Hed already made the reservations. As soon as he finished here, he was heading to the airport for a long, long overdue vacation. With the reward money from recovering Jethro Banner, he could afford to do it up first-class.
He became so engrossed in one particular mental picture that he closed his eyes to more fully enjoy it. It was only when he opened his eyes again that he realized he was no longer alone in the office. A petite brunette stood in front of his desk, an expectant look on her pixie face.
Images of the bikini woman vanished as reality intrudedalthough he had to say, in this case, it wasnt a bad trade-off. The woman staring at him with beseeching dark eyes was small and slender, with a mop of dark curls cascading in defiant disarray around her head and shoulders. Her huge green eyes, topped with dramatically straight, dark brows, were her best feature, but her straight nose and full, pink lips all contributed to a face that was an odd mixture of boldness, intelligence and an undeniable frailty.
Shed probably look okay in a bikini, too.
Unfortunately, he couldnt miss the terror that lay just beneath the surface of her demeanor, which could mean one of two things, or possibly both: abusive husband-boyfriend, or missing child.
He was not in any shape to take on either of those types of cases right now. One, they didnt pay enough. Two, in about five minutes he was officially on vacation.
But, damn it, he was the only one at the First Strike office. Everybody else was out working cases, even Lori.
Im looking for Rex Bettencourt, she said, her voice soft, sure, but not without a tiny tremor.
It figured shed be looking for him. He considered denying all knowledge of any Rex Bettencourt, but he couldnt turn his back on a woman in trouble. Never had been able to. That would be me.
I read about you in that magazine. They say youre the best.
I am the best, he confirmed, not out of any need for an ego trip, but because it was true. In the four years since hed come to work for First Strike, the agency co-founded by his father and his fathers army buddy, Ace McCullough, hed amassed more reward money than any other bounty hunter in the country. Mostly he managed to do it working in conjunction with law enforcement, so police and federal agents not only welcomed him, but sought him out on tough cases. His success sometimes afforded him unwanted publicity.
My daughter has been taken.
Score one for Rexs instincts. By her father?
The woman nodded.
Why dont you let me refer you to one of my
No. I want you. Youre the best.
The best doesnt come cheap, Rex said. Though the First Strike office was his home base, Rex was an independent contractor. Ace, sole owner of First Strike since the death of Rexs father almost two years ago, let all the bounty hunters charge what they wanted and pursue the cases that interested them, paying a small percentage to the agency in return for an office and administrative support. So long as each brought in a certain minimumand Rex always far exceeded the minimumthey could handle the job any way they chose.
Im prepared to pay whatever it takes, the woman said.
I charge five hundred dollars a day plus expenses. He figured that would scare her off.
She didnt even blink. Its not a problem. Just get my daughter back.
Rex sighed. He couldnt say no. The case sounded routine enough. Maybe he could wrap it up in a day or two. He got up, dragged over a chair from a neighboring desk and situated it next to his, rather than on the other side of the desk. He didnt want any barriers, physical or emotional, between him and his potential client. If he took on her case, they would have to trust each other completely. He refused to work any other way.
She sat down, clutching her brown leather purse in her lap so tightly her knuckles turned white.
Rex picked up a pen and a legal pad. Your name?
Nadia Penn.
Tell me whats going on, Nadia. After I hear your story, Ill decide whether I can help you. Do you have legal custody of the child?
Yes.
And the childs father?
My ex-husband. He gave up all parental rights when we divorced six months ago.
That admission gave Rex pause. What kind of man gave up all rights to his children?
He was abusive, she said without hesitating a beat. He sent me to the hospital with a broken jaw. No court was going to give him custody, and he didnt want to pay me child support.
The thought of any man using his fists on such a delicate, defenseless creature made Rexs gut churn. It was that sliver of compassion he felt for the fairer sex that had ruined him, ended his military career.
Legal rights aside, has he had contact with his daughter prior to this? Rex asked. Have you allowed him to visit?
Peter Danilov has no personal interest in Lily. He cares nothing about her. He took her to blackmail me. I have access to something he wants very badly, and he intends to barter for it with my childs life.
