The Freedom Broker (Thea Paris #1)(33)

“You have your instructions. Drop the money off, and Christos Paris will be returned unharmed.” The voice was clipped, concise, with no hint of an accent.

“Who am I speaking to?” Get him talking, work for more information.

“Ten million euros by midnight tomorrow, dropped onto the deck in waterproof containers. In exchange, we return the crew and Christos Paris.”

“It’s impossible to gather that much cash so quickly. Give me a couple of days.”

“Pietro Andreas can make it happen.”

She reeled at the mention of Papa’s personal banker. How could they know? “Let me speak to my father. We’ll need proof of life before we make delivery.”

“You have already received the watch.”

She squeezed her eyes shut for a moment. The speaker’s lack of contractions left her with the impression that English wasn’t his first language. “Put Christos on. We need confirmation he’s alive.”

“Sorry, Mr. Paris is busy at the moment.”

“We need proof of life.”

Shuffling. A loud scream in the background. It sounded like Captain Magnusson.

“Midnight tomorrow, or Christos starts losing body parts, and we open the valves to blacken the sea. Your choice.”

A click, then nothing.

She turned on the shower again, e-mailed the file to Hakan for analysis, then pressed the button to replay the entire conversation, listening closely for any further clues.

“My father says there’s a twenty-four-man crew,” Rif said.

“And we can assume ten kidnappers. Magnusson will do his best from his end. Usually kidnappers wax poetic about the horrific pain they’re going to inflict on the hostage, trying to intimidate the family. This guy was more sterile.” She rubbed her palms on her 5.11 Tactical Stryke pants.

“He did promise to cut off Christos’s body parts.” Rif’s eyes narrowed.

“The man had no passion or swagger. I’m not sure who we’re dealing with here.” She paced the spacious marble bathroom. “We need to board that supertanker.” She tucked her hair behind her ear. “Papa would hate for any of his company’s oil to cause an environmental disaster. When the BP spill happened in the Gulf of Mexico, he was furious. He might be an oil man, but he’s also the son of a fisherman. He went on a tirade about how the oil’s strong scent interfered with sea animals, causing the babies to be rejected and abandoned, leaving them to starve and eventually die. He instituted safety measures on his fleet before they were legislated, built double-hull tankers to protect against spills even though it cost him a lot of money and time to do so. The Mediterranean is his home. He would expect us to act on this and prevent a spill.”

“Where’s the Damocles?”

“Forty nautical miles off Kalamata. Get the team ready. Johansson and Brown should be arriving soon. Hakan had them report for duty the moment Papa was kidnapped.”

“Johansson’s shoulder is fully healed?” Rif asked.

“The man’s superhuman. Blueprints of the tanker are on their way?” she said.

“Absolutely.” He paused. “Even if Christos isn’t aboard, waterproof containers, a deck drop—we’re not dealing with amateurs here.”

She dialed Hakan’s number and put him on speakerphone. “The team’s set?” she asked.

“Mobilized. They’ll be in Athens in a couple of hours. The banker’s preparing the ransom. I started liquidating funds last night.”

“Let’s re-hijack the Damocles.”

Silence extended on the line for a long moment. “Thea, you sure you want to take this risk? If your father’s on board, they could kill him before you find out where he is.”

“Just paying the ransom doesn’t guarantee anything. We also can’t let the crew down. We’ll go in dark.”

“I’m concerned the kidnappers have an inside track somehow. They sent you Christos’s watch, had a team attack you, and they anticipated you’d be at the Grande Bretagne. How did they know you were coming to Athens?”

“I wonder the same thing,” she said.

“Maybe it’s an inside job,” Hakan said.

“Why not have Freddy do a thorough check on the entire team at Paris Industries as well as Quantum, see if anyone might be hiding something?”

“Already on it. I’ll keep you posted. You sure about this plan?”

“Yes.” It’d be a hell of a gamble, given that they didn’t know for sure that Papa was on board, but she had to try.

“Thea’s right,” said Rif. “Information like the existence of the watch could be leaked, traded, or sold, and this could be a copycat or phantom kidnapper. Hell, the actual kidnapper could even have hired these men to act as a decoy while he transports Christos somewhere else. Taking the offensive is the only way to get answers.”

“It’s your call to make. I’ll arrange for the sketch artist, so we can try to find the messenger boy. The team will arrive with full gear. Anything else you need, let me know.” Hakan’s tone was committed.

If all went well, they’d recover Papa and the funds, but when was the last time anything went according to plan? She signed off with Hakan.

Honor, reputation, dignity—they were Christos Paris’s mantras. He even had a public relations firm on speed dial to manage his image. He wanted to be seen as the angel of world energy; Paris Industries, the clean, caring company that stood out from the others. He had also taken great pride in the company’s reputation as a philanthropic giant, setting up grants, scholarships, and charities, all showcasing him as someone who gave back. No way would he want to cause harm to the environment or others.