Mark climbed into the passenger seat of the minivan and looked back. “Are you guys okay?” he asked.
A moment of silence passed as they all began to comprehend everything that had happened over the last twenty minutes. Determined game faces gave way to elated smiles. They did it! The security of the safe house was now just moments away.
Joe dropped the gearshift into drive and glanced back in the rearview mirror, a tear sparkling in his eye. “Let’s get the hell out of here!” he said, pulling the minivan onto the main road. “One more stop to make, then back to base.” He drove a few miles further up the road, then pulled up to a boarded-up convenience store.
A severely damaged Ford Explorer came rattling down the road and pulled behind the building. Moments later, a strange apparition appeared in a loose terrycloth robe, fuzzy bunny slippers, and a head full of curlers. The old woman strode up to the driver’s side window, leaned in, and said, “How bout a ride, handsome?”
Joe smiled and kissed her, then turned to Mark. “Jump in the back and make room for your sister, please.”
Mark stared at her a moment longer, then grinned and climbed out. Theresa walked around the front of the minivan doing a less than sexy shimmy that had Joe nearly in tears. “Is she good at makeup, or what?” he exclaimed.
Theresa climbed in, reached over, and planted a big kiss on Joe’s lips. “Sorry, honey, but the Ford is toast. That rent a cop T-boned me pretty bad.”
“So long as you’re all right, nothing else matters. I got that thing in trade for a repair years ago. It served its purpose. And by the way, great job!”
“That was kinda fun,” she mused, “but if that was a theme park ride, I would never do it twice.”
“Anyone up for a cup of coffee at my place?” Joe offered as he pulled back to the main road.
“If it’s all the same to you, I could really go for a beer and a pizza,” answered Jordan. “And thank you all so much for what you’ve done. I would have rather died than stay in that terrible place for even one more day.”
“We’re not done, Jordan,” Ethan said. “I think you know we have to find a way to make this right.”
She nodded. “And we will. I will. Just give me a day to enjoy this moment, to be with the best friends anyone could ever ask for.”
39
Washington, DC
“Governor and Mrs. Paylick, so good to see you, and thank you for coming. Tiffany, that dress is absolutely stunning!”
“Oh, well, thank you, Senator Karlson. Do you really think so? My daughter helped me pick this out.”
“She has wonderful taste, and you wear it well.” Karlson smiled, thinking she looked marginally better than a whale in a canvas tarp, but that was pushing it. She turned back to the governor. “John, I do hope we find more common ground after the election. I’m thinking you and I can force some positive changes into your next governor’s summit.”
“You know that you have our full support, Katherine. Let’s get you into the White House, then we can really make things happen.”
Karlson shook both of their hands and headed for the next group of guests. Gene Lawton intercepted her.
“Excuse me, senator, but there is a phone call that you need to take.”
Karlson started to say something, but Gene cut her off. “Right now,” he whispered, with no attempt to mask the urgency.
Karlson got the message. She excused herself from the two-thousand dollar per plate fundraiser and walked with him toward the ballroom entrance.
“Gene, I hope this is important. Every minute I’m not out here working this crowd is money lost.” She chuckled to herself. “Did you get a load of that mail order housedress that Tiffany Paylick was wearing? God help her, she actually believed it looked good! Her daughter’s taste in clothing is actually worse than her own.”
Lawton wasn’t listening. He directed Karlson down a wide hallway and into a nearby meeting room. Two of the seats at a long table were occupied by a pair of dark-suited men who rose to greet her as she entered.
Karlson paused, struck with the oddity of Gene bringing her back here for a private consultation. He knew damn well she needed to be working that ballroom right now. “Gentlemen, I’m sorry but—” she started to say.
“Senator,” Gene put his hand on her arm and cut her off. “These men are with the FBI. They have something important to tell you.”
Karlson felt him shaking through his touch. There was also a strange pallor that she hadn’t caught in the dimmed glow of the ballroom. Here in the harsh lighting of the meeting room, it was so apparent that she wondered how she’d missed it. His entire demeanor was off. His expression, usually self-assured, was one of concern, even fear. She now noticed tiny beads of sweat on his forehead, typical enough for anyone else, but not this guy. Gene Lawton was unflappable. He would be the one keeping it together on a sinking ship, calmly loading the lifeboats. So what had shaken the unshakeable? She looked from Gene to the two men and realized this was going to be bad.
The taller of the two stepped forward and held out his hand.” Senator Karlson, I’m Special Agent Masterson and this Special Agent Barnhart.”
She shook both their hands, forcing a smile. “What can I do for you, gentlemen?”
“Please forgive the intrusion,” SA Masterson said, “but I’m afraid I have some distressing news. Senator, early this morning, there was a security breach at the Haven Hospital in Bethesda. I’m sorry to inform you that your daughter, Jordan West, has been taken by a group of as yet unidentified persons.”
“Taken?” She looked from his face to the other agent. “You mean kidnapped? Are you telling me my daughter… was kidnapped?”
“Regretfully, yes, Jordan has been kidnapped.”
That word sounded so foreign, out of place. Kidnapped. As though it was never meant to be uttered in a sentence with Jordan’s name. This could not be right, could it?
