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Authors: Capri Montgomery

On Thin Ice (Special Ops) (6 page)

BOOK: On Thin Ice (Special Ops)
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“Do you think the letter came from the guy who took the picture?”

 

“No…well, I don’t know. I don’t think so. The guy—I think it was a guy—who wrote the letter only mentioned the photograph as he saw it in the tabloid. If it had been the guy who took the picture I would think he would have seen enough to mention more details about her body. This one was more of…fantasizing.” It was hard to think of any man fantasizing about her at that age, even now really. This was his little girl and even though she was now a woman he still felt a need to protect her from guys who would try to use her for her body and for her money. She had made a lot of money doing endorsements and skating appearances. She had also been smart enough to invest some of that money in stable investments. Even if she weren’t his daughter she still wouldn’t be dirt poor.

 

“Whoever sent the letters was one sick bastard.” He could tell Alex agreed with him and he hadn’t even read the letters. “She was sixteen, and she looked twelve to most people. How does anybody fantasize about somebody who looks like a little girl?”

 

“Somebody very sick. Did the letters stop or do you still get them?”

 

“Sometimes I still get some, but not from the same guy. His handwriting was precise, almost as if he took a long time writing each letter just to make it look perfect. The FBI took them from me so they could see if they could figure out who it was, but they never did. The ones I get now are either about how good she looks and what a great skater she is or people angry about her conservation efforts. It all comes to the fan mail address and whenever something off kilter comes through the reader makes sure I get it. Kira never hears about them.”

 

“Why?”

 

“She’s always been nervous with the publicity and that hasn’t changed just because she’s older. If she knew about the letters then she would feel even less safe. She’s had some confrontations, but Demetri always shut those down before they could get out of control. Most of that happened at conservation rallies, or lobbying, or meetings. She knows there are people not happy about her efforts, but she doesn’t know about every letter that comes into her fan mail. I like to keep it that way. She deserves a normal life. Being a great athlete and doing the job she loves doesn’t give anybody the right to invade her privacy.”

 

“I agree.” Alex typed his notes while Aaron rattled off names of possible suspects, although he couldn’t imagine any of them actually resorting to murder.

 

“They still haven’t called yet.” He looked at his phone and then at the clock.

 

“They will. When they do they won’t talk long. They’ll tell you not to contact the FBI or other authorities. They’ll tell you that they’re going to call you back with their demands. They won’t let you speak with her and that’s okay.”

 

“How is that okay?”

 

“Because it means when they call back with their demands they will let you speak with her. They’ll want you to know she’s still alive because they’ll think it will force your hand.”

 

“They can have whatever they want.”

 

“Don’t think that they’ll let her go once they get what they want. These aren’t the kind of men to do that. They just murdered an entire station of people so you know they’re ruthless. But make them think you’re going to make whatever trade they want. They’ll most likely have an account they want the money either wired into or deposited in. I’m guessing wired, but we’ll see what happens when the call comes in with the demands. The first call is going to be short but don’t let it rattle you. The second call is where you’ll get more information and proof of life.”

 

“How do you know this?”

 

“We’ve worked a lot of hostage cases and they all tend to go one of two ways. These guys seem like the type to do things smarter. They’ll expect the first call to be traced. They’ll probably have something setup to scramble the call, but they’ll expect it so they won’t stay on the line long. They won’t expect it of the second call. They’ll expect you to be too worried about your daughter to trust the FBI.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Trust me, we see it a lot and people come to us because they don’t think they can go to the Feds. Some of them pay the ransom first and that’s a really bad idea. Once they have what they want there’s no reason to keep the hostage alive.”

 

“So what’s the other type of hostage takers you deal with?”

 

“The other guys are usually a little dumb. They’re the ones who rattle off everything and stop to answer questions in the first call. Usually the Feds are already involved and already tracing the call. The only time that doesn’t end well is if the Feds screw up and the hostage takers have a chance to move the hostage before the Feds arrive. When that happens, we sometimes are the ones who get the call for a search and rescue. Most of our cases are overseas, and dealing with a lot more than just FBI capable cases so those are the two types for when it’s domestic and the FBI gets involved. There’s always an exception to every rule.”

 

“And what might be the exception to this one?”

 

“Revenge,” Alex said. “Somebody who wants to take more than just money from you.”

 

Aaron felt his heart almost literally skip a beat. He heard the words Alex hadn’t said and those words were telling him that they would kill Kira to get back at him for something he had done. He didn’t think he had done anything to drive anybody to that point. But he had already said it to Alex; he was a rich man and somewhere along the road from poor to extremely rich enemies would always be made. He just hoped his enemies wouldn’t be the cause of his daughter’s death.

