JACK GLANCED AT HIS watch again, wishing he was sitting inside the lobby with his eyes on Bree instead of in a van parked near the front entrance of the hotel. Even though he knew it was the right decision to stay out here, it was still hard not to question its validity when he couldn’t get rid of the worry.
But maybe it didn’t matter. He wouldn’t be surprised if Bree’s father didn’t show up. The man had a bad habit of breaking his promises. Especially to his daughter. Not showing up would simply fit his character. He’d never been reliable or engaged in her life, so what was going to make this any different? Probably nothing. But he was still praying that the man would show up. It was their last real option at the moment to bring him in.
Jack forced himself to wait another full minute before contacting her again.
“Bree . . . any sign of him?”
Silence.
“Bree, I need an update.”
Still nothing.
His heart stilled for a moment. Why wasn’t she responding?
“Who’s got their eyes on her? Baker . . . Ortiz . . .”
There were four agents inside the hotel, and none of them were answering.
“Simon.” He turned to his IT man who was running the communications from the van. “What’s going on?”
“I don’t know, sir, but it looks as if our communications have been jammed. Not just with her, but with the entire team.”
No . . . No . . . No . . . This wasn’t possible.
“Then unjam them,” Jack said. “I need you to reestablish communication with her now.”
He jumped out of the van and sprinted toward the hotel lobby, his heart racing as he shoved open the glass door. Their plan was supposed to have been foolproof. Simple. She was to ask her father for a meeting in a public place. When he showed up, they were going to grab him. It couldn’t get any more straightforward than that. The only issue that might come into play was if he didn’t show up, but all that would do was leave them back at square one. And as for Bree . . . Using her was the safest way to get him to come out into the open.
His thoughts flashed back to Cheng, who’d ended up eluding arrest.
But this was different.
Wasn’t it?
“Bree . . . Agent Baker . . . I need an answer . . .”
Still nothing.
What’s going on?
Inside, he quickly located Agent Baker, who was standing near the elevators. “Where is she?”
“She went into the bathroom. Our target still hasn’t arrived.”
“One of you was supposed to have eyes on her at all times,” Jack said.
“I couldn’t go in the bathroom with her, could I?”
Jack ran down the narrow hallway toward the restrooms. Maybe he was overreacting, but his gut told him that wasn’t the case. Something was wrong. He knocked on the women’s restroom door, announced his presence, and walked in.
“Bree?”
He kicked open the stalls one at a time, but they were all empty. She wasn’t there. A flood of anxiety and anger rushed through him as he ran back toward the lobby. With communications down, he signaled to Baker and the other agents to join him.
“Detective Grayson is missing, and at this point we can assume she’s with her father, Charles Ramsey. He’s never been violent with her, but he is a person of interest in a murder investigation, so don’t assume anything. On top of that, we know he’s desperate, so don’t take any unnecessary risks. The three of you”—he pointed at them—“split up and do a thorough search of the premises. Ortiz, check the hotel security footage and try to find out where she went and who she’s with. I’ll check the parking lot near the bathroom exit.”
Jack ran out the side door of the lobby, needing to determine where she could have gone. One distraction, and someone could have grabbed her. But why would her father do something like that?
The answer was obvious. The man was a traitor, involved in spying on his own government, and because of it, had both the Russians and the Chinese after him. On top of that, he’d added murder suspect to his résumé over the past twenty-four hours. Not only was the man desperate, he’d worked in intelligence and had the tools to pull off something like this. Charles Ramsey would do whatever it took to get what he wanted, even if it entailed using his daughter to get it.
But he also knew that Ramsey wasn’t the only one who could use Bree as leverage. The Chinese had already attempted it once. If they’d decided to try it again . . .
“Jack—” Simon’s voice came through Jack’s earpiece.
“What have you got?”
“I was able to change the frequencies, and we’re back on now, though I don’t know how long it’s going to last. He could jam them again.”
“Do everything you can to keep them open.”
If he could hear Simon, then Bree could hear him if she still had her earpiece in. “Bree, can you hear me?”
Jack waited for her response, but there was none.
He kept walking, then stopped midstride. Charles Ramsey stood at the end of a row of cars, holding a young woman in front of him with a gun pointed at her head. Bree stood twenty feet in front of her father, her own weapon pointing at him.
“We’ve got a hostage situation developing in the parking lot,” Jack said to his team. “Ramsey’s armed with one hostage. Detective Grayson is trying to defuse the situation. I need backup out here now, but keep the perimeter clear for the moment. He’s already spooked.”
Jack took another step forward.
“Don’t come any closer,” Ramsey said. “You and your team need to stay back if you want these women to live.”
“Are you okay, Bree?” Jack lowered his voice so only she and his team could hear him.
“Yes, but do as he says, Jack. Stay back.”
“Ramsey, Aubrey wanted to meet with you because she believed she could help you. You want the Russians and the Chinese off your back—”
“Shut up or I’ll shoot her. I’ll shoot both of them. You weren’t supposed to get involved in this. It was only supposed to be Aubrey and me.”
