Chapter 7: Race Bannon
Hadji broke from his stunned immobility and slammed into Race, giving him a fierce hug. "If I had been here instead of at camp, perhaps –"
"Perhaps they would have taken you, too," Race said gently. "I think they waited until the compound was all but empty to make their move, Hadji. You know as well as I do that determined kidnapper will find or make his opportunity."
Hadji pulled away and nodded, wiping away tears. "What is the plan? What are we doing next?" He looked over Race's shoulder. "And who is that?"
"Ah, Lt. McCormick, this is Hadji Singh. Hadji, this is –"
"Call me Diana, both of you. All this formality takes too much time."
"Fine, then call me Race. I never know who people are talking to when they say 'Agent Bannon' any more." He glanced over at the blood. Diana, seeing it, swallowed convulsively. "Let's go somewhere else to talk, okay?" he suggested.
"Perhaps the greenhouse," Hadji said, naming a room that was off on the other side of the building and was ordinarily full of life. Race agreed and they went outside to go around the house rather than walking through the gloominess of the unlit building. "Did they knock out IRIS with an EM pulse?" Hadji asked.
"Yup."
"Then the boat they left in must have been diesel. Where did you find it?"
"A boat rental yard in Nova Scotia."
Hadji nodded thoughtfully. "Then you must have documents showing pictures and identification numbers."
Race raised an eyebrow. "The minute we can get you near a computer, I'll give you the file."
"So what is the plan?" Hadji asked again as they entered the green house. Most of the plants were looking rather withered since the automatic watering systems were run by electricity. Hadji let out a startled exclamation and reached out to turn the water on by hand. A bit of water came out at first, but it slowed to a trickle almost immediately.
"The water pumps run by electricity, too, Hadji," Race said, putting an arm around his shoulder. "There are more important things to worry about now," he added.
"Of course. Perhaps this isn't the best place to sit either, though," he said thoughtfully.
"We should probably head out," Diana said. "Let Hadji pack some things, and we'll get him to a safe house."
"No!" Hadji said sharply. "I will be coming with you."
Race drew in a deep breath and sighed. "Yes, you will."
"Race, he's fourteen years old!" she said. "You can't let him –"
"He'd only run away again, and then I wouldn't know where he was." Hadji nodded helpfully. Race rolled his eyes but didn't remove his arm from the boy's shoulders. "He's safer with me. Besides, he can be useful to have around on occasion."
"Agent Bannon?"
Race turned to see Agent Saddler in the doorway. "Yes?"
"There's an SUV approaching the gates, sir. We're not sure who it is. Please stay in the house until we can ascertain if there's any threat."
Race collared Hadji who had tried to slip away. "Where do you think you're going?" he asked.
The boy stopped, turning to face him with wide eyes. "I forgot," he said ruefully. "I was going to go check the cameras."
"Well, kid, Diana has one thing right. I'd bet you didn't bring anything from camp."
"I did not dare," Hadji agreed. "I did not think I could slip away unnoticed with a large pack strapped to my back."
They headed upstairs to Hadji's room, Race steering him away from Jonny's as they went past. "How did Jonny get injured, Race? Do you know?"
"It looks like he fell off the side of the house."
"He would not fall. He has made that climb many times before."
"No doubt," Race said dryly.
Hadji started gathering things up. Then he stopped and turned. "I almost forgot. I was followed from the camp."
"What?" Race exclaimed. "Are you certain?"
"Yes. There were four vehicles. One of them was an SUV," he added thoughtfully. "A Ford Excursion."
"Hell's bells!"
"I got some of their license plate numbers. They may still be nearby, watching the perimeter," he added, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a strip of paper that looked rather like a receipt from a gas station. "I committed them to memory, but I thought, in case all you found was my body or my clothing, it would be best if I had written them down as well."
"My God," Diana said in an appalled undertone.
Hadji tilted his head in her direction. "It is best to think of all eventualities, do you not think?"
Diana looked at Race with an incredulous look, but he was already on the phone to Corvin. "Yes, Race?"
"Hadji made it back to the house all right," Race started.
"I've had a report from Saddler."
"He says he was followed all the way home. Here are the plate numbers of the vehicles, and their makes and models." He read off the list Hadji had given him. "Not sure who you have in the field right now, but they have a better chance of catching someone if we don't look like we're alert to watchers."
"Right. I'll get on it."
"Let me know what you find."
"What are you going to do with Hadji, Race?"
"Take him with me, what else?"
"Good. The last time we tried to keep those two boys in a safe house, two of my agents had nervous breakdowns."
"Breakdowns, Corvin? Mine's on its way."
"Just stave it off until Benton's back, will you?"
"Right."
When he hung up he saw that Hadji had moved across the room, packing his street clothes. Race remembered that he'd mostly taken his traditional clothing to camp. Diana was still staring at the boy in utter astonishment. Race shrugged. "These kids have led unusual lives. Hadji spent his formative years on the streets of Calcutta."
"I see," she said. "It's just difficult – I have two kids of my own, and I don't like seeing one talk so calmly about you finding his dead body."
