Chapter 8: The Call from Nowhere
Daniel reached for the phone first.
"Don't answer it," Madison said.
"Why not?"
"I don't know who that is."
"Then we find out." He accepted the call and put it on speaker before she could object.
A woman's voice came through.
Measured, professional, slightly tired.
"Is this Madison Cole?"
Daniel looked at her.
She leaned toward the phone.
"This is Madison."
"My name is Detective Renee Calloway.
I'm with the Chicago Police Department, Financial Crimes unit.
I'd like to speak with you today if you're available."
The kitchen went very still.
"Financial Crimes," Daniel said.
"That's correct.
And you are?"
"Daniel Cole.
Madison's uncle.
She's currently staying with me."
"Mr.
Cole." A brief pause.
"Actually, it would be helpful to speak with you as well.
Would this afternoon work?
I can come to you, or you're welcome to come to the district."
Daniel looked at me.
I gave him a small nod.
"Here is fine," he said.
"Two o'clock."
"I'll see you then." The call ended.
Madison sat back in her chair.
All the careful composure she'd maintained through Frank's visit had gone out of her face.
"They're already investigating him," she said.
"Looks that way," Daniel said.
"That means this is bigger than Carter Briggs."
"Yes."
"How many other people did he do this to?"
Daniel didn't answer, because there was no answer yet.
I refilled my coffee.
My hands were steady.
I was aware of that in a distant way, the way you notice small things when larger things are moving around you.
"Madison," I said.
"Before Detective Calloway gets here — is there anything else we don't know?
Anything at all?"
She looked at me for a long moment.
"There's one more thing," she said.
Daniel set his cup down.
"The hotel charges on your credit card," she said.
"The ones you found this morning."
"Eight hundred and forty-three dollars," Daniel said.
"I wasn't staying there." She said it quickly, like she'd been holding it back.
"Ryan was.
I booked the room for him.
He said he needed somewhere to work from while he sorted out the Briggs situation.
He said he'd pay me back."
"You put a hotel room for Ryan Garrett on my credit card," Daniel said.
"I know."
"Without asking."
"I know, Daniel."
He was quiet for a moment.
Then: "Was he in that hotel room when the summons was delivered this morning?"
She nodded.
One small movement.
"So he was four blocks away," I said.
"While his name was being read out in our kitchen."
"Yes."
Daniel picked up his phone and called Frank.
He explained the hotel, the room, the credit card.
He listened.
He said yes twice and hung up.
"Frank is calling Calloway's unit," he said.
"To make sure they know where Garrett has been staying."
Madison closed her eyes.
"He's going to know I told you," she said.
"He already sent you a threat this morning," I said.
"What more can he do?"
She opened her eyes.
"You don't know him."
"No," I said.
"But Detective Calloway apparently does."
We sat and waited.
The apartment was quiet in a way that felt temporary — like the silence before a door opens rather than after one closes.
At twelve minutes past two, Detective Calloway knocked.
She was younger than her voice had suggested.
Early forties, dark coat, a notebook rather than a tablet.
She shook our hands and declined coffee and sat at the kitchen table where Frank had sat that morning.
"Ms.
Cole," she said.
"I'll be straightforward with you.
Ryan Garrett is the subject of an active financial crimes investigation.
We have four confirmed victims in Illinois and two in Ohio.
We believe there are more." She looked at Madison steadily.
"We think you may be one of them."
Madison's breath came out slowly.
"We also think," Calloway continued, "that Garrett used your presence in this household to establish a Chicago address and a veneer of legitimacy while he continued operating." She opened her notebook.
"I'd like to start from the beginning, if you're willing."
"She's willing," Daniel said.
Calloway looked at him.
Then at me.
"I'd also like to ask you both a few questions, if that's all right.
Particularly about the credit card charges and the address registration."
"Of course," I said.
May you like
She uncapped her pen.
"Let's start," she said, "with how Madison came to be staying here."
