by Jan Coffey
Steven nodded. Bill was an interesting guy, that way. As for himself, Steven just preferred to stay in the background. Run things in a way that didn’t draw attention to himself. Part of that meant keeping clear of House and Senate subpoenas.
Not that he wasn’t interested in politics. It just wasn’t his forte. That was what lobbyists were for…along with his substantial financial contributions to one or the other’s campaign funds. Paul Hersey, in addition to being a longtime friend, had been a primary recipient of Steven’s generosity over the years.
The senator motioned for Steven to sit down, and he sat in the leather chair next to him.
“So, is Kei with you?” He didn’t wait for an answer. “You know Amber has moved back in with me. Graduate student housing or Dad’s house. She took the latter. And I have to say, it’s very nice having her around. We are getting so much closer now than we were when she was a teenager. A whole new relationship.”
“I’m glad, Paul.”
“I am, too. When June and I got divorced, I gave in too easily when I let Amber stay with her mother. Now I realize how much of my child’s life I’ve missed. She’s so mature. And wicked smart. Too much of an idealist, but living in Washington will fix that soon enough. All and all, she’s a great kid. Beautiful, too. How many years has it been since you saw her?”
Steven searched his memory. “I don’t know…maybe a couple of years. Nathan brought her to Connecticut for a weekend. I think it was the summer of their junior year in college. I did speak to her when we were in Istanbul and looking for you. She sounded happy.”
“Yes…yes. You did talk to her,” he said. “I can’t wait for you to see her again. She told me she misses you and Kei. We have to get together for dinner while you’re in town.”
Steven wondered if he sounded like Paul. When Nathan was young, it was the wallet foldouts of a dozen pictures. Now it was their child’s accomplishments.
“Kei isn’t with me. I flew in just for the day. I need your help, Paul.” He decided to get right to the point.
“Anything,” the senator said sincerely. “You know me. I’ll do anything I can for you.”
“It’s about Nathan,” Steven said. “It’s been two weeks now and the line we’re getting about him being under cover, and that he’ll get back to us when he can, isn’t cutting it anymore, especially for Kei. She’s a mess. I’m a mess. We need something more substantial. Some news that says someone has seen him out there. That someone has been in contact with him. We’re afraid that he’s disappeared off your radar. Paul, you’re a father. I know you understand this.”
“I do understand.”
The senator’s face grew very grave. He paused, as he was trying to gather his thoughts, to find the right words. It was not a look Steven recollected ever seeing on Paul’s face.
“Nathan’s situation hasn’t dropped off my radar, Steven. Not for a single day. I have been following it very closely. I have been staying in contact with the people at Langley. We’re…we’re in the process of getting his situation under control.”
A one-ton weight dropped in Steven’s stomach. For a few seconds he couldn’t breathe. His heart was beating so fast that he thought it could burst out of his chest at any second.
“What’s happened to him?” he finally forced out.
Paul leaned forward, his elbows on his knees, his face reflecting a great deal of stress. “Nathan was intercepted by someone before connecting at his rendezvous point. He has been kidnapped.”
This was the knockout punch. He stared at Paul, trying to make sense of the words. “It can’t be. When did this happen?”
“I’m sorry, Steven.”
“Who kidnapped him? How do you know all this?”
“They sent us a photograph of him. It’s definitely Nathan. It’s obvious from the photo that he hasn’t shaved for a few days, but otherwise he looks fine. He’s definitely alive.”
“When were you going to tell me this?” Steven asked angrily.
“Hopefully, never. I was planning on returning your son to you instead.”
“He’s my son. You should have told me.” His voice shook.
“Steven, I couldn’t. National security req—”
“You can’t just hide something like this under a rug,” Steven barked at his friend, interrupting whatever excuse the other man was going to use. “He’s my child, Paul. Flesh and blood. I have a right to know what’s happening to him.”
“Nathan works for the United States government. To be specific, he is an operative for the CIA. Because of the unrest over there, we’re caught in the middle of a very sensitive situation with Turkey right now. We can’t allow news of his abduction to come out.”
Paul droned on. It was all gibberish as far as Steven was concerned. He pushed himself to his feet. For an instant, he didn’t think his legs would support his weight. “Being in the public eye is the only chance he has of living.”
“Not so,” Paul disagreed. “You know that publicly we don’t negotiate with terrorists. Right now, though, we are negotiating with them. That’s the only reason the incident has been kept quiet. We have to keep it at this level or the whole thing will blow up in our faces. Of course, if they decide to go public, everything changes.”
Frustrated, Steven ran a hand down his face, through his hair. He started pacing the office, and the senator was silent while he thought. He didn’t know how he could tell any of this to Kei. They’d been down, then up, and now way, way down. He honestly didn’t know how she’d take it.
“He’s only been working for the CIA six months,” Steven said finally. “Why would they kidnap a kid like him?”
“Some erroneous information led to this, I’ve been told. It apparently misled our people as well as the contacts. These people, whoever they are, have been operating over the past two weeks under the assumption that they’d abducted a different agent. One with a lot of experience.”
