by Tess Diamond
“I don’t know why the boy would say that, but none of it’s true,” the senator said. “I work long hours, but Kayla understands that. It’s always been that way. I make sure I have time with my daughter so she doesn’t feel neglected. Anyway, I’ve never heard Kayla mention a Lucas. Are you sure he’s not just some boy with a crush who’s making things up?”
Jake watched as Maggie Kincaid drew herself up, zeroing in on the senator’s face. She hid it well, but her frustration was apparent to Jake. Her eyebrows drew together, a little V forming between them, her blue eyes darkening to a stormy gray. This was a woman who knew when she was being lied to. A woman who wouldn’t stand for that nonsense ever, but especially when a child’s life was on the line. This was a woman who was going to do all she could to save Kayla’s life, come hell or high water.
“Senator, I understand this is a very difficult time,” she said. “But I need the whole truth from you. You understand that, don’t you? I need to know all of it. Everything. Even if it’s uncomfortable or illegal or embarrassing. This isn’t about your career or your marriage—this is about your daughter, your baby girl’s life. So why don’t you tell me what you and Kayla have been fighting about? Have you been cheating? Did she find out? Are there gambling debts? Are you being blackmailed?”
Jake watched as the man’s eyes narrowed to slits, his mouth doing the same as he looked down at Maggie, barely restrained fury radiating from him. Jake tensed, stepping forward slightly, just in case he needed to put himself between them.
“I have a wonderful relationship with my daughter,” the senator said icily. “This boy, whoever he is, he’s mistaken. Kayla and I are very close and always have been. There’s been no fighting. And I have never been unfaithful to my wife.”
Maggie let out a sigh, and when she looked up, her eyes met Jake’s. The V between her eyebrows deepened. “Why don’t you mind your own business, O’Connor?”
He smiled, slow and easy, impressed with her despite himself. “Apologies, ma’am.”
She frowned at him, puzzled at the genuine note in his voice. He looked back at her in appreciation. Damn, she was cute when she was fired up.
“I’m going to get some coffee,” Maggie said pointedly. “I’ll give you a few minutes to ponder what we’ve talked about, Senator. When I come back, I expect answers, sir. Real answers.”
Jake couldn’t stop himself from watching her make her way toward the door. Her heels gave her a good three inches, but she was still tiny. Almost fragile-looking. At least until a man caught a glimpse of the steel beneath her soft, curvy surface.
She had a good point about the senator—he seemed more than a little off. It was why Jake had asked Peggy to start digging. He could tell himself it was because Thebes was worried about his kid, but after this exchange and the way he seemed to be open to Max Grayson’s terrible ideas about politicizing the situation, Jake was starting to wonder if Maggie’s instincts were right. The senator shouldn’t be worried about poll numbers or even entertaining his aide’s ridiculous press conference proposal. His focus should be on his daughter, and doing everything—sharing every bit of information he had—to get her home safe. If Thebes had been fighting with Kayla over normal teenage problems, the senator wouldn’t have denied it the way he did. Had Kayla done something he wanted to hide? Fourteen seemed a little young to Jake for an unplanned pregnancy, but either that or drugs could be possible. Kids—even privileged preppies—got started early these days.
“Wait.” The senator’s voice rang out through the room.
Maggie turned, a triumphant look on her face that changed as soon as she saw what Thebes was holding.
His cell phone, buzzing.
“It’s him,” he said.
Chapter 11
Maggie strode across the room, taking the phone from Senator Thebes. Her heart was in her throat, residual anger from the man’s behavior fading as she projected calm. It was time to be in control.
“What is it?” Paul asked, striding across the room toward her.
“It’s a video file,” she said. Picking up a USB cable, she connected it to one of the laptops on the desk and pulled up the file on-screen. While everyone gathered around, Maggie hit Play.