"Me either, really, but we've been in some tight spots and always come out of them." He pursed his lips. "I don't like to think what we'll do if either of them comes back in a box."
"Forgive me for being blunt, but if Dr. Quest is – has passed on, won't that be up to the boys' guardian?"
Race shrugged again. "That's me."
"But you're their bodyguard."
"It's more than that, these days, Diana," Race said, watching Hadji gather up some CD-Roms of programs he and Dr. Quest had developed to facilitate searches. "I've been with this family since Jonny was six years old, and I came a few weeks after he lost his mother. Benton was a wreck, and Jonny was devastated. I had to hold them both together."
"I see."
"Ordinarily, agents like me are transferred after a few years, so we don't get attached, but Jonny needed consistency, so the decision was made that I would stay." He glanced back over at Hadji who was zipping up his bag. "Hadji's been with us since he was nine."
They heard running footsteps on the stairs, and, pulling his gun, Race shoved Diana aside and leaned around the doorframe. A red-haired comet slammed into him and he lowered his gun immediately. "Ponchita?" he said incredulously.
"Hi, Dad!" she said, leaning back to look into his face. "Surprised to see me?" she asked. He tucked his automatic back into the holster in the back of his pants and put his arms around her.
"You could say that, yes." He looked up and saw another unexpected face. "Estella?"
"Hello, Race," she said, smiling apologetically.
"I thought you were going to keep her in the wilds of Argentina?" Race exclaimed. "What happened?"
Estella looked toward heaven then said, "I changed my mind. She made some very compelling arguments."
"What could possibly be that compelling, Estella?" he demanded.
"I caught her stealing a canoe. Her plan was to hop a plane in Buenos Aires."
"How could she possibly –"
"She borrowed my credit card and bought a ticket on the internet."
Race gaped at his daughter who grinned unrepentantly at him. "Did I beat Hadji here?" she asked.
"Nope," said Hadji, walking up to the door. "Did you bring your laptop?"
"Of course."
"If you're ready, Hadji, we'd better get going," Race said. "We'll need to get a new laptop for you and get back to Canada in case there's word."
"I think Jessie needs to see the kitchen, Race."
"I don't think that's necessary, Hadji," Race said, reaching out for them, but they ran past. "Damn. Come on – oh, Estella, this is Diana – Lt. McCormick." Estella raised her eyebrow in a familiar irritating manner and smiled at Diana, offering her hand.
"Lt. McCormick."
"I'm sorry, I –"
"I'm Dr. Velasquez," Estella said sweetly.
Diana seemed to catch some of the undercurrent. She gave Race an uncomfortable look and said, "I'd better call my husband. He likes me to touch base when I can." She sidled between them and went downstairs.
"Married ones, now, eh, Race?" Estella said in a barbed tone.
"Hell's bells, Estella!" Race exploded. "Do you really think I'm fooling around with Jonny and Benton God knows where? She's my Canadian liaison, and she probably thinks we're all crazy now." He turned and started to go downstairs, but Estella caught his arm.
"I'm sorry, Race. I'm just – there was another reason I brought her home."
Something in her expression made Race stop. "What?"
"There were people hanging around, strange people. We get tourists every now and then, but these didn't feel like tourists."
Race gritted his teeth. "Damn. I thought you didn't need guards."
Estella let out an frustrated sigh. "Well, I was wrong. When I realized we were being watched, I figured it would be better to be near you and your arsenal. And then Jessie tried to sneak off, nearly giving me a heart attack."
"Well, she is our daughter."
"Don't I know it." She looked up at him, lifting a concerned eyebrow. "Really, Race, you look terrible. Why didn't you want the kids to go down to the kitchen?"
"I didn't tell you everything on the phone." Race breathed in deeply. "Jonny was hurt when they took them. If Jessie's going to see it, you'd better see it too."
"You're scaring me, Race."
"Better you be scared than dead," Race said. "That's probably why Hadji wanted Jessie to see. She can be a little reckless."
They were quiet the rest of the way downstairs. Diana was outside the front door, talking quietly on her cell phone, but Race could hear her saying, "Mama misses you too, honey, but I have to work."
They walked across the front room just in time for Jessie to emerge from the kitchen door, looking green. She saw Race and ran over to him. "Whose blood is that?" she demanded.
"Jonny's," Race said, putting his arms around her.
"I feel sick," she said quietly.
"I know, Ponchita. I did, too," he said, watching Estella go into the kitchen. She came back out with a greenish look on her face, followed by Hadji.
"We have traced the boat that took them away. That's part of why we need to go to Canada."
"Agent Bannon?" He looked up to see Diana standing in the doorway with an extremely serious expression. "Can I speak with you outside?"
"Sure." He glanced over a Estella. "Stell, can you keep an eye on the sprats?"
"Dad!" Jessie exclaimed. Hadji just raised an eyebrow at the irreverent name. Estella waved him out. He followed Diana outside.
"What did you want to talk about?" Race asked.
"You're letting civilians in on the details of an investigation in progress," she said. "I don't imagine that's standard procedure, even in I-1." Race opened his mouth, but couldn't think of anything to say. "They're children. How could you even think of involving them in something this dangerous?"
