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Kate glanced at Peel, then back at Walker, and they were clearly aligned against her father, two against one. She refused to be the irrelevant fourth voice.

“I can’t just sit here and have you tell me there’s nothing we can do for Patrick because the CIA might end up with egg on its face if Buck pays a ransom. I can’t and I won’t let that happen.”

“It’s not debatable,” said Walker. “Buck can’t pay a ransom in any amount.”

“Then I’ll pay it,” said Gamble.

“Christian, I’m not trying to be difficult,” said Walker, even though he was. “But when it comes to the kidnapping of a Buck employee, there’s no distinction between Buck paying a ransom to terrorists and its CEO paying it. If this were a kidnapping of someone in your family, it might be different.”

“Then I’ll give two million dollars to Kate, and she can do whatever she damn well pleases with it. Can the CIA live with that?”

“The CIA is going to have to live with it,” said Kate. “Dad, I accept your gift. Thank you.”

“My head of security is former FBI. I’ve already spoken to him. He said I should coordinate with the Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell.”

Walker immediately shook his head. “Not a good idea.”

“What’s the Hostage Recovery Fusion Cell?” asked Kate.

Her father answered. “It specializes in international kidnappings of U.S. citizens. The teams operate out of FBI headquarters, but theypull talent and resources from the Department of Defense and the State Department.”

“But the CIA is part of the State Department, and Mr. Walker just said the CIA won’t pay a ransom.”

“Your daughter is right,” said Walker. “The money invested by the CIA in Buck Technologies is taxpayer money. That’s the problem here.”

“It’smy daughter’smoney. I just gave it to her. The fusion cell will help if Kate wants to use her own money to pay Patrick’s ransom. It just won’t pay a ransom using taxpayer money.” He looked at Walker, and then at his business partner. “Why are the two of you being such pricks about this?”

Kate wanted to side with her father, but she couldn’t. “There’s another problem, Dad. The kidnapper said not to contact the FBI, the State Department, or anything of the sort. That’s the quickest way to get Patrick killed.”

Her father paused to consider the wrinkle. “All right. Plenty of families use private security firms and never report it to law enforcement. We can work that out. Unless the CIA has a problem with that, too.”

He was clearly fed up with the two obstructionists in the room, as was Kate. There was no response from Peel or Walker—just an icy silence.

Kate’s cell rang, and she checked the screen. It was the same number Patrick had used to call her.

“It’s them,” she said, her voice like a reflex.

“Put it on speaker,” said Walker.

It was a split-second decision, but her gut instinct wouldn’t let her trust a man who clearly cared more about the CIA than about Patrick.

“Fuck off,” she said, as she hurried out of the study. She continued down the grand hallway toward the foyer, answering on the fourth ring.

“Patrick?” she said into the phone, hoping to hear his voice.

“No, but it is the next best thing,” his kidnapper said.

Kate opened the front door and stepped out onto the porch. “I have your money.”

“That’s good news.”

The voice on the line sounded different, less of an accent than on the first call. Kate figured he wasn’t the first kidnapper to try and disguise his voice. “When do I get Patrick?”

“There’s been a new development.”

Kate froze, fearing the worst. “You’d better not have hurt him.”

“He’s fine. But I changed my mind about the two million.”

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