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“Then tell me the truth, Kate: Am I negotiating with the right person?”

The question was a bit open-ended, but Kate sensed where he was going with it. Agent Lang was typing furiously, and a quick glance at her computer screen confirmed Kate’s hunch:

Don’t let him use you to get to your father.

Kate rolled with it. “I can tell you this much. I will do the best I can to get you whatever it is you want.”

There was silence on the line, and then his reply. “That’s not good enough.”

Kate knew she was in a delicate situation, and she didn’t want to saythe wrong thing. She glanced again at Agent Lang’s screen, and the prompt worked for her.

“Then let’s fix it,” she said.

“There’s only one way to fix it.”

Kate had dealt with the “my way or the highway” mindset before, but it felt different coming from someone who considered violence a solution.

“Maybe if you tell me the problem, we can find a way to fix it together.”

It wasn’t a scripted line, but Agent Lang seemed to approve. The caller, however, was losing patience.

“Look, I know what I want, and I’ve played this game enough to know if the person on the other end of the line is capable of delivering what I want.”

“Try me.”

“I’m not going to start talking code with you so that the FBI can feed you bullshit answers and stall for time while their tech team tries to figure out where I’m calling from.”

Busted. Kate’s skepticism over the line-feeding strategy was borne out. Even her unscripted lines were sounding scripted.

“That’s not going to happen,” said Kate.

“You’re right. It’s not. Because the next time I call, you are going to have someone on the line who will know what I’m talking about and who has the authority to deliver it.”

Agent Lang was typing a response, but Kate used her own words. “I can’t make any promises. But if you agree to put Patrick on the line right now, I’ll agree to talk to my father.”

He chuckled over the line. “Yourfather? No. I want Jeremy Peel.”

His demand threw her, and Kate borrowed Agent Lang’s response on the screen. “I want to be straight with you. I won’t promise things I can’t deliver.”

“Then don’t make promises. Just make it happen.”

“I want to speak to Patrick.”

“He’s not here. I don’t negotiate in front of my hostages. What kind of amateur do you think you’re dealing with? Just get me Jeremy Peel.”

“That’s a big request.”

“It’s not a request. It’s a demand. If you ever want to see Patrick alive, have Jeremy Peel on the next call with you.”

“I’ll need time,” said Kate.

“I’ll call you in the morning.”

“That’s too soon. You have to give me time to persuade him.”

“Here’s all the persuasion you need, Kate. Tell Jeremy that hearing his voice would mean the world to me. And to Olga.”

Kate wanted to ask who Olga was, but he didn’t give her the chance.

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