“You are worried.” He paused. “I’d tell you I’d get right on it, but I have to confess I already gave them a call after you went to bed last night.”
“Without discussing it with me?”
“You were doing great. I didn’t want to disturb your flow. But more is always better, and the head of that Swiss lab owed me a favor.”
“Someone always owes you a favor.”
“Yeah, ain’t it grand?”
“This time I won’t argue with you. Did he give you any time frame?”
“Soon. Very soon.” He paused. “You’re not coming back down here?”
“No, I think I’ll stick with Kelland and his agents until Jessie’s ready to leave. Though she’ll probably be so busy that she won’t even know I’m around.”
“Oh, I imagine she’ll know you’re there for her. I always do.” He was silent. “Not a bad idea,” he said gently. “I’ll see you there.”
* * *
Kendra gazed out the window as a rare evening rain shower fell over Westwood. She was part of a large group packed into a twelfth-floor FBI conference room. At the front of the room, the lectern had been shoved aside in favor of a small table that now held a leather bag filled with the twenty-five-million-dollar ransom. Calderon’s armored car security officers stood next to it, though their authority was somewhat neutered by the empty holsters at their sides. They’d been forced to surrender their firearms before entering the building.
“Hope they don’t call the ransom drop on account of rain,” Metcalf cracked.
“Not funny, Metcalf.” Kendra turned from the window. Metcalf was standing next to Lynch, Jessie, and Kelland. Half a dozen other agents were hovering anxiously nearby. Noah Calderon was in the corner of the room typing furiously on his phone. Kendra also knew that, in the large parking lot in front of the building, at least forty more FBI agents and police officers waited in their fleet of cars and tactical vans.
Lynch motioned toward the bag. “They have twenty-five million reasons not to cancel. We’ll hear from them one way or another. The only question is how.”
“We know they know how to reach me and Kelland,” Kendra said.
Lynch called out to Noah, “No trackers this time, right?”
Noah pocketed his phone. “No trackers. But don’t take my word for it.”
Kelland nodded. “We didn’t. The guys downstairs spent an hour sweeping it. It’s totally clean.”
“It’s almost as if you didn’t trust me.” Noah actually looked hurt. “I’ve done everything I could to make sure that stupid betrayal wouldn’t happen again.”
Jessie rolled her eyes. “Don’t even start.” She was dressed in a black Kevlar suit, much like those worn by FBI tactical teams. She flexed her arms to ease the stiffness.
“Is the jacket okay?” Lynch said.
“Fine. Maybe not up to the standards of your Abu Dhabi armor specialist, but it’ll work. It’s very lightweight. I wore something similar in Afghanistan.” She turned to Kelland. “Still no leaks to the press?”
“Not as far as we know. This won’t be like last time. The only people following you should be us.” He stepped closer to Jessie. “You know…you don’t have to do this.”
Her lips tightened. “They asked for me.”
“I know. And the more I think of that, the less I like it. We don’t have to accept their every term. We can negotiate. We have a roomful of agents here, and any one of them will do it.”
“No, it should be me. I have to do this.”
“Okay, it’s your—”
She held up her hand to cut him off. “Don’t say it’s my funeral.”
He smiled. “I was going to say it’s your decision. But if that’s where your head is at, maybe another reason to reconsider.” He checked his watch and called out to a young assistant. “You’re sure my phone has been patched through to ring in here?”
“We won’t need your phone,” Jessie said.
“What makes you say that?”
She raised her iPhone for everyone to see. The screen was illuminated with the caller ID: DELILAH SAYS HI.
“Just like mine the other day,” Kendra murmured.
The room quieted as Jessie pressed the button to put the call on speaker. “This is Jessie Mercado.”
“Hello, Jessie.” It was the same electronically altered voice they’d heard from the earlier call—the one Kendra had identified as a woman.
Kendra exchanged a quick glance with Lynch. He nodded.
“So, are we gonna do this?” Kendra could see Jessie struggling to rein in her anger and impatience.
“Yes, we are. I’m sure you’re surrounded by a small army of L.A.’s best and brightest. Hello, everyone. I’m going to ask you fine people to exercise some restraint this evening. I’ll be asking Jessie to start our adventure downtown, at the Art District Dog Park. She must be alone. I don’t want to see any of you within two blocks of her. And I don’t want to see any helicopters in the area.”
Kelland stepped closer to the phone. “I can guarantee the first, but we don’t control all of the flight traffic over downtown L.A.”
“You will tonight. You have sixty minutes to make it happen. Jessie, I’ll call you at the Art District Dog Park in one hour. It’s at Fourth and Molino. You’ll be alone, and you’ll have the money with you. Are my instructions clear?”
“Yes.” Jessie paused. “And once you have the money, you’ll release Delilah?”
“You’ll see her tonight. You have my word.”
Jessie looked hopefully at Kendra. “Good. I’ll be there with the money in an hour.”
The caller cut the connection.
Kelland sprang for his phone. “I’ll get tactical teams in place.”
“None closer than two blocks,” Kendra said.
Kelland punched the extension number. “Not our first rodeo, Kendra. My guys know what they’re doing.”
Lynch joined several other agents at a wall-size map of Los Angeles at the end of the room. They’d already identified the rendezvous point and were marking possible surveillance positions on the erasable board.
Jessie turned toward Kendra. “It’s happening.”
“I wish I was going with you.”
Jessie smiled as she tightened her flak jacket cuffs. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m pretty good at taking care of myself.”
“Oh, I’ve noticed.”
Kelland put down the phone. “Okay, Jessie, I’m riding with you and the money in the armored car.”
Noah stepped quickly forward. “Where my money goes, I go.”
Kelland shook his head. “Nope. You can ride in the van with Kendra, Lynch, and Metcalf. It’s parked just off the foyer downstairs. We’ll set up our mobile command center in Little Tokyo.” He twirled his index finger in the air. “Let’s move!”
* * *
An hour later, Jessie climbed out of the armored car and the back door slammed shut behind her. The vehicle sped away, leaving her alone on the quiet street holding the brown satchel of cash.