I go back and continue interrogating my employees so that I can determine who is guilty?”
Lynch gazed at him appraisingly. Noah could be telling the truth, or he could be lying like a rug. He was inclined to believe the latter. But since he’d been in charge of the ransom, he was still responsible for what had happened to it either way. “You mean who else is guilty?” He dropped down in a chair at the conference table. “Yes, feel free to question them to your heart’s content. I’ll just stay here and watch and listen. Then when you’ve decided who you think ‘betrayed’ you, I’ll have my own turn at talking to him. I believe I’ve earned that right, haven’t I?”
“It might go faster if you’re not here.” Noah was nibbling at his lower lip. “You might make them nervous.”
“You think so?” Lynch smiled and leaned back in his chair. “Good. After what happened today, that’s a response I’ll definitely appreciate.”
* * *
Kelland’s Office
FBI Headquarters
“This is crazy.” Kendra gazed in frustration at the computer screen reflecting the wall of the mausoleum. “Why haven’t we heard?” She couldn’t understand why there hadn’t been an answer to the message at the cemetery for the last four hours. The message had gone up on the mausoleum within forty-five minutes of when Kelland had called in the order to his men. The media had been having a field day, building suspense, then crushing it, then starting the process all over again.
“They have to have seen that message,” Jessie said through set teeth. “Everyone in the damn country must know that we’ve been practically begging those scumbags to give us another chance.”
“Yes, we have,” Kelland said. “In the most humiliating way possible. The only reason I haven’t been asked to turn in my badge yet is that the director is hoping desperately I might turn into a hero and save the day.” He grimaced. “Not likely. There couldn’t be a more public revelation of inefficiency than that message on the mausoleum.”
“Yet you didn’t bat an eyelash when we asked you to do it,” Kendra said. She’d been in such a frantic hurry to try to save Dee that she hadn’t realized what a career breaker this might prove for Kelland. “You only wondered if it would work.”
“I couldn’t do anything else,” he said wearily. “I’m a good agent. My job was to save Delilah Winter’s life. We’d just heard from the Denver office. They checked surveillance cameras in and around coffee shops in a sixteen-block radius of Adrian Nash’s hotel, The Brown Palace. They got Nash walking south from his hotel one day, but he disappears from view pretty quickly. Naturally there’s no footage of him meeting with that Cabot guy who solicited his help in the abduction scheme.”
Kendra shook her head. “Damn.”
“Yeah. So your idea to contact the kidnappers may be the best shot we have right now. It didn’t matter that I ended up looking like an asshole bungler who let myself be manipulated.” His lip curled bitterly. “No, I can’t say it didn’t matter. I’m mad as hell.”
“So was Lynch,” Kendra said. “He said he couldn’t let it go.”
“Neither can I. But I was busy here, so when Lynch called and told me he was interrogating Noah and all his executives, I gave him permission. Not exactly protocol, but I knew Lynch was just as pissed off as I was. I want answers.” He shrugged. “I figured Lynch would get them for me.”
“You have amazing faith in him. Even though he was possibly suffering a concussion?”
“He refused treatment. He can take care of himself.” He glanced at her face. “You must agree. You told me when you got here that you knew he was on his way to see Noah.”
“I agree he thinks he can take care of himself in any situation.” She was keeping her gaze fastened on the computer screen. “Have you heard from him since then?”
His brows rose. “I hardly expected him to check in. The director was happy just to get him to come here. Lynch pretty much told me that he expected to run his own show when he arrived. As long as he cooperated, I wasn’t going to make waves.” He paused, curious. “When you worked a case with him, were you accustomed to having him check—”
Kendra’s phone vibrated, and a text appeared on her screen:
LAST CHANCE
FIVE MILLION MORE
INSTRUCTIONS 5/3
“Here it is!” Kendra showed them the screen. “They answered. Thank God.”
“Tomorrow,” Jessie murmured. She took