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35 |Interpol Liaison Office, National Crime Agency London, England
Interpol Agent Hugh Reading pulled at his hair, trying to stay awake as he sat at his desk, bored to tears. Every day he spent here was sucking the life out of him, and he knew he should retire, but he just couldn’t bring himself to do it.
I’d go batty stuck in my apartment.
About the only excitement he had in his life was provided by his best friends, Jim Acton and Laura Palmer. They often invited him on their exotic vacations, paying his way, something it had taken some time for him to become comfortable with. He had finally settled on the analogy that due to Laura’s extreme wealth thanks to her late brother’s Internet business, her buying him a luxury vacation was equivalent to him buying them a fancy cup of coffee.
Something he wouldn’t hesitate to do.
Though vacations weren’t the only way they provided excitement.
They had a knack for getting into trouble, their recent escapades in the south of France with the Templars nearly getting them all killed, including his son, Spencer.
He smiled at the picture of his son sitting on the corner of his desk. Their trip to Spain, the first as father and son, their relationship strained for over a decade after the divorce, had been interrupted by the troubles in France, but the experience had brought them closer together than ever before, his son confessing he wanted to be a police officer.
It had been the proudest moment of his life when he dropped him off at Hendon Police College last week. It had taken a lot of convincing to get his mother to support the decision, but she had eventually come around. Reading had his suspicions it was mostly because she didn’t want to be on the opposite side of the choice as he was, when it was clear Spencer would join regardless of what she said.
These were dangerous times, but if no one let their sons and daughters join the fight, then all would be lost.
His computer beeped at him, and he snapped out of his reverie, grabbing the mouse and clicking on the keyword alert notification in his inbox.
And cursed.
It was from the Interpol office in Warsaw, an alert issued about the possible kidnapping of one American, and one Brit.
His friends.
Not again!
He grabbed his phone, dialing Acton as he read the rest of the notification. It went directly to voicemail. He dialed Laura with the same result. He sat for a moment, wondering who to call next that might actually know something, then smiled. He pulled up the number for Acton’s best friend, Gregory Milton, and dialed.
“Hello?”
“Hi Greg, it’s Hugh Reading.”
“Oh, God, Hugh, have you heard?”
“I just saw a notice. So it’s true?”
“Yes. It looks like they were kidnapped sometime this morning, their time, and nobody has seen them since.”
“Why them?”
“As far as I can gather, they were taken so that they could authenticate the find when the thieves delivered the Amber Room to their buyer.”
Reading scribbled notes the old-fashioned way, as his mind raced. “This ‘room,’ is it big?”
“Very.”
“So not something you just toss in the back of a truck.”
“According to Jim, it was contained on two boxcars, so I would suspect you’d need at least one, if not two transport trucks to move it. Can you help?”
“I don’t know, but I can bloody well try. I’ll have to figure out a way to get to Poland.”
“Just use the account, that’s what it’s there for.”
Reading paused. Milton was right. He had access to an emergency fund, Laura having given him all the information he would require should there be a need. He didn’t know how much it contained, but it was millions. And he also had permission to make use of their personal travel agent, who arranged pretty much any kind of transport, including access to their private jet network.
And he hated using it, every single time.
He sighed. “I can’t believe we have friends that have a bank account with millions of dollars in it just in case they get kidnapped and need to be rescued by their friends.”
“It is rather fantastic, isn’t it?”
“That’s putting it mildly.” He blasted some air through his pursed lips, then nodded. “Okay, fine, I’ll use the account. I’ll contact you later with an update.”
“Thanks, Hugh, and good luck. Oh, wait!”
Reading pressed the phone back against his ear. “What?”
“Tommy Granger and Mai Trinh are in Germany. I’ll text you their contact info. Tommy’s a whiz on computers. He might be able to help you.”
“Thanks, I’ll keep that in mind.” He ended the call and headed for his boss’ office, knowing full well how the conversation he was about to have would go. He tapped on the glass, and Betty Richard waved him in.
“Hi, Hugh, what can I do for you?”
Reading closed the door. “An alert has been issued. Professor James Acton and his wife, a British citizen, Professor Laura Palmer, have been kidnapped in Poland.”
“Yes, I saw that.”
“I want to be assigned to the case.”
She shook her head. “I’m sorry, Hugh, I need you here.”
“But these are my friends. I have to help them.”
Richard motioned to an empty chair. “I’m sorry, Hugh, but we’ve got that human trafficking operation tomorrow, and you’re key.”
Reading remained standing. “Bollocks! Anyone can handle that. Give it to Michelle. She’s fully briefed, and twenty years younger than me. She can handle it.”
“I’m sorry, Hugh, but the discussion is over.”
Reading cursed. “Fine!” He pulled out his ID and dropped it on her desk. “I quit!”
Richard’s eyes widened. “You can’t just quit! You have responsibilities! Obligations!”
“Yes, I do. To my friends. These people have saved my life on too many bloody occasions to leave them hanging, and frankly, they’ve saved thousands of lives if not more, over the years doing things you’ll never know about. I am going to help them. I’d prefer to do it with my position intact and the resources of the agency, but if that’s not possible, then so be it.”
Richard sighed, then chuckled as she shook her head. “Hugh, you’re a pain in my bloody ass.” She reached forward and grabbed his ID, tossing it at him. “Consider yourself reassigned. Just try not to kill anyone this time.”
Reading grinned. “No promises.”