 
 

Chapter Four

 

J
ethro Jackson?” The tall lanky man with the wireframe glasses and the disheveled blond hair approached him. Jet surveyed the guy. He was behind the security checkpoint so he encountered him the moment he got off the plane. “Are you Jethro Jackson?”

 

Jet saw the makings of a piece underneath that basic gray suit jacket. “Who’s asking?”

 

“I’m Detective Nathan Malloy. I’ve been asking everybody who stepped off the plane if they are Jethro Jackson.”

 

“Everybody?”

 

He laughed. “All the men who looked able to be here on a mission and not on vacation,” he clarified. “Are you Jethro Jackson? We got a call from our superiors who got a call from their superiors who got a call from the Mayor who got a call from Aaron Bowman that you were coming.”

 

Jet cocked an eyebrow at the long list of calls Detective Malloy felt the need to rattle off. He could have just said they were expecting him. “I’m Jet,” he finally said.

 

“Good. It was either you or the old guy sitting over there as I think everybody else is off the plane.”

 

“There are still people getting off the plane;” he pointed behind him. He knew they were still getting off. Normally he flew first class when he went commercial, but first class was packed and he had to fly coach. He still got a good seat, one that allowed him to get off the plane with haste. He preferred first class for the longer flights because it meant his body wouldn’t be cramped to the point of impeding functioning by the time he got off the flight. This wasn’t exactly an overnight flight so he wasn’t as concerned with where he sat, just so long as he got the first flight out.

 

“Oh, so there are. I thought you were the last one. Well…shall we go?”

 

“Go where?”

 

“The command post; basically that’s just headquarters.” He smiled. “We have been told to give you anything you need.” They walked toward the exit. “Do you need to get your bags?”

 

“I have all the clothes I need in this bag. I’ll need weapons.”

 

“Yes, I assumed you would. We have plenty. Some of them are very new. We had a good year and so the finances came in for new supplies and equipment. Good thing too as it looks like we’re going to need it soon.”

 

Jet got into a black SUV while Nathan climbed in on the other side and started the engine. He pulled a file out and handed him a picture. “See that there is a still shot we got off one of the exit cameras. See the tattoo?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Well that’s a bad one to see. It means she’s in a lot of trouble and well…I don’t know how to explain this.”

 

“Start talking,” Jet said without a hint of humor. “It’ll come to you.”

 

“Yes, I guess it will. This was a little before my time on the force obviously. It was ten years ago. I only transferred in as a detective five years ago. There was a really bad Russian gang starting up here and before it became too big the chief and some others thought they should put a task force on stopping the thefts, the drug rings, the prostitution rings and the murders. They didn’t want that here and it looked as if it could take over. They set up a task force.”

 

“Makes sense.”

 

“One would think. Apparently the governor at that time didn’t think so and she wouldn’t approve the money for the task force. So they tried finding private donations. Nobody would help. Maybe it was fear. Maybe they just didn’t want to give up their money. They found one though, he was willing to help.”

 

“Who was it?”

 

“Aaron Bowman. Our current mayor was the one who asked him for help. From what I hear he shelled out over a million dollars to help get the task force up and running. He provided all the computers and his money helped get better weapons and body armor.”

 

“So what happened? Why are these guys still out wreaking havoc?”

 

“I don’t know why they’re still out there. I can venture a guess. You see the task force delivered what they thought was a deadly blow. It took four years but they rounded up the leaders and the minions. They thought they had everybody. Clearly we missed some. Anyway, once that was done the governor took credit for the task force and gave a little to the mayor while they did the press conferences. She wanted reelection obviously. But once the bad guys were gone she demanded the task force be dismantled and any leftover funds be turned in.”

 

“Turned in to whom?”

 

Nathan laughed. “Her of course…by way of several other arenas but we all know she pocketed it. Her campaign got a burst of funds that year. They all knew where it came from, but nobody crossed her and kept their job so people kept quiet.”

 

“And these guys?”

 

“Well I think maybe they hadn’t gotten everybody. They were probably either lurking out there in one of the other regions or setting up shop and getting ready for a comeback. Now here is where I think we have a problem.” He turned down a long stretch of road. “The reporter who interviewed Miss Bowman was actually the son of one of the older officers of the task force. His father died about a year ago in a car accident.”

 

“I see. So you think they shot up everybody to kill the son and get the girl?”

 

“Well at first we didn’t link the son’s death to it you know. Why after all this time when his father was already dead? But then we took a look at some things and we realized that a few of the officers on the task force, over the past three years, have either ended up dead, or somebody they loved has. They’re all in different parts of Alaska so we wouldn’t have noticed that you know.”

 

Jet knew where this conversation was going and basically it led to the fact that they wanted more than the money. They wanted revenge. He was going to have to get Akira out of there because even if Aaron paid the ransom they were definitely going to kill her.

BOOK: On Thin Ice (Special Ops)
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