Finding Brianne: New Pleasures Book 4

by Parker, M. S.

Instead of agreeing with me or telling me not to argue with him, Clay smiled. Smiled.

  “What?”

  “Actually, I think I know a couple people who can help out with the ransom part of things.”

  Twenty-Four

  Clay

  “You understand this is all hypothetical, right?” Ray sounded tired even though it was barely evening. “One friend answering another’s questions about a non-existent situation.”

  “Yeah, I know,” I said. “Are you okay?”

  “Yeah, yeah.” He gave a heavy sigh. “Some ass-hat overheard Steven saying how he wanted to be a part of the New York Ballet, and when the ass called my boy a fag, Steven punched him. Kid lost three teeth and needed stitches in both his lip and tongue.”

  “Good for Steven,” I said. “Please tell me he didn’t get in trouble for it.”

  “He almost did. I spent three hours at the school with Ellie convincing the principal that I’d make his life a living hell if he suspended my kid.”

  “What did the principal say to that?” I knew we had things we had to talk about, but I could tell Ray needed to debrief.

  Ray gave a coughing laugh. “He said that Steven shouldn’t be so sensitive. That if he was going to be involved in something like ballet, people were going to assume he was gay.”

  “Homophobic asshole,” I muttered.

  “My thoughts too. But when Steven came in after school let out, he told us that he hadn’t hit the kid because he’d been called gay. Turns out, Steven’s friend Jason just came out as bisexual and was getting hassled a lot. Jason is a scrawny kid, and the guy Steven hit is a linebacker. Steven was just protecting his friend.”

  “Please tell me that made the principal see the light.”

  “Enough of it anyway,” Ray said. “He said he couldn’t let Steven off with no punishment, but changed it to a Saturday detention, and also punished the kid who’d done the name calling.”

  “He was probably worried the story would get out, and he’d have protests at the school.”

  “Probably,” Ray agreed. “But that’s not why you called me. You need me to tell you what I think about your plan.”

  “My hypothetical plan,” I corrected with a half-grin.

  “Right,” he said. “Your hypothetical plan.”

  He was silent for a minute, but I didn’t rush him. He’d be honest with me, which was why I’d called him first, but he wouldn’t rush into an assessment based on gut reaction. He was a combination of instinct and experience, and that was what made him a top agent, even if he didn’t have the flash of some of the guys higher up.

  “As an employee of a government agency, I have to say that the correct course of action would be to involve local authorities,” he began. “As your friend, I can say that I think your best chance to get that group out safely is to pay whatever the cartel asks.”

  Some of the tension in me eased. If Ray thought I was heading in the right direction, it was good enough for me.

  “Kidnapping is a business with groups like these,” he continued. “If they make a demand and don’t hold up their end of the bargain, people will stop paying. But, the opposite is true. If they don’t get what they want, they’ll kill the hostages to make a point.”

  That was what I’d been afraid of. “Have you heard anything about ransom demands for this group? They’ve been with the cartel for more than a month, and from what information I’ve gathered, they’re all still alive.”

  “Nothing’s come through the agency,” Ray said. “I’ll check with a couple contacts in the State Department and CIA, see if they’ve been playing it close to the vest.”

  “Can you check with Red Care too?” I asked. “I’m going to check with the one here in case the Colombians reached out to them rather than the main headquarters.”

  “Good idea.”

  “What about using a private citizen rather than trying to get one of those ransom companies involved?” This was the part of my plan where my confidence wasn’t one hundred percent. “I’m not asking him to come here, so he won’t be in physical danger, but am I asking him to take a risk anyway? If these guys know that a rich American paid for the freedom of a group of Red Care workers, will they be more likely to target people he cares about to extort him directly?”

  “Possibly,” Ray said. “But Rylan’s the kind of man who considers all angles, so if he agrees, he’ll understand the risks.”

  I was going to take Ray’s word on it. He’d known the Archers much longer than I had.

  “If things go sideways, you need to get yourself out. Regroup, call me, and we’ll get the big guns involved, diplomacy be damned.”

  I didn’t doubt for a minute that he meant it. This wasn’t a case of a group who’d lost their way. They’d been held hostage for more than a week, and no one back home had done a damn thing. We’d figure out a way to get them home, even if it meant burning bridges and possibly fucking up our careers. Even if I didn’t have a personal stake in this, I would’ve done the same thing.

  “Anything else I can help you with?”

  “No. Thanks, Ray.”

  “No problem, kid.”

  I let things in my mind settle before I made the next call. I was nervous enough about what I was about to do. I needed to present things in a professional and succinct manner. I might have considered Rylan a friend, but it was still a new friendship, and one that had been based in part on my relationship with Rona.

  True, I had the connection to the Archers through Ray, but I’d done a couple really, idiotic things that had put Rona in danger. Everyone involved had said they forgave me, but this was a huge favor to be asking of someone who’d given me a second chance after a major fuck-up.

  I leaned back in my chair as I made the call.

  “Hello?”

  “Rylan, hey, it’s Clay. Clay Kurth.”

