Hostage Zero

“He’s staying at the mansion,” Jonathan explained. “And he’s safe enough not to need the cuffs.”

“His court records say otherwise,” Doug said. “He’s not supposed to be within two thousand feet of a children’s gathering place.”

“He’s my guest,” Jonathan said.

“Doesn’t change anything.”

“Is that why you have him in custody?”

Doug hesitated. “No.”

Jonathan held out his hand, gesturing for the cuffs key. “Let’s take the offenses one at a time, then, okay?”

Doug screwed up his face and cocked his head. “Since when do you have a soft spot for child molesters?”

Harvey inhaled at that, but he didn’t say anything. This was exactly the scenario he had predicted.

“I don’t have a soft spot for child molesters,” Jonathan said. “Which is why I’d like you to trust me on this and give me the key.”

Doug held Jonathan’s gaze, then begrudgingly fished the tiny key out of his pocket and handed it across the desk.

Jonathan unfastened Harvey’s hands, and handed the hardware back to the chief. “Thanks, Doug. So, why is he in custody?”

“Well, according to Harvey, somebody’s trying to kill him. When he got cornered down on the marina, he says he broke into a boat specifically to sound the alarm and bring attention. That last part worked. One of our patrolmen happened to be less than a block away.”

Jonathan shot an admiring look to Harvey. “Yeah?”

Harvey shrugged and rubbed his wrists.

“Good thinking,” Jonathan said. “And the bad guy?”

“Poof,” Doug said. “No sign of him.”

“Tell him the rest,” Harvey prompted. “Your guy saw my guy running away after the alarm sounded.”

Doug confirmed with a shrug and a nod. “Absolutely true.” He pointed to one of the other metal chairs. “Have a seat, Dig. I’ve learned over the years that shit like this doesn’t happen in this town unless your DNA is on it somewhere. Tell Uncle Dougie what’s going on.”

Jonathan sat, crossed his legs, and tried his best to look relaxed as he scoured his mind for a way to skirt what he knew was coming. “Doug, you know we’ve been friends for a long time-”

The chief laughed. “Oh, God,” he said. “When you start down the friendship road, nothing good ever follows.”

Jonathan remained serious. “We’ve always had an understanding about my business. You don’t ask much, and I don’t offer much.”

Doug turned serious, too. “That was before people started shooting the place up and kidnapping children. That was before I had reporters climbing up my ass twenty-four hours a day and the FBI camped out in my squad room. Funny how stuff changes.”

“You have every reason to be upset,” Jonathan said. “If I were in your position-”

Doug held up his hand. “Save it. I don’t need to be patronized or commiserated with. I need information, and I believe that you have it. I love you like a brother, my friend, but don’t think I won’t throw your ass in jail for obstruction. If that happens, I don’t know how I’ll be able to stop the leaks to the press about your little sideline business. I don’t know the details, but I know enough to make your life difficult. What I haven’t figured out yet, I’m sure that the press could stitch together in time. So, tell me, Dig. How fast do you want the pitches to come in this game of hardball?”

Jonathan felt stunned. “You’re threatening me?”

Doug threw his hands in the air in frustration. “What the hell else can I do? Look, I know you see Resurrection House as your pet project run by your pet charities, but the reality is, it’s in my town, and that janitor in the hospital-Alvin Stewart-is a neighbor of mine. Now, I know you’re not real keen on some of the laws of this land, but you’ve got to live by them just like everybody else. At a minimum you’ve got to share specialized information with the people who are paid to enforce them.”

Harvey Rodriguez watched the two of them as if they were a tennis match, his head turning from one to the other.

“You don’t want to know some of these details, Doug.”

The chief slammed his hand down on the desk. “Don’t tell me what I don’t want to know. I’m a big boy, Digger. I’m smart enough to sift details.”

Jonathan had never seen him like this. Of all the people he’d known over the years, Doug Kramer had always been among the most staid. It was unsettling to see him this far out of control. But he had a point. The chief had a job to do, and to the degree that his job involved protecting the children at Resurrection House, they should be in lockstep. As he made up his mind what he was going to do, he could almost hear Boxers screaming in protest. The big guy always worried that he played fast and loose with OpSec-operational security-and to tilt his hand to the chief of police, even one who’d been a friend since childhood, crossed all reasonable lines.

Jonathan sighed. “I’ll share what I know, but not what I suspect,” he said, “but on the condition that you don’t ask me to reveal my sources. You’ll either believe me or you won’t, but I won’t discuss anything about how I came upon the details. Fair enough?”

Kramer showed nothing. “I guess we’ll see.”