"I don't think you understand, Diana. They're involved already. Folks have been watching them. I don't think you were there when Estella told me, but they were being watched on the dig. I can't think of anyplace safer than where I can see them."
"This is not a normal sort of investigation –" she started.
"And I'm not a normal sort of agent and those aren't normal kids. And it's a good thing, too, because that may be the only thing that gets them out of this alive. Especially Jonny. Unless, of course, he says something stupid and winds up –" Race forced himself to stop before he articulated some of the images he had in his mind. "Look, I know you don't understand, but if I called Corvin right now and told him the situation, he wouldn't have a problem with it."
"Fine," she said. "Prove it."
Thus challenged, he pulled out his phone. "I should report in, anyway," he said, calmly dialing Phil's number.
"Corvin."
"Phil, new development. Thugs were apparently watching Jessie and Estella at the dig in Argentina."
"Hell, do I have to send agents there?"
"No, because they came here. They showed up about twenty minutes after we did."
"Do you want a safe house for them?" Phil asked.
"No, I thought I'd get them to help with the investigation."
"That's a good notion," Phil said. "In that case, may I speak to Jessie?"
"Sure." He held the phone out away from his face. "Ponchita!"
Jessie came running out of the house. "Yeah, Dad?"
"Corvin wants to talk to you," he said, handing her the phone.
Diana watched in mystification as Jessie listened, then started nodding. "Hello, Mr. Corvin. . . . Yes, I'm real worried. . . . Uh huh . . . uh huh . . . yeah . . . yes, he can . . . no, but Dad said something about getting another one . . . it's not a problem . . . uh huh . . . Mom's fine. Okay, did you need to talk to my dad again? . . . No? . . . Okay, bye." She hung up then handed him back the phone.
"What was that about?"
Jessie shrugged. "He wants me to scan all the identification records you have into my computer and start checking through all the main databases again, this time looking for evidence of hacking. He thinks maybe they were hacked in to begin with."
"Can you do that?" Race asked, knitting his eyebrows.
"Oh, with some of the programs I've worked out with Hadji and Dr. Quest, it'll be dead easy. But it would go faster if he had a laptop, too."
"Naturally. We'll get one when we land in Canada. Can you really hack into each of those databases?"
She let out a very teen-aged sigh. "No, Dad. I call Jose at headquarters when I need in and he arranges clearance."
"I see."
"I don't know who will get us clearances for the Canadian databases, but Jose can figure it out. He always does."
"Ponchita, go get Hadji and your mother, would you?"
"Sure, Dad. This'll be cool. I'll get to rescue Jonny, and he'll have to eat crow!"
Race let out a sigh. All that adult competence followed by a moment of pure kid. After Jessie disappeared inside, he looked at Diana. "Now do you see what I mean?"
"Did Director Corvin really just give a thirteen-year-old girl an assignment?"
"Sounded like it was a joint assignment with Hadji, but yes. Much as it scares me to admit it, she's a prodigy with computers, and Phil knows it. All three of them are prodigies in one way or another. It's kind of terrifying when they're all together."
Diana was still shaking her head when they all came out. Estella and Jessie went over to get their luggage out of the SUV while Race made arrangements to have one of Corvin's men return it to the place where Estella had rented it. Hadji made straight for the plane, and, after a moment, Diana followed him.
"Well, Dr. Quest," Crandall said. "You have made a perfectly adequate presentation."
Benton made a supreme effort to look neutral rather than irritated. This man was walking a fine line between sense and sadism.
"Now, if you would please, tell me something about Race Bannon."
Benton stiffened. "I beg your pardon?" he asked. What in the hell . . .
Crandall leaned forward, fire glinting in his eyes. "I asked you a question, Dr. Quest. Was it difficult to understand? I need information regarding Race Bannon."
"What information?" Benton asked. "Why?"
"What are his skills? What is his background? I'm sure you can imagine the sorts of information that would interest me, Dr. Quest."
Where is this leading?
"I could imagine more clearly if I knew why you need the information."
"Dr. Quest, are you declining to cooperate?"
Benton felt a chill start in his stomach and travel out to the farthest extremities of his body. What would Race want him to do? And could Benton do it? Race wouldn't want Jonny hurt, he knew that for certain, but did he dare tell Crandall anything? It might compromise Race's ability to find them.
Crandall stood up and walked to the door. Opening it, he said, "Fetch the boy."
Benton stood up, reaching out towards him. "No!"
The look the man turned on him was full of malevolence. "Dr. Quest, it is clear that you need to be motivated. Please sit down."
Benton sat. Race would be here any time now, surely. They'd been here for two nights, now. Race would find them. He'd always found them so much faster before.
Marcus came in with Jonny, who looked angry and alarmed.
"I'll tell you what you want to know, Crandall."
"It's too late for that, Dr. Quest. You've earned this punishment." Jonny's eyes widened as Crandall walked toward him, and he started to back away. He backhanded Jonny across the face, causing him to stumble backwards, but Marcus caught him and held him upright.
Benton surged to his feet, but the other guard was suddenly on top of him, shoving him back down and putting the muzzle of the gun against his chest.
