction last night.”
Les suddenly had my interest. I said, “Yes, did you see something?”
Les shook his head, “No, I didn’t see anything last night.” He shifted his weight from one foot to the other.
Blake put his hand on Les’s shoulder, he said, “Les, if you have any information, no matter how small or insignificant it seems to you, we need you to tell us.”
Jeff stood and said, “Les, what did you want to tell us?”
Les stammered, “Well, I don’t know if it has anything to do with anything, but on Wednesday night I went to make my 2:30 rounds. You know, to make sure all the doors are locked?”
Jeff nodded, “Of course, go on. What did you see?”
Les took a deep breath, “I was about 20 minutes into my rounds when I realized I forgot the key to security room on floor 4. Nick had told me that he was in there during his shift and forgot to lock it. I told him I would lock when I made my rounds. I came back here to get the key… well… Nick was coming out of the office. He looked surprised to see me; he told me he forgot his lunch box and came back to get it.”
Jeff shrugged, “Okay, you guys forget your personal belongings in here all the time.”
Les looked at all of us, “Nick wasn’t carrying his lunch box.”
To be Continued…
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