John Gilstrap - Hostage Zero

Gail inhaled deeply and let it go as a sigh. In every investigation, there are wild-ass theories that simply have to be discounted or ignored. Otherwise, no case would ever close. It happened, sometimes, that a discarded theory turned out to be the one that defined the actual events, but it was a rare occurrence. Still, more than a few innocents were paying undeserved penalties in American prisons, Frank Schuler among them, apparently.

Navarro smiled and pointed at her. “Not laughing now, I see. Think about what was at stake: A senator had killed his competition using the Slater organization as a go-between. Everything would have been fine. Only the deliveryman”-he raised his hand-“screwed up and left loose ends that needed to be tied.”

“Which senator are we talking about?” Gail asked. “I don’t remember which one’s from where.”

“Oh, he’s not a senator anymore,” Navarro said. “When the president was elected, the guy was selected to be secretary of defense.”

“Jacques Leger?” Gail said.

“Exactly. See, you do pay some attention to Washington politics.”

Gail paused. She didn’t want to believe it; but Navarro’s wild theories did explain some things. “So help me think this through,” she said. “Would Arthur Guinn be in a position to know all of this?”

“Absolutely. All the way down to the little details. He wouldn’t say anything if he hopes to see tomorrow, but he would definitely know.”

Gail didn’t share the fact that he would be sheltered by witness protection. “So, to keep him quiet-if only as added insurance-it would make sense to kidnap his child.”

“Absolutely. That or just have him killed outright.”

Gail nodded. “And Frank Schuler would have to be considered a loose end, too; just in case Marilyn had said something to him. Maybe they even think he has the money. But that’s a loose end that the Commonwealth of Virginia will take care of in a week or so.”

“That leaves his boy. Call it a long shot that he’d know anything, but in for a dime, in for a buck, right?” A shadow of concern fell over Navarro’s face. “You know, that boy is probably dead. If we’re right and this is the scenario, then there’s no reason to keep him alive.”

Indeed there wasn’t, Gail thought. Thus the reason they left him for dead.

“So, do you think I’m right?” Navarro pressed.

Holy shit. Did she think that a sitting secretary of defense ordered the murder of his senatorial rival? Did she think that the cover-up could involve kidnapping and more murder? Did she think that ambition could bring such darkness into a public servant’s soul? To think such things would sicken her.

“Yes,” she said. “I think that’s exactly what happened.”

Navarro smacked the table with both palms, a gesture of triumph. “Yes!” he proclaimed. “So what are you going to do about it?”

Interesting question, to which there was only one appropriate answer: “We set the record straight.”

The triumph drained from his face.

“We?”

Gail shrugged. “Okay. You, actually.”

Navarro laughed. “Like hell. I’ve gotten used to living.”

“The secretary of defense is a murderer. You can’t live with that.”

“What are you talking about? I’ve been living with it. He was every bit as much a murderer yesterday as he is today. The rest is not my problem.”

“I can arrange protection,” Gail said.

Navarro laughed harder. “Oh, you can, can you? That must be some private investigation firm you’re with.”

Gail didn’t retreat. “It is some private investigation firm I’m with. Certainly different than any you’ve heard of. We have connections.”

“Yeah, well, congratulations. I don’t. All I’ve got is me. I’ve come to care about me a lot these past years, and the more committed to me I’ve become, the less I care about anyone else. I gave you what you wanted. Now you take care of the rest.” He stood. The meeting was over. “Do travel home safely.”

Gail didn’t move. “Are you anxious to disappear all over again?”

He scowled. “What do you mean?” The way the color drained from his face, Gail figured he might have already figured it out.

“Mr. Navarro, there are some secrets that I just cannot keep. Not when the stakes are so high.”

“You mean you’d rat me out.”

“I don’t want to,” she said. She tried to keep a pleading tone in her voice. “But what choice would I have?”

“You could respect my openness and generosity and understand that I am in a very difficult position.”

Gail cocked her head. Surely he had to know better.

“I could kill you,” he said. “No one would ever find your body.”

She smiled. “All respect, I’d make you dead three times over before you got your finger on the trigger.”

“I could kill myself, then.”

Gail shook her head. “You’ve had years to kill yourself. The time has come for you to do the right thing.”

Navarro laughed. “Sure,” he said. “At this stage in my life I’m going to start-” His expression changed to one of concern, and he cocked his head. “Do you hear something?”

Gail cocked her head, too. At first, the answer was no, she didn’t hear a thing. Then she did-a very soft thrumming sound in the distance. In a city setting, it would have been inaudible, but out here, not only was it clear, but it was getting louder. “Helicopter?” she guessed.

Navarro shot to his feet, knocking over his chair. He snatched his shotgun from the counter with such speed that Gail found herself drawing down by instinct. “Don’t!” she yelled.

“What did you do?” Navarro yelled. “Who did you tell?”

But he wasn’t interested in an answer. He hurried out of the kitchen, through the living room, and up to the open front window.

“What is it?” Gail said, trailing after him.

“It’s a goddamn helicopter!” Navarro exclaimed.

“So? Maybe-”

“No maybe,” Navarro snapped. “What did you do?”

Jonathan had no idea how Felipe had been able to scare up a late-model Range Rover, but as the roads got progressively nastier, he was thankful for the wide wheelbase and the four-wheel drive. Given the bargain-basement price for the vehicle, the smart money said that Felipe had either stolen it from someone himself, or he’d bought it from someone who had. The leather interior and the air-conditioning, though, didn’t exactly fit in with the nature of the cargo, or the mission that lay at the other end of their journey. Despite their best efforts to tie down their cargo, the weapons and equipment made a hell of a racket as they bounced along trails that only people in the third world would have the guts to call roads.

As they approached the rallying point-not a town or even a village, but rather the intersection of minutes and seconds of longitude and latitude-Jonathan told Harvey to stop the truck.

“Gladly,” he said. “The instant you want me to turn around, you just say the word and we’re out of here.”

Jonathan ignored him. Their time together had been defined by three hours of endless bitching, and he’d grown tired of it a long time ago. He was giving the guy a shot at a new life, for God’s sake, and all he could do was whine.

Jonathan lifted his portable radio from the center console and keyed the mike. “Big Guy, this is Scorpion. How do you copy?”

He’d expected a delay as the man on the other end of the radio scrambled to find the transmit button, so he was surprised when he heard Boxers’ voice respond right away. “It’s about time,” he said.

“We’re a half mile out,” Jonathan said. “I didn’t want to startle anyone.”