They went inside and Graham gave Pinson and Jones a quick tour of the house and they set to work. They started with Graham’s office and once they gave Heller the all-clear sign, he motioned for Graham to follow him inside and closed the door.
Heller nodded toward Graham’s desk. “Do you mind?”
Before Graham could answer, the agent walked around the desk and sat down, then waved Graham toward a leather chair positioned just to his right. “Have a seat.”
Graham was too keyed up to sit, but as his gaze met Heller’s, he realized the agent’s laid-back attitude had vanished. There was something in his eyes now. Maybe not suspicion, but a wary glint that caught Graham off guard.
“Please have a seat, Mr. Hollister. This could take some time and you may as well be comfortable. We have a lot to go over.”
Whether he realized it or not, his command was almost identical to the one Esteban had issued earlier that night. The similarity annoyed and angered Graham because he was damn tired of being jerked around.
But at the moment, he had little choice but to do as the agent said. He’d called in the FBI because he knew he couldn’t find Kendall on his own. Now the feds were in control and he had to do as they advised because his only hope at the moment came from Delacourt’s earlier assurance that they knew what they were doing. And they had a high percentage of successful recoveries.
Graham took a seat, but he was far from relaxed. He felt restless and anxious for action rather than more questions.
He stared at Heller across the desk. “Can you find my wife?” he asked bluntly.
“We’re going to do everything in our power to bring her home safely. You have my word on that. But we can’t do it without your full cooperation. I need to ask you a lot of questions. You won’t understand the purpose of some of them. You may be embarrassed or uncomfortable at times, maybe even angry. But it’s imperative that you answer truthfully.”
Graham nodded. “What is it you want to know?”
“I need to hear everything that led up to your wife’s departure from the reception and your subsequent encounter with the alleged kidnappers—”
“What do you mean alleged?”
Heller smiled and the mellow disposition surfaced briefly. “Don’t be alarmed by the language. We’re highly trained in ambiguity.”
“I’ll try to remember that,” Graham muttered.
Heller pulled a file folder from a briefcase on the desk that Graham hadn’t even noticed until now. He watched curiously as Heller took out a small recorder and held it up. “Do you have any objections?”
“No, that’s fine.”
“As I said, I’ll want you to recount the events leading up to your wife’s disappearance, but first I need to establish some background information.”
“Whatever you need.”
“I appreciate your attitude.” Heller paused to turn on the tape recorder, then prefaced the interview by stating his name, Graham’s name, the date and their location into the mike. Then he placed the tiny machine on the desk between them.
“How long have you and your wife been married, Mr. Hollister?”
The question took Graham by surprise. “We were married seven years ago in Vegas, but we separated a few months later. We reconciled five years ago.
“Right after your wife’s accident in Mexico.”
Graham blinked. “Yes, that’s right.”
“Kendall Hollister worked in Mexico during the separation, didn’t she?”
“Yes.”
“Did you have much contact with her while you were apart?”
Graham shifted uneasily. This was beginning to sound more like a cross-examination than an interview. “No, not really. I was living in California at the time. We exchanged an occasional phone call or e-mail.”
“Did she tell you anything about the company she worked for?”
“No. I didn’t even know she’d moved to Mexico until a friend told me.”
“She worked for a man named Leo Kittering. Have you ever heard her mention him?”
Graham shook his head, then caught himself and said, “No, never.”
Heller studied him for a moment. “Kittering is an American citizen who has lived in Mexico for the past thirty years. He fled across the border after being charged with some serious crimes here in the States, extortion being one of them.”
Graham swallowed painfully. “You think he’s connected to the kidnapping?”
“That’s what we’re trying to find out, but it’s not easy dealing with a guy like Kittering. He remarried several years ago and his second wife’s family is well-connected. He’s used their money and influence to build himself an empire. He’s virtually untouchable.”
“So what do we do?”
“We keep digging for now. A guy like Kittering has enemies, and some of them may be persuaded to talk.”
“You said he has an empire. What does he do?”
“He has a number of interests, but most of his holdings are a front for his real business.”
“Which is?””
“He runs one of the largest drug cartels in Mexico.”
Graham couldn’t hide his shock. “Kendall couldn’t have known about that when she worked for him. She wouldn’t be party to something like that.”
“You hadn’t known your wife long when the two of you married, right? And a few months after the Vegas ceremony, you separated. You said yourself you had very little contact with her during that time. You can’t be all that certain of what she was or wasn’t involved in, can you?”
Graham’s hands tightened on the arms of his chair. “I know my wife. I know she would never be mixed up in what you’re suggesting.” His gaze hardened as he stared at Heller across the desk. “And what the hell does any of this have to do with Kendall’s kidnapping? Why are you trying to dig up personal dirt on my wife when you should be focusing on trying to find her?”
Heller let him finish before he said calmly, “As I said earlier, we’re doing everything in our power to find your wife and bring her home safely. Her connection to Leo Kittering may not have anything to do with her kidnapping, but at this stage of the game, we can’t afford to overlook any possibility.”
