Chapter 18: Boyfriend

Inside the interrogation room, illuminated by two lamps, the spirited confidence that once marked Daren had vanished. His face was now etched with anxiety and unease.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Daren.”

Roan and Lacey pushed open the door and entered, seating themselves across from the handcuffed Daren. Before either could speak, Daren hurriedly interjected:

“Agents—sir, and miss, please believe me, I truly had nothing to do with Sabina’s disappearance. I know nothing about it!”

Roan raised an eyebrow, his expression unchanged, and pressed on:

“Then what about this frail Mr. Quinnell? Your wife vanished, you refused our protection, insisted you’d pay the ransom yourself, yet turned around and met with Mr. Quinnell. Are you implying he kidnapped your wife?”

“No! No! He would never do such a thing!” Daren shook his head vehemently, but Roan continued:

“Earlier, you claimed you were on a business trip in Los Angeles at the time of the incident, staying at the Hilton Hotel. Yet, we found no record of your stay there. Where were you really? Did you return to New York to kidnap your own wife?”

“I…” Daren’s face grew increasingly grim. With Roan and Lacey quietly staring at him, he finally sighed after a long silence and spoke in a low voice:

“I wasn’t in Los Angeles last night. I went to Las Vegas instead. Quinnell works at a casino. After his shift, I went to his place, and we spent the night together… in a room, in the way you’re imagining.”

Roan: “…”

I wasn’t imagining anything, I don’t know, I don’t understand, stop talking nonsense.

After a brief pause, Roan cleared his throat and asked with a stern expression:

“Daren, do you realize what it means to deceive us?”

“I do—it’s a federal felony.”

Roan nodded, maintaining his composure, though he'd just learned from Lacey that lying to FBI agents was indeed a serious crime. He wondered which genius had come up with that law.

Roan felt a secret delight—such rules promised plenty of future amusement.

Seeing Roan’s grave demeanor, Daren grew more anxious and hastily explained:

“But I had no choice. My involvement with Quinnell isn’t exactly honorable…”

“It’s not your relationship with Quinnell that’s dishonorable.”

At this, Lacey, who identified as lesbian, grew irritated. She slammed the table and declared:

“What’s dishonorable is that you already have a wife, Sabina. This is called cheating, called betrayal—do you understand?”

“I love Sabina!”

Daren was equally displeased at being called a cheater and betrayer, and he too slammed the table, shouting at Lacey:

“Believe it or not, I love Sabina! I love her deeply! I even wished I were the one kidnapped instead!”

Roan felt the conversation slipping askew and quickly pulled Lacey back, steering the topic:

“So, what exactly did you want with Quinnell today? Did you suspect he kidnapped your wife?”

“No, I just wanted to clear things up with him.”

Daren clutched his head, sounding helpless:

“Quinnell has his own boyfriend. We were just fooling around. Today, I wanted to set things straight and cut off contact. I feel as though Sabina’s kidnapping is God’s punishment for me. She loves me so much, and I love her just as much. We celebrate our honeymoon anniversary every year…”

Roan: “…”

The sense of déjà vu was overwhelming.

But then, thinking about it, such situations weren’t so unusual in America—not with the likes of ‘open marriages’ that went even further.

He glanced at Lacey, uncertain about the nature of same-sex feelings, but when Lacey glared at him, Roan hurriedly turned back to Daren for one last question:

“Okay, Mr. Daren, is there anything else you haven’t told us? If we leave this interrogation room and discover you’ve withheld information, then…”

“There’s nothing else, Agent.”

Daren wiped tears from his eyes, his face solemn as he pleaded with Roan:

“I don’t know if you believe me, but I truly love Sabina, my wife. Please, you must find her! I… I’m willing to offer a million-dollar reward after the fact!”

Roan’s eyes lit up instantly. He rose and grasped Daren’s hands, promising with righteous fervor:

“Rest assured, Mr. Daren. I believe in your love, and I will do everything in my power to find your wife!”

Lacey: “…”

A few minutes later, in another interrogation room.

Quinnell, slender and about five foot seven, with sharply defined features, heard Roan’s question and scoffed:

“Come on, Agent, I don’t even know who Daren’s wife is, let alone kidnap her.”

“Why wouldn’t you?” Roan’s tone was stern. “Daren’s wife, Sabina, is a wealthy woman. We’ve looked into your finances—they’re quite ordinary. If you kidnapped Sabina and collected the ransom, you’d never want for anything again.”

“Forget it. I may not have much in savings, but there’s no shortage of men willing to spend money on me.”

Quinnell waved dismissively, crossed his legs, and smiled:

“I’m well known in Las Vegas. Plenty of thrill-seeking men seek me out, and I’m very skilled—just once and they can’t forget me. I know a dozen rich men like Daren. Do you think I’m hurting for money?”

“…”

Roan was silent, at a loss for words. Lacey picked up the questioning:

“Daren said you have a boyfriend. Could he be jealous of Daren and kidnap Daren’s wife out of spite?”

“My boyfriend?”

Quinnell was momentarily surprised, then nearly burst out laughing. Between chuckles, he explained:

“Daren must be mistaken. The ‘boyfriend’ he refers to was just my last client. As I said, just once and a man will always remember me!”

Roan: “…”

Leaving the interrogation room, Roan sat in a conference room chair, eyes closed, trying to recover. The culture shock in America was overwhelming—he needed a moment to collect himself.

“I’ve checked.”

Mona walked over with her laptop, smiling at Roan and Lacey.

“The surveillance at Quinnell’s door shows Daren and Quinnell didn’t leave all night. As for Quinnell’s supposed boyfriend, he’s a minor actor who was filming at sea during the incident—all witnesses confirm he was present, so he had no opportunity to commit the crime.”

“All right then.”

Roan scratched his head. The clues from Daren, the husband, were at a dead end for now. The focus would have to shift to the missing person herself.

“Could it be a rival of Sabina’s company?”

Lacey pulled Mona close, wrapping an arm around her shoulder, and tilted her head to ask Roan:

“Should we look into Sabina’s company operations? See if their recent business has provoked anyone?”

Mona: “…”

Talk if you must, but why are you hugging me?

“It’s not impossible.”

Roan nodded, then turned to Mona:

“Please investigate Sabina’s and Daren’s companies, and get a quick overview of their business situation.”

Lacey raised her hand: “What about us?”

“We’ll search Sabina’s villa again—maybe there’s something we missed last time.”

Roan stood up and stretched vigorously. “The good news is, our efforts haven’t been wasted. For now, we can rule out Daren as a suspect.”