He couldn’t remember shutting off the engine. But he must have done so. The air conditioning had stopped working and it was now sweltering inside his car. He turned the motor back on.
“Blair?” He heard his name being called.
“You bastard!” he swore. “Who the hell are you, John?”
“You know who I am.”
“No, I mean, really.”
“What are you talking about?”
“There isn’t a government agency in the world that would kidnap a six-year-old child!”
“Blair, we didn’t kidnap her. We, uh, borrowed her for a while. To convince you to listen to reason.”
“I want the name of your superior, your supervisor, whoever it is that you report to!”
“I’ll be glad to give you his name, after your mission has been completed.”
“You won’t get it now, Blair.”
He bit down on his lip. “How do I know my daughter is all right?”
“I guess you’ll have to trust me.”
“Trust you? That’ll be the day! I want to talk to her, John.”
“I can’t let you do that.”
“You sonofabitch! I will not cooperate!”
“Blair—” The agent’s voice became conciliatory. “—has anyone ever counseled you about your temper?”
He was livid and petrified, both. “Let me see her, John.” He tried another tack. “Please?”
“You’ll see her when we want you to see her.”
“What am I supposed to tell my wife?”
“You mean, your ex-wife, don’t you? Make up something. But whatever you do, don’t tell her the truth. Just get out of the car now and go talk to her.”
Blair jerked his head around. The bastard was watching him. “Where are you, John?”
“Closer than you think. Now, go talk to Mandy. And keep her boyfriend out of this.”
Again, he tried to find him. He lowered himself in his seat, looked in front, in back, both sides.
“Make up a good story,” the agent instructed. “Talk to your ex, then call me back. Do you still have the card I gave you? It’s got my mobile number on it.”
“No, I don’t have your card.”
Dalton recited the number. Then he uttered his warning again: “Don’t divulge the truth to your ex-wife, Blair. Or to anyone else, for that matter. Unless you want to endanger Sandra’s life.”
The phone went dead.