“How did you dig this stuff up so quickly? How did you even know about our separation?” Graham asked.
“Let’s just say, the events of the evening brought certain facts to light in our database searches.”
“In other words, you were already doing a background check on me,” Graham said. “Why?”
“A high-level foreign diplomat was shot on American soil. You can be sure we’re looking closely at everyone who was at that reception.”
“But all these questions about Kendall and our separation. It sounds to me as if you think we’re guilty of something.”
“I’m just trying to do my job, Mr. Hollister.”
Graham scrubbed a hand across his face. This whole meeting was leaving a very bad taste in his mouth, and he was having second thoughts about calling in the FBI.
“Are you ready to continue?” Heller pressed.
Graham’s gaze met his. “I don’t know. Maybe I need to get a lawyer over here first.”
Heller shrugged. “That’s your prerogative, of course. But you’d be wasting valuable time. And there might be some who’d wonder why you feel you need one.”
Graham leaped to his feet. “And I can’t help wondering why you’re not already out there looking for my wife instead of wasting valuable time with all these asinine questions. I’m starting to wonder if you people even know what the hell you’re doing.”
“You need to calm down,” Heller told him firmly. “My line of questioning may not make sense to you, but I assure you there’s a purpose behind everything we’re doing. We’re in this together, Mr. Hollister. The more information you can provide, the more we have to go on. It’s as simple as that. Without your cooperation, our hands are tied. Now do we continue or not?”
Their gazes met again
across the desk, and Graham finally nodded. He sat back down and answered the rest of Heller’s questions. Because, like it or not, the FBI was the best chance he had of finding Kendall.
Chapter Six
A little while later, Heller informed Graham that they’d found nothing in the sweep. The house and phone lines were clean, and though Graham felt somewhat relieved by the news, he knew there were other ways to monitor his movements. Heller warned him—and Graham agreed—that they still had to proceed with the assumption that Esteban meant what he said.
“So what do we do now?” Graham asked anxiously.
“We sit tight and wait. And I can tell you from experience that this phase is the hardest part. You’ll be so wired by the time the call finally comes in that you could easily make a mistake. Don’t let that happen. Use this time to rest and stay focused.”
Graham jammed his hands into his pockets as he watched the agents repack the sensitive equipment. “What about my family? Shouldn’t I at least alert them of the danger? It doesn’t seem right leaving them in the dark.”
“It may not seem right, but that’s exactly what you have to do,” Heller said. “A change in their routine or behavior could put them at even greater risk. Believe me when I tell you that every precaution is being taken to safeguard your family. They’re under constant surveillance. No one will get near them that we don’t know about.”
Graham wished he could take the agent at his word, but the tone of Heller’s earlier interrogation had eroded his confidence and trust. Graham wasn’t at all certain that keeping his family in the dark was the best way to protect them, nor was he convinced, at this point, that the FBI had his best interests at heart. The grilling had left him uneasy.
After the van had been loaded, everyone cleared out except for Special Agent Jones. Graham was exhausted, but he knew he wouldn’t be able to sleep. He couldn’t even sit still. His mind raced with every conceivable scenario, and the smallest noise caused him to start. Every tick of the clock became an excruciating measure of his desperation.
It didn’t take long to realize that Heller was right. The waiting was the hardest part.
Graham prowled the house, finally stopping at a window in the living room where he could stare out at the darkness. It would be dawn soon. The beginning of the first day. How long would it before Esteban called with a demand?
Behind him, he could hear Special Agent Jones rechecking the equipment that would allow him to track and record incoming calls. Graham hadn’t said anything as he’d watched the agent set up, but he’d thought to himself that the effort was futile. Esteban wouldn’t be foolish enough to call on a landline. He’d left a phone for a reason—a cell call was a lot harder to trace despite how easy Hollywood made it look.
Triangulating the source depended on the strength, angle and timing of the signal measured at two or more towers. And Esteban was smart enough to take the added precautions of using talk-and-toss phones, routers, calls made from different locations using multiple servers. For all any of them knew, the ransom calls to Graham would be placed from out of the country. Pinpointing a location would be like looking for a needle in a haystack.
“You might want to reconsider catching a little shut-eye,” Jones finally said.
“It’s not exactly a conscious decision,” Graham said with a frown. “There’s just no way I can sleep right now.”
“Sometimes it is a conscious decision. Think of those guys who learned to sleep in muddy trenches with bullets flying overhead. At least you’ve got a nice soft bed waiting for you.”
Graham didn’t say anything as he continued to watch the darkness.
“Look, I know this isn’t easy. You’re worried sick about your family. I get that. But you’ve been through a lot tonight and the next few days are only going to get tougher. You may have to make split-second decisions that could affect your family’s lives, so you’ll need to stay sharp and focused. You’d better get some rest now while you can.”
“Are you married, Agent Jones?”
He hesitated, then said almost sheepishly, “I’m a newlywed. I’ve only been married a few months.”
