“That’s not the way it works, convict,” Adam sneered. “Turn around.”
I did, and the cuffs went back on.
But Brolin started talking. “Her uncle got a ransom call late last night.”
I smiled. Her giving me this information against Adam’s wishes meant she was the one calling the shots here, not him. At least one thing had broken my way this morning.
“He’s on his way here now,” she continued.
“How much?” I asked.
“Ten million,” Adam answered. He’d found his tongue.
Lloyd Benson had arrived a few minutes ago, and the four of us were in my kitchen. It was almost noon.
“And you don’t know where she was heading when she left?” Lloyd asked me.
I shook my head again. “Not a clue. She was intent on calling you and giving you a piece of her mind.” I rubbed my wrists. The cuffs had come off as soon as the elder Benson suggested it, and he had taken over the questioning, too.
“My wife said she called while I was out on a walk,” Lloyd continued. “I called her and left a message, but she didn’t call back. We figured it was because of the time difference and I’d hear from her today.” He turned to Adam. “Do we know where she was staying?”
“Littleman’s Inn across town,” Adam answered.
The old man asked several more questions of the FBI agents.
As I sipped my coffee, I realized the situation, and suddenly it all made sense.
Instead of a team of a dozen agents, only these two had raided my house—not standard FBI procedure. They hadn’t taken me to their office. The agents were deferring to the old man, and Adam was Debbie’s relative, so he wouldn’t be allowed on a case involving her anyway.
This was Lloyd running his own investigation, using these two as help. He hadn’t contacted the FBI establishment, which meant I could walk out of here any time I wanted. They couldn’t arrest me or take me in. This had been a bluff from the get-go.
“I know more of the players in this vicinity than either of you,” I told the agents. “What exactly was said on the call?” I asked Lloyd.
He sucked in a breath. “We didn’t know to record it at the time, so I’m going by memory. They asked for me and said they had Debbie. They wanted ten million dollars. I was told not to include any police or the FBI, naturally.”
I chuckled. “Naturally.”
The FBI agents didn’t seem amused.
“Did you see her?” I asked. “Notice anything about the room? How many are involved?”
“Just briefly. I didn’t see windows, so perhaps a basement? She had a hood over her head that they refused to take off, so she couldn’t identify them.”
“That’s a good sign,” Brolin noted.
“Them?” I asked.
Lloyd nodded. “A man and a woman at least. The guy was big.”
I cocked my head. “What did Debbie say?”
“It was her voice all right. She called me by name. To be sure, I asked which of her cousins she’d contacted first. She said Josh, and that clinched it. Nobody else would know that.”
I didn’t complicate matters by pointing out that I knew it. “What were her words exactly?”
“She was scared. She said Josh from SF—a simple slip, Josh lives in LA.”
SF.
I controlled my face to avoid the smile. That was the clue, and it had eluded them.
“What are you thinking?” Adam asked. He must have noticed a change in my expression.
“She doesn’t scare easily is all,” I answered.
He nodded.
I knew something they didn’t know, and it was time for me to check out my hunch. “When is the deadline?”
“Three PM,” Lloyd answered.
I stood. “Then I better get to nosing around to see if I can come up with anything.”
“I’ll go along,” Adam said, more as command than an offer.
I shook my head. “No way. The kind of people I’m going to be talking to won’t say a thing with a fed around.”
“He’s right,” Lloyd agreed.
I took their cell numbers, grabbed my binoculars, and headed out on my bike.
A half mile later, I noticed the sedan following me. The feds were so clueless that their cars stood out in places like this.
I lost him by ducking down a narrow alleyway between buildings that a car couldn’t fit through and changing direction. Take that, Mr. FBI Man.
Chapter 49
Luke
I parked on the road behind Gus’s old place and made my way through the trees, binoculars in hand.
The trees ended a hundred yards from the place, and I trained the glasses on the house. It took me five minutes to catch a glimpse of him. It was Cliff all right, good ol’ Scarface, SF—gun in hand, looking out the back window.
Gus hadn’t fixed his air conditioning, and two windows were open in the back. And with Gus off for a week of fishing, Cliff had the place to himself.
It all made sense now.
Cindy had flat out said it was stupid of Debbie’s original kidnappers not to go for a ransom.
That’s what Cliff had smiled about last night when she’d whispered to him—and I’d thought it was a blowjob.
Gus’s property was an old farmhouse with no trees or other cover within a hundred yards in any direction. No way could the feds sneak up on him here. Having the FBI come in guns blazing was not a risk I was willing to take.
But Cliff had asked me to make contact with the Howlers for him. It was perfect. I made the call to Spencer. “I thought I should let you know what a guy said to Nell while you were gone,” I began.
After that one, I dialed my next call.
Through the binoculars, I saw Cliff answer his phone.
“Wrench here,” I told him. “You wanted to do business with the Howlers. They’re on their way to you at Gus’s now.”
“Now’s not a good time,” he said loudly.
“They’re not a group you want to disappoint,” I warned him. “Spencer is the one to deal with. I wouldn’t waste his time…” I didn’t need to say more.
“Okay already. I’ll be here.”
I hung up and watched him leave the window.
Debbie
A cell phone rang upstairs.
“Now’s not a good time,” I heard Scarface say above me. “Okay already. I’ll be here.” He didn’t sound happy. “I’ve got business to take care of with the Howlers. Keep her quiet.” That had to have been directed at Chesty.
Sounds came from the stairs, and after a moment, the bimbo spoke in front of me. “You make a single sound, and I’ll slit your throat myself.” Her voice held gallons of venom. An instant later, she pulled off my hood.
I closed my eyes tight; I knew surviving this meant not looking at her.
“Look all you want, bitch. It won’t matter one bit after Daddy Warbucks pays up.” She cackled like the witch she was. “Not one bit.”
My blood ran cold as I lunged at her. The chains I was zip tied to pulled tight and kept me from reaching her.