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Nobis Hotel
Stockholm, Sweden
Present Day

 

Acton tossed his phone on the bed and Laura did the same as they entered their hotel room. They had driven in silence the rest of the way, abandoning their pre-planned route now that there was no point. Acton took Laura by the hand and led her to the bathroom where he closed the door then turned on the shower.

“You don’t think they’ve bugged our room, do you?”

Acton shook his head. “No. Not yet, anyway. I’m more concerned with our devices being hacked. You’ve seen what Tommy can do. I’m sure they’ve got their own whiz kids.”

Laura stared at the door, the only thing between them and two cellphones, eReaders, tablets, and laptops. When it came to tech, they didn’t travel lightly. “So, what do we do?”

“We wait for their instructions, then decide, I guess.”

“We have to go to the authorities.” Laura regarded him, her eyes narrowing. “Don’t we?”

“They have him already, and they have diplomatic immunity.”

“That doesn’t cover kidnapping.”

“No, but right now he’s alive. He can be thrown in front of a bus, found drowned in a bathtub, or OD’d with a needle in his arm. They didn’t make the same mistake they made in Istanbul. This time they kept him alive, and can kill him in any number of ways that leave them in the clear.”

Laura sighed. “You’re right, of course. There’s no way we can trust that the local authorities haven’t been infiltrated somehow.”

“Exactly. We can’t risk locals, but maybe we can risk someone else.”

“Hugh?”

Acton shook his head. “No, he’d have to use official channels, and Interpol I’m sure is infested with Saudis.”

Laura smiled. “Dylan.”

Acton nodded. Dylan Kane was a former student of his, a CIA Special Agent who had proven useful on multiple occasions. “If we can get word to him, he might be able to help us.”

“You better send him the message right away. We don’t know when they might hack our phones.”

Acton pursed his lips, tapping his chin. “Can we risk sending him a message through that secure app he installed? What if they’ve already done it?”

Laura folded her arms, leaning on the counter. “I wish Tommy was here. He’d know what to do.” A smile spread. “I have an idea.”