“No, there has to be some mistake,” she said, waving her hands dismissively. “My daughter is being cared for in a secure location under the tightest security. What you’re saying is not possible. There has to be some other explanation. Honestly, the FBI ought to know to get their facts straight before scaring the hell out of people. This could be a case of mistaken identity. Maybe, maybe one of those crazy patients strolled off the hospital grounds again. It’s happened before, you know.”
She tried thinking of other possible scenarios, but the truth was already taking hold. She just wasn’t ready or willing to accept it. “Jesus Christ, no,” she pleaded as the weight hit home. “This can’t be right. Someone has made a mistake, and…oh God, give me a scrap of hope that this is wrong! Please!”
“I wish I could say that were possible,” SA Masterson’s consoling tone failed to soften the blunt impact of his words. “A headcount of all patients this afternoon confirmed that Jordan was indeed missing.”
There it was then, the worst thing a mother could hear. Someone had abducted her daughter, her child! Karlson blinked hard, trying to wake up from this ghastly nightmare.
“No. . .my. . . don’t you see that. . .oh, dear lord!”
She sank into the nearest chair, all color draining from her pained face. Jordan kidnapped! But why? Who would have any reason to take a simple college student who was assisting with her mother’s election? A terrible new thought rose up. “Me, it’s because of me!” her voice cracked with guilt. “God help me, I’ve brought this scourge down on my own sweet, innocent child!”
Karlson questioned the timing and the location. Why did it happen at that hospital? Had she set these wheels in motion by taking Jordan to that dreadful place? Did she personally deliver her own child into the hands of those who would use her as a gaming pawn to extract, what, money? Power or influence? Maybe force her to turn her head on an issue or vote differently on legislation? She couldn’t think clearly.
“I, we. . .” she began, not quite knowing what it was she wanted to say, only what she didn’t want to hear. She fel
t dizzy, sick, her stomach reacting as though she were dropping multiple floors on a runaway elevator. Nothing she’d ever felt or heard could be worse than this. Would she ever see her daughter again, alive? She tried to imagine who would do such a thing and why? Did she actually have enemies this powerful? Surely it could not be someone from across the aisle in the senate. There wasn’t a spine to be found among them. Or a set of balls, for that matter. No, these must be people with more sinister intentions, with a much bigger payoff in mind than a few coerced senate votes.
Her mind flashed to the earliest memories of Jordan. The kick of a tiny foot as it pushed from inside her very pregnant belly. Holding her for the first time, that tightly bundled, black-haired, perfect little girl. A laughing face covered in baby food. Her giggles of excitement in her first Halloween costume. Chasing away the tears from a skinned knee with a cookie and a kiss. The trembling hands of a pimply faced kid attempting to pin a corsage on her dress for a middle school dance. Her belly laughs, her pouts, her infectious smile, her everything! This couldn’t be happening, not to her, not to her daughter, her only child!
Karlson cleared a lump in her throat and wiped away a tear. “Please, tell me what you know. Was she injured when they. . .” She choked on the words that were so hard to imagine, even more difficult to say. “When they took her?”
“No, Ms. Karlson, Jordan was not harmed in the abduction. This we know.”
“Thank God for that!” she said, finally taking a breath and straightening in her seat. New questions began filling her mind. “But, but how do you know this? Did someone see it happening and not try to intervene?”
“We know this because Special Agent Barnhart’s team has viewed some of the surveillance videos and confirmed what we are telling you.”
Karlson nodded in silence. Okay, Jordan was alive and unharmed. But how long would she stay that way? Would these people hurt her? Not if they intended to follow through with a ransom exchange. She prayed silently that these weren’t the kind of barbarians who would send one of her fingers or some other appendage in a box as a warning that they were not to be crossed. But what if they were? What if they tortured her for information about her mother. For state secrets, forced political favors, blackmail? Shit, she thought, blackmail! What if Jordan told these people of her discovery of the military mission leak? That she had seen proof of her mother’s involvement? Even if they got her daughter back, that secret could be used as a devastating tool against her. Karlson could be forced into any number of compromising situations, and there would be no end. She would be as powerless as a dog on a long leash.
Karlson could never share any of this with the FBI. She hoped this was a typical kidnapping that would simply require a hefty ransom. Are you kidding? A typical kidnapping? The appetizers she’d nibbled on earlier began churning in her gut as she was repulsed by her own inner dialogue. What terrible thoughts to have concerning the fate of your own child! But as awful as these thoughts seemed, she could not help but have them and forgave herself.
She had reached this pinnacle in life because of her ability to see things from all sides. This might be as bad as it could ever get, she reasoned, but it was still necessary, no, make that absolutely critical, that she consider even the most morbid and painful of scenarios. She had no control over this nightmare being thrust upon her. Still, she weighed every word for the subtle tells that revealed when even accepted facts concealed something more sinister. Small details that would catch most anyone else off guard. For these reasons, she remained constantly vigilant, seldom lowering her defenses. With her analytical side now fully engaged, she grew hungry for more answers.
