Page 32 of Deserving Cora
“We talked on the phone every day. She called me on her way to work, and then we’d text throughout the day, and usually talk when we got home in the evenings too. We haven’t gone a day without talking practically since we’ve met. And now it’s beenweeks, and I’ve gotten just a few texts and one video chat that was basically moderated by her boyfriend.
“I woke up one day and she was just gone. Yes, we had a fight before she left, but Lara doesn’t hold grudges. I fully expected to have a text from her when I woke up the next morning, apologizing. She left without one word to me. Without a word toanyone. Some people have said it’s possible she fell head over heels in love and decided on the spur of the moment to move across the country without a word to even her parents, but those people don’t know Lara like I do. Something is terribly wrong. And every day that goes by, and I don’t talk to her, I’m more sure of it.”
Pipe wanted to comfort Cora, but he was afraid she’d break down if he touched her. She was breathing fast and glaring at his friends so ferociously at this point, it was somewhat alarming.
No one said a word, the only sound in the room was Cora’s harsh breathing. Then she took a deep breath and cleared the emotion from her voice.
“Before she disappeared, we’d had a few conversations about Ridge. I told her about some of my concerns. He didn’t want to meet any of her friends, didn’t seem interested in her job. He was also possessive, and not in a good way. She wasn’t happy with me, and said I was just jealous and bitter. Then she disappeared. He took her away from DC, away from her friends, her family. That’s what abusers do, right? They take away a person’s support system. Isolate them.”
“We had a friend who’s very good with computers look into Ridge Michaels,” Stone told her.
Cora nodded. “I hope he was able to find more than I did.”
“Ridge is actually his middle name, he uses it casually, for social media and apparently for his personal life. For professional purposes, he goes by his first name…Peter. He’s the CEO of a bitcoin company. He has a sister who lives in France, who’s a successful model, and his parents are well respected in California. He’s thirty years old, never been married, no children. His company gives hundreds of thousands of dollars to charities every year, and he’s a regular attendee at political gatherings at the White House. Well…his father donates money, and as a result, Michaels gets invited to the political shindigs.”
Cora stared at Stone, then sat back in her chair with a disbelieving huff of breath. “How the hell did I not find that out when I did my research?” she asked under her breath.
“Apparently he keeps his professional life very separate from his personal one,” Brick told her. “From what we were able to find, there’s nothing that says this guy is an undercover kidnapper. He’s seemingly an upstanding businessman who’s apparently invested in starting a life with your friend. The Michaels family has a large estate in the Phoenix area, and they employ a dozen or so people who work in the house every day. It’s highly unlikely all those people—maids, cooks, landscapers, drivers, and bodyguards—are all in on some nefarious plan to keep Lara hostage.”
“There’s also no reason why he would do something like that,” Tonka added. “He’s had several girlfriends over the years, and none have claimed he’s been abusive or done anything to harm them.”
Pipe kept his attention on Cora. Her bottom lip trembled for a moment, before she shook her head slowly. “I don’t believe it,” she whispered.
“Maybe Lara has found her prince charming,” Owl suggested gently. “You said yourself that she was a romantic.”
Cora let out a little growl as she stood so fast, the chair she was sitting in flew backward and hit the floor with a loud crack. “No!” she exclaimed, her hands in fists by her sides.
Then she closed her eyes and took a deep breath, struggling to regain her composure.
When she opened her eyes a moment later, Pipe could see she was still upset, but had gotten control of her emotions. “You’re wrong. You’reallwrong,” she said, disappointment easy to hear in her voice.
“About what? About the information we found online?” Brick asked.
“No, that’s probably true. You’re wrong about thinking Lara is with this Ridge guy because she thinks it’s true love. I don’t disagree that she probablythoughtshe was in love, but she’s not the kind of woman to up and leave without a word to anyone. Lara’s in trouble. I don’t care what your friend might’ve found online about him being an upstanding businessman. Peter Ridge Michaels is holding her hostage for some reason. And if I’m the only person who believes that, so be it. I appreciate your hospitality, and I think you’re doing great work here. I’ll get out of your hair and you guys can keep doing what you do. Thank you for your service to our country…and yours too,” she added, looking at Pipe.
Her eyes were full of tears she refused to shed, and she was breaking Pipe’s heart.
“Sit down,” Brick said. It wasn’t a request.
Snapping her head to look at him, Cora didn’t move for a long moment. Then she slowly bent over, picked up the chair, and sat. She didn’t scoot up to the table though, and perched on the edge of the seat as if prepared to bolt at any second.
“Like I said, nothing we were able to find indicates he’s holding your friend against her will…but it’s been my experience that no one is as squeaky clean as Michaels seems to be,” Brick finished.
Pipe looked at his friend in surprise. In the short conversation he’d had with the others, no one had hinted they might not be buying the good-guy image Tex had found.
“I understand from Pipe that you’ve looked into us?” Brick asked Cora.
She nodded.
“So you know what happened to Alaska.”
She nodded again.
“If she hadn’t managed to call me while she was in Russia, if she hadn’t been able to trick the asshole who’d taken her, she wouldn’t be here today.Iwouldn’t be the man I am today. So…what exactly is it that you want us to do?”
Cora swallowed hard. “Help me find her. Make sure she’s okay.”
“We have the address of the property the Michaels family owns in Arizona. So finding her shouldn’t be an issue,” Brick said.
