Page 106 of Close Pursuit

“Will do.”

Now what? He was out of ideas. He called Sister Mary Harris back. “I need more information,” he said without preamble. “Is Katie’s car still in your parking lot?”

“I don’t know. Let me check.”

He waited in an agony of impatience while the elderly nun made her way to a window in the front of the convent. “What does it look like?” she finally asked.

“Cobalt blue mini-sedan.”

“No blue cars, here. She must have driven somewhere with the baby. I expect she’s bringing Dawn to see you. I wish she’d told me she was going to take Dawn out, though. I’ve been so worried?— “

He hung up on the nun’s nattering. He had no time for that. If Katie was in her car, then she was traceable. He considered his options fast and headed for his car once more.

A half-hour later found him barging past the receptionist at Walter Reed Hospital with a terse explanation there he was a doctor and there was a crisis with a patient. The woman subsided as he leaped into an elevator.

He slowed only when he hit the doorway of Ian McCloud’s room. If he didn’t miss his guess, Katie’s brother had the contacts and resources to track his little sister right now and not wait the twenty-four hours the police required before they would take action.

“What the hell are you doing here?” Ian growled.

McCloud was alone in his room Good. This needed to be a private conversation, and he doubted the family would voluntarily leave Ian alone with the man who’d stabbed him. “Katie’s in trouble.”

Ian’s truculent expression evaporated in an instant. “What’s wrong?”

“My lawyer was murdered today and the files pertaining to Dawn, that’s the baby we brought back from Zaghastan, were copied off my lawyer’s computer. Katie and Dawn disappeared a little over an hour ago. Her phone’s turned off. I think she’s in her car. No idea if she’s alone or with a captor. I need to find the vehicle, ASAP. It’s a rental, so it should have a tracking chip in it.”

Alex held out his cell phone to Ian, and Katie’s brother snatched it and punched in a number.

“It’s Candy Man. Emergency authentication Charlie Whiskey Three One Tango Tango.”

Alex scribbled down the make and model of the car, its license plate and the rental company on the napkin beside Ian’s dinner tray while they waited for the authentication to be verified.

Abruptly, Ian started talking. He relayed the information on Katie’s car with a request to initiate immediate tracking due to a possible hostage situation.

That ought to get folks on the other end of the line hopping.

The person at the other end of the phone said something that made Ian swear violently, though. The he said, “Fine. I’ll pull my own damned strings.”

He disconnected the call and started dialing another number.

“Problem?” Alex asked.

“My people have no authority to request the trace.” He added grimly, “But there’s more than one way to skin a cat.”

Alex grinned darkly. He liked the way this guy rolled.

“Uncle Charlie? It’s Ian. Katie’s not picking up her phone.” A pause. “No, he’s here with me right now. She’s late for our date.”

Realizing belatedly that Ian was trying to talk around the real issue on the assumption that the phone might be bugged, Alex said quickly, “My cell phone has 256-bit encryption. It’s secure.”

“Bless you,” Ian muttered. “Charlie, this line’s secure. We think she’s in a rental car and have reason to suspect hostile action against her and the baby. Can you have your people track the car?” He relayed the vehicle’s data to his uncle quickly.

Ian ended the call and passed the phone back to Alex. “That’s more like it,” he growled. “Now we’ll get some action. And in the meantime, what the hell’s going on? Tell me everything.”

Alex was glad to have a trained operative to dump everything on. Maybe Ian would see some connection he’d missed. “After I stabbed you, Katie and I caught a plane hop to Osh. From there we headed for Tashkent. We were followed in both towns. Had a little trouble with my old man. He’s?—“

Ian interrupted. “I know who your father is.”

Alex nodded tersely. “I took Katie to my place in D.C. It’s a fortress. But we got picked up on the street and tailed. We hid the baby in an orphanage with an old friend of mine for safety. Katie was attacked on her way to visit you this afternoon, and my lawyer was killed soon after that.”

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