“We’ve been taken off the case,” Malcolm reminded him quietly. “There’s no guarantee HDD will take us seriously or decrypt the information. The senator has some juice.”
Angus nodded, his mind reeling. “We have until tomorrow. If we don’t get Brigid back in the next several hours, we’ll have to turn over the flash drive.” Unless he could find a hacker and bring them here. That was an idea. “Raider? You have to have some decent contacts at HDD. Reach out and get me the names of a couple of hackers.”
Agent Frost’s light eyebrows rose in her youthful face. “What then?”
“Then we kidnap them,” Wolfe said grimly, heading for the computer room.
Raider’s jaw set. “Works for me.” He limped after his friend.
* * *
Brigid’s headache traveled to her stomach and made her nauseous as they drove past the homes in McLean, Virginia, and finally parked on the brick-and-stone circle driveway of an imposing stone mansion with wide windows and a curved shingled roof. She tried to fight when Josh pulled her out of the truck, but the guy was too strong. He prodded them both toward the front door.
Brigid looked wildly around, but trees and shrubbery enshrouded the home, giving it privacy. If she yelled, would anybody hear?
“You yell, and I’ll knock you out,” Josh said mildly.
Was he a mind reader, or what? They reached the door, Luke opened it, and they walked into an opulent living room. Josh nudged them down stairs that led to a basement gym. Oh, this wasn’t going to be good.
Barbells, two treadmills, a jump rope, a long mirror, and other exercise equipment were scattered about the space. “Sit,” Josh said.
Brigid eyed Dana and then went to sit on a padded bench, keeping her back to the wall. Dana sat next to her.
Footsteps sounded down the stairs, and Senator Tyson entered the room wearing a tuxedo and perfectly shined shoes. “I was in the middle of a fund-raiser,” he muttered.
“Figured this was your place,” Dana said, sitting straighter, a bruise marring the right side of her face. “The ‘for sale’ sign outside is quite a show of confidence. Sure you’re moving to Pennsylvania Avenue?”
“Yes,” the senator said. “I’m fairly confident.”
Brigid looked from Josh to Tyson. Her body temperature plummeted. “Raider isn’t going to trade the journal and evidence for us.”
“Yes, he would,” Tyson said, straightening his tie. “But I’m sure you made copies. I don’t believe there’s enough evidence in that journal, or what’s left of it, to hurt me. Your daddy was gathering materials against the Coonans to gain his freedom. I was an afterthought, and not even a big one at that time. Wasn’t even in public service yet.”
Good point. “Then why take us for Eddie?” Brigid studied Josh, whose intelligent eyes scanned the room and then focused on the doorway.
“Oh.” Tyson coughed. “I see. No. You were an afterthought. It’s the reporter I want.”
An afterthought? “Is that a fact?” Her voice shook. That meant she was expendable.
“Affirmative. In case I need leverage with what’s left of your HDD unit. And I would like to know what’s in the second half of that journal. But it’s Dana’s sources, who she’s talked to and what she’s said, that I require first.”
“About the missing women,” Dana breathed.
“Yep. We’ve been following you for a while and were surprised when you first visited the hole-in-the-wall HDD unit and the Irish rose here.” Tyson double-checked his cuff links and looked her over. “I do like blondes, but unfortunately I have a nasty temper. It’s usually an accident, to be honest. They shouldn’t make me mad.”
Oh, there was no way he’d let them free after this. Brigid’s lungs stopped working, and she struggled to breathe. She was going to die, and she’d never gotten a chance to tell Raider how she really felt about him. He’d never know. She calculated the distance between her and the door. Even if she got past Josh, where would she go? There had to be a phone somewhere.
“You won’t make it,” Josh said, not looking at her. How did he do that?
Tyson chuckled. “Even if you did, I own the police in this town already. A combination of money and blackmail. Get to a phone, call 911, and I promise you’ll disappear quickly.”
Her palms grew clammy. They needed to get free and run. Brigid looked around the basement room. No windows, probably concrete block as the foundation. This wasn’t looking good.
Dana cleared her throat. “Did you kill them?” she asked, softly.
Was she after a story or what? Of course, the longer the guy talked, the longer they’d stay alive. Brigid looked at the man.
He shrugged. “Depends on who you’re talking about.”
