Page 121 of Grave Danger
Jack entered the address into his navigational app. The mystery of Yasmin’s planetary reference was solved.
“I’m on my way,” he said.
Jack hurried back into the lounge, said good night to Dr. Vestry on his way past the bar, and caught the hotel elevator to the ground floor.He was cutting through the lobby when his phone rang again. It wasn’t Zahra.
“Andie, what’s up?”
“You know what’s up. Our tech agents have been monitoring Zahra’s cell phone. They picked up a call from your number to hers.”
“Please don’t tell me the FBI is monitoringmyphone.”
“Did you not hear me the first time? I just said they got it from Zahra’s phone.”
Jack wanted to believe his own wife simply because she was his wife. But the fact that she made no mention of the call from Zahra on the landline was welcome corroboration. She would have known about the second call if the FBI was monitoringhisphone, too.
“Did your techies calculate the location of Zahra’s phone?”
“No. Your call didn’t last long enough. Triangulation takes time.”
Jack had cross-examined enough tech witnesses to know that cell tower triangulation worked only if the cell phone signal was picked up by at least three cell towers, which allowed law enforcement to calculate the point of intersection of the three signals and, thus, the coordinates of the cell phone. Remote places like Jupiter Island didn’t always interface with three towers.
“So, youdon’tknow where she is?”
“No. But you told me that if you spoke to Zahra, you would do your best to get her to give up her location.”
“Right. And that I would try to convince her to surrender. Which I did.”
“Great. Where is she?”
Jack continued out of the hotel lobby to the valet stand at the motor court. “You’ll know soon enough,” he said into his phone.
“Do you know where she is?”
“Yes.”
“Then don’t play games, Jack. You need to tell me.”
“If I do, the FBI will send in SWAT before I get there. That’s the worst thing that could possibly happen.”
“There will be no SWAT. I promise you.”
“I wish—”
Jack stopped himself, but they both knew he was about to say,I wish I could believe you.It gave them both a moment to reflect on the state of their marriage, but this wasn’t the time to discuss it.
“Yasmin has been through enough trauma,” said Jack. “I’ll call you when I get there, and we can have a quiet and peaceful surrender.”
“Jack, your client is a child abductor. You can’t help her.”
“My other client is a seven-year-old girl,” said Jack. “I intend to do everything I possibly can to helpher.”
“Jack, you’re putting me in a terrible spot.Again.”
“It’s not on you. It’s on me. Tell your ASAC I got involved in this case to protect Yasmin from grave danger of physical and psychological harm. I’m not going to be the one who inflicts it. Or let anyone else inflict it.”
He heard Andie’s sigh over the line.
“Please be careful,” she said.