Джеймс Паттерсон - Lost

Finally, I slid the backpack across the table to Hanna. The look on her face told me how shocked she was.

She wasn’t the only one.

Steph said, “Wait a minute.”

“Take it and go,” I told Hanna. “Get your daughter back.”

I tried not to chuckle at the confused expression on Albert’s face. A hard-core criminal like him wasn’t used to a helping hand from the police.

I sat in silence as we watched the brother and sister walk west across the parking lot, the backpack slung over Hanna’s left shoulder.

I knew the conversation with my partners was going to be interesting.

Chapter 93

STEPH HALL PLOPPED onto the bench across from me. Outrage was written across her face. “Are you insane?” she practically shouted.

I shrugged and said, “Possibly. I’d have to blame it on my DNA.”

Chill, standing in front of me, said, “Not cool, Anti. We worked hard for that arrest. We deserved it.”

“You know as well as I do that Billy the Blade is not gonna fool around. He wouldn’t think twice about slitting that girl’s throat. Hell, I’ve seen his handiwork over on Hallandale Beach.” I looked at Steph and Chill as I let them think about what might happen to that girl. “I had to let Hanna leave with the backpack. I’m sorry, but the FBI would only screw up the rescue. None of you can tell me a girl’s life is worth a few diamonds.”

Steph regained her composure and said, “You don’t have the authority to give away evidence and let human traffickers leave.”

“And yet that’s what I just did.”

Chill said, “It’s not even legal.”

I shook my head and said, “No, it’s not necessarily legal, but it’s the right thing to do.”

I motioned for Chill to join us at the picnic table. Now I had my annoyed coworkers sitting around me. They were not in the mood to hear me explain my reasoning, but I guessed I’d earned enough credit for them to let me speak.

I said, “Everything is going according to plan.”

Steph said, “Your plan was to give away a fortune in evidence and let our main suspects go?”

I said, “How did they know to come to the park to find the bag? Because they have a tracker sewn into the backpack.” I pulled out my iPhone and brought up a display. “Do you think that’s the only tracker in the world? Chill gave me a bag of electronics that included trackers a few weeks ago.” I held up my phone to show them the little map with the flashing signal. I said, “Looks like they’re still on foot. The tracker should lead us directly to the Russians. We might be able to wrap this whole thing up after they get the girl back.”

Steph stood up quickly and said, “We have to start following them. It’ll take a few minutes to get the surveillance organized.”

I unclipped the compact Miami police radio from my belt, mashed the button, and said, “Smooth Jazz, do you have eyes on the target?”

Alvin Teague’s voice came over the radio. “They’re about to get into a blue Chevy rental car and I have the tracker on my phone. I have detectives in each direction on Biscayne. This’ll be the easiest surveillance in history.”

I looked up at Steph, who was staring at me with an open mouth. All I could say was “Teague may be a pompous ass, but he’s one hell of a good cop.”

I would enjoy the memory of that look on her face for the rest of my life.

Chapter 94

HANNA GREETE WAS still in shock that the big cop had handed over the backpack without even asking for a bribe. Albert checked to make sure the diamonds were still in place. The police hadn’t even bothered to open up the strap. The diamonds were still there, a ridge under the fabric.

Hanna had only one goal—to get Josie back safely.

Now she and Albert sat in La Carreta, a Cuban restaurant on Eighth Street in Little Havana. Albert had eaten some kind of ham sandwich. She had picked at chips that looked like they were made out of bananas and stared at her phone.

Finally, she called Billy, afraid of what he might say.

Billy answered the phone with his usual exuberance, shouting, “Hello, Hanna!”

“How quickly can you meet us?” Hanna asked.

“Do you have the diamonds?”

“Is Josie safe?”

“How could you think I would do anything to this sweet little girl? But don’t forget, I know I can live without the diamonds. Can you live without your daughter?”

Hanna didn’t mean for there to be silence on the line, but she had no response. Just the way he’d said that sent a chill through her body.

Billy said, “I can meet you in one hour in South Beach. On the sidewalk across from the Clevelander Hotel, near the beach.”

“Put Josie on the phone. I have to know that she’s safe,” Hanna said.

“You won’t take my word for it?”

“Put her on the phone.” Hanna purposely kept her tone even and spoke very slowly so there would be no misunderstanding. After a long silence, Hanna heard a whimper on the other end of the phone. “Josie? Is that you, sweetheart?”

“Mama?” Then there was a bout of sobbing.

“Are you okay, Josie?” Hanna waited while someone spoke to her daughter away from the phone.

Josie came back on, sniffled, and said, “Help me, Mama. The man with the blue beard says he’ll use his knife on my throat if you don’t meet him.” She started to say something else but the phone was snatched from her.

Hanna gasped, trying not to picture what Billy might do to her daughter.

Billy came back on the line and said, “I look forward to seeing you in an hour.”

“Bring Josie.”

“Of course. I wouldn’t deny a mother the chance to watch her daughter’s throat slit if things don’t go exactly as planned. If the diamonds aren’t in my hand in one hour, you’ll never see your precious daughter again.”

He said goodbye, never dropping his friendly tone.

Hanna hung up and looked at her brother. “We have one hour to meet them over on South Beach.”

She couldn’t read the look in Albert’s eyes.

Chapter 95

HANNA ALMOST LEFT her brother in Little Havana.

She said, “I need to know you won’t do anything crazy, Albert.”

“Define crazy .”

She growled in frustration.

South Beach was only a few miles from downtown Miami, but it felt like a different world. The crowds of pedestrians along Ocean Drive seemed much younger than the people along Brickell or Bayshore Drive.

The Clevelander Hotel sat on the corner of Tenth and Ocean Drive in the Miami Art Deco District. Hanna had heard of the old five-story hotel, but she’d just read an article in the Miami paper that said the only thing the Clevelander was known for now was loud music by the pool and a TV sports show called Highly Questionable that was taped in the hotel every afternoon.

Albert drove past the hotel so they could both get a look at the area, but there were too many people to see much, so Hanna told him to drop her near the Clevelander.

“Albert, I’m not kidding, I want you to stay in the car. I’m not going to risk Josie.”

Albert said, “And I’m not going to risk both of you. If something goes wrong, I have to be close enough to act.”

Hanna knew it was useless to argue with her hardheaded brother, and she appreciated how much he worried about her. She started to slip out of the car, then paused, leaned across the console, and kissed Albert on the cheek. “You’re a good brother and a good man. Josie and I both love you.”

She was out of the car before Albert could say anything. She didn’t want to make it sound like she was saying goodbye, but, just in case, she was.

The backpack rested over her left shoulder. She could feel the diamonds sewn into the strap.