The Tenth Cycle: A Thriller (A Rossler Foundation Mystery Book 1) (28 page)

“LaGuardia,” he answered. “As quick as you can.”

By the time he reached Raj’s place, the latter had finished the false database, altering the algorithm slightly so that the Fibonacci number sequence would be obscured. The data would look good, but it would take a linguist days to determine that the code was scrambled. Hopefully, it would be enough.

And then Daniel was on his way back to LaGuardia for the return flight. Barring unforeseen circumstances, he would make it with an hour to spare. In his pocket was a high-density flash drive with what the kidnappers were meant to believe was the culmination of his research. Until he understood the stakes that was the best he could do.

When he rushed back into Sarah’s house, Ryan jumped from his seat. “Where have you been?”

Daniel answered, “Sorry, Ryan. I had to go and get what the kidnappers want. I didn’t want to worry you, I’m sorry. Is everything ready? I’ll need to leave soon. I guess you’ll be here monitoring the video from the drones?”

“Yes, David’s been setting it up ever since you disappeared. I think he’s testing it now, do you want to take a look?

“Absolutely! If I’m going to trust not only my life to these things, but also Sarah’s, I guess I’d better get an idea of how good they are.”

The pair went into Sarah’s office, where David had set up an impressive array of equipment, including an enormous monitor that had a bird’s-eye view of Sarah’s bed on it at the moment.

“They’re operating inside the house?” he asked.

“Yes, just for a test. They’ve got a four-hour video capacity, but I didn’t want to test them outside yet. What do you think?”

Daniel watched as the camera panned over Sarah’s dressing table, picking up images of the pearl necklace she had discarded without hanging it in her jewelry chest, a variety of other items, some as small as a tiny pearl earring. The resolution was amazing. But he wondered how it did at long range.

“It has a high degree of accuracy for its weaponry at 500 yards. The camera can pick up a gun at 1000 yards. Anything smaller and it needs to be closer.”

“How fast can it cover the distance between seeing the gun and getting close enough to shoot?” Daniel rather thought he’d like it to stay within the 500 yard range.

“Pretty fast, but we’re going to keep both of them tight on you, one looking forward, one looking backward to cover your rear.”

For the first time in what seemed like days, Daniel’s peculiar sense of humor decided to make an appearance, the stress he was under requiring some relief. “You can always count on the government to do the right thing, after it’s tried everything else.”

