Page 63 of John’s Yearning

Damian’s chest puffed up proudly. “Oh yeah, piece of cake. We snatched him. He had no idea we were coming.” Then he motioned to the door. “I’ll take you to the observation room.”

“Thank you.”

She followed him as he led her to the elevator, which they took back down to the basement. When they arrived at one of the sub-levels, he ushered her down a long corridor, then used his access card to open a door. He held it open for her.

“Go ahead. Take a seat.”

She walked inside and saw Ryder sitting at a computer in front of a big window that looked down into another room.

“Hi,” she said.

Damian entered behind her and closed the door.

“They just started,” Ryder said and pointed to the chair next to him. Then he pressed a button on a microphone. “We’re all here.”

Savannah sat down and looked into the room below. Several people were assembled: John, Grayson, and Benjamin. At Ryder’s announcement, they’d turned their heads briefly. There was one man she didn’t know: the hacker. He sat on a chair while the three Scanguards employees stood several feet in front of him, their backs now turned to the window from which she was observing.

“Let’s try this again, Otto,” John said, his voice coming through loudspeakers in the small observation room as clearly as if she was sitting in the interrogation room with him.

“I know my rights. You can’t keep me here. And you’re not the police,” the suspect said with a defiant upward jerk of his chin.

“You’re right about that,” John acknowledged. “If we were police, you’d get a phone call and a lawyer. Guess what? We’re not that generous.”

A flash of fear passed over the hacker’s face, but then he reined himself in again. “I’m gonna sue you!”

John exchanged looks with his two young colleagues, who were flanking him. “You hear this joker, boys? I don’t think he knows who he’s dealing with.”

Unexpectedly John took several steps toward the suspect, almost jumping at him. Otto’s eyes widened, and he tried to get out of his chair, but John gripped the armrests, and got right in his face.

“Let’s talk, Otto. Let me explain how this is gonna work: I ask questions, and you answer them. Simple. Do you understand?”

The suspect nodded, his eyes still filled with fear. She knew that John could look intimidating, but clearly sitting in a chair in a bare room with three tall and muscular guys bent on getting answers scared the living daylights out of the man. Savannah clasped her hands in eager anticipation. Her heartbeat accelerated.

“You hacked into Kerry Young’s database and photo files to get access to photos and addresses of young girls aged nine to twelve. What did you do with the data?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” Otto said. “I didn’t hack into anything.”

“We have proof you did, so let’s not quibble about that. Thirteen girls were kidnapped in the last few weeks, all after photoshoots at Miss Young’s studio. If you don’t answer my questions, I’m going to have to assume that you’re the kidnapper. And I’m not very kind to people who hurt little girls.”

Savannah thought she could hear a growl coming through the speakers, but it was probably static in the line.

“I didn’t kidnap anybody. I didn’t. I swear.”

“Then who did?”

“I don’t know. I swear.”

“You swear a lot. You’d better search your memory, because if I think you’re no use to me anymore, I might just discard you.” He turned his head slightly. “Boys, why don’t you tell our guest what I mean by discard, since he clearly isn’t familiar with my vocabulary.”

Grayson stepped closer. “I believe the correct translation for discard is being beaten to a pulp.”

The hacker gasped in fear.

“Thanks, Grayson,” John said politely. “Now, Otto, how about I repeat my question and you search your memory really hard and tell me what I want to know?”

“Please don’t hurt me. I didn’t know.” Suddenly tears shot to the hacker’s eyes.

“You didn’t know what?”