least another day. But there will be someone else joining us, a man named Fred Casey. He’s going to help us negotiate a ransom exchange with the abductor.”
“Local cop or an FBI agent?”
“Neither. He’s a private ransom negotiator. Normally he works with big companies that operate in unsafe parts of the world.”
“How did you a find man of that caliber so quickly?”
“He’s the brother of a friend I served with in Afghanistan. He’s on his way here from the airport now. I know I should have checked with you before barging in with an entourage, but time is of the essence.”
“No problem,” R.J. said. “Just make yourself at home. Literally. If you see anything you want to eat or drink, no need to ask. How about a cold beer now?” R.J. wiped his shirtsleeve across his sweaty brow. “I’m having one.”
“Sounds like a good idea,” Adam agreed.
“I’ll take a Diet Coke if you have one,” Hadley said.
“So happens I do.”
R.J. left them alone to talk about him. He heard another vehicle pull up as he leaned over to get the soda from the bottom drawer. He grabbed another beer while he was at it.
He didn’t know if he and Adam would find any common ground or not. But he sure hoped Adam didn’t let Hadley down. She needed a hero in the worst way.
According to Meghan, Adam had saved lives before. No reason to think he couldn’t do it again.
* * *
FRED HAD SET UP a headquarters of sorts in the upstairs sitting area. The room was large with windows that overlooked a corral and a fenced pasture where at least a half dozen full-size horses and several colts roamed.
He’d brought his own equipment with him—a computer, portable printer, folding wall board with an area map for flagging locations, and wires and mechanical parts and tools for tying the cell phone that the kidnapper had left Hadley in with his own phone.
Adam was impressed with his level of preparedness and his professionalism. It was easy to see why the man was so successful.
While Fred had set up, Adam and Hadley had filled him in on all the facts, as they knew them. Then they’d all sat down to watch the video again, and again, and again.
After the third playing, Fred stopped it.
“Why do you think he’s waiting so long to call me?” Hadley asked.
“He’s an amateur at this. My guess is the abduction was a spur-of-the-moment decision and now he—or she—is trying to figure out how to get out of the country with that much money in their wallet.”
“Can’t he just drive across the border?” Hadley asked.
“It’s not as easy to do that as it used to be. And he’s probably figured after the fact that as soon as the cops know he has the money, every border patrol agent in the country will be on the lookout for a man carrying that much cash.”
“What about a charter plane?” Adam asked.
“Same set of problems if he goes with an honest company. And if he goes with a dishonest one, the pilot may kill him for the money and dump him from the plane sans parachute.”
“How do you know he’s an amateur?” Hadley asked.
“He didn’t hide the fact that he had a key. If he’d made it look as if he’d broken in, the field of suspects would have been practically endless.”
“Is that all?”
“There’s the fact that he didn’t have an escape plan ahead of time. That way he’d have only have to risk one contact with you and there wouldn’t be so much wait time for the police to spend tracking him down.”
“Is there anything we can do to speed this up?” Hadley asked.
“As a matter of fact there is. He needs an escape plan. I’m going to give him one. A plan that will lure him into our trap instead of the other way around.”
“I don’t want to take any chances with the girls’ lives,” Hadley said.
“That’s why we insist on my plan. I’ll start work on that now. All I need you to do, Hadley, is to let me handle all conversation from here on out with the kidnapper. You can answer the phone when he calls, but after that, leave the talking to me.”
“What about the ransom money? I don’t have anywhere near five million dollars.”
“How much do you have?”
“How much do you need?” They all turned to see R.J. standing at the door. “How much do you need to pull this off?” he asked again.
“Fifty thousand