Page 14 of Canyon of Deceit
THIRTEEN
BLANE
Even when approaching danger, I always admired a sunrise streaking across the horizon.
The sun had begun its ascent in blended, chalklike pastels of yellow, orange, and light purple—a landscape that paled in every art galley’s replication.
I let the beauty relax me when my phone rang.
Sergio’s name lit up the screen, breaking the silence of the long drive toward the looming Guadalupe Mountains.
“Yes, sir.” I mouthed Major Montoya in Therese’s direction. “Is it okay if Therese listens to this?” He agreed, and I laid the phone on the console. I pressed the speaker button.
“Thank you,” she said to Sergio.
“No problem. Our buddy Rurik gets deeper and deeper into this mess. Were you aware of his relationship to Baranov?”
“No clue,” Therese said. “His secrets are... frustrating. Since he and Baranov are cousins, is the prime minister also related to Rurik?”
“Rurik’s on the other side of the family.
We’ve confirmed Tom Chandler and one other man are somewhere in the Dog Canyon region.
Yesterday evening, Chandler drove into Dog Canyon in a white Dodge pickup, extended cab.
The security cam videoed enough of his face for the FBI to run facial recognition.
One other unidentified person was with him.
Could be Jurg Falin. And if Alina sat in the rear seat, the camera didn’t pick her up.
The truck belongs to a man from Carlsbad who reported it stolen two days ago. The owner’s clean.”
“Has Rurik wired funds to anyone?” Therese said.
“Yes, from his Houston bank account. The FBI is running down his overseas accounts. Another thing, Rusty. The FBI has prepared a SAR team and will soon be en route, expediting their earlier estimated arrival.”
I licked my lips. “Can you buy us any time?”
“No. Already went that route. Other things are brewing. Things I can’t relay to you, but it’s deeper than you and I discussed.”
Compassion washed over me for Therese. “A part of me says we can use all the manpower available. But if Chandler sees a team of heavy guns, he’ll kill Alina. He or another man will make good on Rurik never seeing Alina again.”
“You are hours ahead of the FBI to negotiate with the kidnappers, and you have the best guide out there. You two have your own big guns.”
“We’ll do our best.” I glanced at Therese, but she kept her attention on the road.
“Keep me posted. This is critical,” Sergio said.
I slipped my phone back into my jeans pocket. Reservations about seeing this through successfully bit into my ego.
“Do we approach this any differently?” she said.
“Hold on to your thought. First, I need to find everything out there about Chandler. Figure out how his reasoning affects his actions.”
“Good idea. I won’t speak until you’re ready to talk.”
I tossed her a smile, and the one she gave me lifted my spirits higher than the mountains ahead of us. I logged into a secured site and typed in my authorization creds.
Chandler’s background history met my scrutiny, and I read every word. His life experiences shaped the man who had victimized so many people.
“Chandler didn’t have much of a chance from the moment he was born.
Genetically, his father, now deceased, was a psychopath.
His drug-addicted mother abandoned him at the age of three, and his maternal grandmother took him in.
She was the only positive influence in his life.
According to an interview the grandmother gave Social Services, his mother beat him, leaving horrible scars.
She also neglected to feed him. At age four he started speaking, but the signs of abuse were there.
He wet the bed late into childhood, started fires for fun, truant in school, and cruel to animals.
She encouraged him to study and urged him to play sports, but he refused to do the schoolwork or comply with the rules.
We’re looking at a means to understand him.
Put our feet into his shoes and find his weaknesses. ”
Therese squeezed the steering wheel. “His past is horrendous, but none of it justifies his horrific choices.”
“Chandler was under the care of a psychiatrist off and on from age six through fourteen. Then he rejected the sessions. By age sixteen, he’d been sentenced twice to juvenile state-supported rehabs.
A psychiatrist who treated him in his early teen years claimed Chandler needed medication for his violence, but the kid refused.
By the time he turned eighteen, there were countless warrants for his arrest. The crimes ranged from theft, drunk and disorderly, assault with a deadly weapon, person of interest in murders, and several miscellaneous atrocities committed against those who fell prey to his endless displays of torture. His IQ is 137.”
Therese exhaled a heavy sigh. “He made the choices of a predator, but the problem already existed. Choosing a peregrine feather fits the bird’s traits.”
“People with antisocial personality disorder are usually highly intelligent and manipulative.” This was the man Therese and I faced? The lines across her forehead showed me Chandler terrified her. “Do you want to abandon our pursuit?”
“No.” She set her jaw. “I made my decision in Houston. Any other info?”
“When Chandler was twenty-two, his grandmother died in a car accident. He blamed the police officer, stating the officer failed to call 911 in time. His grief sent him on a rampage—he robbed a liquor store and killed a clerk. When the police looked for him, he killed two officers.”
“Deadly decisions. Any other relationships that offer insight?” she said.
“No family—male or female—mentioned. Prefers high-end living in areas of the world decent people avoid. No-questions-asked and anything-goes clubs appeal to his lust. No permanent address, except authorities have their eye on an area outside of Mexico City. Authorities are searching for overseas accounts. Nothing connects him to the ROC, and he apparently operates independently for the right price.”
Nothing jumped out to offer in exchange for Alina or a way to lure him into a trap—but money.
“Blane, why an area where food and water mean life, and money means nothing?”
“He could have something valuable hidden in Dog Canyon.” I shrugged. “The question is, what and why?”
“How does what you’ve learned affect negotiations?”
“I’m thinking. His grandmother was his only lifeline. From his past, it looks like my negotiation skills will be useless. The only way to stop him is with a gun pointed at his chest. But I have to try.”