NYPD Red 6 - James Patterson Page 0,30
ready?”
“All hooked up,” he said. “When you take the call, do not put it on speaker or he’s going to know he’s being broadcast to a roomful of cops. Just talk directly into the phone. You want the conversation to feel like it’s personal, one on one. Everybody else can grab a headset and listen in. I’m recording everything. Benny Diaz is tapped in. He’s going to trace the call.”
Koprowski had set up a large whiteboard in the center of Jamie’s living room. Kylie grabbed two markers and handed me one.
“Zach and I are going to talk you through this every step of the way,” Kylie said to Gibbs. “Take your time before you respond to anything he says. You good, Jamie?”
He shook his head. “I don’t want to screw it up, but right now I don’t even know if Erin is alive.”
“She is,” Kylie said.
“You don’t know that for sure.”
“Yes, I do. You want to know how I know that?”
He looked at her for the answer.
“Because she’s not worth anything to him dead.”
He nodded. It made sense. He half smiled.
My cell phone rang.
CHAPTER 26
I ANSWERED THE phone. “Detective Jordan.”
“Are you with the husband?” Dodd’s voice was unfiltered, unaltered. Apparently he wasn’t worried about being identified.
“Yes.”
“Good boy. You take orders well.”
He paused, waiting for me come back at him. I didn’t take the bait.
“Put him on,” he said.
I handed the phone to Jamie.
“This is Jamie Gibbs,” he said, his voice modulated, his tone even. As instructed.
“Congratulations, Mr. Gibbs. You’re a lucky man. Your wife is beautiful.”
“Thank you. Please don’t hurt her.”
“I have no intention of hurting her. I’m sure you want her back in the same condition she was when you married her. It was a touching ceremony. I watched it on video.”
“Can I speak to her?”
“In due time. Don’t you want to know what you have to do to get her back?”
“How much do you want?”
“Twenty-five million dollars.”
Jamie bolted out of his seat. “Twenty-five million dollars? Are you out of your fucking mind? I don’t have that kind of money.”
“Mommy does, Jamie. Why don’t you call her?”
“You call her. See how much you get!”
Jamie was completely off script. Kylie held up both her hands and mouthed the words Calm down. Then she put one hand on his abdomen, inhaled deeply, and gestured for him to do the same.
He took a long slow deep breath, and Kylie pointed to the whiteboard, where I had scribbled Talk to Erin.
“I need to talk to Erin,” he said.
“Hold on,” Dodd said.
There was some rustling in the background, and then Dodd said, “Erin, nod your head if you know the rules.” A pause. “Good girl. Tell your new hubby what I have in my hand.”
“A knife.” It was a female voice, and from the look on Jamie’s face, it was the one he’d been waiting to hear.
“It’s a black straight-edge Ka-Bar, and it’s really nasty, isn’t it?” Dodd said. “Now, I have Jamie and a couple of dozen cops on the phone who want to know if you’re alive. Tell them what I promised I would do to you if you say something stupid or try to talk in code and help them find out where we are.”
“Cut me.”
Jamie stiffened, and Kylie put her hands on his shoulders.
“Cut you where?” Dodd said.
“My face.” The voice was a whimper.
“And then where else will I cut you?” Dodd said.
The words came tumbling out in heaving sobs. “My … my body. I swear … I won’t say anything stupid. I just … I just want to talk to Jamie.”
“Make it quick.”
“Jamie?” she moaned. “Jamie, is that you?”
“Erin, baby, are you okay? What has he done to you?”
“I love you. I want to come home. Please, please, please get me out of here. I’m scared, and I’m—”
“That’s enough,” Dodd said. “Did you hear that, Gibbs? She’s alive. Are you satisfied now?”
Kylie shook her head violently.
“No! I’m not satisfied,” Jamie said. “That wasn’t a conversation. That was her voice. It could have been a recording or an impersonator. I need”—he looked up at the three new words I’d added to the board—“proof of life. I want a video. I want to see that she’s really alive and unharmed.”
“Fair enough,” Dodd said. “I’ll get you your video. You figure out how to get me my twenty-five million.”
“I can’t get that kind of money overnight. It’s going to take a lot of time. Promise me that you’ll—”
“He hung up,” the tech announced. “The call dropped right after he said, ‘You figure