Crandall turned back to face him. "Well, Dr. Quest, are you going to cooperate?" Jonny stood staring open-mouthed at Crandall. Marcus was now holding him by one arm. There was a little trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. He lifted a hand to it and winced.
Benton cleared his throat. "He was a Navy Seal," he said. "He transferred to I-1, I'm not sure how long ago. I don't know what he did before he came to me. They sent him because they thought he'd be good with Jonny."
"Dad!" Jonny exclaimed. "Don't tell them anything!"
Crandall turned and raised his hand again. "Jonny, be quiet," Benton said sharply. Jonny subsided, looking scared.
The man turned back to him, smiling tightly. "Do go on, Dr. Quest."
"I don't know what else to tell you," Benton said. "I suspect you know as much as I do about what being a Navy Seal entails. He's able to help me in the lab if I explain things to him. I don't really know too much about his abilities except for what's come up."
"Would they put him in charge of a search for you?" Crandall asked.
Benton stared at him. This was edging close to territory he didn't want to touch on. Crandall turned and backhanded Jonny again, and this time his son let out a cry of pain that he quickly cut off. Benton winced, clenching his eyes shut against the tears that were coming. "Yes, probably," he said miserably. "In coordination with headquarters."
"I see. Tell me about his family. I know he has a daughter and an ex-wife. The daughter lives with you, doesn't she?"
Benton took in a deep breath. "You leave Jessie alone, you rotten creep!" Jonny yelled before Benton could speak. Crandall grabbed him by the hair, twisting his head back.
"Quiet, boy. Do not speak unless asked a direct question."
"Leave him alone!" Benton exclaimed desperately, leaning forward against the gun that was holding him back.
Crandall released Jonny's head with a shake. "I will, when you start answering my questions without hesitating. Tell me about Bannon's family."
"Estella is an archeologist," Benton said immediately. "She's working in Argentina this year and next, as I understand it. Jessie's gone out to visit her. Race took her there the day you – the day your people came and got us."
"I see." Crandall walked over and gazed thoughtfully into Benton's face. "Does the girl have any particular abilities?"
"What? Why?" Crandall turned away and started toward Jonny, who cringed away, but Marcus held him firm. Benton shoved the gun out of his way and grabbed Crandall's arm. "No, I just don't understand the question. What is it you want to know?"
Crandall turned on him. "Is she unusually good at something one might not expect? I'm not talking about school work or ballet here."
"She's good with computers."
"How good?"
"I don't know exactly. She's only lived at the compound for three months, I don't know her that well."
Crandall nodded. "I suppose that makes sense." He turned again and walked toward Jonny.
"What are you doing?" Benton asked frantically, grabbing him again. "I told you –"
Turning sharply, Crandall glared at him. "Sit down, Dr. Quest," he said coldly. "Chris might get nervous."
Benton forced himself to back away and sit back down in the chair. "I've told you what I know," he said desperately.
"I was merely going to ask Jonathon for his perspective." He turned back to Jonny. "So, young man, this girl has lived in your house for three months, you must know something about her."
Jonny shrugged. "I don't know. She's a girl."
"Meaning what? That you never spent any time with her?"
"I don't understand her. She's a girl. I don't understand half of what she says."
"Tell me about the half you do understand."
"She talks a lot about the toilet seat," Jonny said.
"What?" Crandall said. He turned to Benton. "Is he serious?"
"She's a girl coming into a household full of men who haven't any of us had a female in the house for years."
"That wasn't what I meant," Crandall shot back. "Does he seriously think that's what I want to know?"
"He's twelve and he's terrified," Benton said, hoping Jonny would keep his mouth shut for once. "He can't think! You shut down his ability to think."
Crandall pursed his lips thoughtfully. "Would he talk to you?" he asked.
"Not now you've said that!" Benton exclaimed.
Raising his eyebrows, Crandall gave him an ironic look. "I suspect you can persuade him." He turned toward Marcus. "Release the boy. Chris, come along. We're going to leave them alone for a little while."
As soon as Marcus and Chris were out of the way, Jonny shot across the room. Benton met him halfway and stood holding Jonny tightly. He heard Crandall chuckling as he left the room, and it just sent the temperature on his simmering anger a notch higher.
He held Jonny silently for a few moments, but he was all too aware that Crandall would expect an answer to his question. He picked Jonny up, carried him over to the sofa and sat down with him. "Jonny, listen to me."
"Yeah, Dad?" Jonny looked up at him with tears running down his face. One of his lips was split and his mouth and cheek were swelling. His left eye was turning purple and beginning to swell.
Benton bit his lip, fighting down his fury. "We don't have any choice, Jonny. We've got to –"
"No!" Jonny exclaimed. "She's a girl. You and Race always said we had to protect girls. I can't –"
"Jonny, you've got to listen to me. There are exceptions to every rule."
"I won't tell Crandall anything about Jessie!"
"Jonny, he might kill you." Jonny stared up at him, eyes wide. "He nearly did last night, though he didn't mean to. And if he kills you, he won't have a hostage to use against me."
"Well, that would be good, wouldn't it?"
"No, because he'll just go get Hadji and do the same to him as he's doing to you."
