Call Of The Witch by Dana Donovan Read Free Book Online

girl?”
    “ Money,” said Carlos. It
came out sounding cruel. I don’t know why I thought that. I just
did.
    “ Yeah but…” I could hear
Dominic’s voice begin to crack. “She’s just a kid.” His attention
began to drift.
    “ Dominic?” I touched his
arm. “Dominic?”
    He finally looked at me. “Yeah?”
    “ You all
right?”
    His answer came slowly. “Um…yeah, I’m
okay.”
    “ Can we
continue?”
    He took a deep breath and then focused his
attention and ours to a flip chart he had prepared in the corner.
On the top of the page, he wrote the words:
     
     
    ANATOMY OF A KIDNAPPING.
     
     
    Below that were pie charts and statistics he
had gathered for presentation.
    “ There are generally six
phases to a typical kidnapping, albeit every kidnapping holds its
special blend of circumstances.” Carlos and I nodded as though we
knew that. “In any case, those six phases are Abduction, Captivity,
Proof of Life, Negotiation, Ransom Drop and then finally,
Release.
    “ I think it’s safe to say
we’ve experienced the Abduction and now have to assume we’re in the
Captivity stage. I say assume because in a small percentage of
cases, the victim sometimes escapes her captors and makes her own
way to freedom. Unfortunately, that usually only happens within the
first hour or so after the initial abduction. That’s when the
kidnapper is most vulnerable to making mistakes. His adrenaline is
surging. He’s nervous, often acting hastily in dealing with a
victim who may not behave the way he expects. Once he gets his
victim to his hideout or holding area however, he then has time to
stop and think. He reassesses his plan, reevaluates his objectives
and regains control over the situation. At that point, we’re in his
ball park playing his game.”
    “ Then it’s his game to
lose,” I said, “because we’re likely looking at an abduction that’s
eight or nine hours old.”
    “ In that case we can only
hope we’re in the Captivity phase.”
    He flipped the page on his oversized note
pad. “To understand the Captivity phase, we need to know who our
kidnapper or kidnappers are.”
    Carlos said, “If we knew that, we’d be well
on our way to solving the case.”
    “ True.” Spinelli pointed
to the next illustration on the page: a pie chart divided into
three unequal slices. “Identifying the Suspects,” he said. “In
virtually all kidnappings, we can identify the suspect as one of
three types: family member, acquaintance or stranger. Now, we know
occasionally kidnappers work in teams or groups, and sometimes in a
mob capacity, as with the 1976 Iran Hostage Crises, but ultimately
they all still fall into one of those three.” He pointed to the
largest slice of pie on the chart. “By far, the greatest number of
abductions is generally perpetrated by a family member at the rate
of seventy-seven abductions to one by non-family.”
    “ Wow,” I said. “That’s
powerful.”
    “ Yes it is. Therefore,
it’s no wonder best practices have us looking at family members
first. We start our investigation there and move outward to
friends, acquaintances, peripheral contacts, sex offenders and
finally strangers.”
    “ So we need to look harder
at Lionel and Amanda Brewbaker.”
    “ Not just them. Everyone
in the immediate circle. Brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, in-laws,
stepfamily. Anyone who’s had access to the child.”
    Carlos said, “As far as we know, Kelly has no
siblings.”
    “ But she probably has
close relatives, aunts, uncles and what have you.”
    “ Put that on the list
then,” I said. I turned to Carlos. “See, this is why I wanted to
call the FBI. They have the man power to investigate all these
avenues.”
    “ I know, Tony.” Carlos
shook his finger at me the way I often do to him. I must say, I
didn’t much like it. “But I’m telling you. I know Lionel Brewbaker.
He’s stubborn and pig-headed. He thinks he can reason with whoever
kidnapped his daughter. If we weren’t