“Exactly who are these people?” Steven asked.
“It really doesn’t matter,” Paul said.
“It does to me,” Steven snapped. “Who are they?”
The senator looked at his friend for a long moment and then shrugged. “They’re what is left of a resistance group that operated in southern Iraq. That group was broken up…either killed, absorbed into other insurgent groups, or run out of the country. My understanding is Langley believes that this kidnapping was intended as retribution for an incident that involved this other agent when he was working in the field in Iraq. Payback. A quick assassination. Luckily, the kidnappers had immediate doubts that Nathan was the person they were after. Since they sent us this photo, we’re almost certain now that they know they’ve got the wrong man.”
Steven let out a long, shaky breath. Assassination. His boy. God. This would destroy Kei. The information was destroying him.
“So now that they know…now that we’ve told them they have the wrong person…are they going to release Nathan?” he asked in a pleading tone.
“As I said, we’re negotiating that right now.”
“Who’s negotiating?” Steven asked.
“Our people,” Paul said calmly.
“Don’t give me that bullshit…our people!” Steven shouted. His temper was now boiling over. “I want to know who is negotiating. I want to know what they’re doing for Nathan right now. I want to know what these people will take in exchange for my son.”
Before Paul even began to speak, the gravity of his look gave it away. “So far, they want what we can’t give them.”
“They want the other agent.” Steven said it aloud. “And that’s not going to happen. Someone with that kind of experience is not expendable, but my son is.”
“No, we’re not looking at it that way. We will get Nathan out,” Paul told him. “There are other things that we can use to negotiate. Political prisoner release, money. We will get Nathan out, Steven. I give you my word on it.”
“How much money are you offering them?”
“We haven’t come up with an amount yet.”
“That’s where I help, Paul,” Steven told him. “Make the offer so large that they can’t refuse it. Start at the top.”
“We will, and I appreciate your offer—”
“This is not an offer. I’m telling you.”
“Look…Steven…” Paul pounded one fist onto a meaty palm. “There is a standard procedure that needs to be followed here. Those who are negotiating for us are professionals who do this kind of thing every day. They know what they’re doing. They also know that whatever amount they settle on this time will have to be duplicated the next time one of our agents falls into the hands of a terrorist group.”
“I don’t care about other agents. I don’t give a damn about the future or about procedures or any of that. There’s only one thing I care about right now, and that is getting Nathan back. Do you understand me, Paul?”
The senator let out a frustrated breath. He looked up at Steven. “I’m on your side. I’m trying to help you. But this isn’t the first time this has happened.”
“If you don’t help me, Paul, I’ll get someone else who will,” Steven said harshly. “I don’t care about this professional mumbo-jumbo. We’re talking about the life of my only son. I have got to be involved, every step of the way, until he’s back.”
Paul stood up, ready to argue the government’s position.
Steven held up his hand. “If this were you in my place, if someone kidnapped Amber, how far would you go to get her back? Be honest, Paul. How far would you go?”
There was no pause before the senator answered. “To the end of the world.”
“That is how far I’m planning to go,” Steven told him. “Now, are you going to help me or do I find someone else?”
The senator stared into his face for a long moment and then nodded.
“I’ll do everything in my power to help you,” Paul said. “But I’m going to need you to trust me.”
CHAPTER 33
DESPAIR
New York Presbyterian Hospital
David was allowed to visit Leah in the pediatric intensive care unit for only five minutes at a time.
He’d been told that she’d be here for a few days at the most. After that, she’d be moved to a wing where end-stage renal disease children waited. David had already a walking tour of the wing. Well-lit, colorful, and open by design, the cheery space had lots of distractions and play spaces to keep kids occupied. But nothing they did about the physical surrounding could hide the truth that, for many children in Leah’s condition, this was nothing more than hospice care.
For too many, it was the end of the line.
The pediatric intensive care unit, curiously nicknamed ‘Pink U’, was a different story, though. There was no fooling around with surface appearances here. This unit was all business.
David shook off the gloom-and-doom sensation and walked into Pink U. Hospital beds surrounded by electronic equipment and monitors formed a circle around the center of the room, and every bed was filled with a child dealing with various life threatening ailments. As he crossed to Leah’s bed, he glanced around at them. At almost every bed, a parent or caregiver—looking as troubled and helpless as he was feeling—stood by their child. Looking at them, David felt almost a sense of kinship. They all were suffering, and he knew that every one of them would sacrifice his or her own life to give their child a chance at a fresh, healthy start.
Leah was drifting in and out of sleep when David reached her bedside. A partially closed curtain separated the eight-year-old from the little boy in the adjoining bed. He touched her hair. It was so soft. Wires and tubes ran to monitors and a dialysis machine. At the sight of the equipment hooked to his daughter, David tried to ignore that familiar knot in his throat, that same crushing sadness in his chest.
“Don’t let the negative forces overpower the positive,” he muttered to himself.
He forced himself to think of the door of opportunity that had just swung open for both of them. He took hold of her small hand. She opened her eyes.
“Daddy,” she whispered, a weak smile breaking across her pale face. Her fingers grasped his. “You’re back.”