Jonny took in a deep breath. "What does he want to know, though? I don't get it. She's thirteen. So what if she's good with computers? So's Hadji. It doesn't mean anything."
"Jonny, it doesn't matter. Just answer any questions he asks you." Jonny's chin started to jut stubbornly. "For me, Jonny. Please do it for me."
"But Race will be angry –"
"Race will understand. He'd want us to stay alive until he can find us."
"But when you were with Chu Sing Ling, you never agreed, and that was only three hours!"
Benton grimaced. "And Race was furious with me. I got a very stern lecture about keeping myself alive long enough for rescue to come."
Jonny blinked thoughtfully. "I guess it was after that when you guys started talking about not antagonizing people and stuff like that."
"Yes, it was. Not that either you or Hadji listened all that closely." Jonny looked down at his hands and sniffed. "Will you answer his questions, Jonny? Please? For me, son?"
"I guess," Jonny said very quietly.
Benton hugged him close. Right into Jonny's ear, he said, "Race will find us, my boy. He will."
Jonny tried to control his sniffles. He didn't want to do it, but he'd do anything for his dad. No matter what his father said, Jonny knew Race would be mad, but he didn't want to get killed. And he didn't want Crandall to get his hands on Hadji. And he didn't want Crandall to hurt his dad.
"Race is late. He's very late. He needs to get here now."
"He'll be here, Jonny." Jonny took in a deep, shuddering breath. Crandall could come back at any time, and he didn't want that jerk to see him crying. He started to knuckle away the tears, but when he touched his face it hurt. His father pulled out the tail of his shirt and wiped his eyes very gently. "We will be okay."
Jonny swallowed past the lump in his throat. He felt really stupid, acting like this, but he couldn't help it. He leaned against his father's chest and hugged him, content to stay in that position until Crandall made them stop. He let out a sigh when Dad started rocking him and relaxed against him. This felt very familiar. He'd spent a lot of time in this position after his mother died. There was only one thing missing.
"Dad?" he asked. "Why'd you stop wearing that aftershave?"
There was a brief pause in the rocking, then his father resumed. "What aftershave?" he asked in a puzzled tone.
"You know, that aftershave. The spicy one." Jonny'd never known what it was called, just that that's how Dad smelled.
"Umm. . .I'm not sure what you mean."
"The one you used to wear when Mom was alive. You smelled spicy, and Mom smelled like caramel." He was silent for a moment. "I miss Mom."
"Me too, Jonny."
A horrible thought occurred to him. "But I'm glad she's not here."
His dad's arms tightened around him. "Me too."
"I miss Hadji, too."
When the door opened, Jonny stiffened and turned his head to see who had come in. It was Crandall, and he wore a silky smile. "So, do we have an understanding, now, Dr. Quest?"
Jonny slid off his father's lap and sat on the sofa, still leaning up against him, gazing fearfully at Crandall.
"I understand a great deal more than I care to," Jonny's father said. Jonny looked up at him, puzzled. Hadn't he just said they shouldn't antagonize anyone?
Crandall crossed his arms and started tapping his foot. "Is Jonathon going to answer my questions or not?"
"Yes, he is."
The villain's posture relaxed, and he smiled. "Good." He settled down in one of the chairs across the coffee table. "Tell me about Jessie, then."
Jonny looked down at his hands. "She's really good on computers. Almost as good as Hadji. When they get going, I don't understand a lot of what they do."
"What did he say?" Crandall asked, leaning forward. Jonny drew back. Crandall's lip curled. "Does he need a microphone?"
"Don't jeer at him," his father said. "He said that she's almost as good as Hadji on computers, and that he doesn't always understand what they do."
"I thought he was supposed to be some kind of prodigy." Jonny cringed.
"They're all prodigies!" his father exclaimed. Jonny shrank down lower. Jessie and Hadji knew more than he did about almost everything.
"Are they?" Crandall asked, a broad grin spreading across his face. "How intriguing."
"What else did you want to ask Jonny?" As he asked this, his dad rubbed Jonny's arm reassuringly. Jonny leaned his head against his father's shoulder.
"Is there anything else she's particularly good at?"
Jonny shrugged. "Judo and math. Everything. They're both good at everything!" Jonny turned and buried his head in his father's side.
He felt the vibration of his father's chest as he started to speak. "I think Jonny's had quite en–"
"And what are you good at, young Mr. Quest?" Crandall asked.
Jonny turned his head back and gulped. "Getting in trouble. And catching minions."
"Catching minions? Really?" Crandall raised his eyebrows. "And just how do you do that?"
Jonny scowled at him. "I don't know, I just do. I think it's because minions are stupid."
"Quite possibly. Now, you have spent a great deal of time with Agent Bannon. I understand he was your tutor as well as your bodyguard. Why don't you tell me about Race's abilities?"
Jonny felt himself start to quiver with rage. He tried valiantly to suppress it. He heard his father draw in breath to say something when the dam broke. "Race can do anything, and he's going to come in here and kick your butt!" Crandall's eyes narrowed to cold slits of gray menace, and Jonny abruptly realized what he'd said and to whom. He buried his face in his father's side again, hot tears burning tracks down his cheeks.