It was Kayla, in the same gray room as before. She looked pale and sweaty, her hands shaking as she held the copy of Crime and Punishment, reading it in a barely-there voice that cracked and swelled with fear. Maggie carefully studied what she could see of the room behind the girl: blank gray walls, concrete floor, nothing notable. The video went dark for a second and then cut to a masked man’s face. He pressed on something near his throat, hidden by his hoodie—whatever device he was using to disguise his voice.
“I’ve given you proof of life, Maggie,” he said. “Now it’s time for you to give me something. I want five million dollars. Tell the senator to get it ready, and I’ll call back with the account number in the morning.”
The video went dark, and Maggie straightened, puzzled.
“What are you going to do about this?” the senator demanded angrily, but Maggie was staring at the computer screen, thinking.
Why would the unsub want to wait until the morning? She glanced over at Jake. His dark brows were drawn together, like he was asking himself the same question. Something was not right here. The kidnapper should be in a hurry. He’d been prepared so far. Careful. He should want to unload Kayla and get the money as soon as possible. He should have had an untraceable account number at the ready—after all, Senator Thebes was the kind of man who could get his hands on five million dollars pretty fast. And the kidnapper had to know that. He’d clearly done his research on the senator and his family.
Why wait? Did he have something else planned? Something she was missing?
“So what do you think?” Jake asked. A little startled, Maggie looked up at him standing next to her. She hadn’t even noticed him approaching her. He moved like a cat—silent, stealthy . . . it made her more convinced he was military. She looked at him, the wide shoulders, the arms roped with muscle, the seriousness that always seemed to be in his green eyes. Yeah, definitely military. The man would have seen a lot of action if his eagerness to leap forward and throttle instead of staying calm and careful was any indication.
“It feels a little off, doesn’t it?” she asked in an undertone.
“Glad you think so too,” he said. “Who waits almost twenty-four hours to get their money?”
“I don’t know,” Maggie said. “But we’re going to find out. Jessa.” She raised her voice, addressing the forensic tech whose dyed black hair was spiked all over her head, making her look like a punky Peter Pan. “Get the video file to the lab and have the profilers look at it too. I want to know everything. Clothing brands, paint colors, camera angles, shadows on the wall, reflections—anything you can find. I want to know what device he’s using to digitize his voice. I want sound techs stripping down the audio to get me something closer to what he really sounds like. I want everything you can see—if there’s a poppy seed in his teeth, I want to know about it. You got it?”
“Got it.” Jessa dove toward her computer and beginning to type furiously while pulling up a video-chat with the lab at headquarters.
“Agent Kincaid?” asked a voice behind her. It was strange to hear herself be called that again. Maggie shook it off; she didn’t have time to spare. She turned to see a young tech holding his hand up like he was in school, waiting for her to call on him. “I think I found something.”
“What is it?” Maggie strode over to where he was seated, peering over his shoulder at his laptop screen.
“A match on the cell phone that took the first proof-of-life picture,” the tech explained. “At first I thought he was bouncing the signal and that’s why we couldn’t get a lot. But then I dug into the metadata and found a name hidden in there: Randy Macomb.”
“The pool guy?” Paul and Jake asked at the same time.
The two men looked at each other in surprise. Maggi
e raised an eyebrow, peering at the tablet Paul held out, where a list of the senator’s household staff was on the screen.
“That can’t be right,” she said, shaking her head. “This guy’s a pro, not a pool cleaner. He wouldn’t be stupid enough to use his own phone. He’d use burners.”
“You’re overthinking it, Maggie,” Paul said. “Occam’s razor, you know? The simplest explanation might be the right one. Think about it: He would have access to the estate, to the senator, to Kayla. He’d know her schedule. He could have a personal grudge—kidnappers are often somebody with a direct connection. You understand that. If he’s acting like a pro, well . . .” Paul shrugged. “Maybe he’s just seen a lot of hostage movies and he’s doing a good impression. And—”
“There’s no way an unsub this smooth learns how to kidnap a senator’s daughter by watching some movies,” Jake interrupted, derision in his voice. “You can only fake so much. This guy’s not faking.”
