Дэвид Балдаччи - The Fallen

Decker walked over to the window that looked out over the rear of the house.

That was how they must have taken them. Through the backyard, over the fence, and onto the next street.

Where it all began.

He said, “They’re going to call, Alex. We just have to be ready when they do.”

Jamison said nothing.

He sat down on the bed next to her, picked up the phone the kidnappers had left, and stared at it.

About the time that Decker and Jamison discovered the dead cop outside the Mitchells’ home, Donna Lassiter, three uniformed officers, and two DEA agents led Alice Martin and Detective Green out of the police station after they had been booked, photographed, and fingerprinted. The next stop would be jail, where each would be kept in an isolation cell until their arraignment.

The alleyway here had been closed off and Lassiter had men all around looking for threats.

Lassiter spoke into her phone as they exited the building from the rear and the transport vehicle immediately pulled up.

As they moved toward the vehicle Martin looked at her.

“I’m sorry for all the trouble I’ve caused.”

“Well, that really doesn’t matter. But what will matter is for you to make amends by testifying.”

“I understand. But I was wondering something.”

“What?”

“Can the prison where I’m sent be close to my children?”

“Look, you’re hardly in a position to be making demands.”

“I know. And I don’t expect that it will happen, but I was only asking for your help. For your old Sunday school teacher?”

Lassiter sighed. “I have nothing to do with where you’ll be sent, but I can speak to someone about it. But it might not do any good. In fact, it probably won’t. But I will make a call.”

“Thank you for trying.”

“But my help is contingent on you testifying truthfully about all that you know.”

“I understand. I’m looking forward to it, actually. It’ll give me the opportunity to make penance. They said no one would get hurt. But they lied about that.”

“Where did you think it was going to end?”

“I... I guess I never really thought about that.”

“Well, it’s a little late now.”

“Is it too late for me, Donna?”

Lassiter turned to look at her former partner.

“There’s nothing I can do for you.”

“I was just trying to get what was mine.”

“Nobody’s entitled to shit, Marty.”

“Been pounding the pavement for next to nothing all my life. Protecting the public. Hell, the public’s not worth putting my ass on the line for.”

“Well, you won’t have to worry about that anymore.”

The next instant, the long-range shot hit Martin directly in the chest, blowing a chunk of the woman out through her back. Blood and splintered bone smacked against the window of the transport truck.

Green screamed, but it died in his throat as the next round went through his head, taking a large piece of his brain with it.

“Shooter!” screamed Lassiter, pointing her gun in the direction from where the bullets had come. She managed to fire several shots.

The next bullets slammed into Lassiter and two others, dropping them all to the ground.

The phone rang.

But it was Decker’s phone, not the one left by the kidnappers.

He looked down at the number on the screen and swore.

He put the phone in speaker mode and barked, “I tried calling you.”

Kemper said, “I’m sorry, Decker. I was tied up. And this is turning into a real catastrophe.”

“Look, I can’t talk right now, I’ve—”

“Decker, haven’t you heard?”

“Heard what?” Decker thought she was referring to Amber and Zoe being taken, but he didn’t see how that was possible.

“We’ve got two dead that we know of.”

Decker tensed. Amber and Zoe? It can’t be.

“Who are you talking about?” he said between clenched teeth.

“An ambush while Martin and Green were being transported to jail.”

“They’re dead?”

“Yes. And Lassiter and two others were wounded and are in the hospital.”

“So, an inside job?”

“Appears to be. They knew where and when they were coming out of the building.”

“We’ve got other problems too.”

“Come again?”

Decker explained what had happened to the cop out front and the disappearance of Jamison’s family.

“Damn!” exclaimed Kemper. “I want these bastards so bad I can taste it.”

“All I care about is getting Amber and Zoe back safe.”

“Are there any clues to who might have taken them? Or where they might have gone?”

“No. I was waiting for them to call me when you phoned.”

“You think they were taken as a bargaining chip?”

“Yes. Otherwise they would have just killed them like they did the cop out front.”

“So what do you think they’ll ask for?”

“I’m sure they’ll tell me,” he said grimly.

“I’m going to get a BOLO out on them.”

“Okay,” said Decker absently.

“You don’t think it’ll do any good?”

“I think they’re too smart to be tripped up by that.”

“It was a big risk killing a cop and then kidnapping two people.”

“If they had unfinished business and needed the leverage that hostages give them they’d take that risk.”

“But they cleared out the drug stash, and they killed the only witnesses we had. We have no case against them.”

“That may not matter to them.”

“What else would matter to them?” retorted Kemper.

“Like I said, unfinished business.”

“Such as?”

“If I knew that I wouldn’t be sitting here waiting for them to call,” snapped Decker.

“Okay, okay, but we need to come up with a plan.”

“That’s hard to do, since we don’t know what they’re going to throw at us.”

“But once they make contact, you have to loop me in. Then we can go after them in a coordinated effort.”

“You need to let me play it out the best way I see fit.”

“What precisely does that mean?” said Kemper warily.

“That means I’m going to do all I can to make sure this doesn’t go sideways and two innocent people end up dead.”

Jamison shuddered next to him and looked down at the floor.

“Decker, I don’t know if I can do that,” said Kemper. “I have people to answer to.”

“So do I. Their names are Amber and Zoe. And if you don’t want to do it my way, I’ll just have to do this solo.”

“You are putting me in an impossible situation,” complained Kemper.

“This is an impossible situation.”

Kemper calmed and said, “I guess I don’t have much choice. But I hope you know what you’re doing.”

Decker clicked off and stared down at his phone.

Jamison said, “Do you?”

“Do I what?” he asked quietly.

“Know what you’re doing?”

“I’ll be able to answer that after they call me.”

“We can’t lose Amber and Zoe.”

“We won’t.”

“You can’t be sure of that,” she exclaimed.

“No, I can’t,” he conceded.

“Then what are you telling me?” she demanded.

“I promised Zoe that I wouldn’t let the bad guys get you. And now I’m promising you that I’m not going to let them hurt Zoe, or your sister.”

Jamison pulled out her gun and looked at it. “Oh, we’re going to get them back safe, Decker. And then we’re going to nail every one of these assholes right to the wall.”

The call came at midnight.

Before Decker could answer it, Jamison had snatched the phone away.

“I want to hear Amber and Zoe’s voice, right now,” she said into the phone.