Good Lord. So much for the simple, straightforward case hed envisioned. So, whatever it is, give it to him. Nothing is worth a childs life.
It isnt that easy.
He sighed. This sounds like a matter for the police.
Do you know how many children are kidnapped by noncustodial parents? And do you know how little the police care? Anyway, I couldnt risk it. Nadia opened her purse and pulled out a plain white sheet of paper, folded. She handed it to him.
He took the paper gingerly by one corner. Ah, hell, why bother? Shed probably already destroyed any potential forensic evidence.
You can touch it, she said. Its already been analyzed. No prints but mine. Common photocopy paper, Canon Inkjet ink. Nontraceable.
I thought you didnt go to the police.
I didnt. I work in a research lab. I did the analysis myself.
Ah. He tried not to show his surprise. He wouldnt have pegged this delicate, fairylike creature as a hard-nosed scientist, though he ought to know by now not to let anyones outward appearance surprise him. His last stint in Korea should have burned that message into his brain once and for all.
He read the note, which set forth the terms she would have to meet if she wanted to see her daughter alive again. She would be required to deliver a package to a certain place at a certain time, then leave. The package would be picked up, the contents verified. Only then would the child be released at an undisclosed location. She would be notified after the fact.
If she agreed to these terms, she was to go today at 3:00 p.m. to the Forest Ridge Mall food court wearing a red shirt and wait at least fifteen minutes, after which she would be contacted as to where and when to make the drop.
Peter Danilov obviously liked cloak-and-dagger games. Such an affinity for drama could be used against him.
Rex asked Nadia the obvious. What does Peter want from you? The note simply referred to a package, which Rex assumed meant Nadia knew what it was.
I cant tell you that.
And I cant win this game playing with only half a deck.
I cant tell you without breaching the security of the United States, she said quietly. But suffice it to say, its something very dangerous. I could never put it into Peters hands. Which is why I need you to get my baby back.
National security? Dangerous?
Whoa, wait a minute. You dont by any chance work for
JanCo Labs.
Ah, hell. JanCo Labs was a huge facility tucked away in the piney woods of East Texas a few miles from Payton. The lab worked almost exclusively on top secret government contractseverything from gene splicing to weapons technology.
Rex was intrigued despite himself.
Do you have any way to contact Peter?
No.
Do you have any idea where he might have taken your daughter?
No, Im sorry. Ive had no contact with him for months.
Do you believe he will actually harm Lily?
She hesitated. He never physically hurt her before. But I do know one thing. If he suspects even for a moment that Ive come to you or anyone for help, he will spirit Lily off to Russia with him, and I will never see her again.
NADIA ENDURED the next hour of tedious questions solely because she knew Rex Bettencourt was her only hope.
She hadnt been too sure when shed first walked up to the First Strike Agency. Shed read of his impressive success rate in a national magazine and had considered it an extremely lucky break that the bounty hunter was based in her own backyard. But when shed seen his place of business, with its faded, tattered awning and grimy windows, shed been less than impressed. First Strike was in a bad area of town to begin with, sandwiched between a bail bondsman and a pawnshop. But even if the neighborhood hadnt discouraged her, the office itself would have.
Narrow and deep, the office housed a half-dozen mismatched desks scattered haphazardly around the room. There didnt seem to be a reception desk, or anything to welcome a walk-in customer. In the back corner was a home gym setup and some free weights.
As she tiptoed across the ripped indoor-outdoor carpeting toward the only occupied desk, shed taken in the gallery of Wanted posters with darts protruding from the faces and the stacks of magazinesSoldier of Fortune, Guns & Ammo, Fast Cardecorating the desks.
The only computer in the room was a big, beige clunker grimy with fingerprints.
But then shed seen Rex. Although his face had not appeared in the magazine article shed read, shed somehow known instantly that the man seated behind a desk at the back of the room was Rex Bettencourt. With military-short, sun-bleached hair and a deep tan even in the dead of winter, his posture had communicated the sort of supreme confidence she was looking for. And from the moment hed opened his mouth to speak, shed known he was the man who could get her little girl back safe and sound. His impressive muscles made him look dangerous, but the intelligence behind his green eyes assured her he was also capable.