  “Hey, Clay.” He sounded surprised but not annoyed, which I took to be a good sign. “I heard you were on vacation.”

  “Sort of,” I said. I gave him a quick rundown of the important points and then a minute to process it all.

  “Wow,” he said finally. “What can I do to help?”

  “I haven’t talked to anyone in the cartel, but these sorts of groups don’t keep people alive without a reason. I think they want money, but I don’t have access to the kind of funds needed to get one person out, let alone a whole group.”

  He didn’t even hesitate. “How much do you need?”

  “I’m not sure,” I admitted. “My plan is to make contact and offer them something to at least talk to me.”

  “Something that will get you out as well as in, I assume.”

  “Exactly. If I can convince them that I have the clout needed to get them what they want, I won’t be another potential hostage.”

  “Unless they find out you’re FBI.”

  “That’s a risk I’m willing to take,” I said. “I don’t know if they’ll take the bait, or if they have something different in mind for their ransom, but if it’s been this long and they haven’t directly contacted anyone from the States, I think I can convince them it’s in everyone’s best interests to get things tied up.”

  “Do you think fifty thousand will be enough to get you in and out of the door?”

  Relief rushed through me. “That would be great. I don’t want to tip my hand about how much I can get them for each person, but too little will make them think it’s not worth talking to me.”

  “I agree,” Rylan said. He paused for a moment, then asked, “Have you asked Jalen for help with this too?”

  I shook my head, then remembered that Rylan couldn’t see me. “No. I didn’t want to ask them for anything right now. After all they’ve been through the last couple months, I want to give them their space.”

  “If you need more than I can pull together quickly, I’ll talk to Jalen.”

  That was more than I’d anticipated him doing for me. I would’ve called Jalen if I had to, but it would be a lot easier
on everyone if I didn’t need to make direct contact.

  “Thank you.”

  “Where do you want me to wire the money?”

  * * *

  Tess opened the door and motioned for me to come inside. She looked frustrated, and I was glad I had good news to give her.

  “I’ll have the money to get a meet first thing in the morning,” I said without any preamble. “I’ll go straight from getting the money to the cartel. Ray agreed with me that giving them something up front will establish me as a reliable source of income. From there, I’ll be able to negotiate a price for all the workers. Once I have the number, I’ll reach out to my contacts back home and get what we need to pay for everyone to get out.”

  She stared at me. “You know someone with that sort of money?”

  “Two people,” I admitted. “But I’m only dealing with the one. If he needs to reach out to the other, he will. Hopefully, that won’t be necessary. Unless the cartel gets way too greedy, Rylan should be able to have enough on hand to pay the whole ransom as soon as I give him a number.”

  “Rylan?” She frowned, then her eyes lit up. “Rylan Archer? As in the CEO of Archer Enterprises?”

  “You know him?” I asked, surprised.

  “Not personally, but I cover enough society stories to know who some of the richest men in the country are.”

  “His wife knows my partner, Ray.” I gave her the simplest version. “He’s a good man.”

  Tess gave me a look that said she didn’t entirely believe that’s all there was, but she didn’t pry. Instead, she kept focused on the mission. “What’s our next step?”

  She wasn’t going to like this one bit. “I’m going to reach out to the cartel and give them my offer. Hopefully, between this and tomorrow, I’ll be able to get some information about the building and the cartel itself. How many people there are. How many hostages. The type of firepower and security they have in place. That sort of thing.”

  “I can record the whole thing,” she said. “If they’re talking to you, I doubt they’ll pay much attention to me.”

  I shook my head. “No. I need you to stay here tonight. Even if they agree to meet, I’m going to put together a secondary rescue plan, and I might need to move around quickly.”

  “You said we’d do this together.” She crossed her arms and glared up at me.

  I couldn’t tell her how her presence would keep me from concentrating. It bothered me how strongly I felt about keeping her safe, because that annoying voice in the back of my head kept insisting it wasn’t just because she was an old friend.

  “Brianne will kill me if something happens to you,” I said. “If having you there is necessary, I’ll do it, but for this part, it’ll be fine with just me.”

  For a moment, I thought she’d argue, but then she shook her head. “Fine, but if you think you’re leaving me behind when you actually go in to get them, you’re delusional.”

  I nodded but didn’t give her an actual agreement. I’d make that decision when the time came, and it’d be based on what was best for everyone involved, no matter how much I wanted to protect her.

  Twenty-Five

  Tess

  I understood Clay’s reasoning for not wanting me to go with him to contact the cartel. This wasn’t the sort of thing that could be explained away if things went sideways. Before, we could have played dumb, said we’d accidentally stumbled onto the house, or even carried over the lie about us wanting drugs. What he was doing now was deliberate. There’d be no backpedaling if we had this wrong or if the cartel took offense to the offer.

  Which meant, as much as I hadn’t liked it, I’d accepted Clay’s decision. That wasn’t what was bothering me now though. Now, I was worried about Clay. Sure, he’d been involved in dangerous cases before, but he’d always had people covering his back, as well as a weapon and probably some Kevlar. Here, he had none of that, and the cartel would know it.

