Shoot First(Stone Barrington #45)(75)

“No, Fred and Meg are waiting for me,” Stone replied, then he stopped and looked at his car. Fred was slumped over the steering wheel, and the rear seat was empty. The driver’s window was down; Fred liked his fresh air. “Hang on,” Stone said. He opened the driver’s door, and Fred fell into his arms.

“Do we need an ambulance?” Dino asked.

Stone examined Fred’s head but found no wounds; then he saw a drop of blood trickle down his neck. “We’re going to need an ambulance and a lot more,” Stone said. “Meg has been taken.”

Dino ran to his car and gave the driver a request for an ambulance, a description of Meg, and orders for an APB, then he returned to Stone. “An APB is out, and an ambulance is on its way.”

Stone felt his cell phone vibrate in his pocket, and he looked at the phone. The caller was Fred Flicker. “We’ve got contact,” Stone said, then answered the call. “Yes?”

“Do I have to tell you what we want?” a voice said.

“Yes, you do,” Stone replied. He wanted to hear more of the voice.

“We want the thumb drive. As soon as we’ve verified the authenticity—and the efficacy—of the software we will return the lady unharmed. The time is now noon. We will expect a call from you by two PM stating that you are ready to turn over the drive. If it is not in our hands by two-thirty PM, you may locate pieces of the lady’s body in the East River. Do you understand?”

“Yes,” Stone said, and the man hung up.

“It was Stanislav Beria,” Stone said. “You can add him to your APB—six-one, a hundred and seventy, dark hair.”

“Are you sure?”

“I thought I recognized his voice, and as he continued talking, I was sure of it.”

“What does he want?”

“A thumb drive containing the software of the designs and specifications of Meg’s self-driving car.”

“Where is it?”

“On a thumb drive in my office safe.”

“How much time do we have?”

“He wants me to call him on Fred’s phone by two PM. He says she’ll be dead by two-thirty if we haven’t handed over the thumb drive by then.”

By the time the ambulance arrived, Fred was awake and standing up, though he appeared a bit woozy. He waved off medical attention. “I’ll be all right in a few minutes,” he said, “nothing wrong with me that fresh air won’t fix.”

“Come with me,” Dino said. Dino ordered the detective in the front passenger seat of his car to drive Stone’s car, which was still running, put Fred in the passenger seat, then he gave the detective Stone’s address.

The car moved out, and Dino made a call, reinforcing the APB and adding Stanislav Beria to it. “Also, post a car and two men outside the Russian UN mission, in case Beria returns there.”

Stone tugged at his sleeve.

“What?”

“Add the gorilla Ivanov to the APB—six-three or -four, two-fifty, black hair, deep five o’clock shadow.”

Dino did so, then hung up. “Didn’t we arrest that guy?”

“Yes, but he got released, and you couldn’t hold Beria because he holds a diplomatic passport.”

“What phone number did they give you?”

“They took Fred’s phone.”

“What’s his number?”

Stone gave it to him.

Dino made another call and said to whoever answered, “This is Bacchetti I need a location on a cell phone number.” He gave them the number. “How long? All right, I’ll call it then.” He hung up. “They need ten minutes to get set up, and I have to keep them on the line for two minutes.”

They continued on toward Stone’s house, occasionally using the siren to get through the traffic.

“Dino . . .” Stone said.

“Shut up, I’m thinking.”

Stone shut up.

“Okay,” Dino said finally. “Whaddaya want?”

Stone thought about it. “I forget.”

“I’ve got a plan,” Dino said, then told him what it was.

“That sounds great, Dino, but what if it doesn’t work?”

“Then Meg is dead,” Dino replied.

“I’m not willing to risk that.”

“Where was the thumb drive before it got into your pocket?”

“In the library safe at my house in England.”

“And you said, when you were testifying, that Owaki had been thrown out of the country?”

“Yes.”

“What about Beria and Ivanov?”

“I don’t know whether they were in England. I saw only Owaki, at my house and when his luggage was being loaded into his car.”

“I don’t understand,” Dino said. “Luggage?”

“Owaki was staying at the Arrington hotel next door to my house, and I called the manager and had him thrown out. Meg and I were riding by on horseback, and I saw a couple of men loading bags into Owaki’s car.”

“Was either of them Beria or Ivanov?”

“I don’t think so, I got only a glimpse of them.”

“I wish you were more observant,” Dino said with disgust.