“You can’t get in?” Logan’s voice rose, more in mild surprise than concern. And while she appreciated the smooth efficiency of his team and the superb capabilities of these men, she couldn’t help wondering how high the odds were of seeing her baby again.
Ryker leaned back in his chair, cracked his knuckles and swigged down one of those high-caffeine sodas that made Sara’s stomach revolt. “This bank is part of the International World Monetary Fund. I’ve got a crack through a back door that will break security, but my hack will crash the site and shut them down. Maybe create an international incident and panic in the worldwide markets.” Ryker looked to Logan for instructions. “It’s only fifty-fifty whether I can grab the intel we want before the site crashes. I’ll need clearance.”
“I’ll see what I can do.” The team leader strode into a spare bedroom, his phone to his ear.
Sara had finished writing down the information about her competitors, and handed her notes to Ryker. “After you do the background investigations, could you cross-check for connections between these men and Ely?”
“Sure, but it may take some time.”
“Good idea,” Kirk told Sara, discreetly glancing at his watch. “We’re going to get her back. We should receive a ransom call soon.”
Sara didn’t have such optimism. Maybe she couldn’t think past her fear for Abby. And trying so hard to hold herself together took more energy than she would have believed.
The hotel’s phone rang.
Adrenaline surged through her like a lightning bolt. She lunged for the receiver, but Web, the ex-CIA agent moved so fast that his hands were a blur, and beat her to it.
“Wait,” Web cautioned. “You don’t want to seem too eager.”
The phone rang again, drawing her nerves taut.
Kirk looked at Web and then glanced at the equipment plugged into the phone. “I’m assuming you will have all calls to this phone recorded and traced?”
Web nodded. “The boss got a judge’s order for a wiretap ten minutes after the baby disappeared.”
The phone rang again.
Travis Cantrel, the hostage negotiator, spoke for the first time since he’d been introduced to them. His tone was supportive but firm. “Sara, pretend you are alone. Make the caller repeat himself. Keep him talking for as long as possible to give our equipment time to trace the call. Ask to speak to Abby.”
With a reassuring hand, Kirk lifted Sara’s chin. “You can do this.”
“Okay,” she agreed, trembling as she picked up the phone. Please, please let her do this right. Let her daughter be safe. She knew that everyone in the room could hear both sides of the conversation through the speaker the team had attached to her phone. “Hello?”
The kidnapper’s voice sounded as though he spoke through a machine, like a robot, which effectively disguised his voice. “Mrs. Hardaker?”
“Yes.” Every atom in her body urged her to shout questions into the phone. But Sara couldn’t let her fear interfere with getting back her baby. She spoke slowly. “Just a minute. I have to put the orange juice back in the fridge.”
“Lady, quit stalling.”
“Excuse me. I couldn’t understand what you just said.”
Travis signaled her with a thumbs-up. Kirk rubbed her shoulders, but the tension had her every muscle hard and knotted and cramped.
“Understand this. If you want to see your baby alive, you will hand over the software to me. And I want to see it work.”
A chill shimmied down her back. “Okay.”
The computer code was the least of her worries. She’d give up every idea she owned to secure Abby’s release. “Can I talk to Abby?”
“You’ll get your daughter—”
“Please.”
“—when I get what I asked for. I’ll be in touch.”
The line went dead. She sank onto the couch in despair, feeling as though the lifeline to Abby had just been cut. The kidnapper hadn’t set up a meeting place or a time to exchange the baby for the program. She was sure the short call couldn’t be traced in the brief amount of time that she’d kept him talking.
Travis squeezed her shoulder. “You did your best.”
Failure didn’t sit well in her gut. “My best wasn’t good enough.”
Web spoke kindly. “Don’t beat yourself up over it.”
Travis also tried to reassure her. “This guy is technology savvy. He knew the high probability of the call being traced and would have cut the call short no matter what you said.”