"He's tired," Benton said. "And he's scared and he's lonely and he's in pain. You've kept him isolated from me, and there hasn't been anyone who really cares about him nearby. We need some time together." His father took in a deep breath. "Please, let me have some time with my son, Crandall. You can't take me away from him when he's in this state. Please."
"I need you to start working on those projects."
"I'll start tomorrow if you let me keep Jonny with me. I'll work all day. I'll do anything you want, just let me have this afternoon with him and let him stay with me. He can help me. He's used to helping me. He always has." Jonny shrunk down tighter against his side. His father was babbling. He had to be really scared to babble like this. "He's not used to being away from me, and I'm not used to it either. Please, it will be easier for me to concentrate."
"I'll just bet it will," Crandall said. "And he'll be right to hand if any problems come up." Jonny looked up, and his father's arm tightened around him. "I see no reason to deny your perfectly reasonable request, Dr. Quest." He rose. "Marcus, Chris, keep watch outside the room. I'll have Patricia come in shortly with some medical supplies."
When he was gone, Jonny looked up at his father. "Race is going to be too late, isn't he?" he asked.
His father's eyes widened. "No, Jonny. Race will be here in plenty of time. I'm sure he's on his way right now." Jonny leaned against his dad. He sounded kind of scared.
Race sat in the plane, frustrated beyond belief. Jessie and Hadji were making sure all the relevant programs were up and running on her laptop as well as double checking that Hadji had brought the right CDs with him. Both Diana and Estella were leaning back in their chairs, sleeping. Race just couldn't relax.
He wanted to be out doing something, not waiting for some news to break. Somewhere out there were two people who were counting on him to come to the rescue, and he was stuck. Stymied by six college-age kids who'd vanished into the Canadian countryside. Granted, they were kids with the capacity to generate an incredibly powerful EM pulse and cause those same two people to vanish without much of a trace, and there was no guarantee that there were actually only six of them. Six was all anybody had seen, but that didn't mean there weren't dozens more hiding in the woodwork.
The urge to get up and start pacing threatened to overwhelm him, but he shoved it down. He didn't want to wake Diana or Estella, and he knew that his pacing would drive Jessie nuts. Hadji, too, probably, though he wouldn't show it.
Diana's phone rang, waking her up. Blinking, she brought her chair upright and answered it. Race wondered who it was. Her eyes flashed to him, and she began speaking eagerly. Was there some kind of break? Or news of any kind?
He shied away from the horrible image that floated to the surface of his mind, their broken and battered bodies having washed ashore somewhere. Diana stood up and made her way up to the pilot and spoke to him. Race watched as he contacted the air traffic controllers and made changes in their course with growing worry and anticipation.
Diana straightened and walked back to the seat next to his. Sitting down, she said, "I hope you don't mind a slight change of plans." He raised an eyebrow. "That car was stopped this morning in New Brunswick. The kids in it, who match some of the fingerprints we found on the boat and at the dock, claim they were just touring Canada after the end of the semester."
"Are they being held?"
Diana nodded. "We certainly have enough evidence to hold them on suspicion of kidnapping. In fact, I'm told that I-1 has already put in a request for their extradition that's heading through our court system right now."
"Race?" He looked up and saw Estella looking at him. "News?"
"Some of those kids have been picked up. How many, Diana?"
"Four."
"Four out of six ain't bad," Race muttered. "How long till we land?"
"Another hour."
"Which ones? That way I can have Jessie focus on them in her digging." She gave him the information and he walked to the back of the plane where Jessie and Hadji were just noticing their change of course.
"Where are we going, Race?" Hadji asked, brows knitting.
"Somewhere in New Brunswick, where the Canadian police are holding four of the jokers who took Dr. Quest and Jonny."
Jessie's green eyes flashed with delight. "That's great, Dad! You'll be able to get them to tell you anything you want to know."
Sighing at this sign of overconfidence, he handed her a slip of paper. "Well, here's the list of names. I thought it might help if you focused on them so we could get as much information on them as possible."
"Good idea." She took the paper. "I'll get right on it."
Race watched as she and Hadji worked for a few minutes. These kids impressed the hell out of him. Most everyone else just saw a group of teenagers that weren't even old enough to drive, but when they were doing the things they were good at, all three of them were unstoppable.
As he turned away, he heard Jessie speak very quietly to Hadji. "I wish Jonny was here."
"And I as well," Hadji replied. "He excels at thinking around corners."
The hour passed slowly for Race, as did the twenty-minute car ride to the holding facility. When they arrived, they had to go through the whole ritual of checking in, having their identities verified. The kids, of course, had to stay in the waiting area with Estella, but even before he and Diana had left the room with Inspector Thomas, they were plugged into the wall and continuing their search.
He looked at the prisoners through the windows of the interrogation rooms that each sat in alone. The two girls that had been arrested were the blondes. According to their identification, they were Kathleen Harper and Pauline Bettencourt and they were twenty-three and twenty respectively. The boys were Benjamin Ng, nineteen, with black hair and brown eyes, and Matthew Carvaggio, twenty-one, with brown hair and blue eyes. Race shook his head. One of those kids was only five years older than Hadji, seven years older than Jonny. Hell, he hated it when kids were involved.