“I told you I wasn’t going far.”
“I know,” she whispered.
“Hey, I hear they’re moving you out of here in a couple of days,” he told her.
“Can you take me home?”
He squeezed her fingers. “Not yet, honey, but pretty soon.”
“Then, will you stay with me?” she asked. “I don’t like all these strangers.”
“They won’t let me hang around too long here. None of the parents are allowed to stay long. But once they move you, I’ll be right there beside you, love.”
“I’m scared, Daddy,” she whispered, clutching harder at his hand.
“I’m right here, sweetheart,” David said, fighting to keep the tears from welling in his eyes. “Everything will be okay, honey. You’ll see. Everything will be fine.”
Diarte had come back today to talk over the start date for the project. The job was about to begin in a couple of weeks. When David asked him to be more specific about the project, Diarte had shown some fancy footwork. He clearly didn’t want to talk about that with David yet. Somehow, the topic kept coming back to Leah and her care.
The only thing that was firm so far with regard to the project was that David had to be ready to go to an island in the Bahamas for a couple of weeks to a month.
David wasn’t stupid. He knew it had to be something illegal. A project requiring him to work at an offshore site for a few weeks? A job that they were willing to compensate him for more than handsomely but wouldn’t be specific about? And it wasn’t just money they were offering. They had gone to enormous trouble and expense with regard to Leah.
David had spoken to the clinic administrators in Germany. All anticipated expenses for Leah’s care had been prepaid, including the transportation costs from New York to Germany. And all the costs that David’s insurance wasn’t covering while Leah was here in New York.
He wasn’t worth that much…at least not for a legitimate project. He just couldn’t imagine what he’d be useful for in an illegal operation.
David had already spoken to his half-sister who lived in Philadelphia. She was willing to come to New York and check on Leah daily at the hospital while he was away. But despite this arrangement, he didn’t know how he could leave Leah. He didn’t have any idea how he could explain it to her. He didn’t really think either of them would be able to handle it. Not when his daughter’s life was hanging by a very thin thread. The doctors would give no assurances about Leah’s ability to stay alive for any length of time. No estimate whatsoever. Her condition was evaluated day to day.
David knew his daughter well enough to know that her spirit would be a factor in how her body reacted. Nicole’s death had caused a major reduction in Leah’s kidney function. David didn’t want to think how she would react if she knew he was deserting her, for weeks and possibly up to a month.
Efficient to the second, one of the ICU nurses came around to kick the visitors out. David was relieved that Leah had fallen back to sleep. In the hallway, an idea came to him.
After tracking down Leah’s pediatrician and asking a few questions, David dialed the number Diarte had given him.
“Mr. Diarte, I have a proposal I’d like to make…something to move the project forward.”
“Excellent, Mr. Collier. What are you thinking?”
“Money appears not to be an issue with regard to my joining your client’s team.”
“Are you requesting a higher salary, Mr. Collier?” Diarte asked cautiously.
“No,” David told him. “But I would like arrangements to be made so that my daughter can accompany me to the Bahamas.”
“But she’s in the intensive care unit now,” he replied.
“That’s true,” David acknowledged. “But she’s scheduled to move out of ICU and into regular care at t
he hospital in a couple of days.”
There was silence at the other end.
“I can’t leave her,” he said, working hard to keep his emotions from affecting his tone of voice. “I’m all she has. If you can arrange it so that Leah comes with me, I won’t ask another question.”
“Let me call you right back, Mr. Collier,” Diarte said, hanging up.
David found himself standing at a window at the end of the hallway. Below him, the black waters of the East River reflected the lights and the traffic of the Queensboro Bridge. Beyond Roosevelt Island and the RFK Bridge, Queens stretched out like a carnival. Jets landed and took off at La Guardia with rhythmic precision. He could see, in the distance, the Whitestone Bridge. Bridges to everywhere, it seemed.
It was only a few minutes before Diarte called him back, but it felt like an eternity to David. He assumed that Diarte would need to discuss this proposal with his superiors. He knew that Leah would require medical staff close by, as well as a facility where she could receive dialysis.
Diarte had mentioned that they were heading to the Bahamas. That was only a half-hour flight from Miami. People lived there. It was a civilized place. There had to be hospitals. And he’d already checked the dangers of moving Leah with her pediatrician. They could do it. Eventually, they’d have to move her to Germany.
David’s phone vibrated in his hand. Diarte was on the other end.
“I’m happy to say that this is absolutely a go, Mr. Collier. We’ll start making the arrangements on our end.”
CHAPTER 34
LOSS
Alanna called five of the people on the list Lyons had given her.
Each person she talked to spoke highly of the experience. Interestingly enough, they all had engineering backgrounds. Two of them were involved in the startup of a new inventory system. They had taken three weeks off from their regular job and the compensation had been amazing. Another person she’d spoken to was involved with product testing. All the projects had been handled the same way. All spoke of Lyons’s straightforwardness in negotiations, followed by secrecy about the project until the work actually began. Each job had required going away to a remote location for a short length of time.
