Vanish

“Hey, I’ll run the fucking camera if someone shows me how. And you can play reporter. They should send us.”

“The hostage takers asked for a specific reporter. A man named Peter Lukas.”

“You mean that guy who writes for the Tribune? Why him?”

“That’s what we’d all like to know.”

“Well, let’s get on with it, then. Get her the hell out of there before-”

Gabriel’s cell phone rang and he winced, thinking that it must be Jane’s parents trying yet again to talk to him. He could not put them off any longer. He reached for the phone and frowned at the digital display. It was a number he did not recognize.

“This is Gabriel Dean,” he answered.

“Agent Dean? With the FBI?”

“Who is this?”

“It’s Joe. I think you know who I am.”

Gabriel froze. He saw Korsak watching him, instantly alert.

“We have things to talk about, Agent Dean.”

“How did you know-”

“Your wife here tells us you’re trustworthy. That your word is your bond. We hope that’s true.”

“Let me talk to her. Let me hear her voice.”

“In a minute. Once you promise.”

“What? Tell me what you want!”

“Justice. We want you to promise to do your job.”

“I don’t understand.”

“We need you to bear witness. To hear what we have to say, because there’s a good chance we’re not going to live through this night.”

A chill sliced through Dean. They’re suicidal. Are they going to take everyone else down with them?

“We want you to tell the world the truth,” said Joe. “They’ll listen to you. Come inside with that reporter, Agent Dean. Talk to us. When it’s over, tell everyone what you’ve heard.”

“You’re not going to die. You don’t have to.”

“You think we want to? We’ve tried to outrun them and we can’t. This is the only choice left to us.”

“Why do it this way? Why threaten innocent people?”

“No one will listen to us any other way.”

“Just walk out! Release the hostages and surrender.”

“And you’ll never see us alive again. They’ll come up with a logical explanation. They always do. Watch, you’ll see it in the news. They’ll claim we committed suicide. We’ll die in prison, before we ever get to trial. And everyone will think: ‘well, that’s how it goes in jail.’ This is our last chance, Agent Dean, to get the world’s attention. To tell them.”

“Tell them what?”

“What really happened in Ashburn.”

“Look, I don’t know what you’re talking about. But I’ll do whatever you want if you just let my wife go.”

“She’s right here. She’s fine. In fact, I’ll let you-”

The connection suddenly went dead.

“Joe? Joe?”

“What happened?” Korsak demanded. “What’d he say?”

Gabriel ignored him; all his attention was focused on reestablishing the link. He retrieved the phone number and hit DIAL.

“… we’re sorry. This number is currently unavailable.”

“What the hell is going on?” Korsak yelled.

“I can’t get through.”

“He hung up on you?”

“No, we were cut off. Right after…” Gabriel stopped. Turned and looked up the street, his gaze focusing on the command trailer. They’ve been listening in, he thought. Someone heard everything Joe said.

“Hey!” called Korsak. “Where you going?”

Gabriel was already running toward the trailer. He didn’t bother to knock, but shoved open the door and stepped inside. Hayder and Stillman turned from the video monitors and looked at him.

Hayder said, “We don’t have time for you right now, Agent Dean.”

“I’m going into the building. I’m going to get my wife.”

“Oh, yeah.” Hayder laughed. “I’m sure you’ll be greeted with open arms.”

“Joe called me on my cell phone. They’re inviting me in. They want to talk to me.”

Stillman abruptly straightened, his face registering what looked like genuine surprise. “When did he call you? No one told us.”

“It was just a few minutes ago. Joe knows who I am. He knows Jane is my wife. I can reason with these people.”

“It’s out of the question,” said Hayder.

“You were willing to send in that reporter.”

“They know you’re FBI. In their minds, you’re probably part of this crazy government conspiracy they’re so scared of. You’d be lucky to last five minutes in there.”

“I’ll risk it.”

“You’ll be a prize for them,” said Stillman. “A high-profile hostage.”

“You’re the negotiator. You’re the one who always talks about slowing things down. Well, these people want to negotiate.”

“Why with you?”

“Because they know I won’t do anything to endanger Jane. I’ll pull no tricks, bring in no booby traps. It’ll just be me, playing by their rules.”

“It’s too late, Dean,” said Stillman. “We’re not running this show anymore. They’ve already got their entry team in place.”

“What team?”

“The feds flew them in from Washington. It’s some crack antiterrorist unit.”

This was exactly what Senator Conway had told Gabriel was about to happen. The time for negotiations had clearly passed.

“Boston PD’s been ordered to stay on the sidelines,” said Hayder. “Our job’s just to keep the perimeters secure, while they go in.”

“When is this supposed to go down?”

“We have no idea. They’re calling the shots.”

“What about that deal you made with Joe? The cameraman, the reporter? He still thinks it’s going to happen.”

“It’s not.”

“Who called it off?”

“The feds did. We just haven’t told Joe yet.”

“He’s already agreed to release two hostages.”

“And we’re still hoping he does. That’s at least two lives we can save.”