‘Oh, my God, I’m sorry. Are you going to be all right?’
‘I’m okay.’ He gripped the seat. Suddenly his father was like a physical presence in his chest.
‘You’re pale.’
‘I’ll be fine.’
‘Tell me about your dad. What made him cool.’ She put her hand on his knee.
He savored the strength in her grip. ‘He always listened to me. He always had time for me. He was gone a lot, teaching overseas, and we didn’t always get to travel with him. But when he came home, I felt like the most important person in the world. Like he breathed in every word I said. He took me fishing, shooting – old school stuff that dads don’t do much with their kids any more. He always expected the best from me. That was a kindness, not a cruelty.’ He stopped, embarrassed, closing a hand around the Saint Michael’s medal on his neck, hidden under his shirt. ‘The man that killed him, I always wanted to understand why. How do you just snuff out innocent lives, how do you justify that decision? He committed suicide, so I could never know. But that shaped my life. My career. If I hadn’t been interested in the psychology of violence… I never would have been able to put together the Night Road for Henry. It all comes back to my dad’s death. It’s everything that has made me, shaped me.’
Wu stepped back aboard. He flexed the smile back on. ‘Looks like all the masking tape and glue is in place.’
‘Ha, ha,’ Aubrey said.
‘Did you check the baling wire?’ Luke asked.
‘Sealed it with spit,’ Frankie Wu said. ‘We’ll depart in just a couple of minutes.’ He vanished into the cockpit and shut the door.
Luke leaned into Aubrey’s ear and whispered, ‘He may be able to hear us over an intercom.’
Aubrey nodded. She said, in a clear voice, ‘Eric, hold my hand. Mr Wu might not have checked all the masking tape.’
Luke took her hand. It felt strange and right all at once. He was Eric Lindoe, at least for the next few hours, until he met his kidnapper’s benefactor.
Ten minutes later they arrowed into the sky and blasted toward the east.
She slept and Luke watched her. He wanted to sink into the warmth of sleep but he couldn’t.
New York. Paris.
He looked out the window, past the thin haze of clouds, over the glow of heartland light, as Illinois became Indiana, the diamond towns and the clouded black spreading beyond to Ohio and Kentucky. The low hum of the plane lullabied him.
He went to the cockpit and opened it. Frankie Wu was speaking softly into a radio and stopped, turned with a smile.
Luke asked, ‘Can I use my cell phone on this flight? I didn’t know if the rules were different for private jets.’
‘There’s a phone in the cabin you can use, yes.’
‘But not mine.’
‘No. I’m surprised you’d be wanting to call anyone, Eric.’ Like he knew Eric was running, Eric was in trouble.
Luke said, ‘I need to tell someone goodbye.’
Frankie Wu turned back to the controls without comment. Luke shut the door. He had no intention of using the cabin phone; it could be monitored and he didn’t want Wu overhearing this call. He sat at the back of the cabin and opened the phone he’d taken from Eric, the lifeline to Jane, and dialed Henry’s number.
‘Hello?’ Henry sounded exhausted. The reception was spotty.
For a moment he couldn’t speak. He listened to the sound of Henry’s breathing.
‘Hello?’ Henry repeated. He sounded nervous.
‘You sorry ass excuse for a human being.’
‘Luke. Thank God, thank God, you’re alive.’
‘I am never, ever going to forgive you for what you’ve done to me.’
‘Luke. Listen to me. I can help you. I’m your best hope.’
‘Your sorry bastard. You knew I had been kidnapped, you listened to me beg you for help and you hung up the goddamned phone. I saw you on TV…’
‘My clients – they’re not who I thought they were. They used us both. And they wouldn’t let me do anything but damn you to the public. But meet me, we’ll figure out how we can both get out of this mess.’
‘Mess? This is beyond a mess. You sent Mouser and Snow after me like dogs to hunt me down. They tried to kill me. They’ve killed people trying to kill me.’ His voice broke. ‘Well, I shot one of your dogs and stabbed the other, and I’m going to do the same to you.’
‘Don’t cut me out. Don’t. Tell me where you’re at. I’ll send you money; I’ll send you whatever you need to hide. Mouser was only supposed to find you and bring you to me. So I could make you… understand.’
‘Understand what? That you used me to knit together a terrorist network? Are you kidding me, what do you think I’m supposed to understand?’
‘I can deal with Mouser and Snow, and anyone like them who bothers you. But there is another man who’s hunting you. Drummond. Stay the hell away from him, from anyone connected to him or a group called Quicksilver.’
The breath gelled in Luke’s chest. ‘I… I don’t believe you.’
‘Listen carefully to me. The cabin where you were held, it was paid for by a company called Quicksilver Risk. Stay away from them. I am begging you to listen to me. I know I screwed up but I never wanted you hurt. Ever.’
‘I hope you die, Henry, and I hope I’m there to see it.’
‘For God’s sakes, Luke.’ Henry’s voice rose. ‘I have been your father for ten years.’
‘You’re not fit to say the word “father”,’ Luke said.
Henry forged ahead as though Luke’s contempt was mist. ‘I am not trying to get you killed, I’m trying to save you. I’m trying to find out who’s attacking us, who’s using us. Quicksilver is behind your kidnapping. Stay away from them.’ Then a pause, while Luke’s head spun. ‘The man in Houston who was killed. His name was Allen Clifford. I knew him. So did your dad. We once worked together. On a special project for the government. Everyone who died on your father’s plane, they were part of the project. It was called the Book Club.’
‘What do you mean, worked for the government?’ The air left Luke’s lungs. ‘He was a history professor, for God’s sakes.’
Henry’s words burned as unrelenting as a fuse. ‘After the accident, there were only three members of the Book Club left. Me. Allen Clifford. And Drummond.’
‘He was a teacher. A scholar. Just more lies from you-’
‘Every word is truth,’ Henry thundered. ‘Drummond thinks you’re part of the Night Road. He blames you for his friend’s death. He came to me, threatened me if I didn’t turn you over to him. He has significant resources to find you. And I know this man – when he finds you, you will vanish forever.’
‘You can’t tell me all this and expect me to believe it.’ He stood, went to the back of the plane, fought down the scream that wanted to roar up from his lungs.
‘I’m trying to show you I’m on your side. Son, please.’
‘Don’t you call me “son”. I’m not your son. I never was. If you were on my side, you never would have gotten me involved. I was your needle and thread. Stitching together a whole bunch of killers and freaks and fringers for you. I met your buddy Chris. You actually went and shook hands with these guys who think an American al-Qaeda’s a great idea, met them with open arms, planned to give them money.’ He leaned his head against the plane’s wall. ‘You are funding terrorists to the tune of fifty million dollars. You are such a piece of shit.’
‘I didn’t lie to you. My clients lied to me. They are using the research in ways I didn’t consider. I need you to meet me.’
‘No, Henry.’
He heard a long intake of breath. ‘I love you like you were my own child. I didn’t at first, because you were such a pain. Spoiled, contrary, too smart for your own good. But I grew to love you as much as your own father did, Luke. I have only tried to protect you. To do right by you. Meet me at a place of your choosing and we’ll work out a plan to get your name clear and you safe. Together.’