Part 36 (1/2)

Jo jammed the heels of her Doc Martens into the gra.s.s. ”Kanan's going to call me. I have to be home. He set his cell phone to dial me and if I don't answer, he'll never call back.”

Murdock put his lips against her ear and nuzzled her hair. ”Shut up.”

The panic sank all the way through her. He was enjoying this.

He handed the iron to Vance, who began looping the electrical cord through the inner rim of the wheel.

”We couldn't just take her to the house?” Vance said. ”Do it in the bay when we get the others and-”

Murdock went rigid. ”Shut up.”

”I just-”

”Close your stupid mouth.”

Vance rigged his deadweight. ”All I meant was...” He stopped. ”What's that?”

Murdock looked at his s.h.i.+rt. A lively melody was pouring from his pocket. Coming out of my cage and...

It was the Killers. ”Mr. Brightside.” A catchy pop song with mordant lyrics that Tina knew a psychiatrist would appreciate. And it's all in my head but...

”It's my phone,” Jo said.

Murdock stared at his pocket.

”You stole it off my kitchen table when you broke into my house, didn't you?” she said.

Vance straightened up. ”It might be the cops. Throw it in the lake.”

”It might be Kanan. Let me answer,” she said.

The cheery ringtone neared the end of the verse. If it went to voice mail, she was done. Her voice mail recording would be her valedictory speech, her farewell message.

Murdock took it from his pocket and checked the display. ”'Gabe.'”

Jo felt tears rush toward her eyes. ”He's Kanan's army buddy. Served with him in Afghanistan. Kanan won't call on his own phone-too easy to trace.”

Vance shook his head. ”He's her boyfriend or something. Dump it.”

”For Christ's sake, you want to take the chance?” Jo said. ”Lose your shot at the payoff?”

The ringtone hit the chorus. Murdock shoved the phone into Jo's hands. Then he grabbed her hair, pulled her head back, and put his ear next to hers.

One shot, she thought, and answered. ”Gabe.”

”I'm at your place. We still on for tonight?” he said.

She blinked back her emotions. ”Absolutely. It's now or never. Tell Kanan the exchange is on-the lab sample for his wife and son. These people just need the time and the location.”

Please, Quintana-play along, and get ready to redial the police and triangulate my location from the cell phone signal. The silence stretched.

Vance muttered, ”It's a trick. Throw the phone in the lake.”

Gabe spoke again, his voice measured. ”And if both the sample and the Kanan family are delivered safely, everybody goes away happy.”

”Including me,” Jo said.

Murdock grabbed the phone. ”I want to talk to Kanan. How do you put it on speaker?” He fumbled with the controls and hit the speaker b.u.t.ton. ”Put Kanan on.”

A thick silence filled the air. Jo willed Gabe to develop a new voice. She willed her legs to hold her up.

A new voice came on the line. ”This is Kanan. What do you want?”

”For starters, prove it's you,” Murdock said.

Jo's legs weakened. It was Ferd. She felt as though she'd just opened the c.o.c.kpit door and seen that a stewardess was flying the plane.

”Don't play games with me,” Ferd said. ”We don't have time.”

Murdock snapped his fingers at Vance and jerked a thumb over his shoulder. ”Get Riva and Shepard, quick. They can verify it's him.”

Vance wiped his nose and ran off into the fog to find them.

Murdock said, ”Give me proof, or you don't get the family back. No tickee, no laundry.”

Ferd coughed, hesitating. Jo could barely see straight.

Ferd cleared his throat. ”What kind of proof do you want? The security specs for the Johannesburg lab? Electron microscopy proving that Chira-Sayf accurately predicted the chirality of the carbon nanotubes? Or do you just want me to take the Damascus saber and shove it down your blowhole?”

Murdock breathed heavily.

”Well, jerkwad?” Ferd said.

Jo thought: Keep the Seven of Jo photo on your computer, Ferd. Make yourself a calendar. She leaned toward the phone. ”Ian, put Gabe back on.”

Murdock said, ”We don't need to talk to his pal.”

She glanced at him. ”Gabe has to arrange the rendezvous. Ian can't hang on to new information-he has a brain injury. If you talk to him, he'll just forget everything.”

”Yeah?” To the phone, loudly, Murdock said, ”What happened to you, Kanan? And where?”

There was a heavy pause. ”Southern Africa. Monkey virus.”

Murdock looked at Jo. ”That so?”