Paul looked Jake up and down and sneered, “Nobody asked your opinion, O’Connor.”
Jake rolled his eyes. “As opposed to your stellar ‘he learned it from the movies’ theory? Come on.”
“Paul, his opinions are relevant,” Maggie said, looking at Jake. He’d spent the morning trying to alpha her, but now he was playing nice. Was it a game? A way to trip her up?
Or was he sincere?
She wouldn’t know if she didn’t ask.
“What are your thoughts?” she asked him.
“I’ve met the pool guy,” Jake said. “If he’s putting on an act, he’s the best damn actor in the world. Our guy isn’t some sunbaked pool skimmer. He’s practiced.”
“A freelancer, maybe?” Maggie asked.
“Could be,” Jake said. “Wet work pays well, but it takes more talent and a lot more resources and control to pull off a hostage situation.”
“And he wouldn’t be this careless, leaving the phone metadata behind,” she mused.
“No way,” Jake agreed. “He wants us running in circles, Kincaid. That’s why I want this to be a clean in and out as soon as we nail down the place he’s holding Kayla. Sooner the better.”
“I think so too,” Maggie nodded. “But we need to find Kayla before we discuss extraction—and that’ll be my call, not yours,” she added, just to remind him who was in charge.
He grinned at her, and it made her heart flip. “I know, I know, you’re the touchstone.”
Surprisingly, she liked this, being able to bounce ideas off someone sharp. She liked it a lot, actually. She used to try it with Paul, but their rhythm was always a bit off. Jake O’Connor seemed to be able to meet her step for step with ease and intelligence. It sent a thrill of excitement and hope through her. She looked over to Paul, who was frowning at the two of them, and her excitement faded as she realized he wasn’t convinced.
They’d never been on the same wavelength.
Paul reached out and squeezed Maggie’s shoulder. Out of the corner of her eye, Maggie saw Jake shift, his mouth flattening at Paul’s casual touch. “Sorry, Mags, but I’ve got to go after this,” Paul said.
Maggie bit the inside of her lip. Of course he did. Paul would doggedly follow every lead, even if his gut was screaming that it was a dead end. “Do what you have to,” she said with a shrug, and Paul looked disappointed that she wasn’t going to ignore all her common sense and go along with him.
Maggie turned away toward the window as Paul mobilized the cops and several agents, and they headed out to arrest Randy Macomb. It was so frustrating that Paul wouldn’t take her opinion into consideration—and surprising how much it meant to her that Jake not only stood up for her, but had met her as an equal, as someone with an opinion to be valued.
She was starting to think she’d been wrong about him. There were hidden depths beneath that handsome face and warrior body. It seemed almost unfair to the women of the world if he had brains behind that brawn.
Maggie shook her head, trying to banish her unbusinesslike distraction. She needed to focus on the case, not think about how Jake O’Connor filled out a suit. Which was hard, because the man in question had just walked over to her place by the window.
“He’s wasting time,” Jake said behind her.
“I know,” Maggie said as she watched the SUVs pulling out of the driveway.
“What’s your plan?”
Maggie looked up at him, and the openness in his eyes made her tell the truth. “I’m not sure yet. I feel like I’m missing something.”
“Sometimes I think we’re always missing something,” Jake replied. “Things change fast in situations like these. Once we get the account number, we’ll get a location. I can get her out safe, Kincaid, as long as I have a location. I promise.”
Maggie couldn’t stop the stricken expression that fell across her face. “You shouldn’t promise things like that,” she said in a hushed voice.
His brow furrowed at the brokenness behind her words, and he stepped forward, reaching out. “Maggie—”
She moved away before he could touch her. She still remembered the warmth of his skin against hers from this morning when she bumped into him. She couldn’t have another reminder. “No promises,” she said firmly. “Not in this line of work.”