You havent given me much to work with, Rex said when hed run out of questions. A description of a woman who smokes with a rodent face and an accent isnt much help. Are you sure youve never seen this woman before?
I know Ive never met her. But now that Ive had a chance to think about it, to go over it in my mind, she seems familiar somehow. I may have seen her beforeat a party, in a crowd.
She might have been following you.
Nadia shivered at the idea of being watched. Her Russian grandmother had risked her life to come to this country, where she could be free, where her movements were not constantly monitored or her motives challenged. Nadia had been raised to appreciate her freedom, her relative safety.
Peter had taken that away from her.
I know I havent given you much, Nadia said. But someone will be at the mall to spot me. Maybe it will be the woman again. You could follow her.
If you spot her. Or if he doesnt send someone else, someone you wouldnt recognize.
When he contacts me again, then, Nadia said.
Peter probably wont send another messenger with a piece of paper. Hell try something different this time, maybe a phone call from a throwaway cell phone.
Hes bound to drop some kind of clue, Nadia said. And if he doesnt, you can follow whoever picks up the package after I make the drop.
If you arent planning to give Peter what he wants, what will you put in the package?
Something that will look real enough that it will fool him for at least a while. Hell have the contents verified, but it will take some time. We have to find her before he discovers the truth.
Well do the best we can.
She searched his eyes, hoping to find reassurance there. But his expression was grim. Youre thinking he might have already hurt her.
We have to consider all possibilities.
Nadias eyes swam with tears. She did not want to hear this, yet she knew Rex spoke the truth. Peter was not honorable. He was a spy, a traitor to a country that had given him a chance, offered him sanctuary, embraced him as one of its own. He had no reason to keep Lily alive or deliver her unharmed, even if she gave him the Petro-Nano.
Im not trying to scare you, Rex said. Im just making sure you understand the terrible position were in. He has all the cards. We have to find a way to upset the balance of power. And the first thing, I think, is to force him to open two-way communications.
But I have no way of forcing him to do anything, Nadia said, calming down. Rexs commanding presence was almost comforting, despite the fact he was big and powerful and a little bit scary. Her experience with Peter had taught her just how much pain a man could inflict on a small woman like her. And Rex was taller, larger, undoubtedly stronger than Peter.
We will find a way.
Does that mean youre taking me on as a client?
He looked slightly bemused. Im sure talking like thats the case.
Chapter Two
It wasnt the fanciest of plans, Nadia thought as she sat in the food court at Forest Ridge Mall, but Peter had left them few options. Nadia was frankly terrified of what would happen when Peter discovered she wasnt playing by his rules. But shed put her fate in Rex Bettencourts hands, and shed agreed to let him make the decisions.
That didnt mean she was comfortable with the plan.
She had arrived at the time Peter had specified, wearing a red windbreaker over a red T-shirt. But she carried a small, hand-lettered sign that read, Must See Lily or No Deal. She had some leverageshe had something Peter wanted. The sooner she exerted her power, Rex had said, the better. And she should use that power to ensure her daughter was alive and well, which was their number-one priority.
Nadia tried not to look at Rex, whod arrived at the food court a full hour ahead of her. He sat a few tables away, sipping a soft drink and talking to Gavin Schuyler, another bounty hunter. Rex had pulled a team together with amazing speed, and each of the other team members accepted their roles without question. Rex and Gavin would keep their eyes open for anything unusual. Peter, or one of his agents, had to be nearby to visually verify Nadias presence.
Out in the parking lot, Beau Maddox was watching Nadias Volvo. It had occurred to Rex that Peter, wanting to avoid phone calls or personal contact, might leave a communiqué on or near her car while she was safely inside the mall.
Back at the office, Lori, Rexs sister, was running through every possible avenue of computer research to locate Peter. She was also monitoring Nadias cell phone. Nadia had privately wondered about Loris qualifications, but Rex had assured her that in addition to being a black belt in Tae Kwon Do, Lori was a skilled hacker. If anyone could trace a call or turn up an e-trail for their suspect, Lori could.