Free The Night Is Deep (A Liam Dempsey Thriller Book 2) by Joe Hart Page B

say please but it came out as feez around the gag. The kidnapper kept speaking as if he couldn’t hear her. A faint methodic thumping rose in the background and fell away. “I will contact you again in two days. The countdown has begun.”
    The video ended, then disappeared from the screen, leaving the small symbol of a burning tree in its place. Owen began to cry in earnest and slumped forward over the table as if he’d been shot. Perring put a hand on the back of his neck and gazed around at the task force.
    “Heller’s going to send copies of the video to each of you. I want everyone to go over it. Watch it and then watch it again. I want a list from everyone in half an hour, anything pertinent you can think of, anything that stands out to you. Let’s find her, people, clock’s ticking.” The men and women dispersed, returning to their computers. There was a rustling of fast food bags as they were cleared from the workspace, then the tapping of keyboards filled the room. Liam knelt by Owen’s side, touching his heaving back.
    “Hey, listen. She’s alive, okay. We can quit worrying that she’s not, right?” Slowly Owen raised his reddened face and nodded. “So now we’ve got a plan. That guy wants his money. He doesn’t want her dead, otherwise she would be.”
    “Liam’s right, Mr. Farrow,” Perring said. “This is by no means a good scenario but it’s much better than some of the alternatives. Now you need to decide how we’re going to proceed. Are you willing to try and raise the funds for Valerie’s release?”
    Owen sniffled and squinted at her. “What? Of course. Of course I’m going to pay, what choice do I have?”
    “We could try to extend the ransom time, call his bluff, use our resources in the meantime to smoke him out of wherever he’s holed up with her.”
    “No, absolutely not. I won’t risk her life over money. My insurance company will reimburse me. I already spoke to the necessary people this morning to acquire the money.”
    “Okay. I always have to give people options,” Perring said. “So we’ll go ahead with the ransom demands and when the kidnapper makes contact again we’ll put a contingency plan into effect.”
    Owen nodded and Liam caught a faraway glint in his eyes, a fading of sorts. Owen’s head continued to bob, and when he tried to rise from the chair, his legs wouldn’t hold him. Liam steadied his swaying form until the other man could stand on his own.
    “I think I’m going to throw up,” Owen said, then hurried down the hall. They heard the slamming of a door that deadened the sound of him being sick. Liam stared after his friend before turning back to Perring.
    “Can I have another look at the video?” he asked.
    “Sure. Here. Heller, share your laptop with Mr. Dempsey.”
    The man in the horn-rimmed glasses scooted to the side, holding out a hand as Liam settled into a chair next to him. “Brandon Heller.”
    Liam took his hand. “Liam Dempsey.”
    “Good to meet you, Liam. Okay, I’m going to start the video over from the beginning if that’s fine with you?”
    “Perfect.”
    Heller opened the recorded file from his hard drive, but before he began to play it he handed Liam a set of ear buds. “Go ahead and listen first, I’ll take the second round.”
    Liam plugged the buds into his ears and Heller hit the Play button. Valerie’s sobs were much louder and so defined that it made him want to close his eyes to the pain and anguish that each sound brought. Instead he removed his focus from her form in the chair and began to study her surroundings: the stain on the cinderblocks, the mold, old spider webs, the lack of light. The camera shifted away from Valerie and he watched the shudder that ran through the video as if whoever was turning it had fumbled their grip for a moment. When the kidnapper spoke he listened for any phonetic markings: odd pauses, slurred speech, lisps, rounding of vowels, but there was nothing. Besides the obvious