aHunter4Life (aHunter4Hire) by Cynthia Clement Page B

his. “I assumed you would know this about him.”
    Selena
shook her head. “He never told me anything about himself or his true mission
when he was fighting in Columbia. He pretended to be working with us, but all
along he was our enemy.”
    “I
do not know what his assignment was.” Firbin’s eyes
narrowed. “I do know he would not do anything dishonorable.”
    “How
can you be certain?” Selena’s voice was low. “You didn’t know him then.”
    “He
may have been a mercenary, but he still had honor. He would not have been
disloyal to those who hired him.”
    “What
if the people who really hired him were a government agency that wanted to
destroy my brother and other paramilitary groups?”
    Firbin looked at her for several seconds and then shrugged. “This is something you
need to ask him. Catal acts with honor now and I know he would never betray his
pair bond. No Hunter would.”
    At
that moment Selena heard a buzzing noise. It seemed to be coming from Firbin . He reached up and hit what looked like a mini
blue-tooth communicator on his ear. He frowned and then hit it again.
    “The
FBI have news.” He stood and walked to the door. “You can stay or come with
me.”
    “It’s
about my son.” Selena pushed the chair away. “I want to know what is
happening.”
    Firbin moved to the front of the house, but kept Selena behind him. When they reached
the room where Nikki and Steve were, there was a cluster of agents already
there. Firbin let Selena move to the front of the
crowd, but he kept her within arm’s reach.
    Agent
Kelly was speaking. “They have decided on a ransom drop. They’ve set it up for
this afternoon.”
    “That’s
not enough time to get that amount of money together.” Steve’s voice was
frantic. “The bank just told me that they couldn’t help.”
    Agent
Kelly held out her hands in a conciliatory manner. “We told them that when they
called, so they’ve decided to lower the ransom back to ten million dollars.”
    Firbin grunted.
    Agent
Kelly turned to him with narrowed eyes. “Do you have something to say?”
    “They
do not sound like very experienced kidnappers if they cannot decide how much
money they want. Are you certain they have the boys?”
    “We’ve
asked to speak to the boys, but they’ve refused.”
    “That
is not a good sign.”
    Nikki
gasped. “You don’t think Gates is alive.”
    Firbin crossed his arms. “It is possible.”
    The
world started to spin. Selena felt her legs give way and she would have fallen
if Firbin hadn’t put his arm around her. He eased her
into a chair. Until now she had refused to believe that something horrible
might happen.
    “ Tarrin is alive. I still feel him with me.” Her voice was
weak, but Firbin heard her.
    “We
need to make certain before the ransom is given.”
    Agent
Kelly cleared her voice. “This is not our first kidnapping. We have asked for a
proof of life and they have agreed. So you both can stop thinking the worse.
Once we have the proof, then we will agree to the drop.”
    “What
is the proof?” Firbin asked.
    “We
need a picture of the boys with today’s newspaper.” Agent Kelly’s voice was
stern. “They will be sending that to us shortly.”
    “How
will it be delivered?”
    “They’ll
be emailing it to the FBI.”
    Firbin nodded. “We will need time to get the drop site ready.”
    “You’re
not invited.” Agent Kelly turned away from Firbin ,
but before she could speak the door of the living room opened.
    Catal
and Partlan walked in.
    “I
told you to leave.” Agent Kelly clenched her fists. “This is an FBI
investigation.”
    “The
FBI are waiting for proof of life.” Selena’s voice was faint. “They’ve given
them a ransom demand.”
    “I’m
not telling you where the exchange is taking place.” Agent Kelly’s eyes
narrowed as she turned to Selena. “You are to have no further contact with
these men. I don’t want them finding out anything else.”
    “We
don’t need your