24 Hours

Will heard another phone ringing. It was the cell phone in his pocket. Cheryl’s phone. “Hang on, I think Hickey’s calling me.” He dug the phone out of his pocket and hit SEND. “Hello?”

“What’s up, Doc?”

Will nodded at Chalmers. “I’m in the bank, getting your money.”

“You’re lying. You called the FBI.”

“Joe-”

“Where’s Cheryl?”

“In the parking lot. I brought the phone in with me.”

“Why?”

“So I could tell you what was happening if you called.”

“Well… the plan has changed. Your wife and me are about to take a little airplane ride. And if I see a cop or an FBI agent within a mile of me, I’m going to put one right in her ear. You follow?”

“Joe, I’m getting your money! Just tell me where you want it!”

“We’ll work that out later. You just get it all ready to go. And tell your new friends to keep clear of that airport.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about! Joe, where’s my daughter?”

“That’s the sixty-four-thousand-dollar question, isn’t it?” Hickey laughed. “Hasta luego, amigo. Just remember, whatever happens, you called the play.”

The phone went dead. Will felt as though his heart had been ripped out through his chest wall. He picked up the other phone and told Zwick what had transpired.

The SAC said, “I’m going to pull back my men and let them get into the airport.”

“Why? Won’t Hickey be harder to stop with lots of people around?”

“Yes, but it’s possible that this Huey character and your daughter are already inside the airport waiting for him. If we bust Hickey outside, they might just disappear.”

“Jesus Christ. Okay. But if they are inside, what can you do? How can you stop Hickey then? What’s to keep him from putting a gun to Abby’s head?”

“The fact that he’s dead.”

“You mean you’ll shoot him on sight? Can you do that?”

“Kidnapping is an extraordinary crime, Doctor. The rules of engagement allow for a great deal of discretion. And an airport is a high-security area. I can promise you this. If your little girl is in there, and Hickey makes a move toward her with a weapon, his brain will be removed from his cranium without benefit of anesthetic.”

“Do you have sharpshooters there?”

“They’ll be in position before Hickey gets inside the building. Now, I have a lot to arrange, Doctor. Put Agent Chalmers back on the phone.”

As Will handed over the phone, several thoughts came to him at once. Any logistics that Zwick had to arrange were in Jackson, not Biloxi. Right now he was almost certainly telling Chalmers to make sure Will stayed right where he was, under FBI control. But Will’s primary concern was Hickey. Even now, the man was controlling the movements of everyone involved in the situation. Five times he had pulled off these kidnappings, and the FBI had never even been told about them. At the cabin he had proved he could stay two steps ahead of the SWAT team and laugh while doing it. Opposing his proven brilliance was Frank Zwick, a man Will knew nothing about. He had to assume that Zwick knew his job, but instinct told him that the events of the next few minutes would not be as easy to control as the SAC believed. The FBI did not really know where Huey and Abby were. They might be in the Jackson airport; they might also be sixty miles away. As Chalmers listened to his boss on the phone, Will walked quietly out of the office.

“Where are you going?” Chalmers called. “Doctor?”

Will paused in the hall. “To get the ransom money.”

“It’s no good to you now.”

“You don’t know that. Hickey said to get it, so I’m getting it. I’ll be back in a minute.”

He took the stairs two at a time going down.

Five miles east of downtown Jackson, Hickey turned

Karen’s Expedition onto the main airport access road.

“Where are we going?” Karen asked. She was terrified that Hickey would board a flight to Costa Rica without telling her where Abby was being held.

“You just watch.”

“We’ve got to get to Abby, Joe. Her sugar’s going up.”

“Just shut your goddamn mouth for five minutes. I got everything under control.”

Karen leaned back and looked up through the moonroof. The helicopter was still there. It had stayed practically on top of them all the way from the interstate. Hickey was right. It had to be the police. Or the FBI. She hoped to God Will knew what he was doing.

The SHORT TERM PARKING sign flashed past. Then ARRIVALS /DEPARTURES.

“Are we flying somewhere?” she asked. “Do you have a plane here?”

“Oh, yeah. I got a whole fleet of them.” Hickey glared at her. “You just can’t be quiet, can you? I bet your husband thinks you are one big pain in the ass.”

She sat back and tried to stay calm. Despite the helicopter overhead, Hickey had not ordered Abby harmed. Unless the “backup plan” was to kill her. Karen gripped the handle on the windshield post as Hickey swerved into the LONG TERM PARKING lane. He stopped at the barrier, took a ticket from the machine, then accelerated into the concrete-roofed garage.