David’s baffled countenance was his only reward.

~~~

The time had come for Daniel to leave for the meeting place. A last check of his cell phone was performed to determine that the mobile positioning application was active, allowing David to use the technology he had set up at Sarah’s house to track Daniel at all times, even if the drones failed. However, David assured the others that the drones would not fail, and that as long as they remained within radio range, they would even operate within buildings, such as a large warehouse. An internet check of the location Daniel was given revealed that there were several such buildings nearby. Daniel’s last caution, from Luke, was to be sure he could see Sarah before turning over the flash drive. However, no one but Daniel and Raj knew that the flash drive was useless, but would fool anyone for a short period of time. He thought the kidnappers might want to test it before exposing Sarah, and he had every intention of allowing that if it was what it took to get her back. He was completely confident in Raj’s ability to make the ruse undetectable for at least several days.

In spite of the hours of terror for Sarah and agitation at his inability to do anything, Daniel now felt a sense of calm spread through him. He had been on the fringes of combat before, and he recognized the feeling, one of inevitability. He would do his best to do what was expected of him, and if he failed, he would likely be killed or kidnapped himself. If it ensured Sarah’s safety, it was well worth the sacrifice. Unconsciously, he squared his shoulders as he walked to the car.

In the house, watching Daniel walk away, Luke said to Ryan, “That’s a good man. Sarah chose well this time.”

“I believe you’re right,” Ryan replied.

Daniel keyed the address he had been given into his GPS, and started out, following the directions of the irritating female voice that he often argued with when he drove. He had left in plenty of time to re-route if necessary to avoid traffic jams and accidents, but his excess of caution was unneeded. He arrived at the meeting place with fifteen minutes to spare. He used the time to visualize Sarah’s sweet face and brilliant smile. Without realizing it, he murmured affirmations for her safe return. “I’ll see you soon, sweetheart.” And “Everything will be okay, I promise.” It was a promise to himself and his future as much as to Sarah. Nothing would suffice except her safety and unharmed return. He prayed that the ‘unharmed’ part wasn’t already too late. On the stroke of six p.m., his cell phone rang.

The long silent wait had keyed Daniel up, so the ring of the cell phone made him jump. Instantly, he was flooded with disappointment. Despite his preparations, he had hoped it would be a straightforward meeting right here, with an exchange, and no runaround. The phone call told him that it wasn’t going to happen that way. He picked it up and answered. The same distorted voice from this morning, at least he thought it was the same, instructed him to listen and not speak until told to.

“You will drive to the location I’ll give you. You have half an hour to get there or Sarah will suffer the consequences. Do you understand?”

“Yes. What is the location?” He committed it to memory as it was spoken. “How about letting me hear her voice? How do I know she’s safe?”

“I’ll consider it. You’d better get moving.”

With no other choice, Daniel rang off and punched the new location into his GPS. Estimated time to get there was twenty-seven minutes. Daniel tore out of the parking lot as if the hounds of hell were after him, hoping to make up time in case of delays along the way. The kidnappers were taking no chances that he would have time to call in reinforcements. With a nervous eye on the GPS clock that told him his ETA, he swung from lane to lane to avoid being trapped behind slow-moving cars. A few people expressed their irritation with his tactics by honking at him as he passed them, but he ignored it. Normally, he hated people doing what he was doing. Today, he sent them mental apologies, and an occasional muttered ‘sorry, dude’. If they knew his errand was life and death, he thought they would understand. Daniel arrived with one minute to spare and breathed a sigh of relief to release his mounting tension. The phone rang.

“Very good, you made it. I have Sarah here. Don’t ask her questions, just listen.” The distorted voice was the second most beautiful thing he could think of hearing in that moment, and in the next second the first most beautiful thing flooded his ear.

“I’m all right. Please do as they say.” It was definitely Sarah, he’d know her voice anywhere. But, why didn’t she say his name? Maybe they had told her she could only say those eight words. Those eight precious words. His Sarah was all right. Relief flooded his chest and threatened to leak out his eyes, but he knew he had to keep it together to follow the next set of directions.

The distorted voice was back. “Okay, go back to the original place. You have half an hour.”

Now the relief was followed by irritation, but Daniel quickly suppressed it and started the car. He no longer needed directions to get back to the original meeting place, but he punched up “Recently Found” anyway, in order to have a time estimate for pacing. Once again he sped out of a parking lot, this time to retrace his route. As he drove, Daniel reflected that the side trip was probably designed to flush any police presence and ensure the kidnappers’ safety. Too bad they hadn’t trusted him to follow directions, because it was unnecessary. The police had no idea this was going down. Then he considered the first words of the kidnapper on the second call, ‘very good, you made it’. Did they have visual surveillance on him? But, he resisted the urge to stick his head out the window and look above. He had to trust that at least the drones were there. What technology the kidnappers had was beyond his ability of conjecture at the moment.

