David Morrell: The Spy Who Came for Christmas

“ Behind the television cabinet? What are you doing back there?”

“ Hiding.”

“ From what? Did this guy hurt you? If he-”

“ No,” Meredith insisted, cutting him off. “He didn’t hurt us.”

“ Then somebody tell me what’s going on.”

“ Three men followed me,” Kagan said.

“ Followed you? What are you talking about?”

“ Just shut up and listen. They’re tall. Heavy. Tough-looking. In their mid-forties. One of them has a face like it’s been chiseled from a block of wood. Thick eyebrows. A scar on his left cheek. A strong jaw. You’re sure you didn’t see someone who looks like that out there?”

“ I told you, the lane’s empty. I didn’t see anybody after I left the crowd on Canyon Road. Hey, put the gun down. It’s making me nervous.”

“ It’s supposed to. Keep your hands in your pockets.”

“ It’s too dark in here. I can’t see your face. Meredith, turn on some lights.”

“ No,” Kagan said.

“ Three guys followed you? What do they want?” Ted paused, seeming to focus his thoughts. “I’m sure I heard a baby crying. Where is it?”

Ted stepped to the back of the living room, glancing left and right. His eyes adjusted to the shadows. “Why are all these drawers lying in the hallway outside the bedrooms?”

Kagan followed as Ted moved toward the kitchen. He grabbed Ted’s hand when he reached to turn on a light switch.

Ted spoke again, his voice louder. “Why are you boiling-”

“ Get back in here.” Kagan yanked him into the living room.

Something bothered Kagan about what he’d found or rather hadn’t found when he’d searched Ted. No weapons. Not surprising. A wallet, but no cell phones. The explanation for the missing cell phones made a degree of sense. Christmas Eve was a perfect time to be a pickpocket. Crowds, confusion. Items in an outside pocket were easy to steal, compared to a wallet underneath the coat.

But there was something else that troubled Kagan. It nagged at the corner of his mind.

Something missing.

Something every man carried in his pants pocket.

“ Ted, where are your keys?”

“ What?”

“ When I searched you, I didn’t find any keys. How did you expect to get back in the house?”

“ My keys? I didn’t…” A gain Ted paused, as if focusing his thoughts. “I guess I was so drunk, I forgot them.”

“ No,” Meredith said. “You had them in your pocket. You wanted to take the Range Rover, but I insisted that you were too drunk to drive. That’s when you hit me. I told you Canyon Road was closed to traffic, and you hit me again. But I guess you finally got the message-because you walked off instead of driving.”

“ I told you I’m sorry, Meredith. I’ll keep saying it as often as I need to. I was wrong. You had every reason to try to keep me from driving. I’ll never take another drink, and I swear to God I’ll never hit you again.”

“ Stop changing the subject!” Kagan said. “Where are your keys?”

For a third time, Ted paused. “The pickpocket. He must have taken them. I must have been too drunk to realize it.”

“ The thief managed to lift two cell phones and your car keys but not your wallet?”

“ The keys were in my coat pocket with the cell phones. I remember now. They wouldn’t have been hard to get.” For a fourth time, Ted paused. Then he spoke again, loudly. “I know I heard a baby crying.”

“ Why are you speaking like that?”

Ted cocked his head.

“ The cry seemed to come from… the kitchen? No… the laundry room.”

“ Why do you keep pausing?”

“ I have no idea what you’re talking about. I just want to know what’s going on.”

“ You’re giving me a bad feeling, Ted.”

“ The laundry room.”

“ A very bad feeling. Those men outside-did you lie about them?”

“ Why would I-”

“ Did they promise they’d let you and Meredith and Cole go free, that they wouldn’t hurt you if you helped them?”

“ I told you, nobody’s out there,” Ted protested. The sudden, deeper unsteadiness in his voice made Kagan more apprehensive.

“ They’re killers, Ted. Whatever they told you isn’t true. They have a strict rule about not leaving witnesses.”

Meredith turned from crouching near the window. “Ted, dear God, did you lie to us?”

“ Of course not.”

“ Are they out there? Are you helping them?”

“ I’m not helping anybody,” Ted answered, much too fast.

“ On your knees again,” Kagan ordered.

“ My knees?”

“ You keep pausing while you talk. Are you listening to someone? Why is your hat still on?”

Kagan kicked the back of Ted’s legs and dropped him to his knees. He yanked off Ted’s hat. With the earflaps gone, he probed Ted’s right ear but found nothing.

“ Hey!” Ted objected, trying to twist away.

Kagan probed Ted’s left ear, his stomach turning when he found something that blocked it. Sick, he pulled out the earbud. “Where’s the microphone?”

“ Microphone?”

Kagan whacked his gun barrel against the side of Ted’s forehead. “You stupid fool, give me the damned microphone!”

Ted groaned, raising a hand to his head.

“ The microphone!” Kagan hit him again with the gun barrel. “Where is it?”

“ Under my coat collar.”

Kagan found it and pulled it free. “Where’s the transmitter?”

“ In one of my gloves. When you knocked me down, I shoved it under that chair.”

Grabbing for it, Kagan shouted, “Meredith, you know where to go. Hurry. Cole, he told them you’re hiding behind the television cabinet. You’ll need to find another spot.”

“ But they promised they wouldn’t hurt us!” Ted insisted, his voice rising. “I’d never put my son in danger!”

“ That’s exactly what you did.”

“ No! All I care about is protecting my family. Meredith, I was only trying to help you and Cole. Surely you understand that.”

“ Pay attention,” Kagan demanded. “Who are you going to believe? Your wife and son, who trust me, or those men outside, who’ll do anything to get their hands on the baby? I promise you, they won’t think twice about killing us all. They never leave witnesses.”

“ All I wanted was-”

“ For God’s sake, shut up and help your family!”

Crouching in the living room, Kagan listened as Meredith hurried toward the laundry room, where she’d hidden the baby.

He had no idea what new hiding place Cole had chosen, and he didn’t dare ask, aware that Andrei would hear through the microphone he’d taken from Brody. He was about to shut off the transmitter or relieve his anger by hurling the microphone onto the brick floor and smashing it, but suddenly he realized he had a use for it.

He shoved the earbud into his left ear and spoke into the microphone. “Andrei?”

“ Regrets, my friend?” The voice sounded bitter. “I warned you how this would end.”

Instinctively, Kagan directed his words toward the front window.

“ There are computers in the house. I e-mailed for help. The police are on their way.”

“ No, Pyotyr. When I rehearsed things with my not-so-good spy, he told me his computers have password locks.”

“ Password locks,” Kagan repeated, staring at Ted.

Ted seemed paralyzed by confusion. Abruptly, he murmured, “I’ll fix that.” He crawled across the living room, squirmed over the drawers at the end of the hallway, and entered his office.

“ Give me the package, and my offer still holds,” Andrei’s acid voice said through the earbud. “You can walk away.”

“ Why don’t I believe you?” Kagan said into the microphone.

“ Then consider this. Your foolishness has involved other people. You’re responsible for everything that happens to the family in there. Their deaths will be your fault.”