Web and Travis exchanged glances. “You notice he didn’t even warn her not to contact the authorities.”
“I noticed,” Travis said.
“And what does that mean?” Sara asked.
“Probably nothing, ma’am,” Travis told her.
Sara deliberately sharpened her tone. “Do I need to remind you that my daughter’s life is at stake?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Then, tell me the truth.”
Travis didn’t look happy that she had cornered him. And his chauvinistic attitude made her angry, even after Kirk nodded for Travis to tell her the truth. Like she needed Kirk to give permission. But now was not the time to quibble. She wanted answers.
Travis spoke with care. “Either the man is stupid and didn’t remember to warn you away from the authorities—”
“And this guy is not stupid,” Web added.
“—or, he knows we are here.”
Kirk frowned. “You mean, there’s a leak coming from your end of the operation?”
“Not necessarily—but we do have security around you,” Web replied calmly. “And the kidnapper knew that Sara had a meeting set in Los Angeles. With the right resources, putting the information together and finding you wasn’t impossibly difficult.”
“Bingo.” Ryker spoke slowly from the other side of the room, but she couldn’t miss his undertone of excitement as he peered at his computer screen. “The dead man on the mountain served in the Marines with Garth Davis—”
Sara gasped.
Kirk’s brows drew together. “You recognize the name?”
Ryker spoke and typed at the same time. “I’m e-mailing his picture to the police station. Maybe Gail can identify him as the man who took the baby from her.”
Sara stood, suddenly too agitated to sit. She paced in front of the coffee table and explained. “Garth Davis is my competitor. His firm’s in Ann Arbor.”
Web stood with his back to the wall, a deep frown of concentration furrowing his forehead. “While I don’t believe in coincidences, we need to establish a stronger connection than matching hundred-grand bank deposits and old Marine Corps ties. Lots of men served together.”
Ryker kept typing. “I’m searching. This may take a while. Usually I follow the money trail, but Garth’s banking habits are unusual. His primary bank doesn’t show enough cash flow to run a major company, so his major assets must be elsewhere.”
“Let me guess,” Kirk said as he petted Pepper. “Garth uses international banks. Perhaps one in the Cayman Islands?”
Ryker shook his head. “Switzerland.”
Logan reentered the room, his expression stoic. “The head of Homeland Security would prefer we didn’t create an international incident.” Logan Kincaid had friends in high places, but apparently even they couldn’t help them. Logan shifted his gaze to focus on Sara and Kirk. “We’ll have to find your daughter another way.”
How? Sara wondered. Although these men appeared to have the skills needed, perhaps they should call in the FBI. However, she didn’t make the suggestion aloud. Number one, she didn’t want to insult these men. And number two, she knew that a wider scope of investigation caused more red tape. Valuable time could be lost communicating and verifying the information they already had and bringing the new people up to speed. Time was critical. She didn’t even want to think about what might happen to Abby if the kidnapper panicked.
“We have another complication.” Ryker threw out the news and Sa
ra restrained a groan.
She braced herself and could tell Kirk did the same as he came to her side and took her hand, squeezing lightly to lend her courage. She was fresh out. Fear rose up and threatened to overwhelm her. She could barely focus on the conversation.
Get a hold of yourself. Listen to Ryker. He needs your input.
“John Wayne is vacationing in the Cayman Islands right now,” Ryker told her.
“John Wayne?” Kirk’s eyebrow lifted.
“The Cowboy is another of my competitors.” Sara realized Kirk and Logan hadn’t seen the notes she’d made and given to Ryker earlier, and the men were having difficulty following Ryker’s conversation. She explained as Ryker kept typing, probably sending this picture down to the police station, too. “The Cowboy’s mother had a thing for the actor and named him after her movie idol. He and I had a business dinner a few months ago, and he suggested a merger.”
Kirk practically growled at her. “What kind of merger?”
“My software, his hardware.” She shoved her hair out of her eyes. “It wasn’t personal, Kirk.”
