24 Hours

Will felt an enormous weight descend on his shoulders. If Ferris’s people traced Huey’s phone, they would have to be very careful about their next move. If they responded inappropriately, Abby could die simply because a mentally handicapped man lost control of himself for a few seconds.

“How are we supposed to get her back?” he asked. “I mean, what did Joey tell you? After you and I pick up the ransom from the bank, what are you supposed to do?”

Cheryl hesitated, still fighting some internal battle. “I call Joey,” she said finally. “Then we meet at the motel in Brookhaven.”

“You’re supposed to bring me along?”

“Yeah.”

“Have you always brought the husband?”

She hesitated again.

“Cheryl-”

“No. This is the first time.”

Will shook his head. “I told you this time is different. Joe thinks I killed his mother, and he wants to kill Karen and Abby in front of me.”

“That’s not it.”

“Yes, it is. Only I can’t believe he’d put himself, Abby, and the money in one place. If he does, he’s vulnerable. He has to assume that I could torture the name of the motel out of you, which means the FBI could come down on that place like the wrath of God.”

“It’s the truth,” she insisted. “The Trucker’s Rest Motel, in Brookhaven.”

“That may be what he told you. But that’s not how it’s supposed to go down. I’ve got to know where Abby is. You must know something more, Cheryl. Think.”

She shook her head in exhaustion. “I think you should just pay Joey the money. That’s the way to get your kid back. That’s the way the others guys did it.”

“I’m not the other guys.” He picked up her Coke can and downed what was left for the caffeine. “I’m down for special treatment.”

“I thought you didn’t like gambling. Betting against Joey is like betting against the house.”

Not with you up my sleeve, he thought. But he said, “It’s that kind of thinking that keeps you where you are, Cheryl.” He turned and arced the Coke can into the wastebasket from fifteen feet. “When everything’s on the line, you’ve got to go for it.”

Karen downloaded Will’s e-mail at 4:25 A.M. Getting into the study to check it wasn’t difficult, because Hickey had finally passed out on the bed. The combination of Wild Turkey and the etouffee omelet had proved too much for him.

She stared at the message, trying to read between the lines. The first part was clear enough. Will had received her message and understood its meaning. He promised that Abby would make it and told Karen to trust him. But the next line stumped her. Do you believe the condor is an endangered species? It had to be some kind of code. Will had been worried that Hickey might see the message, so he had used something only she would understand. Or that he thought she would understand. Did “endangered species” refer to Abby? And what did a “condor” have to do with anything? A condor was a type of bird. A large bird. Could Will be referring to his airplane?

“Condor,” she said softly. “Condor… condor.”

And then she had it.

“Oh my God,” she said, and a smile came to her face. “Condor” was Robert Redford’s code name in the film The Three Days of the Condor. And the line “Do you believe the condor is an endangered species?” had been spoken over the phone by Redford to Max von Sydow, who played the assassin in the movie. But the significance for Karen was that the line marked the turning point in the film, when Redford turned the tables on the men trying to find and kill him. That was Will’s message. He had somehow turned the tables on Hickey.

But how? What action could he have taken? Had he called the police? No. Not unless he had a way to keep Hickey thinking everything was still running according to plan. Tracing Huey’s phone seemed the most likely option, since Will had mentioned it before. But without Abby keeping the line open, how could it be traced? Maybe he’d gotten some information from Hickey’s wife. But why should she tell him anything? Had he threatened her? Bribed her? There was no way to know. She would have to do exactly what Will had told her to do. Trust him.

She hit DELETE and watched the message vanish, then looked at the clock on the study wall. She was going to have to wake Hickey to make his next check-in call. She didn’t want to do it. Letting him sleep was clearly the best strategy for her own safety. But if he failed to make even one call, Abby could die. And if Will did have someone trying to trace Huey’s cell phone, the man would have to actually switch the thing on and use it before he could be found.

Karen stood and began the long walk back to the bedroom.