“How is this even possible? To kidnap a patient from a hospital, I mean.”
“We are in the preliminary stages of the investigation,” said SA Masterson. “But I can tell you from what we’ve seen so far this appears to be a highly coordinated effort involving multiple personnel with a long list of resources at their disposal.”
“Have you heard anything from them?” she asked.
“No, nothing yet, but we anticipate her abductors will attempt to make contact with you. For this reason, I think it imperative—”
“Please, please tell me how something like this happens at such a secure facility?”
“Agent Barnhart has been the go-to for this case. I’ll let him tell you what we have so far.”
SA Barnhart pulled out a black notebook and flipped through the pages. “As Special Agent Masterson stated, this appears to be the act of a very well-coordinated group.”
“How coordinated, exactly?” she asked.
“Excuse me, Ma’am?”
“How-coordinated-were-they? How did they pull this off?”
Barnhart turned to another page. “We believe it would have required information on the schedules of the floor staff and security, as well as a thorough knowledge of the layout of the building itself.”
Mental gears turned, ground, and meshed. Karlson tried to envision it happening, to enter the minds of those who took her child to see how it was done. But she could not. Large pieces of the puzzle were missing. The math was all wrong. There would have been far too much to learn and plan in such a limited amount of time. Jordan was only there a few days. These people would have had to bring an elaborate plan together in the blink of an eye, then execute it flawlessly. NO, NO, NO! Even a rank amateur screenplay writer would come up with a more believable script than this. She needed to know more, far more, before allowing these two to leave. SA Masterson, the tall, silver-haired agent with the western accent, pulled her back from her thoughts.
“Senator, I’m here to coordinate the setup of a headquarters for working through this case. We need to be ready to communicate with these kidnappers if and when they contact you with their ransom demands.”
“Do you believe that will happen?” she asked.
“In most of these cases, yes, the underlying motivation for abduction is usually monetary. Our plan is to ascertain enough information from them that we can thwart their plans and bring Jordan safely back home.”
“How often is that successful?”
“Excuse me?”
“How often does it work out that you get the victim back unharmed?”
“I don’t have the information to answer that.”
“Oh, come now, Agent Masterson! Straight answer for a straight question. How likely is it these people have any intention of returning my daughter alive?”
The agent looked away a moment, then returned her gaze. “I will tell you this. The clock is ticking, and we must do everything correctly and promptly to ensure Jordan’s safe release.”
“So you’re saying you don’t know, that there’s no way of knowing, is that right?”
“Senator, I am saying we have a protocol to follow that has been proven to increase our chances of success exponentially. That’s what we’re trying to do here. Part of that protocol is setting up a base to monitor any contact between you and the kidnappers. Now, with all due respect, and for the sake of your daughter, we must move to that end. Would this be a good place to establish our command center, or do you prefer another location?”
Karlson thought a moment. This office space near the hotel ballroom would not do. It was too far from her home and could pose a potential security nightmare. Then again, if she chose her condominium, all privacy would be lost. Everyone and his brother would know where she lived and would hound her until after the election when she moved into the White House. Her downtown election headquarters would be a lousy location. She would be stuck there with no way to pull back from a relentless press corps that would be all over this story at any moment. At least she would be relatively comfortable by allowing them to set up shop in her home. “All right then,” she decided, “let’s do this at my condominium.”
SA Barnhart pulled out his cell phone and began making the arrangements.
“Agent Masterson,” she said, “I’m still perplexed. How could this group have brought
such an enormous plan together so quickly? After all, Jordan has only been there for five days. Please tell me how big this operation was? Twenty armed men? A getaway helicopter?”
“Agent Barnhart knows more of the finite details of the abduction. But to answer that specific question, initial reports indicate two men were directly involved inside with the extraction. At least one other individual assisted on the outside by driving the getaway vehicle.”
“Two men,” she said, mulling that one over. God, it didn’t sit right. No, that was way too hard to swallow. “Two men,” she repeated. “Are you shitting me?”
“I’m sorry?”
“You heard me! Two men? You’re telling me that two guys stroll into a mental hospital that is world-renowned for its discretion and security and casually kidnap the daughter of a sitting United States Senator! Does that sound about right to you, Special Agent? And where the hell was the extra security that I was promised?” Her voice cracked with anger, indignation, along with a strong belt of sarcasm.
“Senator,” Masterson finally managed to slip in, “I know nothing of the security arrangements you made with this institution. As to how the perpetrators gained access, my understanding is these two individuals may have been hospital employees. We’re reviewing all of the personnel files now and will know more very soon.”
“Jesus Christ, doesn’t anyone do background checks anymore? How do you—”
“It would be best if we continued this conversation once we’ve set up our headquarters. By then, we should have more facts to keep us all from drawing incorrect conclusions.”
“Then tell me this,” Karlson still pressed, “how do two men, employees no less, manage to get this sedated adult woman out of her locked room, down the elevator, and out the damn door without somebody at least saying, ‘Hey look! There’s two employees dragging a patient out of here against her will?’”
“Actually, the security video shows they did not use the elevators. They made their way down the stairwells.”
ENEMY WITHIN THE GATES Page 22