“Yeah, sure.”
At the time, she hadn’t thought the Cowboy had anything but business on his mind. But now that she thought back on that dinner, she realized she had missed his signals. The candles and wine she’d attributed to the restaurant’s décor; the heat in the Cowboy’s eyes, to his enthusiasm over his new digital photography enhancement system. But now she wondered if she could have been so wrapped up in her work and in Abby that she’d totally misconstrued his interest.
“If the Cowboy’s in the Cayman Islands, he couldn’t have taken Abby from Gail at the bank,” Sara reasoned.
“But he could have a partner,” Kirk suggested.
“Other than money in the bank, have you found any connections between the dead man on the mountain and the Cowboy?” Logan asked Ryker.
“I’m checking, boss.”
Logan picked up his phone again. This time he didn’t leave the room, and she could plainly hear his end of the conversation.
“Sam? It’s Logan Kincaid. Know where I can find a hardware expert at bargain prices?”
Sara realized that the kidnapper would want proof that her software worked. Giving him the hard drive wouldn’t be enough. He’d want to run the program, and her computer was shot the moment she had torn out the wiring to spark the fire back on the mountain.
“Make it an hour and you have a deal,” Logan told the man he’d called, then hung up. “Sam’s the best computer geek in Silicon Valley.”
Only Logan Kincaid would call Sam Brandson a computer geek. The industry icon owned a multinational conglomerate that spanned four continents. He was a genius and he also happened to have designed Sara’s original hardware. That Logan had phoned him was no coincidence, and she marveled not just at Kincaid’s knowledge but at his connections.
“You think Sam can modify a laptop to run my program in time to meet the kidnapper’s demand.” Sara’s system wouldn’t work with just any laptop. She needed extra processors, faster circuits, special integrated chips. Her equipment had been custom designed for her usage. Horrified that she might blow her one chance to get Abby back safely, she sagged with worry.
Web came up beside her. “With Sam’s help, can you make the program work, then let me add a self-destruct mechanism?”
Sara shook her head. “These men are bright. Garth Davis graduated tops in his class at MIT. The Cowboy is a self-taught talent who heads a company that could rival Microsoft within ten years. Both of these men have exceptional mental skills. I won’t take any chances with Abby’s life.”
Logan didn’t say a word, and the room filled with silence. She supposed she’d insulted them without meaning to. “I’m sorry, but I don’t want to risk my daughter’s life on the chance that either of these men might detect a virus.”
Kirk drew her aside into one of the bedrooms. “Sara, have a little trust in these men. They’ll get Sara back. They know what they’re doing.”
Web, walking so quietly that she hadn’t heard him follow them, spoke to her calmly. “I understand your concern. How about if you prepare two working computers, one with the self-destruct and one without it? Then you can decide later.”
His suggestion sounded reasonable, but Sara wasn’t backing down, even if she did appear to be casting aspersions on the abilities of the ex-CIA agent trying to help her. “Just because you can’t recognize a tampered hard drive when you see one doesn’t mean the kidnapper can’t.”
Web lowered his voice. “I shouldn’t tell you this, and if you repeat what I’m about to mention, I’ll deny I ever said it—even in a court of law. Even if subpoenaed by Congress. But I’ve created a few viruses that even the KGB can’t detect.”
The man wasn’t boasting. In fact, his quiet, confident words reminded her of another man who knew his abilities to be superior but rarely spoke of them—her ex-husband. Sara recognized the same staunch belief in his expert skills in this man as she did in her husband.
Ex-husband, she reminded herself.
“Okay. We’ll make two laptops, one with a virus, and decide later which one to use.”
“We’ve got another match,” Ryker reported from the living room.
“You won’t be disappointed,” Web promised her.
Sara, Kirk and Web returned to the others. The pilot sat on the sofa next to Travis. Their heads together, they looked at a map. Logan peered at Ryker’s computer screen.
“What’s up?” Kirk asked.
