Girl of Lies by Charles Sheehan-Miles Read Free Book Online Page B

“Are you Julia or Carrie?”
    Carrie jumped a little. “What?”
    “You won’t remember me, you were too young. But I was in charge of your family’s security detail in Brussels in the early 90s.”
    “Oh…   I’m Carrie.”
    He frowned quickly. “I’m sorry for your loss. I didn’t have much of a chance to brush up on the files before I drove up here, but I did read the Post ’ s coverage of Sergeant Sherman’s court martial.”
    Carrie was never off balance. Poised. Intelligent. Brave. But now she recoiled almost, and Andrea felt a flash of rage. How dare he?
    “We’re done here.” Andrea said it at the exact same moment Sarah said, “Will you just leave her alone?” Sarah’s face was flushed and angry.
    Bear looked between the three sisters and froze in place. Then he looked at Carrie and said, “My apologies. I… I’m very sorry.”
    Carrie sighed then said, “It’s okay. It’s just… very fresh.”
    “I understand.” His voice was soothing. “Please. Have a seat.”
    The three sisters sat, Andrea and Sarah flanking Carrie.
    “Let’s start over. And again, my apologies. My name’s Bear Wyden, and I’m a special investigator for the Diplomatic Security Service. Until three weeks ago I was assistant regional security officer at the Embassy in Pakistan.
    “Three weeks ago?” Sarah said. “Were you fired for insensitivity?”
    Bear smiled wryly. “Maybe I should have been. In fact, I’m moving on to the Joint Terrorism Task Force. But in the meantime, I’m heading the investigation into your kidnapping, Andrea.”
    She shrugged. “I don’t know if there’s much to investigate. They gave the impression it was some kind of human trafficking ring?”
    “Oh?” he said. “What gave you that idea?”
    She thought back. Then said, “At some point one of them… the hairy one… said he was going to rape me before they… disposed of me.”
    Carrie reached out and gripped Andrea’s hand.
    “I see,” Bear said. “Why don’t we start at the beginning, then? Just tell me everything you remember. When did you first see the kidnappers?”
    “Well, the hairy one, he was on the plane.”
    Bear nodded. “Tariq Koury.”
    “That’s his name? He claimed he was a student.”
    He shook his head. “He’s no student. I can’t really say anything more.”
    “Koury… he’s middle eastern?”
    “Saudi,” Bear answered. “Had you ever met him before this flight?”
    Andrea shook her head. “No. Neither of them.”
    Bear asked her a series of questions. When did she first see him on the flight? He took her through everything Koury said on the plane, then back through it a second and then a third time. Then they moved on. The car. She described how she’d passed her phone up to the front of the car.
    “Wait,” Sarah said. “I got text messages from you when you got off the plane. I was waiting at Terminal C.”
    “You didn’t get any text messages from me,” Andrea said. “My phone was dead. In fact…” She froze. How could she be so stupid? “Wait. I went off to the bathroom pretty early on the flight. And left my phone in the seat. It was dead when I got back.”
    Bear made some notes. “It sounds like Koury may have switched batteries or SIM cards, then sent the texts to Sarah to keep her unaware of what was happening.”
    “This was all planned, then,” Carrie said.
    Bear met Carrie’s eyes. Then he nodded. “I think it best that we assign a security detail for now.”
    Andrea’s eyes widened. She didn’t need or want that. “I’m only going to be here a few days. It’s not necessary.”
    “I think it is,” Bear said. “And I’m certain your father will agree.”
    This provoked nothing more than a sneer from Andrea. “I’m not terribly concerned about my father’s opinion. May I go?”
    Bear sat back. “Fine. Let me ride along behind, for now, until we’ve got the security detail in place.”
    Carrie gave him the address, while Andrea stood there rolling