killed at the restaurant was supposed to give me something. They want it in exchange for Zak and Nate.”
“You have to give it to them.” She charged at him on unsteady legs. “Whatever it is…”
“I already passed it off.” How much sedative had that idiot EMT given her?
“Tell whoever you’re working for to give it back,” she demanded, then wrapped her arms around herself and swore like a commando soldier. Which was a first. He’d never heard her say words like that before. A whole new Lara, definitely.
“They won’t. The people I work for don’t negotiate with terrorists.”
She swayed, all the blood running out of her face. He caught her, hating to see her all drugged up like this. He picked her up and carried her to the couch, ignoring her uncoordinated attempts to get away from him. He practically had to sit on her to keep her from running while he dialed his phone and spoke.
“They just took Ben to the hospital. Doesn’t look good. I have Miss Jordan. Both babies are missing.” Saying the words out loud seemed to amplify the emptiness in his chest. He rubbed a fist against his breast bone.
“Got anything?” Adams asked on the other end.
“Ben was in no condition for a debriefing. The EMT had to sedate Miss Jordan. I’ll talk to her as soon as the drugs wear off. I got a call on Kenny’s cell. I’ll call you from that in a minute so you have the number. See if you can trace all incomings and outgoings for the last couple of days. The bastards think Jen gave me that CD. They want a trade.”
“They can want it all day long. We don’t do exchanges with terrorists. Any negotiations will be conducted by our special hostage negotiators. That CD is staying exactly where it is.”
Reid let the CD thing slide for the moment, with every intention of getting his hands on it one way or the other.
“Any idea how they found the safe house in the first place?” Adams was asking.
He’d thought about that on the way here in the car. He picked up Kenny’s cell now from the coffee table, and turned it over in his hand. “I’m guessing the phone Jen gave me has some kind of a locator. Could be Kenny didn’t trust her. Or Kenny’s boss, whoever that is, didn’t trust Kenny. Someone was trying to keep tabs on someone and, by accident, ended up having our location.”
A moment of silence. “Maybe the cell leader has locators in the cell phones of the others. Somehow they figured out that Jen was defecting. Went to the restaurant to see who she was meeting with. Tried to take both of you out. You escaped, and they realized that you had the phone.”
“Which led them straight here.” Pretty much the theory he had come up with. His muscles tightened as he thought of the danger he’d put Lara and the babies in. He was too dangerous for them to be around. Once he found the boys, he would make sure that he set them up as far away from him as possible.
Here came that chest pain again. Once more, he rubbed it away.
“Lara Jordan’s name is in your file,” his handler said, his voice carefully neutral.
Which set off all kinds of warning bells. Reid stiffened. He was SDDU, Special Designation Defense Unit, a covert commando group that worked mostly abroad. He’d been investigating a terrorist training camp in the mountains of Afghanistan when he’d discovered a U.S. link that had led him back stateside to a domestic cell here. Since the FBI was already investigating them, contact was made with the Bureau. And somehow they’d talked Colonel Wilson, the man who ran the SDDU, into loaning Reid out to them.
He wasn’t used to anyone being able to see his file. Then he realized Adams couldn’t possibly be referring to his SDDU file. The FBI had to have their own file on him. And since he’d worked on the Hopeville case with them—although with another handler—of course, they would have that information.
“I know her from the Hopeville operation,” he said, information they obviously
“You have to give it to them.” She charged at him on unsteady legs. “Whatever it is…”
“I already passed it off.” How much sedative had that idiot EMT given her?
“Tell whoever you’re working for to give it back,” she demanded, then wrapped her arms around herself and swore like a commando soldier. Which was a first. He’d never heard her say words like that before. A whole new Lara, definitely.
“They won’t. The people I work for don’t negotiate with terrorists.”
She swayed, all the blood running out of her face. He caught her, hating to see her all drugged up like this. He picked her up and carried her to the couch, ignoring her uncoordinated attempts to get away from him. He practically had to sit on her to keep her from running while he dialed his phone and spoke.
“They just took Ben to the hospital. Doesn’t look good. I have Miss Jordan. Both babies are missing.” Saying the words out loud seemed to amplify the emptiness in his chest. He rubbed a fist against his breast bone.
“Got anything?” Adams asked on the other end.
“Ben was in no condition for a debriefing. The EMT had to sedate Miss Jordan. I’ll talk to her as soon as the drugs wear off. I got a call on Kenny’s cell. I’ll call you from that in a minute so you have the number. See if you can trace all incomings and outgoings for the last couple of days. The bastards think Jen gave me that CD. They want a trade.”
“They can want it all day long. We don’t do exchanges with terrorists. Any negotiations will be conducted by our special hostage negotiators. That CD is staying exactly where it is.”
Reid let the CD thing slide for the moment, with every intention of getting his hands on it one way or the other.
“Any idea how they found the safe house in the first place?” Adams was asking.
He’d thought about that on the way here in the car. He picked up Kenny’s cell now from the coffee table, and turned it over in his hand. “I’m guessing the phone Jen gave me has some kind of a locator. Could be Kenny didn’t trust her. Or Kenny’s boss, whoever that is, didn’t trust Kenny. Someone was trying to keep tabs on someone and, by accident, ended up having our location.”
A moment of silence. “Maybe the cell leader has locators in the cell phones of the others. Somehow they figured out that Jen was defecting. Went to the restaurant to see who she was meeting with. Tried to take both of you out. You escaped, and they realized that you had the phone.”
“Which led them straight here.” Pretty much the theory he had come up with. His muscles tightened as he thought of the danger he’d put Lara and the babies in. He was too dangerous for them to be around. Once he found the boys, he would make sure that he set them up as far away from him as possible.
Here came that chest pain again. Once more, he rubbed it away.
“Lara Jordan’s name is in your file,” his handler said, his voice carefully neutral.
Which set off all kinds of warning bells. Reid stiffened. He was SDDU, Special Designation Defense Unit, a covert commando group that worked mostly abroad. He’d been investigating a terrorist training camp in the mountains of Afghanistan when he’d discovered a U.S. link that had led him back stateside to a domestic cell here. Since the FBI was already investigating them, contact was made with the Bureau. And somehow they’d talked Colonel Wilson, the man who ran the SDDU, into loaning Reid out to them.
He wasn’t used to anyone being able to see his file. Then he realized Adams couldn’t possibly be referring to his SDDU file. The FBI had to have their own file on him. And since he’d worked on the Hopeville case with them—although with another handler—of course, they would have that information.
“I know her from the Hopeville operation,” he said, information they obviously
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