“Ely and the Cowboy both belonged to the same on-line guild.”
“Which guild?” Logan asked.
“What’s a guild?” Kirk asked.
“A guild is a group of people who band together on the Internet to play other guilds,” Sara explained to Kirk.
“They play Ever Quest.” Ryker told them. “It’s popular. One of those role-playing—”
“I’ve heard of it,” Logan said.
Web grinned at his boss. “Logan, didn’t you win the world playoffs under the code name Inferno, while trying to solve a murder for the—?”
“That’s classified and we have guests,” Logan reminded him.
Web’s teasing flowed off his broad shoulders. Sara suspected not much would make Logan Kincaid uncomfortable—not even playing a game meant for juveniles.
Ryker must have been conversing with another guild member. “The Cowboy has a reputation for being the brains of the operation. Ely was the ruthless one.”
“Just because they played an Internet game together doesn’t make them kidnappers, either,” Sara muttered. “Either Garth or the Cowboy could have Abby.” She hoped Gail might identify one of the men to narrow the possibilities.
An hour later, security let Sam Brandson, the leader of one of Silicon Valley’s largest hardware companies, through the door. Short, wearing a dove-gray five-thousand-dollar custom-made business suit and soft Italian leather shoes and carrying a paper-laden briefcase, he strode toward Logan and held out his hand.
“This better be good. I was in the middle of a lawsuit and my lawyers aren’t happy with the delay, although I admit to feeling like a kid playing hooky.” Sam grinned at Logan. “You must have some clout, for the judge to delay the trial and give me the afternoon off.”
“Good to see you again, Sam.” Logan shook his hand. “Would you mind if we got started right away? We don’t have a lot of time.”
“Sure.” Sam slid his briefcase onto a table and pulled out two laptop computers and a bag of tools. “We just need to fill in the blanks.”
Just then, the phone rang again.
Chapter Thirteen
At the sound of the phone, Kirk checked his watch, realizing eight hours had gone by since they’d last heard from the kidnapper. Abby had been taken from them this morning, and it was now dark outside. None of them had taken a break except to hit the bathroom. Travis and Logan had drunk cup after cup of coffee. Ryker had kept up his caffeine buzz with his sodas.
Sara had had to pump milk from her swollen breasts. Kirk knew she must be uncomfortable, and couldn’t imagine how sad she must feel each time she performed that task.
Neither Kirk nor Sara had eaten a thing, but he wished he’d eaten a few crackers. Especially when Sara picked up the phone and the acid seemed to burn a hole through his stomach lining.
“Hello?”
“Can Billy come out and play?”
The voice on the speaker phone sounded like a kid’s—definitely not the kidnapper.
Sara paled in confusion. “Who is this?”
“Sorry. I must have the wrong number.”
Since they’d rerouted all the calls from the switch-board to come through directly, they also got wrong numbers. Kirk wished he could make her feel better or take some of her burden onto his own shoulders. He hating seeing the frantic worry in her eyes and realized he’d probably put that same look on her face every time he’d set out on a dangerous mission. Except that for him, she’d put on a brave front. He cursed himself for putting her through such trauma.
If she would only take him back, give them another chance, he’d never do this to her again. But first, they had to find Abby. His heart ached for the daughter he’d come to love in less than a week. He couldn’t imagine how much worse it was for Sara, who had carried the child in her womb, birthed her, breast-fed her and cared for her for the past nine months.
Sara sank back into the chair and rubbed her eyes. “I don’t know how much more of this I can take.”
Kirk wanted to sweep her into his arms and assure her that they would get Abby back. But Sara wouldn’t accept false hope. She always faced problems head-on, and he’d always admired her courage for doing so.
“Hang in there.” Ryker tried to give them some encouragement. “I’m checking every piece of property Garth owns. His credit card bills are interesting, too. For a married man, he travels from Michigan to Miami often. And he phones this house down there from his cell phone and never from his house phone.”
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