Дэвид Балдаччи - King and Maxwell

He waited patiently until she came around. Her head flopped from side to side as she regained her senses, and then she held her head up and looked around. Obviously, all she could see was the inside of the cloth covering her face.

Grant touched her on the arm, which made her jump and scream.

He had done that deliberately. He needed her to have a measure of calm, but he also wanted her to feel scared, intimidated, and desperate.

“Who are you?” Kathy said in a quavering voice.

“Someone who just wants to talk, Kathy.”

“Please… please don’t hurt me.”

“No one is going to hurt you, Kathy. I just want to talk. And I need you to do something for me.”

“What?”

“Tyler Wingo. He’s your friend, isn’t he?”

She nodded, her body shaking so badly the legs of the chair were shifting slightly.

“Well, I want to help him.”

“No, you don’t. Why would you kidnap me and tie me up if you want to help him?”

Grant smiled. She was showing some spirit now. But the fear would return. It always did. “It’s complicated, Kathy. Very complicated. These things are. You know what Sam Wingo is accused of doing?”

“I don’t believe it,” she said heatedly. “He’s a good man. He would never steal that money. He was a soldier.”

“I actually believe you, Kathy. I don’t think he did it either. But others do. And those others can harm him and Tyler. I’m here to prevent that.”

“No you’re not!” she snapped. “You want to hurt them.”

“I’m going to take your blindfold off and show you something, okay?”

Grant nodded to the other man, who turned and left the room. Grant moved behind Kathy.

“Do not turn your head around, Kathy. Stare straight ahead. What you’ll see hopefully will convince you of my good intentions.”

He held something out in front of her and with his other hand removed the blindfold. Kathy blinked her eyes rapidly and then focused on what was in front of her.

“You’re with the CIA?” she exclaimed breathlessly as she stared at the cred pack held in front of her.

“Yes. Undercover, which is why I can’t let you see my face. What Sam Wingo is involved in is very serious. We believe he was set up, but we have no proof. Wingo is not going to trust anyone, including us. But we have to communicate with him somehow. Make him come in and work with us.”

“But why do you need me to do that?”

“We tried to reach out to him, but like I said, he’s not trusting anyone. I think he’ll trust you, Kathy.”

“What do you want me to do?”

“Can you contact Tyler and let him know that you want to meet with him? You pick the place. Make it very public so you’ll both feel safe.”

“But what do you want me to tell him?”

“That his father needs to contact us. That he needs to come into Langley. You know about Langley, right?”

“It’s your headquarters.”

“That’s right, Kathy. There are people there who care about what happens to Sam Wingo. They want to make this right. But the longer he’s out there, the worse it’s going to get. You can see that, right?”

She slowly nodded, still staring at the CIA badge he kept holding in front of her. This was a very deliberate action by Grant. He needed her to believe he really was with the CIA and a “good guy.”

“So you’ll do it? You’ll call him?”

“I guess I can. But I can’t guarantee that he’ll meet with me.”

“I know that. But I think he will. I think he likes you and trusts you. I know he wants the best for his father, and so do we. And his father will trust Tyler. I’m sure of it.”

Grant held up her phone, which had been taken from her previously.

“I’m going to hit Tyler’s number.”

“I could just text him.”

“I think he needs to hear your voice. If you text him he can’t be sure it’s from you.”

“Oh, right. I forgot about that. But where should we meet?”

“How about Tysons mall? There’s a Starbucks there, right? I know it’s not that close to where you both live, but it’s a central place with lots of people.”

“Yeah, we’ve actually gone there sometimes.”

“We’ll take you to the mall and drop you there. You meet with him. Deliver the message. And then you go home. And we’ll take it from there. How’s that sound?”

“That sounds really good,” she said, relief in her voice.

Grant smiled. “I thought it would. And your country really appreciates your help.”

He hit the key for Tyler’s speed dial.

He had to call the number twice before Tyler picked up.

“Kathy?”

She delivered the message as calmly as possible.

“I’ll meet you there,” said Tyler. He clicked off.

Kathy looked at Grant.

“You did the right thing,” he said. For me.

TYLER HURRIED INTO THE MALL and looked around. Hearing from Kathy had floored him. The CIA wanted to talk to his dad! He could hardly believe it. Kathy had said they thought he’d been set up. If he could get to the CIA, maybe he had a good shot at getting all this sorted out.

The Starbucks was up ahead. He looked cautiously around again. He trusted Kathy completely, but with all the crazy things happening he knew he needed to be careful. The mall was pretty full, though, and thus he felt safe.

He felt the hand on his arm and whirled around. He was staring up at a police officer.

“Tyler Wingo?” the man said.

Tyler stammered, “Yu-yes?”

“You need to come with me, son.”

“Why?”

Another man in a suit appeared behind him. He held out his ID card.

“FBI. Special Agent Martin. You need to come with us, Mr. Wingo. Down to the WFO in D.C. for questioning.”

“What about?”

The man looked at him incredulously. “About your father, Mr. Wingo. What else would it be? You running a drug ring or something?”

“No. But I’m meeting with someone at Starbucks.”

“We know all about Ms. Burnett. We have already collected her. She’s in big trouble, Mr. Wingo. Do you know what accessory after the fact means?”

Tyler looked like he might throw up. “N-no. Is it bad?”

“It could be very bad, depending on how this turns out. Now let’s go.”

They escorted Tyler out of the mall and the three climbed into a black SUV with tinted windows. It immediately drove off.

Tyler’s phone vibrated in his pocket. His father’s text had finally come through. He did not have a chance to answer it. The text sat there unanswered, as did the message his father had left on Tyler’s voice mail.

Thirty minutes later Sean, Michelle, and Wingo rushed into the mall.

Michelle held up a warning hand. “Wait. Let’s do this right. They could have used Tyler to flush you, Sam, which means they could be waiting to ambush us.”

“In a crowded mall?” said Wingo.

Sean said, “They’ve already done it once to us. These guys don’t seem to care where they hit you or who gets hurt in the process.”

They spread out and advanced on the Starbucks that Tyler had mentioned in his text. When they arrived it only took a few seconds to see that neither teenager was there.

Wingo said, “They’ve already got them.”

“We don’t know that for sure,” said Michelle.

“The hell we don’t. They’ve got my kid. Shit!” He slumped against a wall and put a hand over his face.

Sean put a hand on Wingo’s shoulder. “We’ll get him back, Sam. We just need to keep calm and think of a way.”

“I can’t think straight. Not with Tyler…”

“Which is exactly what they want to happen,” observed Michelle.

“Let’s continue this discussion outside,” advised Sean.