The young woman Ramsey was holding sobbed quietly. “Please don’t hurt me. Please . . .”
“I said—”
“Ramsey, wait. Please.” Jack held up his hand. “Just tell me what you want.”
“What I want? I came to meet with my daughter, but when I show up, there’s an entire FBI team waiting to arrest me.”
“We’re simply here to make sure Aubrey is safe.”
“No.” Ramsey shook his head. “If I’d walked in there, you would have arrested me before I even saw her.”
“Here’s the bottom line,” Jack said. “We know you’re in trouble. She was telling you the truth when she said the FBI wants to work with you. We can help get you out of this mess. All you have to do is put your weapon down and let the women go, then we’ll talk. Just the two of us. I promise. And I’ll listen. Just like we’re doing now.”
“It’s too late for that.” Ramsey shook his head.
“It’s not too late. I want to hear your side. Let the woman go. She has nothing to do with this.”
“Enough.” Ramsey turned back to Bree. “I decided to meet you because you’re my daughter. I hoped you wouldn’t betray me, but I know you’re a detective, so I needed to be prepared. And I was right. You never intended to meet with me. You led me straight into a setup. If I can’t trust you, I certainly can’t trust him.”
Bree’s voice was pleading. “I need to talk to you. That’s the truth.”
“And then what happens after we ‘talk’? You know as well as I do that no one is going to let me walk away.”
“But this . . . ,” she said. “You’re only making things worse—”
“Worse? You have no idea what’s really going on here. How far they will go to get what they want.”
“Who? The man who shot Grant McKenna? The men who tried to execute one of their own to keep him from talking? I’ve seen what they’re capable of doing.”
“Here’s what’s going to happen.” Sweat shone on Ramsey’s brow as he came to a decision. “The three of us are going to leave together. Once I know we’re not being followed, I’ll drop the woman off somewhere safe.”
“Think about what you’re doing, Ramsey,” Jack said. “False imprisonment . . . aggravated kidnapping—”
“If she does what I say, she’ll be fine.” Ramsey’s gaze momentarily locked onto Jack’s. “I recognize you.”
“Jack’s an old friend,” Bree said.
If you’d been around back then, you’d have known that.
Jack stuffed down the thought.
“I’ll go with you. Just you and me. But let her go.” Bree held up her weapon then set it on the ground in front of her.
“Bree, don’t—”
“Okay.” Ramsey hesitated, then tossed her a pair of handcuffs. “Handcuff yourself behind your back.”
“Bree, don’t—”
She turned to face him. “It’s alright, Jack.”
“You and your fellow agents are going to wait at the back entrance of the hotel without following us,” Ramsey said.
Jack weighed his options. He wanted to believe Ramsey wouldn’t hurt anyone, but he could hear the desperation in the man’s voice. No, he couldn’t take any chances. Getting a sniper and negotiator in place would take longer than they had, but letting Bree leave with him . . . How could that be his only option?
“Walk in front of me to the vehicle . . . both of you. I’ve got nothing to lose at this point, so if your men do anything to make me uncomfortable, she pays.”
Bree caught his gaze. “Do what he says, Jack. I’ll be fine.” She turned and walked to her father.
He wanted to argue with her. Did she really expect him to walk away and do nothing? No. He couldn’t let anything happen to her.
Ramsey shoved the woman away and told her to walk toward the hotel before he grabbed Bree’s arm. “Tell your men to back off and go back inside. Now.”
Jack hesitated. “Stand down, I repeat . . . stand down.”
“Now drop your earpiece on the ground.”
Jack did what he was told. Ramsey ushered Bree to a black SUV and forced her inside. As soon as Ramsey pulled out, Jack reinserted his earpiece and pulled out his phone. This was far from over.
“Simon,” he said, once the call he made had been picked up.
“There’s a black SUV with no visible license plate coming out of the parking lot in the next few seconds. I want you to follow it in the van, but do not engage. I want you to let me know his every move. And establish communications again.”
“Yes, sir, I’m on it.”
Jack ran back into the lobby. “Ortiz, get a statement from the hostage. The rest of us will split up into the other two cars and follow Ramsey. Simon is already on his tail in the van.”
“Yes, sir.”
Thirty seconds later they were pulling out of the hotel parking lot and headed in the direction Simon told them Ramsey had gone. Jack drummed his fingers against the steering wheel. Every second that passed meant Bree was another second in danger.
“We’re going to find her,” Baker said from the passenger seat. “You did everything you could.”
“No, I didn’t. My job is to anticipate what the bad guy is going to do. It’s my job to keep something like this from happening. It’s my job to keep her safe.”
“It’s all of our jobs.”
Jack heard Simon’s voice in his ear. “I’ve lost him. He blasted through a red light and then I got caught in traffic.”
“Any idea where he’s taking her?” he asked.
“At this point, no. There are boat harbors and marinas nearby, but he could also be heading for Houston, for all we know.”
“We need a plate number so we can track the vehicle.”
“The plate is gone.”
Jack banged his hands against the steering wheel. Bree was gone, and they had no way to track her.