Cut & Run (A Rachel Scott Adventure) - By Traci Hohenstein Page 0,4
found the computer in the housekeeper’s cottage with pictures and profiles of children who were allegedly kidnapped. There were also files on the families who were looking to adopt—and from the looks of it, most of them were quite wealthy. The housekeeper was arrested along with her son. The son wasn’t talking, but the housekeeper was denying any involvement. One good thing came out of it: the little girl who’d been kidnapped had been found safe in a nearby house and was reunited with her family. Two women who were found in the house taking care of the girl were also arrested. In the investigation, it was found that the house was deeded by a dummy corporation that the FBI traced to a couple from Miami: Helen and Dirk Amsel. Rachel thought back to her first meeting with the FBI when she came to Cozumel, still paddling back toward the coastline as she went over all the details in her head.
“So how exactly is Scotty Jensen involved?” Rachel had asked Agent Hammond Lewis.
“We believe he is the mule of the operation.” Lewis had explained to her again how the FBI believed the illegal adoption ring was formed. “Helen and Dirk Amsel were the masterminds of the operation and may have recruited Scotty to find potential children to kidnap. Those children were kept in a ‘safe house’ until they were adopted by unsuspecting wealthy families who would do anything and pay an absurd amount of money to adopt a child. Several e-mails between Scotty, the Amsels, and the housekeeper’s son were found on the same computer that held Mallory’s photo.”
“Did any of those e-mails mention Mallory?” Rachel had asked him.
Agent Lewis had shaken his head. “So far, no. We just have her photo.”
Rachel recognized the photo found on the seized computer as one of the many pictures of Mallory that was taken during a birthday party for a mutual friend the weekend before Mallory disappeared. She had given the FBI the details of the party and who had attended. “It was held at a local public park,” she’d told Agent Lewis, trying to hold back tears. “Anyone could have taken the photo.”
Over the course of the two weeks that Rachel was in Cozumel, she’d had two more meetings with the FBI. She had told them that she didn’t know Dirk or Helen Amsel or any of the other parties involved in the kidnapping ring that had been arrested so far. She explained to Agent Lewis her seemingly coincidental relationship to Scotty Jensen.
“Shortly after Mallory went missing, I met Janine Jensen. She was separated from Scotty and was trying to get full custody of their son. During the investigation of her son’s disappearance, I found out that Scotty had previously worked for Rick Scott Imports, my ex-husband’s car dealership, as a mechanic. However, Scotty was fired before Rick and I were even married. Anyway, after we found that Scotty had kidnapped his own son to get back at Janine, I realized there could be a possible connection to Mallory’s disappearance. I talked with Rick about it at the time, but he dismissed the idea that Scotty could be connected to Mallory’s kidnapping.”
“He showed no interest in following up on it as a lead?” Lewis had asked Rachel.
“Not really. Rick said he just couldn’t imagine that Scotty had been involved. He said that Scotty had been fired because he never showed up on time and his work was suffering.”
“What department did he work in?” Lewis had asked, taking notes on his legal pad.
Rachel didn’t remember ever meeting Scotty during the many company functions that she attended with Rick. Of course, Rick Scott Imports employed over a hundred employees. It was hard for Rachel to keep all the names straight.
“Scotty was a mechanic. Rick said he was a model employee for a few months. Then Scotty started showing up late or not at all. His coworkers also mentioned to management that Scotty was driving a new BMW and flashing lots of cash. Rick suspected a gambling problem. Eventually Scotty was fired.”
“Do you think he would’ve kidnapped your daughter to get back at Rick for the firing?” Hammond had asked.
“I asked Rick the same question. He didn’t think so. Scotty was long gone from the dealership before Mallory was even born.”
“What do you think?” Hammond had asked her.
“I think anything is possible. Scotty kidnapped his own son to get back at Janine. He wasn’t happy about the pending divorce and he wanted revenge. He was