"We picked them up while they were stopped at a roadside overlook," said Thomas, who was a tall, lean man with salt and pepper hair and piercing black eyes. "They had all the paraphernalia of tourists, cameras, binoculars, guide books. They don't deny renting the boat, but they say they just went out and enjoyed the water."
"What about the other two kids? Do they say where they went?"
He shook his head. "No. One of them says they were headed to Niagra Falls, the other says they were going to Monterey, in California. The other two said they weren't sure. We've alerted the police in both those regions, but I don't expect they'll find anything."
"You're probably right," Race said. "They have anything they shouldn't have on them?"
"Not a blessed thing." He took them into a side room. "These are their effects. I don't know what you'll make of them, but they seem completely normal to me."
Race sorted through the tubs, each of them marked with a name. Four backpacks, the kind college kids around the country wore constantly. There was a mix of Canadian and American money in the wallets, two guide books, a book of poems by William Wordsworth, a bird watcher's guide to eastern Canada, assorted snacks, candy and keys. Nothing out of the ordinary, as Thomas had said.
"Have you checked out their purported home towns?"
"Yes," he said. "It's rather intriguing, really. From what we've been able to tell, Carvaggio and Bettencourt are, in fact, registered at Rutgers University in New Jersey, Ng at the University of California in Davis, and Harper at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. We sent I-1 all the information the kids gave us and they've been looking into the histories. They're all excellent students in good standing at their colleges."
"What are their fields of study?" Diana asked.
"Ng is studying chemistry, Bettencourt physics, Carvaggio economics and Harper already has a degree in chemical engineering and is seeking her master's in food science. Not the sorts of kids you'd expect to be involved in something like this."
"No," Race said thoughtfully. "But they matched the fingerprints?"
"Yes," said another man, walking up to them. "I'm Chief Kiley, Agent Bannon. It's a pleasure to meet you."
"Likewise, I'm sure," Race said. "Which fingerprints and where?"
"Harper was the most prolific. We've matched her prints to ones found in the office at Brown's Boats, in the wheelhouse and the cabin in which the prisoners were kept, and," he paused grinning up at Race in a very pleased manner. "With prints found at the house in Maine."
"Hot damn!" Race said, grinning back. "What about the others?"
"Not unexpectedly, all their prints are present on the boat and at Brown's Boats. None of them are quite so telling as Harper's, however."
"That could be useful," Race mused. "Real useful." He glanced up at Chief Kiley. "I take it you've spoken with Director Corvin?"
"Yes."
"Do they know why you're holding them?"
"We've told them there's an irregularity with their visas. After 9/11, I don't think they're having too much trouble believing it."
Race felt a slow grin spread across his face. "Would you mind very much if I just observed the questioning at first? You know, just sat in a chair in the room and watched?"
A young woman in a lab coat walked up. "Inspector Thomas?" she said diffidently.
"Yes, Greene?"
"We've found something. There's traces of blood on one of their shoes."
Race's attention focused. "Which one?"
"Kathleen Harper."
"Is it human?" Kiley asked.
She nodded. "We used the kit I-1 sent over. It's not only human, but it matches the blood at the crime scene."
Race walked out of the evidence room and over to stand by the window of the room where Kathleen Harper sat, eyes darting nervously from the window to the security camera. She was slight of figure, with pale blond hair and green eyes. A sprinkling of freckles across the bridge of her nose just completed the air of innocence. She looked very odd in the orange jumpsuit she'd been issued by the jail.
And this was the girl who had Jonny's blood on her shoes and whose fingerprints were found at every point in the chain.
"Race?" He jumped and turned to see Diana standing close behind him. "Are you okay?"
"I'm fine."
"You know, you might be a little too close to this situation to –"
He stiffened. "Don't even suggest I step aside and let someone else handle it, Diana. I can't. For one thing, it's my job. For another, there's no way I could abandon that kid and his father. No way in hell."
She glanced around, making sure that no one was close enough to hear them. "Anyone could see that this isn't just a job for you, Race."
He turned on her. "Diana, I've spent more time with Jonny over the past six years than I have with my own daughter. I love him like he was my own kid, and Benton might as well be my brother. You're right, I am personally involved. But they're counting on me." He shook his head. "I've already let them down once. I can't do it again."
"What do you mean, you let them down?"
"They shouldn't have been taken in the first place. I didn't do a good enough job of setting up the security."
"Well kicking yourself till you're black and blue won't help any," Diana said. "Come on. We've got to start the interrogations."
After discussing it, they decided that Race would stay outside at first, and that they wouldn't immediately start asking questions about the Quests in specific.
Race stood outside the window, watching Inspector Thomas and Diana as they rehashed all the questions that had already been asked.
"Hasn't this visa trouble been straightened out?" Ng asked finally. "We got them through the Canadian embassy in New York."
"I'm afraid we still have a few questions we need answered," Diana said. "About that boat. Did you ever leave the boat unattended for a significant length of time?"
"We were out in deep waters," he said. "One of us was on board all the time."
