Page 67 of Billion-Dollar Ransom
“I don’t understand what you’re saying. What are we supposed to do with—” Four caught herself before she saidthe children. There was still a chance, a good one, that this was some kind of trick or test. One had said he had eyes everywhere. Maybe he had ears too. Best to reveal as little as possible.
But Six knew what Four had almost said. “With the children? Leave them where they are. They won’t be alone for very long.”
“Do you know what you’re asking me to do? On nothing more than yourword?”
“You’d better hurry,” Six said. “It might be too late already.”
Four hung up and returned to the hospital bed. Her daughter was ten years old and suffering from a rare blood cancer that wasn’t responding to chemotherapy. All this time in the hospital, all the expensive treatments, and the experts had only slowed the progression of the cancer. There was no cure, no hope of one. Except…
Except for an experimental drug trial down in Central America. It was already showing excellent results but had a price tag of two million dollars. Impossible for people in their financial state. Until One showed them a way itcouldbe possible.
“Who was that?” her daughter asked.
“Nobody important.”
“That sounded really important.”
“Honey,” Four said, “I hate to say this, because I know how awful you’re feeling, but…”
Her daughter nodded. “We have to go, right?”
Yes, it appeared that they had to go right now, again at the worst possible time. Four’s daughter’s platelet count was perilously low, even after several platelet transfusions. Four’s sister had said earlier that the medical team was very concerned.
So was Four.
CHAPTER 75
Thursday, 10:22 p.m.
THE SANDBOX WAS still bustling with activity. For most members of the task force, going home tonight was not an option—not with their best suspect, former cop Tim Dowd, and his possible captive still in the wind. There were also unconfirmed reports of a fierce gun battle in Tijuana that might or might not be linked to the Tyler Schraeder kidnapping. And finally, there were absolutely no leads on the Schraeder children, which was particularly heartbreaking to Nicky Gordon.
And there had been no word from her own child in a while. Kaitlin’s movie had ended half an hour ago, and she should have texted her mother to check in by now, even if it was only a sarcastic and annoyedGot your message, I’m home now and not dead, k thx bye.
Nicky kept her head in the evolving case, but she washyperconscious of every minute that ticked by without word from Kaitlin.
She felt a warm hand on her shoulder. “Nick—can I borrow you for a sec?”
Nicky turned around to see Mike Hardy, although he didn’t look like himself. There was usually an amused quality to his resting expression, as if life were one big joke and he was the guy hired to police it. But now Hardy looked gravely serious.
“What is it?”
“Let’s duck into somewhere quiet.”
“Mike, come on. We don’t have time for somewhere quiet. Just spit it out.” Nicky saw everyone in the Sandbox looking at them and regretted her insistence on staying here. Zero chance of privacy now.
“You hear from Special K tonight?”
“No—why?”
Mike looked as if he’d tasted something sour. “A detective of mine just called—some kids at the Grove reported their friend missing. The last name rang a bell with her, which was why she called me right away. Now, I don’t know what this means, but…”
“Kaitlin is missing?”
“All we know for sure is that a couple of teenagers say their friend Kaitlin Gordon went missing from a movie theater at the Grove just a little while ago.”
The entire task force fell silent. All eyes were on Nicky.
“Look, I think I speak for everyone here,” Mike said. “If you need to go, we’ll understand.”
