Джеймс Паттерсон - NYPD Red 6

We got to the lobby and ran to our car.

“Ninety-Fifth and Riverside,” I said.

“You’ve got to hand it to Dodd,” Kylie said. “He knows we’re monitoring Jamie’s phone, and it’s all over the media that we’re the lead detectives on the case, so he bribes someone at the phone company, and bingo—he’s got your number.”

“Hell,” I said, “all he has to do is find some millennial at Verizon who needs beer money for the weekend, and he can pull up cell phone numbers for the entire Joint Chiefs of Staff.”

My phone rang. It was Diaz calling back. I put it on speaker. “Benny, what have you got?”

“I traced the call,” Diaz said. “It came from a computer in Guatemala.”

“Thanks. I’ll call you later.” I jammed my finger into the red disconnect button.

It took a few seconds, then it hit me. “I don’t understand,” I said to Kylie.

“Dodd’s not really in Guatemala, Zach. He’s routing the calls.”

“Thanks, partner, but I kind of knew that. What I don’t get is why he bothered to track down my phone number and call me. I thought it was because my phone wasn’t being monitored, but if he can cover his tracks that easily, why didn’t he just call Gibbs directly?”

“How many hours of sleep did you get last night?” Kylie asked.

“Less than three. Closer to two if I stop kidding myself.”

“We’re supposed to be looking for Dodd. Instead, he’s got us racing through Central Park delivering your personal phone to the victim’s husband. Why do you think he’s doing that?”

I didn’t have to think hard. I knew the answer. “He’s fucking with our sleep-deprived brains.”

“Yeah,” she said, running a red light on Central Park West. “And he’s doing a damn good job of it.”

CHAPTER 25

WE GOT TO the apartment on Riverside Drive with six minutes to spare.

Koprowski opened the door. “We better talk before you come in,” he said, stepping out into the hallway. “Zach, give me your cell phone first.”

I gave it to him, and he passed it to the TARU tech who was waiting behind him. Then he pulled the door shut.

“How’s Gibbs doing?” I asked.

Koprowski frowned. “So-so. He was okay in the beginning of the morning. I sat with him, and we did a couple of dry runs for the ransom call. Around ten o’clock he started to get squirrelly. He decided that the reason nobody contacted him was because she was dead. After I talked to you, I told him that the kidnapper called you, and you were on the way over. I thought that would calm him down, but no—he got all rattled. He wants to know why the man who took Erin is negotiating with the police instead of her husband. Right now he’s a nervous wreck.”

“Which I’m sure is just what the kidnapper wants,” Kylie said. “Let’s see if we can settle him down.”

We entered the apartment. The tech who had taken my cell phone was set up at a table with the bank of equipment he needed to monitor, record, and trace any incoming calls.

Jamie was in the living room. He stood up as soon as he saw us.

“How much money does he want?” he asked.

“He didn’t say,” I said.

“Detective Koprowski told me that the guy who took Erin called you. Why would he do that if he’s not going to tell you how much money he’s asking for?”

“Because he’s not negotiating with me. He wants to talk to you.”

“Then why did he call you?”

“Jamie,” Kylie said, “sit down.”

He sat on the sofa, and she sat next to him.

“Do you know how terrorists work?” she said. “They not only inflict physical damage, they create fear, doubt, and confusion in the minds of their victims. You understand?”

“Yeah. Mind games,” he said. “My mother does it all the time.”

“This guy’s not your mother. You don’t have any emotional baggage with him. He’s got something you want, and he wants to cut a business deal with you, so you’re not going to let him rent space in your head, are you?”

“I hope not.”

“Everything is going to be all right,” Kylie said. “You’re going to get through this. And we’re going to help.”

“It’s been twenty-eight minutes since he called,” I said. “If he’s true to his word, the phone is going to ring in two minutes.” I turned to the tech. “Are you ready?”

“All hooked up,” he said. “When you take the call, do not put it on speaker or he’s going to know he’s being broadcast to a roomful of cops. Just talk directly into the phone. You want the conversation to feel like it’s personal, one on one. Everybody else can grab a headset and listen in. I’m recording everything. Benny Diaz is tapped in. He’s going to trace the call.”

Koprowski had set up a large whiteboard in the center of Jamie’s living room. Kylie grabbed two markers and handed me one.

“Zach and I are going to talk you through this every step of the way,” Kylie said to Gibbs. “Take your time before you respond to anything he says. You good, Jamie?”

He shook his head. “I don’t want to screw it up, but right now I don’t even know if Erin is alive.”

“She is,” Kylie said.

“You don’t know that for sure.”

“Yes, I do. You want to know how I know that?”

He looked at her for the answer.

“Because she’s not worth anything to him dead.”

He nodded. It made sense. He half smiled.

My cell phone rang.

CHAPTER 26

I ANSWERED THE phone. “Detective Jordan.”

“Are you with the husband?” Dodd’s voice was unfiltered, unaltered. Apparently he wasn’t worried about being identified.

“Yes.”

“Good boy. You take orders well.”

He paused, waiting for me come back at him. I didn’t take the bait.

“Put him on,” he said.

I handed the phone to Jamie.

“This is Jamie Gibbs,” he said, his voice modulated, his tone even. As instructed.

“Congratulations, Mr. Gibbs. You’re a lucky man. Your wife is beautiful.”

“Thank you. Please don’t hurt her.”

“I have no intention of hurting her. I’m sure you want her back in the same condition she was when you married her. It was a touching ceremony. I watched it on video.”

“Can I speak to her?”

“In due time. Don’t you want to know what you have to do to get her back?”

“How much do you want?”

“Twenty-five million dollars.”

Jamie bolted out of his seat. “Twenty-five million dollars? Are you out of your fucking mind? I don’t have that kind of money.”

“Mommy does, Jamie. Why don’t you call her?”

“ You call her. See how much you get!”

Jamie was completely off script. Kylie held up both her hands and mouthed the words Calm down . Then she put one hand on his abdomen, inhaled deeply, and gestured for him to do the same.

He took a long slow deep breath, and Kylie pointed to the whiteboard, where I had scribbled Talk to Erin .

“I need to talk to Erin,” he said.

“Hold on,” Dodd said.

There was some rustling in the background, and then Dodd said, “Erin, nod your head if you know the rules.” A pause. “Good girl. Tell your new hubby what I have in my hand.”

“A knife.” It was a female voice, and from the look on Jamie’s face, it was the one he’d been waiting to hear.

“It’s a black straight-edge Ka-Bar, and it’s really nasty, isn’t it?” Dodd said. “Now, I have Jamie and a couple of dozen cops on the phone who want to know if you’re alive. Tell them what I promised I would do to you if you say something stupid or try to talk in code and help them find out where we are.”

“Cut me.”

Jamie stiffened, and Kylie put her hands on his shoulders.