“Congratulations.” Graham glanced over his shoulder. “If it was your wife out there somewhere, would you be able to sleep?”
“No, probably not,” he admitted. “I imagine I’d be doing exactly what you are. And when that first call came in, I’d probably be so exhausted and stressed, I’d be apt to make a lot of foolish mistakes. You don’t want that to happen.”
“Have you worked kidnapping cases before?”
“More than a few.”
“How did they end?”
Another hesitation. “Every case is different. I’m not going to lie to you. They don’t always end the way we want them to. But we’re good at what we do, Mr. Hollister. You have to trust that.”
“I don’t really have a choice, do I?” Graham turned back to the window. “How long have you been with the FBI?”
“Ten years. They recruited me during my senior year at M.I.T.”
“M.I.T.?” Graham was surprised. “I thought they went after lawyers and psychologists.”
“Oh, we’ve got plenty of those in the Bureau,” Jones said dryly. “Lawyers and shrinks. Gotta be a bus joke in there somewhere, right?”
Graham smiled slightly. “I’ll bet Agent Heller was a lawyer in his other life. I’m guessing a prosecutor.”
Jones grinned. “What gave it away?”
“His interviewing technique leaves a lot to be desired.”
“So I’ve been told.” The amusement faded in the agent’s voice. “Be that as it may, he’s one of the best agents I’ve ever worked with. You’re lucky to have him on this case. He doesn’t get sidetracked and he never gives up. That’s what you want on something like this.”
“What do you mean, on something like this?”
“From what you’ve told us, the kidnappers don’t plan to wrap things up with one drop. Esteban said there’d be more than one ransom demand, and he has other things he wants from you besides money. If this turns out to be a protracted situation, you want a bulldog like Heller on your team.”
A protracted situation. Dear God.
Graham swallowed. “How long does a resolution usually take?”
“Like I said, every case is different. Could be a matter of hours or it could take weeks. We don’t know what we’re dealing with yet. But if I were you, I’d prepare myself for the long haul, which means you need to grab some sleep while you still can. When that first call comes in, you may be tested in ways you’ve yet to imagine.”
Graham didn’t feel like arguing the point so he nodded and left the room. He went into the kitchen and put food in Myron’s bowl, gave him some fresh water, and then walked down the hall to the bedroom and stepped inside.
Leaning against the door, he closed his eyes as Jones’s warning rang in his ears.
You may have to make split-second decisions that could affect your family’s lives….
Graham could feel the cold terror clawing at his throat, pushing him closer and closer to desperation.
You may be tested in ways you’ve yet to imagine.
What the hell did Esteban have in mind for him? And what if he wasn’t up to the challenge? What if his family was killed off one by one because he couldn’t meet Esteban’s demands?
How would he live with himself if anything happened to his family? Especially to his nieces. They were just children. They had their whole lives ahead of them. His mother and grandmother, Terrence and Ellie…he couldn’t lose any of them. Whatever it took, he had to protect them.
And Kendall…he had to get her back. He had to bring her home safely. No other option could even be considered.
Yet as Graham stood with his back to the door, terrible thoughts rushed through his head. He wished he could crawl into bed, pull the covers over his head and make it all disappear.
But his life was never going to be that simple again, and he had a bad f
eeling that things were going to get a lot worse before they got better. He kept thinking about the term Jones had used—a protracted situation. It could be days or even weeks before they had a resolution, and at the moment, Graham wasn’t certain how he would make it through the next few hours.
Pushing himself away from the door, he went into the bathroom, stripped off all his clothes and climbed into the shower. But he kept thinking he heard the phone, so he got back out, dried off and carried Esteban’s phone into the bedroom where he quickly dressed in jeans and a T-shirt and lay down on top of the bed. He placed the phone on his nightstand next to a picture of Kendall.
Curling one arm beneath his head, he picked up the frame in his free hand and studied her face, his eyes dry and burning with emotion.
It was a recent shot, but not a clear one. Kendall had her face turned away from the camera and he’d caught her in profile. That happened a lot. Since the accident, she wasn’t crazy about having her picture taken, but she didn’t like having the old photographs around, either. For the longest time, she hadn’t been able to look at them. She’d once been a stunningly gorgeous woman and adjusting to her altered appearance had been difficult for her. Was still difficult for her.
Graham thought her beautiful, more so now than ever because she had a radiance about her that hadn’t been there before. When she looked at him, her eyes glowing and her lips slightly parted in that enticing way she had…
When she reached for him in the middle of the night…
Whispered how much she loved him…wanted him…
Graham’s chest ached as memories threatened to crush him. When he’d first seen Kendall in Mexico after the accident, she’d still been swathed in bandages. Even though the doctors had tried to prepare him for how badly her face had been damaged, he hadn’t been able to fathom the extent of her injuries until he’d seen her. Even then, hidden as she’d been by the gauze, he’d been able to mask his emotions.
It wasn’t until days later, after the first surgery, when the bandages had been removed, that reality had hit him like a fist between the eyes. He’d been so stunned he hadn’t been able to hide his shock.
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