On the plane, she was introduced to Eric, a tall, white-blonde Swede, who looked like a living Viking, and Joe, a good-looking, slender man with black hair and eyes, and was immediately uncomfortable with the way Joe looked at her. Asher took her arm and pushed her down the jet to the back, putting her inside next to the window and sitting next to her. There was a table in front of her and Les came aboard after he loaded the luggage into the compartment underneath and sat across from her while Greg sat across from Asher. Eric and Joe went up to the cockpit and twenty minutes later they were in the air.
Mina pulled out her sketch pad and began to draw Derrick's mother while Asher filled them in on what Mina had told him so far.
When he was done they began going over their plan. Mina listened quietly, had a better idea than cops, and tapped Asher's knee. He looked over at her expectantly and nodded, holding up his hand to silence the other two.
"It might be better to say you're private detectives hired by my lawyer to serve him with divorce papers since she hasn't been able to find him yet, less confrontational and no legal repercussions that will send him even further into hiding. If he's there, she might even make him come out to sign for them or tell you where he is. Either way, she will end up calling me to yell about giving out her address, I'll see if I can get her to tell me anything."
"Smart." Greg nodded. "It's much easier to fake PI credentials than cops. Do you think he's there?"
"No. I think he's gone off the grid with one of his stepmothers or siblings. His mother was the one who called the cops on his father when he tried to marry a ten-year-old. She was his first wife and turned a blind eye to a lot, but her rule was that all his other wives must be at least the age of consent which was sixteen. She moved to Albany because the other wives turned on her and took her children with them. Derrick reconnected with her when he turned twenty, she's devoted to him, but he uses her."
"What kinda fucked up family is this?" Les was staring at her as she spoke.
"Polygamist cult." Asher explained.
"Ooh." Les nodded as he understood. Mina finished her sketch and slid it to the middle of the table.
"Her name is Dorothy Talbot, she's fifty-fiveish. She had Derrick when she was seventeen."
"When was the last time you saw her?" Greg picked up the picture and whistled. "This is nice, think I could get a portrait done?"
"Of you?" Mina chuckled. "I saw her a little over a year ago, but unless she had some sort of mid-life crisis she still looks like that. She hasn't changed her hair or anything since I first met her ten years ago. She might have more grey hair now, that's all."
"Well I was thinking of one of my niece and nephew for my sister, but I wouldn't say no to one of me." Greg smiled at her.
Asher frowned at their easy interaction and took the picture from Greg, looking it over and then passing it to Les. "Can you draw Derrick?"
She nodded and started in. "I'd need a picture of your niece and nephew showing their faces from a couple of different angles."
"You'd seriously do that for me?"
"Sure." She shrugged. "It's not like I have much else to do. If you want it bigger than this you'll have to buy me the size you want. Did you want color or just black and white?"
"Black and white and this size is fine, I'll get you the pictures when I have a chance." She nodded and fell quiet again as they began to refine their plan. She was just finishing up when Eric announced they would be landing in thirty minutes. She passed it over to Asher and he found himself looking at a good-looking man in his late thirties with curly brown hair, puppy dog eyes, and a charming grin complete with dimples.
"Hmph." He passed the picture to Les and Greg. "You married one of those stupid crossbred dogs. A labra-doodle."
Mina heard the disdain in his voice and rolled her eyes. "Yes, and it turned out so well for me. Strangled so many times I have permanent nerve damage, broke because he stole all my money and kidnapped and being used by a less than reputable group to find him because he sold me to human traffickers after he killed three of their call girls and needed to pay his debt. Look at me, just living the dream."
Both Les and Greg snickered at her obvious sarcasm but Asher's frustration peaked. "Go up front." He snapped at them. They immediately stood up and left the two of them alone in the back.
Asher had to pause, he wasn't even sure why he was so irritated. "Is there a problem Mina?"
"Forgive me if I'm a little upset with how my day has gone." She leaned her forehead against the cool window and willed herself not to cry.
"Has it been that bad?"
"Kidnapped, threatened, had an incredibly embarrassing meltdown, not to mention what I have to look forward to if Derrick is at his mother's. But you know something, shockingly no, this doesn't even make the top twenty of the worst days of my life." They braced as Eric made a smooth landing.
"Try not to get buddy-buddy with my men, please. I need them focused on the job, not you."
"Sure Asher, whatever you say." She kept her face to the window and watched as they taxied to a hanger at the far end of the airport.