Page 31 of Ozzie

Ozzie

This storm is no joke.Harding is able to get us inside a building with heat, thankfully. It appears to be a carpet store, so we need to be out before the morning. We are all hoping the snow lets up by then.

“Hey, do you think they have a bathroom? I need to take a piss,” JB says.

“I’m sure they do,” Harding says.

JB nods, then walks toward a door and opens it. “Bingo!”

Once the door closes, Harding turns to us. “The agency believes they know who took JB, and it isn’t good for us. At first, we thought it was someone he partied with who figured they could make a quick ransom.”

“At first? What intel came in that changed your mind?”

Harding glances back at the door, but it’s still shut. “JB’sfather hadn’t been forthcoming in his communication with the abductees. He told us they requested money. What he failed to mention was that they demanded he accept a bribe that was previously offered to him.”

“What kind of bribe?” I ask.

Harding hesitates, and Lightning takes a step toward her.

“Look, we have clearance here because we need this information in order to do our jobs and protect this kid. Stop withholding information.”

Harding plays by the rules, well, most of the time, and doesn’t say more than is absolutely necessary. The problem is, we disagree on what is necessary information.

“Senator Walton is on the Armed Services Committee. He’s been approached by someone offering to pay him a lot of money if he can push through weapons to Afghanistan.”

“What kind of weapons?” I ask.

“The details don’t matter. What matters is he was offered a bribe, and there was no doubt the weapons would have ended up in the wrong hands. Senator Walton declined, and the next week, his kid was taken.”

“Okay, but why would they go to all this trouble? Why don’t they try to bribe some other senator?” Lightning asks.

Harding shakes her head. “We don’t know all the players yet. As for why Walton, he has enough clout to make it happen. This means we aren’t dealing with some partygoers.”

“We’re dealing with terrorists,” Lightning says.

She nods. “Based on his position, I suspected it wasmore than he let on. That’s why I requested you two to be here. I’m sure the men who had JB won’t stop until they get him back in their custody. Now, we should be safe here tonight. But in the morning, someone from the agency will pick us up at a location I’ll determine.”

“We’ll need to take shifts sleeping,” I say.

She nods. “Yes. Lightning, you’re up first. I’ll go next.” She doesn’t mention my name.

“What about me?”

“You look like shit and didn’t sleep on the plane, from what I could tell. You need your rest.”

I can’t argue with her because she’s right.

JB comes out of the bathroom.

“All right. It’s time to get some sleep so we’re ready for tomorrow,” Harding says.

While there are no beds or couches, there are a lot of rugs here.

“I call dibs on this one,” JB says as he flops on top of a four-foot pile of rugs.

I find something close to the floor and hidden in the shadows. “I’ll be here.”

Harding finds a spot where she could have eyes on JB, although Lightning will be keeping an eye on him.

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