Chương 12
“Mr. Reed.”
“I have the drive.”
“Don’t—”
A sharp sound interrupted her. Not a gunshot. Something striking a wall or table.
Alexander’s hand clenched.
Nolan returned. “Six thirty. If I see police, if I see your driver, if I see anyone, Grant will solve the problem in his way.”
“You said Grant was difficult.”
“He is becoming impossible.”
“Then you need me there as much as I need Claire alive.”
Nolan gave a quiet laugh. “There you are. Frank’s son at last.”
The call ended.
Agents planned the exchange.
Alexander would enter the motel room with a duplicate drive containing tracking hardware. The original remained in federal custody. Tactical teams would approach from adjoining rooms and the rear lot. Surveillance units would cover the road.
It was a sound plan built on incomplete information.
At six, the motel manager reported that room twelve had been rented in cash by a man matching Grant’s description. A thermal camera detected two or three people inside, though walls and heating pipes made the image uncertain.
Alexander changed into the black suit he had worn when Lily stopped his car. It was the only clothing available in Evelyn’s house that fit him because she still kept several of his father’s suits, and he refused to wear one.
Miriam adjusted the microphone beneath his shirt.
“You do not improvise,” she said.
“If Claire is in immediate danger—”
“You follow the extraction signal.”
“If Grant points a gun at her?”
“You are not faster than trained agents.”
“I understand.”
“No. You believe understanding is agreement. Tell me the instruction.”
“I do not improvise.”
She tightened his tie more sharply than necessary.
His phone rang.
Lily.
Everyone in the room looked at it.
Alexander answered.
“Are you going now?” she asked.
“Yes.”
“To get Mom?”
“Yes.”
“Are police with you?”
He glanced at the agents.
“They are nearby.”
“You said you would go alone.”
“Nolan wants me alone. I’ll enter alone, but police will be outside.”
“That’s not alone.”
“No.”
“Are you tricking him?”
“Yes.”
“Is that lying?”
“Yes.”
“Then why can you lie to him?”
Alexander sat on the edge of a folding table.
“Because he is holding your mother and threatening her. I’m trying to make him believe something that will help us save her.”
“But you lied to me too.”
“I did.”
“Was that to save Mom?”
“No. That was because I was afraid you would be upset with me.”
She absorbed this.
“Are you scared now?”
“Yes.”
“Rich men get scared?”
“All the time.”
“Mom said rich men pay other people to look scared for them.”
One of the agents lowered his eyes.
“Your mother is observant,” Alexander said.
“She says that when she means someone talks too much.”
He smiled despite the pressure in his chest.
“Lily, I need to go.”
“What if you don’t come back?”
The room became silent.
He could have promised that he would. The promise sat ready, smooth and comforting.
“I don’t know what will happen,” he said. “The police have a plan. They’re better at this than I am. I’m going to follow their instructions.”
“What if they’re wrong?”
“Then we adjust.”
“You say ‘we’ when you want things to sound safe.”
He looked at Miriam. She lifted one eyebrow.
“You’re right,” he said. “They will adjust. I will do what they tell me.”
“And Mom?”
“I’m going to look her in the eyes if I can. I’m going to tell her you’re safe. Then I’m going to help the police bring her out.”
“Don’t tell her I cried.”
“All right.”
“And don’t say all right like that.”
“How should I say it?”
“Say you won’t.”
“I won’t tell her you cried.”
“Because I didn’t.”
“Understood.”
There was a pause.
“Mr. Reed?”
“Yes?”
“I’m still mad.”
“You should be.”
“Bring her back anyway.”
“I’ll try.”
This time, the truth seemed to be enough.
The Riverside Motor Lodge stood beside an old highway lined with gas stations and bare trees. Its sign had lost the letters O and T, leaving RIVERSIDE M OR LODGE glowing weakly in the dusk.
Alexander parked where instructed and walked toward room twelve carrying the duplicate drive in his coat pocket.
The curtains were closed. A blue sedan sat three spaces away. No dark SUV was visible.
He knocked.
Nolan opened the door.
His silver hair remained perfectly combed. He wore a camel coat over a white shirt without a tie, as though arriving for a casual dinner. A bruise darkened one side of his jaw.
“Come in.”
Alexander stepped across the threshold.
The room smelled of cigarettes, damp carpet, and disinfectant. Grant Morrow stood near the bathroom with a pistol in his right hand. His left thumb was wrapped in a dirty bandage.
Claire sat on the edge of the bed. Her wrists were bound in front of her. One side of her face was swollen, and dried blood marked the collar of her blue shirt. Her left foot was bare.
She looked at Alexander, then toward the door behind him.
He gave the smallest shake of his head. Lily was not there.
“Your daughter is safe,” he said.
Claire closed her eyes briefly.
Grant raised the pistol. “That wasn’t the deal.”
“It didn’t cost you anything,” Alexander said.
Nolan shut the door.
“The drive.”
Alexander removed it slowly and held it between two fingers.
“Let Claire walk out.”
“You are not in a position to set terms,” Nolan said.
“Neither are you. Police have copies of the files.”
Claire’s eyes snapped toward him.
Nolan studied his face. “You wouldn’t expose your father.”
“I read the ledger.”
The confidence in Nolan’s expression altered.
“He kept it?”
“My mother did.”
Grant swore under his breath.
Nolan looked toward him. “Quiet.”
“The company’s opening every record,” Alexander continued. “Your accounts, Northstar, payroll, injury claims. Robert Gaines is implicated. So am I.”
“You think public confession makes you noble?”
“No.”
“Then what are you doing?”
May you like
“Removing your reason to hurt her.”
Nolan stepped closer. “The drive contains employee identities, immigration information, medical records. Release it, and you injure the people Claire pretends to protect.”