  I hadn’t eaten much for dinner, and now my stomach was in a knot too tight to take anything other than water. If I didn’t find something to do, I’d soon start climbing the walls.

  I paced from the window to the desk and back again. The internet here was surprisingly good, which meant I could contact work and see how things were going. If I still had a job, that was. I’d had plenty of vacation time, but if my absence showed my boss that my role was unnecessary, well, I doubted I’d last much longer there.

  Unless I found a way to prove that I had what it took to find the sorts of stories that mattered.

  I stopped suddenly, an idea popping into my head fully formed.

  Red Care workers taken hostage by Colombian drug cartel rescued by FBI agent despite the risk to his own safety.

  If things went well, I could write the entire piece up as a hero article, focus on how Clay had heard about people in need and went to help for no other reason than it was right. My boss would probably want me to find a negative angle on Clay’s involvement, I knew. US agency overstepping its bounds, that sort of thing, but I could work around it since he wasn’t here in an official capacity.

  I wasn’t sure how Clay would feel about me writing an article about him, but I had a feeling it’d go over better if I could show him a rough idea of what I wanted to do, that I wasn’t going to make the FBI out to be the bad guys. With Brianne being in the army, it would be easier to convey a positive bent on US involvement.

  My mind raced, thoughts of what I’d write and the information I’d need to gather to get there. My research might take me in different directions eventually, but I had to start somewhere.

  Red Care, I decided. That would be the best place to start. I hadn’t gone back to the one here since that first day, but we hadn’t needed them. I was willing to bet that they wouldn’t have been much help anyway. I doubted the group had told their superiors where they’d gone in the first place, and it wasn’t like they’d be able to do anything to get their workers home.

  I pulled my laptop from my bag and pulled up the contact information for the local Red Care. Surprisingly, they were still open for another half hour, so I placed the call. It took me nearly half that time to get to someone who could answer my questions, but it didn’t take long for me to realize that the answers I received weren’t the ones I’d expected.

  “Miss Gardener.”

  English. Okay, that would give my brain a bit of a break.

  “You understand that we cannot officially comment on the whereabouts of our teams, or the names of those workers.”

  I waited. If she’d just wanted to give me the same line everyone else had, she could’ve rattled it off in Spanish and then hung it up. She’d chosen her words as carefully as she’d chosen her language.

  “Unofficially, I will tell you that the missing group is made up of twelve individuals. All are American. Six males, six are female.”

  That was a start. “Will you give me names?”

  “I cannot, but I will confirm any names you may have.”

  I didn’t even hesitate. “Brianne Gardener.”

  I heard the tapping of computer keys and waited with my heart in my throat.

  “I do not have a Brianne Gardener listed.”

  My stomach fell. “Is she with another group?”

  Clay had said we wouldn’t leave Costa Rica without her, and I believed him, but hearing that she wasn’t one of the people he was risking his life to free was a blow. We’d get the person Clay was here to find at least, and then, once today was done, we’d have to do it all over again. The searching. The planning. The waiting and worrying.

  “Just a moment.”

  The longer it took, the more I had to remind myself not to worry. Whatever happened, Clay and I would find her.

  “We have no record of a Brianne Gardener serving with the Red Care division in this country.”

  That brought me up short. How was that possible? “You mean she left already?” I knew that wasn’t what she meant, but I had to clarify.

  “No, miss. We have
no record at all. Is there another name you would like to confirm?”

  Had my mother gotten the country wrong? Was it possible that this whole time, Brianne had been in Puerto Rico or Cambodia or fucking Venezuela? I should have made sure the country was right.

  “Yes,” I said when I realized the woman was waiting for an answer. “Taylor MacIntosh.”

  After a few seconds, she answered, “Yes. There is a Taylor MacIntosh on the list.”

  At least the person Clay was looking for was with the group he was working to free. That didn’t help me any, but at least he wouldn’t have to choose between finding MacIntosh and helping me find Bri.

  I moved on. “Are you able to tell me if anyone else has been asking questions?”

  “I have not answered questions myself.”

  That didn’t really help. I grasped for another of the questions I’d planned. I couldn’t let Brianne’s absence keep me from telling the story that was here.

  “What has the organization been doing to locate your missing team, and have you reached out to the Americans to help?”

  “When a group works here, we tell them what areas to avoid as we would not be able to guarantee their safety.” The halting way she spoke told me that this was why she’d wanted to talk to me. “We are told that should a team venture into unsafe areas and not return, we are to deny that they are missing and advise anyone who asked questions that we are not able to give out information.”

  “Told by who?”

  “It comes down through the organization, but I do not know who the top person is who gives the order.”

  Dammit.

  “How many other teams have you had go missing like this?” My fear for my sister was quickly morphing into anger. “How long has this been going on?”

  “I can only tell you that within San Jose, we have had three similar situations in the past two years.”

  Shit.

  This was a bigger story than I’d originally thought.

  “I must go now,” she said. “Please do not tell anyone where you heard any of this.”