This time when he pulled into the parking lot, there was only one other car parked there, a black Cadillac Escalade, whereas there had been perhaps two dozen before. So part of the pointless side trip had been to allow time for the place to become deserted. Daniel parked and waited, wondering if Sarah was just a few yards away in the other car. He had just turned off his motor when his cell phone rang again.

“All right, you’ve done well so far. Continue to follow directions and your girlfriend will be released unharmed. Do you have the item we requested?”

“Yes. It’s on a flash drive. I have it here.”

“Get out of the car and walk toward the Escalade. Stop when you get halfway there. Keep your arms out to your sides or raised over your head, and make no sudden moves.”

Daniel opened his door and, pocketing the cell phone, stepped out of the car with his arms extended to the sides. He began walking toward the other car, leaving his own car door open. When he reached the designated spot, a figure dressed all in black from his feet to the balaclava on his head got out of the Escalade and approached. The figure was probably male, from its gait and build, slender but with the hint of a gymnasts’ grace as he walked toward Daniel. When he got closer, Daniel realized that the stranger was almost a head shorter than he. But, he dare not make any heroic moves, since he didn’t know how many more were in the car with Sarah. He waited quietly. The figure stopped beside him, careful to stay clear of the line of fire from the car, should there be any. A genderless voice whispered, “Where is the item?”

Unsure why the kidnapper was whispering, Daniel also whispered, “In my side pocket, your side.”

The kidnapper reached a small hand into his pocket, and only the seriousness of the situation kept Daniel from asking Red Skelton’s famous question, “Do you feel nuts?” It was difficult to suppress it, and Daniel realized in that moment that his peculiar humor served to relieve his tension at times. Meanwhile, the kidnapper had retrieved the flash drive, and whispered again, “Is this all?”

“Yes,” he said. “Will you let Sarah go now?”

“In good time,” whispered the figure. Again with difficulty, Daniel suppressed a surge of rage. He was prepared for this, he understood they would examine the flash drive in a computer before turning Sarah over.

“Should I wait here?” he asked calmly.

“Yes. Wait here. Keep your hands away from your pockets. When we are satisfied that this is what we require, your friend will be released.”

Daniel had never felt so exposed before in his life, not even on the fringes of a Middle Eastern battle zone. He spread his legs in a stance that would be more sustainable for several minutes wait. Without thinking, he put his hands in his pockets. Immediately there was a report from the direction of the Escalade, and he felt the passing of a high-speed projectile near his right ear. Jerking his hands out of his pockets, he held them high. These people weren’t kidding; it would serve him better to remember it and stay alert. Slowly, he lowered his hands, but kept them loosely held away from his pockets. He wouldn’t make the same mistake twice. He wasn’t sure whether the bullet had been meant to miss him or not. Testing it twice wouldn’t be a great idea.

As minutes passed, Daniel curbed his impatience. He refused to worry that Raj’s subterfuge hadn’t worked. But he did worry a little that the kidnappers wouldn’t keep their word and release Sarah. Daniel kept having to turn his thoughts away from doomsday conjecture, that they had killed Sarah right after she spoke to him, that they had no intention of releasing her in the first place, that they would keep her long enough to discover his ruse.

He was well aware that most kidnap victims are dead before the ransom demand is presented. But, he had heard her voice, less than an hour ago. That meant she was okay, right? Or did it just mean the kidnappers had recorded her statement before killing her? Daniel’s posture began to slump, not only from the fatigue of holding his arms out awkwardly, but also from the pessimistic thoughts that he couldn’t control. When he realized it, he made an effort to straighten up again, and raised his eyes from where he had been gazing at the tarmac toward the Escalade.

The door was opening, and, as if in a dream, Sarah stepped out, blindfolded, and assisted by another figure dressed all in black. Daniel didn’t think this was the same person; he seemed bigger. Sarah staggered a little as the figure gripped her arm and started to lead her toward Daniel. He started forward, the natural impulse being to save her from a fall, but the figure that gripped her arm steadied her while holding up his hand in the universal sign for Stop! Daniel froze. It seemed to take an eternity as Sarah stumbled her way toward him, guided and supported by the iron grip on her arm. At last, they were next to him, the kidnapper still avoiding the line of fire, Daniel noticed, while Sarah was directly in front of him. With his jaw clenched, he said, “Permission to touch her.”

Sarah flinched, but Daniel had no time to wonder, as the kidnapper thrust her into his arms and ran for the Escalade. Daniel immediately wrapped her in his embrace, saying, “Sweetheart, are you okay? Did they hurt you?”