Deadeye by William C. Dietz

levelly. A section of the wall-like reception desk swung out of the way to reveal another uniformed guard. Lee turned to thank Cindy, but the woman had disappeared.
    â€œPlease follow me,” the guard said, and led Lee through a maze of cubicles to a conference room. A man in a gray business suit stood and extended a hand. He had a beefy look, like a wrestler or professional bouncer. A haze of blue stubble covered a square jaw. “I’m Hal Harmon, Chief of Security for the Purity Center.”
    â€œIt’s a pleasure,” Lee said, and hoped it would be as a huge paw engulfed her hand.
    â€œThis is Edward Tavez,” Harmon said, gesturing to one of two men seated at the table. “And that’s Oliver Sims. They were with Miss Amanda the day she was abducted.”
    Both men sat with their eyes on the tabletop and only looked up when their names were mentioned. Lee saw that both had cuts, scratches, and bruises. “They feel badly about what happened,” Harmon said lamely.
    â€œI’m sure all of us do,” Lee replied. “And we have a common interest in finding Amanda. With that in mind, I’m going to ask you some questions and record your answers.”
    After removing a small device from her pocket, Lee thumbed the RECORD button and placed it in the middle of the table. Then she gave the date, time, and names of those present.
    With that out of the way, Lee asked the bodyguards to take her through the kidnapping. Had that been the first interview they would have been separated, but that stuff was on tape, and Lee wanted to see how they would interact. And there was Harmon to consider. Had the security chief been leaning on them? Was that why they were so subdued? Or were they genuinely upset?
    Lee questioned the bodyguards for more than half an hour and was impressed by the extent to which their answers matched what they’d said before. That was consistent with the sort of recall one would expect from professionals, but it could be the result of practice as well.
    But regardless of that, one thing was for sure . . . The bodyguards were lying. “Okay,” Lee said as she eyed the bodyguards. “Here’s the problem . . . Although some of what you told detectives Yanty, Prospo, and me is true, some of it is pure, unadulterated bullshit.
    â€œI’ve seen video from all of the surrounding security cameras. It shows the van pulling up and four men jumping out. Two of the kidnappers grab Amanda and start to drag her away. Two of them attack you. Meanwhile, two additional assailants approach you from behind. All of that matches up. But here’s the problem. Once the four kidnappers have Amanda in the van, they pile in. Then, as the vehicle pulls away, the others run. You claim to have chased them for a couple of blocks. The video shows you giving up after a hundred feet.”
    Harmon frowned. “What difference does it make?”
    Lee shrugged. “What if Mr. Tavez and Mr. Sims didn’t
want
to catch the kidnappers? That would explain why they failed to use their guns.”
    Harmon turned to look at the men in question. There was a thunderous look on his face.
“Well?”
    Tavez looked miserable. “We couldn’t fire on the first four . . . Not without running the risk of hitting Miss Amanda. As for the other attackers, there were shoppers beyond them—and they were zigzagging back and forth. So we chased them and gave up. It was as simple as that.”
    The answer came across as at least partly true . . . But Lee was going to request that both of them be placed under surveillance. If they had played a part in the kidnapping, there was a good chance that they would contact the rest of the gang before long.
    A guide who looked a lot like Cindy was there to escort Lee to her bike and waved as she rode away. Getting out of the Purity Center proved to be just as difficult as getting in had been. Once