"So, if someone else had come aboard, you would have been sure to notice?"
The boy stiffened slightly. "Yes. But no one did. I told you, we just went out for a few days to have some fun and watch to see if we could spot any birds or whales or anything."
"Was any of your friends injured while you were on the boat?" Inspector Thomas asked.
"I don't think so," he said slowly. "Not seriously, for sure."
"So if I told you we found blood on the boat, you'd be surprised?"
He nodded. "There shouldn't have been, I mean, someone would have said something if they'd hurt themselves that badly. Maybe the guy who rented us the boat, maybe he hurt himself."
"No, he's fine."
"Well, we didn't see any blood, at least, no one said anything."
The inspector nodded. "I see. So, what happened to the radio?"
"The radio?" Ng's voice faltered.
"Yes, it's completely ruined, melted inside. What happened to it?"
"I'm not sure," Ng said. "Steve handled all the communications. I never touched the radio." Handy that, thought Race. Blame one of the kids we don't have. Ng knit his eyebrows. "Hey, what's this all about? Why are you asking about the boat if you just have a problem with my visa?"
"Do you have a problem answering questions about the boat?" Diana asked neutrally.
Ng slouched down in his chair. "No, I just don't see any connection."
"Let's see, according to our records, you rented the boat from the twelfth of June through the fifteenth, right?" she asked, glancing down at the papers she held.
"That's right, yes."
"What would you say if I told you that your boat was spotted, on the fourteenth, just offshore in American coastal waters?"
"I'd say your witness was mistaken," Ng said. "We never went anywhere near shore, certainly not that far south."
"Really?" Inspector Thomas leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms. That was Race's cue. Their strategy depended on the assumption that anyone who had targeted Dr. Quest would recognize Race Bannon as a member of the household. It seemed a safe assumption, but it was about to be tested.
Race opened the door and stepped through, shutting it behind him and leaning back against it. Crossing his arms, he gazed over at the young man, whose eyes widened with something like shock. He caught himself quickly, but not fast enough. That had been a telltale reaction. Race smiled lazily.
"It just so happens," he said, "that the witness was a sophisticated camera with high definition digital capabilities writing straight to compressed VCD."
"Perhaps the image was tampered with," Ng said. "We were nowhere near the American coast. We stayed out away from shore the whole time."
"And that will be checked, of course," Inspector Thomas said. "But you might as well save us some time. What were you and your friends doing just off the shore of Maine at 2:12 p.m. on the fourteenth of June?"
"We weren't anywhere near Maine!" Ng said angrily. "How many times do I have to tell you?"
"All right," Diana said in a soothing voice. "So you weren't near Maine. We know that the boat was. So who had the boat?"
"I told you, we never left the boat."
"I see," Inspector Thomas said. "Do you know what an EM pulse is?"
"A what?" Ng was growing pale now.
"An EM Pulse. Electromagnetic pulse."
"Not really."
There was a pause that seemed to last ten minutes. Race wondered how long it felt to Ng. Finally, Diana looked back down at her file and started asking questions again, this time less obviously barbed. "According to your college records, your parents live in San Francisco, California."
"Yes. I grew up there." Oddly, even though one might consider this to be safer ground, Ng seemed more than a little uneasy at this line of questioning.
"And went to Darnley Elementary School, followed by Coates Junior High and Central High School?" He nodded, shifting nervously.
"I see. How old were you when your family moved to San Francisco?"
"I was born there. In Memorial Hospital," he said.
She continued to ask such ordinary questions for quite some time, writing down his answers. Ng kept glancing toward Race, seeming uncomfortable in his presence. Finally, Diana, who'd been turning the pages in the file, picked up a picture that was at the back of the file and held it up so he could see it. It was an 8½x11 studio shot of Benton. "Have you ever met Dr. Benton Quest?"
The kid's jaw dropped and his eyes shot to Race's face. Recovering himself, he said, "No. I know he's missing, it's been on the news. But I've never met him." Swallowing, he added, "You don't think we had anything to do with his disappearance, do you?"
"Well, let's see," Race said thoughtfully. "The boat you rented was recorded approaching the Quest compound just before an EM pulse knocked out all the power and security systems. Jonny's blood and both his and Dr. Quest's fingerprints have been found in a cabin of that boat. The blood was found on the fifteenth, and it was fresh enough to have been shed on the fourteenth. We know Jonny was injured in the kidnapping. Care to explain that concatenation of events?"
The boy's eyes widened steadily as Race listed off the evidence. "Kidnapping is a pretty serious offense," Race went on. "Taking them out of American coastal waters makes it international, and adds a few more counts to it. You're looking at spending a pretty sizable chunk of your life behind bars."
"I don't know what you're talking about," Ng said, his voice somewhat shrill with tension. "I have done nothing wrong. We just rented a boat for fun. This is just a case of mistaken identity."
The questioning went much the same with the other three. Race's sudden appearance startled them all, but there were no surprise confessions. The four were uniform in their denial that they had anything at all to do with the Quests' disappearance. When they'd finished with the last one, Race was ready to spit nails.
They needed information and they needed it now.
