No Return

about Dione and Monroe?”

Truthfully, he would rather Alison brought Dione than Danny, but he didn’t want to jeopardize Dione’s position with the network. Unlike the rest of them-all freelancers-she was staff. If what he had in mind didn’t work, it would hurt them less than it would hurt her. And as far as Monroe was concerned, she was useless and never a consideration.

“We need to keep this small for now,” he said. “Be there in fifteen minutes and make sure no one’s following you. That includes the police.”

He knew she wouldn’t be able to let that one go, so he hung up.

71

Wes had expected Alison and Danny to drive over in one of the two SUVs, but was surprised when they arrived with Dori in her Lincoln. His first instinct was to grab his two friends and tell Dori to come back for them later. But then he stopped himself. If she was willing to help, both she and her car could be useful. He got off the Triumph and climbed into the back of the car, next to Alison.

“What’s so Jason Bourne that we had to sneak over here?” Danny asked.

When Wes didn’t immediately reply, Alison asked, “Something happened, didn’t it?”

“I need your help.” He made sure to look at each of them. “All three of you.”

“What’s going on?” Danny asked.

“I … I think I know who has Anna and Tony.”

To say the others were stunned would have been an understatement.

“Are you serious?” Dori asked.

“Yes.”

Alison reached for her pocket. “We should call the police.”

Placing a hand on her arm, Wes said, “We can’t. Not yet.”

“Why not?”

“The police already think I might have something to do with pretty much everything that’s been happening. If I tell them what I figured out, they’ll just-”

“Why would they think that?” Danny asked.

“The break-ins? The disappearances? I’ve been involved in all of them.”

“As a victim,” Alison pointed out.

Before Wes could say anything, Dori said, “They might not see it that way.”

Wes nodded. “Exactly.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Alison insisted. “They’d still have to check any lead you gave them, wouldn’t they?” She paused. “What am I thinking? Tell me what you think happened, and I’ll tell them.”

“It’s not that simple,” Wes told her.

Alison looked like she was about to explode. “Why not?”

“Just listen to me.” Wes gave her a moment to calm down. “Do you trust me?”

“Of course,” Alison relented. “We all do.”

Nods from the front seats.

“Are you willing to help me get the proof we need?” Wes asked.

“If it’ll get Anna and Tony back, absolutely,” Alison said.

“What do you need us to do?” Danny asked.

This was the moment of truth. Either Wes took them fully into his confidence, or he got out of the car and did what had to be done on his own. Which left him no choice at all, really, because he was one hundred percent sure the second option would fail.

He took a deep breath. “I was right about the pilot from the crash.”

It took him nearly ten minutes to get the whole story out. Then, as soon as he finished, he described the plan he’d come up with.

“We could definitely do that,” Alison said, immediately on board. “It would take me thirty minutes to rig it, tops.”

“It’s all right if we use your car?” Wes asked Dori.

“Yes. Absolutely,” she said. “If it’ll help your friends, anything. I’ll even drive. This Commander Forman has met all of you. He’ll be less guarded if I drive up.”

As much as he didn’t want to put someone he didn’t know well in potential danger, he knew she was right. “Okay. Thanks.”

“I don’t know,” Danny said. “I’m not sure I buy the Navy kidnapping people.”

“Not the Navy,” Wes said. “An element within the Navy. There’s a difference. This is unsanctioned. It’s illegal.”

“Still …”

“Danny,” Dori said, “I think Wes might be right. You don’t live here. Some pretty crazy things have happened.”

“You believe Forman could have done this?”

Dori nodded. “After hearing Wes out, yeah, I do.”

“I believe it,” Alison added in quick support.

“Even if it’s not true,” Dori said, “it’s worth finding out, isn’t it?”

“I guess,” Danny said, still not sounding completely convinced.

“Is that a yes?” Wes asked.

Dori reached over and put a hand on Danny’s thigh. When he looked at her, she smiled and nodded again.

“Okay. Fine,” Danny said. “I’m in.”

Wes felt a flood of relief. “Thanks. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this.” He checked the time. “We should get a move on it. You all head back to the motel and get the car ready. I’ll call Forman.”

As Wes climbed out, Alison reached over and touched him on the arm. “We’re going to get her back. This is going to be okay.”

He nodded, and tried to smile.

I hope you’re right.

72

Commander Forman stared out the window of his office over Armitage Field, fuming. It had been a stupid idea from the beginning. He had told Laredyne as much. But they had been insistent, and in the end, Forman had thought, What harm could it do? At worst, they’d be right where they were before the flight, and at best, they might have turned things solidly in their favor.

What harm could it do? Forman shook his head in disgust. The twisted pile of metal that had once been an F-18 proved how faulty that line of thinking had been.

Pilot error. That’s what he had put in the report, and in a way it hadn’t been a lie. If the pilot had followed Andersen’s protocols, he would have never tripped the glitch in the software the engineers at Laredyne had yet to find a fix for. The error then triggered a massive systems shutdown. That son-of-a-bitch pilot had decided on his own that a test run meant trying everything out instead of following the road map he’d been given.

And now Andersen himself was a problem. Forman had thought he’d played the lieutenant commander perfectly, taking an interest in the man’s career, promising a transfer to a Pentagon job, then using the influence that had gained him to guide Andersen when he wrote the protocols. Then, after the crash, Forman had moved quickly to solidify Andersen’s culpability, creating what he thought was going to be the perfect scapegoat.