The Fallen (Amos Decker #4)(117)
“We’ve got two dead that we know of.”
Decker tensed. Amber and Zoe? It can’t be.
“Who are you talking about?” he said between clenched teeth.
“An ambush while Martin and Green were being transported to jail.”
“They’re dead?”
“Yes. And Lassiter and two others were wounded and are in the hospital.”
“So, an inside job?”
“Appears to be. They knew where and when they were coming out of the building.”
“We’ve got other problems too.”
“Come again?”
Decker explained what had happened to the cop out front and the disappearance of Jamison’s family.
“Damn!” exclaimed Kemper. “I want these bastards so bad I can taste it.”
“All I care about is getting Amber and Zoe back safe.”
“Are there any clues to who might have taken them? Or where they might have gone?”
“No. I was waiting for them to call me when you phoned.”
“You think they were taken as a bargaining chip?”
“Yes. Otherwise they would have just killed them like they did the cop out front.”
“So what do you think they’ll ask for?”
“I’m sure they’ll tell me,” he said grimly.
“I’m going to get a BOLO out on them.”
“Okay,” said Decker absently.
“You don’t think it’ll do any good?”
“I think they’re too smart to be tripped up by that.”
“It was a big risk killing a cop and then kidnapping two people.”
“If they had unfinished business and needed the leverage that hostages give them they’d take that risk.”
“But they cleared out the drug stash, and they killed the only witnesses we had. We have no case against them.”
“That may not matter to them.”
“What else would matter to them?” retorted Kemper.
“Like I said, unfinished business.”
“Such as?”
“If I knew that I wouldn’t be sitting here waiting for them to call,” snapped Decker.
“Okay, okay, but we need to come up with a plan.”
“That’s hard to do, since we don’t know what they’re going to throw at us.”
“But once they make contact, you have to loop me in. Then we can go after them in a coordinated effort.”
“You need to let me play it out the best way I see fit.”
“What precisely does that mean?” said Kemper warily.
“That means I’m going to do all I can to make sure this doesn’t go sideways and two innocent people end up dead.”
Jamison shuddered next to him and looked down at the floor.
“Decker, I don’t know if I can do that,” said Kemper. “I have people to answer to.”
“So do I. Their names are Amber and Zoe. And if you don’t want to do it my way, I’ll just have to do this solo.”
“You are putting me in an impossible situation,” complained Kemper.
“This is an impossible situation.”
Kemper calmed and said, “I guess I don’t have much choice. But I hope you know what you’re doing.”
Decker clicked off and stared down at his phone.
Jamison said, “Do you?”
“Do I what?” he asked quietly.
“Know what you’re doing?”
“I’ll be able to answer that after they call me.”
“We can’t lose Amber and Zoe.”
“We won’t.”
“You can’t be sure of that,” she exclaimed.
“No, I can’t,” he conceded.
“Then what are you telling me?” she demanded.
“I promised Zoe that I wouldn’t let the bad guys get you. And now I’m promising you that I’m not going to let them hurt Zoe, or your sister.”
Jamison pulled out her gun and looked at it. “Oh, we’re going to get them back safe, Decker. And then we’re going to nail every one of these assholes right to the wall.”
Chapter 70
THE CALL CAME at midnight.
Before Decker could answer it, Jamison had snatched the phone away.
“I want to hear Amber and Zoe’s voice, right now,” she said into the phone.
“Who is this?”
“Alex Jamison with the FBI, and the seriously pissed-off sister and aunt of the people you kidnapped. Put them on the phone. Now!”
“You’re making demands?” the person said.
“No, I’m making one demand. Put them on the phone.”
There were a few moments of silence.
“Alex?”
It was Amber. She sounded exactly as she should: terrified.
“Are you okay, Am? Have they hurt you?”
“No, they haven’t.”
“And Zoe?”
“She’s right here with me. She’s okay too, just scared.”
Jamison turned to Decker and mouthed, “They’re okay.”
Amber continued, “Only I don’t know what they—”