note in the miserable situation.
Richard slammed on the brakes as a bicycle messenger shot in front of the car, missing the front bumper by a few scant inches. He exhaled and shook his head. Manhattan driving was an acquired taste.
“You want to stop for some coffee?” he asked. “I didn’t have time to pick any up. Sorry.”
“Can we? There’s a Starbucks up the block on the right hand side.” She glanced down at her bare legs. “We look like we’ve been out all night and are just getting in…” she trailed off, lost in her thoughts.
“There are worse things. You look great, by the way,” he offered.
She grimaced at the transparent lie. “Nice try, and thanks, but they have mirrors at the hotel.” She grabbed his arm and pointed. “Oh, look. There’s a spot out in front. Cut over — you’re clear.”
He veered to the curb and rolled to a stop, and they made their way inside, waiting patiently in the long line of half-asleep workers buying their five dollar morning jolt of wake-up.
“Brett wants you to call him once you get back to your flat. You know the drill. They want to monitor any calls that come in.”
“I figured as much. I’ll have to take the day off, I suppose. Hopefully the task force can fend for itself without me for twenty-four hours.”
Richard didn’t respond, seemingly engrossed in the pastry possibilities, and then it was their turn to order.
“I hope they can keep this out of the papers,” Silver commented as they waited for their drinks.
“So far I haven’t seen anything, but I wouldn’t bet on it. Bad news has a way of traveling.”
Her cell phone beeped at her. She glanced at the number and contemplated not answering it, but then thought better of it.
“I need to take this outside. Can you throw three sweeteners in mine?” she asked Richard, then pushed her way to the entrance.
“Hello.”
“Jesus. I just heard. What happened? Do you know anything?” It was Eric.
“No, Eric. I don’t. She was kidnapped last night from the flat. We don’t know by whom, or even what they want. But I’m on my way over there right now to meet the techs so they can record any demand calls and trace them.”
“The feds are coming to put tracers on my phones, too. How did they get her? And how did they get by you?”
“We don’t know how they got in, but the best guess is that they picked the locks.”
“But how did they make it past you?”
Silver considered the ten possible non-responsive rejoinders she could try to make his life miserable, and then just told the truth.
“I wasn’t there. She was with a babysitter.”
“What? You weren’t with her?” Eric barked.
“That’s what I just said, didn’t I?”
“Where were you? What was more important than taking care of our daughter?” Eric’s tone had gone dangerously ugly in a heartbeat. The insinuation was clear. If Silver had been doing her job as a mom, Kennedy would still be safe. Guilt slammed into her, but she banished it — that was precisely the effect he wanted. She wouldn’t give him the satisfaction. Any remorse she had for having left Kennedy with the babysitter would be played out on her own timeline, not his.
“I was having dinner with a colleague from work. I do that once every year or so.” She really didn’t need this. She should have lied.
“So you were out on the town while someone was breaking into the flat? Is this some kind of nightmare? What in the hel-”
Silver depressed the end call button and then dialed Ben. She briefly explained the situation on his machine and asked him to call back as soon as he was in the office. She would just ignore Eric’s abuse until she could talk to him.
Her line rang again. Eric.
She answered, against her better judgment. “If you start down that road again, I hang up,” she cautioned.
He didn’t apologize, but he didn’t pursue it. “What are you doing to get her back?”
“We have a full team on it, and I’ll be with the investigators in a few minutes. I don’t know anything more right now. I’ll make sure you’re kept in the loop. Now I have to go.”
“Silver, don’t hang up on me again. I’m warning you. If you think you can-”
She stabbed the line off and switched the phone to silent. Her nerves really couldn’t handle this today. She would leave Eric to Ben.
Richard exited with their coffee and hesitated when he saw the look on her face. “You okay?”
“No, Richard. I’m not okay. My daughter’s been kidnapped, my life is a shambles, God knows what’s being done to her while we speak, and my asshole ex is going for my throat.” She stopped. He was on her side. “I’m sorry. I’m just raw.”
“I figured, and I completely understand. No problem. You want to hold these while I try to drive?” he asked, changing the subject.
“Sure.”
~ ~ ~
Sam was in the office early and heard about Silver’s situation within the first five minutes. It was all anyone was talking about — the biggest news to hit the building in years. One of their own had first been attacked by a gunman, and now her child had been kidnapped, all within a space of a few days. That was a threat to every one of them — most had families, and the unspoken fear was that if the job put their loved ones in jeopardy, that changed the playing field.
Sam sauntered to Brett’s office and knocked on his door. He looked like he’d been there all night.
“Yes?”
“I just heard about the situation with Silver. That’s unbelievable, sir.”
“Yes, it is. I’ve been working on it non-stop. We will be committing substantial resources to this case — agents to question everyone in the neighborhood, to review all the traffic footage, coordinate with NYPD…”
“I just want you to know that you can depend upon me to step in and pick up Silver’s load on The Regulator task force. We shouldn’t miss a beat.”
“Really…” Brett’s eyes narrowed.
“Yes. I mean, I know she’s going to be too distracted to run the task force effectively. She’s good, but she’s not superhuman. Nobody could expect her focus and concentration to be there. I know mine wouldn’t be…”
Brett considered Sam’s statement. “I’ve been too slammed to devote a lot of thought to it, but you make a good point.”
“Between the shooting, and now this…nobody could be anywhere close to a hundred percent. And with The Regulator’s killings heating up and more pressure coming from all directions…it wouldn’t be fair.”
Brett picked up his pen and resumed signing the stack of documents on his desk. “No, I suppose it wouldn’t be. Your readiness to step into the breach is noted and appreciated.”
“No problem, sir, I just wanted you to know that she’s got support systems in place.”
“Very well. Thanks. And please, close the door behind you.”
Silver climbed the stairs to her apartment and was greeted by two techs who had been let in by the departing agents that morning. They quietly and efficiently went about their mysterious business, and Silver motioned Richard to take a seat while she ducked into the bedroom to change.
As she was pulling off her dress, her phone lit up, and she grabbed it after catching a glimpse of the number.
“Ben. Thanks for calling me back so quickly.”
“Silver. No problem. Now what’s this about a kidnapping? Did I hear you right on the voicemail?”
Silver took him through the events of the last twelve hours, finishing with the call from her ex.
“All right. I’ll handle it. You’re right not to have any contact with him. You have more than enough to contend
