Hope soared. “You're right. I should have thought of that.”
“You're working on automatic and thinking with your emotions.”
She glared at him. “Of course I am. He's my brother, dammit.”
He smiled. “That's better. Nothing like being pissed to start the adrenaline flowing. Now, what would make your brother try to lose the agent who was trying to protect him?”
“He wouldn't do—” But if Jason had done it, there had to be a reason. She tried to think through the haze of fear smothering her. “Trask might have got to him. Maybe he used something or someone to force him to do what he wanted.”
“It would have had to be a pretty powerful tool for him to run that kind of risk.”
“Laura,” she said suddenly. “He'd do it if he thought Laura was in danger. He'd do anything to help her.”
He shook his head. “George said Jason's wife was safe and accounted for.”
“Thank God.”
“Anyone else?”
“Me. If Trask could convince him that I was in danger.”
“But he would have phoned you and verified.”
That was true. Then there was only one other possibility. “My father. Jason loves my father. And he wasn't under any protective surveillance.”
“Do you have your father's cell-phone number?”
She nodded. “In my phone book.” She searched in her purse and pulled out the dog-eared leather book. A moment later she was dialing her father's number. After six rings she got his voice mail. She hung up and dialed again. Same voice mail. “He's not answering.”
“Any other numbers you can call?”
She shook her head. “He has an apartment in Boston, but he's seldom there. He moves around a lot on assignment but tries to stay in the South so he can be near Jason. He's a reporter, dammit. He should be answering his cell phone.”
“I'll get George to keep on calling him.” He started to dial. “Though I somehow doubt he's going to answer.”
No, he wouldn't answer if Trask had him. Fear iced through her. And, if Trask had her father, he also had Jason. “I'll talk to George. You head for the airport. We have to get to Macon. Trask is a wanted man. He wouldn't risk taking Jason very far from where he captured him.”
“I agree.” He pulled out into traffic. “I think that's where we have our best chance to find Trask.”
“We're not going to have to look very hard. He took Jason,” she said unevenly. “He'll want me to find him so that I can watch my brother die. We just have to wait for him to call me and tell me where and when.”
Silver's lips tightened. “You're not going to play the martyr and walk into a trap. No way.”
“I don't know what I'm going to do.” She looked him directly in the eye. “Except I'm not going to let Jason die. That's not an option.”
“I won't let your brother die, but I can't—” He broke off with a curse. “I'm not getting through to you. Listen, you have me and you have the whole damn Secret Service to help find Trask. You're not alone.”
“And if I call on Ledbruk for help, Trask might decide the game he's playing with me isn't worth the trouble and kill Jason.”
“And if you die, Trask wins and it still won't save Jason. Use your head.”
Her head wasn't working too well at the moment. She was too scared. “I'm not going to let him die,” she repeated.
He was silent a moment. “Okay. We try not to involve Ledbruk, but you're not closing me out.”
“I had no intention of closing you out. I may need you.”
“How gratifying. And I'm telling George to beat it to the airport and meet us there. We may need him.” He shook his head as she opened her lips to protest. “He won't talk to Ledbruk if I tell him it's a condition for letting him in on the action. He wants Trask.”
She thought about it and then nodded. They might need all the help they could get, and George could be trusted if he gave his word. “So do we all. But not at the risk of getting Jason killed. Make him understand that.” She drew a deep breath. “Now get us to that airport.”
16
George took the key from the clerk at the rental-car desk at the airport in Macon. “I'll run out and bring the car around to the front entrance like the obliging bloke I am.”
“I hope you've been discreet as well as obliging,” Kerry said.
“Certainly.” He picked up his duffel bag. “My training forbids any other course of action.” He smiled. “Don't worry, Kerry. I haven't been talking to anyone. I wouldn't do anything to hurt you.”
She believed him. “What the devil is in that duffel? It took you forever to get through security.”
“Oh, just a few necessary items. I was caught off guard, but I managed to grab a few things.” He enumerated. “A machete, an M-16, and an H&K 94 SG-1. Oh, and a garrote.”
Kerry blinked. “And they weren't confiscated?”
“I also had my old Secret Service ID and a special letter from Homeland Security. But you notice they did make me check it through anyway. I approve. It's exactly what they should have done.” He smiled. “Give me five minutes.” He strode out of the terminal.
She felt a surge of warmth as she stared after him. There was something very comforting about having George working with them.
“It probably won't take five minutes,” Silver said as he took her elbow. “This is a tiny-ass airport. We could probably have saved time by going with him. Is your cell phone on?”
He was thinking that Trask might be calling her. Lord, she hoped he was right. She felt blind and helpless. “I turned it on right after the plane landed. I had two missed calls.”
“No message?”
“That's not Trask's style. He'd want to hear how scared I am. He'll wait until—”
Her phone rang.
She hurriedly pressed the button.
“I do hate wasted effort, Kerry,” Trask said. “Your father's phone kept ringing and ringing, but he couldn't answer.”
Her hand tightened on the phone. “Where's my brother, Trask?”
Silver's gaze narrowed on her face.
“With his father,” Trask said. “Such a wonderful bond between them. It's enough to warm the heart.”
“I want to talk to him.”
“Not your father?”
“I want to talk to my brother,” she repeated.
“I'm sure you do, but that's my decision. I believe I'll leave that as a special treat. Here's your father.”
“Do whatever he says, Kerry,” Ron Murphy said. “Jason's life depends on it.”
“I want to talk to him.”
“Jesus, I know you don't trust me, but do you think I'd lie to you about Jason?” he asked roughly. “You're the one responsible for this mess. Now, get Jason out of it before this bastard kills him.”
“Did you call Jason and tell him that Trask had you?”
“No, Trask called him, and he went to my motel room and found a note Trask left for him. I could never have been forced to put Jason in danger.”
“But you'd do it to me.”
There was a silence on the other end. “What do you want me to say? I can't let him kill Jason. Neither can you.”
“No,” she said wearily. “I can't let him kill Jason. Put Trask back on the line.”
“You'll cooperate?”
“Put Trask back on.”
Another silence and then Trask came on the line. “I told you that the bond between them is something at which to marvel. But I can see why you wouldn't feel equally warm toward your father. He didn't even ask why I wanted you here. Do you suppose he could guess?”
“I want to talk to Jason.”
“Tonight. I'm going to send Dickens to escort you. I have to warn you that he's very good at knowing if he's being followed. If he notices any sign of that, he'll call me and that will mean an early and disappointing conclusion to this business. The same result if you and he don't show up in a reasonable time from the moment he picks you up. I'm not having Dickens pressured by the Secret Service into giving out information. And when you arrive here, you'll find that I have ample protection to guard your father and brother. Not that anyone is going to interfere with us once we come together. I've already told the guards that all I'd have to do is press one button and Firestorm would turn the house into a bonfire. Now, if you're a good girl and follow instructions, hopefully you can talk to your brother on the way here.”