“Why?” she asked.
“They have unfinished business.”
“Tell me you’re not thinking of using yourself as bait.”
“Actually, I am.”
“Absolutely out of the question. You know what those guys are capable of. Suppose something went wrong and they managed to get ahold of you?”
“I can take care of myself.”
“I couldn’t live with that on my conscience. Please promise me you won’t do it. Give me your word you won’t do it.”
“Holly…”
“Your word.”
“Okay.”
“Thank you.”
“If Lansing isn’t aboard, will you help us? It would help if we had access to the FBI’s NCIC database.”
“You know I can’t do that.”
Nathan didn’t respond.
“I’m willing to help you, but there’s only so much I can do, so far I can go.”
“It’s okay. I understand.”
She ate a pretzel and followed it with a sip of wine. “I suppose if you were to make an unofficial request for some very specific information on a very specific individual within the NCIC system…”
He smiled. “Good enough.”
“You understand that officially I said no, right?”
“Yes, absolutely. Officially you said no.”
They exchanged a smile.
“What’s next?”
“Harv and I are going to dig into the Bridgestones’ military backgrounds.”
“May I ask what you’re looking for, other than what we talked about?”
“I want the visitation logs from the USDB at Fort Leavenworth where Ernie served his sentence. The Commandant of the Marine Corps, General Hawthorne, used to be my commanding officer.”
“One of the Joint Chiefs. Wow, that’s a good contact. Will he help you?”
“I think so. I’ve never asked him for anything before.”
“How much are you going to tell him? I mean, there’s still an issue with containment.”
“Speaking of containment, how did the Bridgestones find out about me and my father?”
She looked down at her glass of wine. “During their interrogation, the two techs from the van told the Bridgestones they overheard Gifford and Henning talk about you last night. They gave you up under the torture, like anyone would in that situation. The Bridgestones knew everything was being recorded. They openly mocked the FBI during the torture.”
He softened his tone. “Look, you’ve lost three people under your command in as many days. The SWAT agent at the compound and the two surveillance guys. Four, if you include James Ortega. I didn’t mean to sound callous.”
“It was horrible. I’ve never heard men scream like that before.”
“Holly, I’m really sorry about all of this.”
“It’s not your fault.”
Nathan didn’t respond.
She lowered her voice. “I don’t want to be alone tonight. Do you?”
“Got a comfortable couch?”
“Very. Come on, let’s get out of here.”
“I should call Harv. He worries about me. I need to tell him the Bridgestones know about us. Do you mind?”
“No, of course not.”
Nathan pulled the cell from his hip and the Hyatt’s business card from his front pocket. “Room six-two-seven, please. Thanks… Harv, it’s me… Sorry, yeah, I’m okay… No, I’m with Holly… Just down the street. The Bridgestones know about us, my father too…. They wrung it out of the two surveillance techs. The techs overheard Gifford and Henning talking about us last night. Everything was recorded. The machines in the van were running when they grabbed them.” He mouthed the word
She mouthed the words,
“Yeah, she’s right here.” Nathan pressed the speaker button and turned the volume down to a whisper. “Okay, you’re on speaker.” Nathan set the phone down and they both leaned toward it.
“Hello, Holly.”
“Hi, Harvey.”
“Holly, I’m really sorry about the situation, with you losing two more of your people.”
“Thank you.”
“But I need to know exactly what the techs said.”
“I listened to it, I can tell you.”
“I need it word for word. I can’t rely on your memory for something this important. I need every word.”
Nathan mouthed
“I need it fast. Tonight, if possible.”
“Harv,” Nathan said, “It’s almost one in the morning. There’s no one there to do it. I don’t think we need to wake up one of Holly’s gizmo nerds at one in the morning.”
She mouthed,
“First thing in morning, okay?” Harvey asked. “I don’t have my laptop with me, so I’ll need it in either cassette or CD format. I’ll buy a player at Walmart or somewhere. What time does your field office open?”
Holly leaned toward the phone. “I’ll have it ready by six tomorrow morning. Will that work?”
“Yes, that works.”
“I’ll have it couriered to the Hyatt’s front desk under your name.”
Harvey didn’t respond.
“Harv?” Nathan asked, “you still there?”
“Let’s… just use my room number.”
“Understood,” Holly said.
“You’ll label the envelope yourself?” Harvey asked.
“Scout’s honor,” she said.
Nathan mouthed
Holly shook her head.
“Okay, good,” Harvey said. “Then things are okay. We’re all set then.”
“I’ve got you covered,” she said.
“That’s good, that’s real good. Okay. We’re all set. I’ll see you in the morning.”
“I’ll call you at oh-six-thirty. Good night, old friend,” Nathan said.
“Okay, that’s it then. Good night.”
“Sorry about that,” Nathan said, ending the call. “He’s a protective man.”
“I can tell. Does he have a family, a wife and kids?”
“Yes. Two sons. He’s been married for almost fifteen years, but he’s not worried about his family. If I know Harv, he’s already paging Gavin to arrange for two of our best guys to be here first thing in the morning. If I called back right now, the line would be busy.”
“He’s bringing in bodyguards?”
“He worries about me. To be honest, overly so, to the point of being annoying at times. Even though the Bridgestones have my name, there’s no information on me in any computer system they could access. Even if they had a high-level contact in the DOD, they still couldn’t access my file. I’m surprised you were able to get it. Speaking of, how did you get it?”
