she’s some sort of mechanical genius—but he must have given her a rational explanation.”
“What about the e-mails?”
“Same deal. Bounced all over the damned place, last location we got was somewhere on the Caspian coast.”
“Which country?”
“Turkmenistan.”
Jake’s brow furrowed. Could this be the link? Maybe some foreign power stole the kid to force Randall to share intel. It would certainly explain the level of organization, and the deep pockets. Syd’s voice interrupted his train of thought. “What’re you thinking?”
“You worked that part of the world, right?”
There was a lengthy pause. Officially they’d decided not to discuss past cases unless absolutely necessary. As far as Jake was concerned, this was the exception to that rule. Apparently Syd agreed, because after a moment she said, “I was stationed in Tbilisi for a few months.”
“That’s a little off the grid, isn’t it?”
“Way off the grid. Officially we were afraid that some of the decommissioned nuclear arms weren’t being appropriately monitored and might fall into the hands of rogue nations. Unofficially, I was being punished for not sleeping with my boss when he asked me to.”
Jake decided to ignore that last part. “What do you think? Any chance we’re dealing with a group that’s trying to get hold of some nukes?”
Syd went so long without saying anything, Jake was concerned he’d lost the connection. “Hello?”
“I’m still here. I’m just thinking.”
“Ah, Christ. You know something,” Jake said. “What the hell, Syd—”
“Nothing specific, I just…I’ve got some idea whatRandall has been working on these past few months. And it might tie in with that.”
An image of the driver’s face flashed through Jake’s mind. Big white guy, could definitely be Slavic. “Great. I agreed to take this case, against my better instincts, as a favor to you. And you keep me in the dark. That’s it.” He resolutely pushed his chair back from the table and stood. “Call Randall, tell him I’m getting on a plane. You want to help him, come out here yourself.”
“Jake, wait—”
“Nope. I’m done, Syd.”
“All right.”
Jake paused at the door to the sandwich shop, rental car keys in hand. It wasn’t like Syd to give in so easily. “Bullshit.”
“What?”
“I don’t believe for a minute you’re letting me off the hook.”
“No, you’re right. I promised that the minute it smelled bad, you could back down. Besides, if this Turkmenistan thing is the real deal, I can follow up just as well from here. The Bay Area part of this operation seems dead in the water anyway. Just because she got off a plane there doesn’t mean anything, she could be on a container ship halfway to China by now.”
Jake had thought the same thing, but there was something about her tone he didn’t trust. Besides, if they’d wanted Madison on a container ship, it would have been just as easy to yank her from the East Coast. Even easier, maybe. The truth was that despite his posturing, he wasn’t ready to ditch Madison Grant yet. He walked to the car, as if physically calling Syd’s bluff. “Okay. So I’ll head to the airport.”
“Perfect. Oh, one thing…”
Jake grinned. He knew it wouldn’t be that easy. “Yeah?”
“Randall’s getting nervous, he’s starting to think she might already be dead.”
“Yeah, well. He has a point.”
“Right, I know. I was just wondering if you could stop by his place and talk him down from the ledge. Give him some tips on what to say next time, how to ask for proof of life. That sort of thing.”
Jake repressed a snort at the thought of Randall Grant attempting to negotiate proof of life on his own. “You’re a piece of work, you know that, Syd?”
“What?” she asked innocently.
“I’ll hang around to make sure Randall doesn’t screw this up. But if I get the sense that either of you is jerking me around again, that’s it.”
“Yeah,
“What about the e-mails?”
“Same deal. Bounced all over the damned place, last location we got was somewhere on the Caspian coast.”
“Which country?”
“Turkmenistan.”
Jake’s brow furrowed. Could this be the link? Maybe some foreign power stole the kid to force Randall to share intel. It would certainly explain the level of organization, and the deep pockets. Syd’s voice interrupted his train of thought. “What’re you thinking?”
“You worked that part of the world, right?”
There was a lengthy pause. Officially they’d decided not to discuss past cases unless absolutely necessary. As far as Jake was concerned, this was the exception to that rule. Apparently Syd agreed, because after a moment she said, “I was stationed in Tbilisi for a few months.”
“That’s a little off the grid, isn’t it?”
“Way off the grid. Officially we were afraid that some of the decommissioned nuclear arms weren’t being appropriately monitored and might fall into the hands of rogue nations. Unofficially, I was being punished for not sleeping with my boss when he asked me to.”
Jake decided to ignore that last part. “What do you think? Any chance we’re dealing with a group that’s trying to get hold of some nukes?”
Syd went so long without saying anything, Jake was concerned he’d lost the connection. “Hello?”
“I’m still here. I’m just thinking.”
“Ah, Christ. You know something,” Jake said. “What the hell, Syd—”
“Nothing specific, I just…I’ve got some idea whatRandall has been working on these past few months. And it might tie in with that.”
An image of the driver’s face flashed through Jake’s mind. Big white guy, could definitely be Slavic. “Great. I agreed to take this case, against my better instincts, as a favor to you. And you keep me in the dark. That’s it.” He resolutely pushed his chair back from the table and stood. “Call Randall, tell him I’m getting on a plane. You want to help him, come out here yourself.”
“Jake, wait—”
“Nope. I’m done, Syd.”
“All right.”
Jake paused at the door to the sandwich shop, rental car keys in hand. It wasn’t like Syd to give in so easily. “Bullshit.”
“What?”
“I don’t believe for a minute you’re letting me off the hook.”
“No, you’re right. I promised that the minute it smelled bad, you could back down. Besides, if this Turkmenistan thing is the real deal, I can follow up just as well from here. The Bay Area part of this operation seems dead in the water anyway. Just because she got off a plane there doesn’t mean anything, she could be on a container ship halfway to China by now.”
Jake had thought the same thing, but there was something about her tone he didn’t trust. Besides, if they’d wanted Madison on a container ship, it would have been just as easy to yank her from the East Coast. Even easier, maybe. The truth was that despite his posturing, he wasn’t ready to ditch Madison Grant yet. He walked to the car, as if physically calling Syd’s bluff. “Okay. So I’ll head to the airport.”
“Perfect. Oh, one thing…”
Jake grinned. He knew it wouldn’t be that easy. “Yeah?”
“Randall’s getting nervous, he’s starting to think she might already be dead.”
“Yeah, well. He has a point.”
“Right, I know. I was just wondering if you could stop by his place and talk him down from the ledge. Give him some tips on what to say next time, how to ask for proof of life. That sort of thing.”
Jake repressed a snort at the thought of Randall Grant attempting to negotiate proof of life on his own. “You’re a piece of work, you know that, Syd?”
“What?” she asked innocently.
“I’ll hang around to make sure Randall doesn’t screw this up. But if I get the sense that either of you is jerking me around again, that’s it.”
“Yeah,
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