Jamison shuddered next to him and looked down at the floor.
“Decker, I don’t know if I can do that,” said Kemper. “I have people to answer to.”
“So do I. Their names are Amber and Zoe. And if you don’t want to do it my way, I’ll just have to do this solo.”
“You are putting me in an impossible situation,” complained Kemper.
“This is an impossible situation.”
Kemper calmed and said, “I guess I don’t have much choice. But I hope you know what you’re doing.”
Decker clicked off and stared down at his phone.
Jamison said, “Do you?”
“Do I what?” he asked quietly.
“Know what you’re doing?”
“I’ll be able to answer that after they call me.”
“We can’t lose Amber and Zoe.”
“We won’t.”
“You can’t be sure of that,” she exclaimed.
“No, I can’t,” he conceded.
“Then what are you telling me?” she demanded.
“I promised Zoe that I wouldn’t let the bad guys get you. And now I’m promising you that I’m not going to let them hurt Zoe, or your sister.”
Jamison pulled out her gun and looked at it. “Oh, we’re going to get them back safe, Decker. And then we’re going to nail every one of these assholes right to the wall.”
Chapter 70
THE CALL CAME at midnight.
Before Decker could answer it, Jamison had snatched the phone away.
“I want to hear Amber and Zoe’s voice, right now,” she said into the phone.
“Who is this?”
“Alex Jamison with the FBI, and the seriously pissed-off sister and aunt of the people you kidnapped. Put them on the phone. Now!”
“You’re making demands?” the person said.
“No, I’m making one demand. Put them on the phone.”
There were a few moments of silence.
“Alex?”
It was Amber. She sounded exactly as she should: terrified.
“Are you okay, Am? Have they hurt you?”
“No, they haven’t.”
“And Zoe?”
“She’s right here with me. She’s okay too, just scared.”
Jamison turned to Decker and mouthed, “They’re okay.”
Amber continued, “Only I don’t know what they—”
The other person came back on. “Okay, you’ve heard them. Now hear me. You want them back, you will do exactly as I say.”
Jamison handed the phone to Decker.
“I’m listening,” said Decker. “What do you want in exchange for them?”
“We want Fred Ross.”
“I don’t know if I can make that happen.”
“You better hope you can. Or else the next time you see the woman and the kid, they’ll be corpses.”
“Where and when?”
The man gave Decker the location and time. “You bring anybody with you, they’re dead.”
“And you’re just going to let us walk out with Amber and Zoe?”
“You bring us Ross, we have no reason to harm any of you. We just want the old man.”
“I didn’t think Ted was that fond of his father.”
“Just bring him! One minute late, they’re dead.”
Decker put down the phone.
“What do they want?” Jamison asked.
“They want an exchange.”
“An exchange? What does that mean?”
“Fred Ross for Amber and Zoe.”
“Why would they want Fred Ross?”
“Probably because he can testify against them.”
“But he’s in jail!”
“Then we need to get him out of jail.”
“How?”
Decker was already on his phone.
Kemper answered on the first ring.
“They want Fred Ross in exchange for Amber and Zoe.”
“Okay.”
“You’ll need to arrange for Ross to be released into our custody.”
“I can make that happen. Where and when do they want to meet?”
Decker told her and added, “The guy said if we bring anybody, Amber and Zoe are dead.”
“Decker, you’re not that na?ve. You go there without any backup, you’re all dead.”
“Which is why you’re going to get there before us. You got a chopper available?”
“Yes.”
“Then I suggest you fill it up with agents and get in position. When the crap hits the fan, it’s going to get hairy for everyone.”
“This is what we do for a living, Decker. See you on the other side.”
Decker clicked off and looked at Jamison.
She said, “They said not to bring anyone.”
“I know what they said. But they’re not going to let me just walk away with Amber and Zoe.”
Jamison looked up at him angrily. “You?! Do you really think I’d let you march in there alone? Where you go, I go.”
Decker’s ringing phone interrupted this discussion.
He recognized the number and answered it.
Cindi Riley barked, “What the hell is going on?”
“With what?” he said. “And why are you calling so late?”
“Because you’re my last chance for John.”
Decker said, “What about him?”
“He finally let me pay his bail. But they still wouldn’t release him.”
“Why not?”
“Because they said Detective Lassiter had to sign off on it,” she said.
“That doesn’t make sense. But she’s in the hospital. She was shot.”
“No, she’s not in the hospital.”
Decker tensed. “What do you mean?”
“I mean they told me at the police station that she was in the hospital, so I called over there to talk to her. I was going to bring the paperwork there.”
“And what did they tell you?”
“That she checked herself out,” she said.
“Checked herself out?” said an incredulous Decker. “She was shot, how could she check herself out?”
“I don’t know. But that’s what they said.”
“Have you tried calling her cell?”
“About a dozen times. No answer. What does this mean, Decker?”
He didn’t answer her right away. “It means that we’ll meet you at the jail in about ten minutes.”
Chapter 71
FRED ROSS LOOKED up at Decker with a malicious grin.
“Figured I might see you again, fat boy.”
An officer had wheeled Ross down the hall and into the lobby of the police station, where Decker, Jamison, and Riley met him.
Decker ignored this and looked at the duty officer. “We also need to pick up John Baron. His bail’s been paid.”
The duty officer said, “We can’t release him until Detective Lassiter signs off.”
“Detective Lassiter has gone AWOL.”
“That doesn’t matter—” began the officer.
Decker slammed his fist down on the counter. “I’ll tell you what matters.” He pointed to Riley. “She paid the bail set by the judge. You have the paperwork in hand. Lassiter doesn’t have to sign off on shit. So unless you want a big-ass lawsuit against this town that’ll drain the little money it has left, you better go get John Baron right now.” He held up his phone. “And if you don’t, a team of FBI agents will be here in about ten minutes and they’re going to arrest you and everybody else in this fucking place.”
The duty officer stiffened like Decker had just clocked him.
Someone behind them said, “Hey, Agent Decker.”
Decker turned to see Officer Curry standing there.
“I take it you’ve got a problem?” said Curry.
“My problem is bail has been paid, the paperwork has been filed, and this guy won’t release the prisoner because Detective Lassiter won’t sign off on it. But Detective Lassiter, who was supposedly shot today, has checked herself out of the hospital and conveniently disappeared.”
Curry glanced at the duty officer and then back at Decker.
“I’ll go get Baron for you right now.”
“But Detective Lassiter—” the duty officer began.
“Shut the hell up, Bobby,” said Curry. He turned and walked off.
A minute later he was back with Baron.
Decker said, “I appreciate the assist.”
“No problem. I’m getting sick of all the crap happening in this place,” said Curry. He put his hand on his gun and glared over at the duty officer before returning his gaze to Decker.
“How about I stay here and make sure that no one gets a heads-up about anything you might be planning?”
“I would appreciate that even more,” said Decker. He looked at the rack of shotguns behind the duty counter. “And while you’re doling out favors, you mind if I borrow one of those shotguns? It might come in handy.”
“No problem.” Curry looked at Bobby, the duty officer. “Give it to him.”
“I can’t—”
Curry drew his pistol. “Now!”