Before he could say another word, she smoothed out the wrinkles in her skirt and walked briskly over to Jessa.
“Play me the video again,” she ordered.
Maybe this time, she’d see something new.
Chapter 12
Jake waited outside of the senator’s office, his hands clasped behind his back.
He could hear Thebes’ voice talking to one of his policy advisors, but he couldn’t make out the words.
Harrison going after the pool boy was a dead end. Jake couldn’t believe he’d even bother to follow such an obvious red herring, but the guy did seem a little straitlaced. A rule follower.
His mind wandered back to Maggie, to the haunted expression on her face, and her response to his promise to get Kayla back safe.
He had thought it was odd at the time, but right after Maggie had left the senator’s mansion with Edenhurst, Peggy had sent him a complete file on her.
He’d spent an hour inside his temporary office, reading through her life, his heart tightening with each page. When he finally closed the folder, he’d found himself placing the flat of his hand against the file, as if somehow she’d be able to feel it. As if somehow he would make it better.
He hated how intrusive he felt, how he’d read about moments in her life that he knew she didn’t share often. But it was the job, he reminded himself sternly.
But she wasn’t a job. She was . . .
He didn’t know what she was. Smart. Beautiful. Infuriating. Intriguing.
Stronger than steel, judging by her past. God, what hell had been heaped on her as a little girl. To lose her sister like that . . .
“O’Connor?”
Jake looked up, torn from his thoughts. Senator Thebes was standing in the doorway, eyebrows raised expectantly.
“I’m ready for you,” he said.
“Of course,” Jake said, getting up and following him into the office.
He sat down on the leather chair across from the senator’s desk.
“So, what do you think about Harrison and his pool-boy lead?” Thebes asked.
“I think it’s a dead end, sir,” Jake replied.
Thebes sighed, his face drooping with exhaustion. “You won’t be offended if I hope you’re wrong,” he said.
“No,” Jake said. “Any lead at this time would be good,” he explained. “I’m just not convinced this is it.”
“And the matter we discussed earlier?” the senator asked. “The Kincaid woman? Have you looked into her?”
“I have,” Jake said. “All her credentials stack up. And her case success rate at the FBI as a negotiator was much higher than average.”
“So she’s good,” the senator said slowly. “Even though she seems to be gambling with my ch
ild’s life?”
“According to my sources, she’s the best,” Jake said. “And there is a level of risk taking in a situation like this, Senator.”
“There shouldn’t be,” he growled. “It’s my child’s life on the line.”
“I understand that,” Jake said. “And I think Ms. Kincaid does too.”
Thebes’ eyes narrowed as he thought, his fingers interlaced. “Why did she leave the Bureau?”
Jake shifted in his seat. He had a choice here. If he told the senator what he suspected—that Maggie’s last case, the loss of life, had hit her hard—he was certain she’d be off the case in seconds. Jake would be free to run the rescue operation the way he wanted—the FBI would probably put Boy Scout Harrison in charge, and he could handle that guy any day.
But something stopped him—and it wasn’t his attraction or even his admiration for Maggie Kincaid.
Jake trusted his instincts—they were how he survived in war zones and kept his people safe—and every instinct he had was screaming that Kayla’s best chance wasn’t him or Maggie—it was them. Working together. As a team.
“Her father passed away the winter before she took a leave of absence from the Bureau.” Technically, Jake thought to himself, that was the truth. “From what I could gather, it was pretty hard on the family There was a considerable estate to deal with after her father’s death. My sources say Agent Kincaid left the Bureau in order to help her mother manage the estate and the charity—the Clean Water Initiative—that her father started.”
“So she values family,” the senator said.
“She does,” Jake said. “I know I was originally skeptical of bringing her in, Senator, but I think Agent Edenhurst pulling her out of retirement might be the best thing to happen to this case.”
Senator Thebes stroked a hand over his mouth, the troubled expression on his face not fading. “Let’s hope,” he said softly. “For my family’s sake.”
