“What?” Cora said. “No! The kidnappers said they would kill her. God knows what they’ll do to Tilly when they learn I’ve gone to the police.”
“Your daughter’s life was in danger the second they stole her,” Hackett said. “We can’t deal with these people. Right now secrecy is their best weapon.”
“But we can’t have a press conference. There has to be another way!”
“There isn’t. At this time, we have no leads on your daughter’s location or safety. We have no leads on Lyle’s whereabouts. We have no leads on the suspects, or the gang involved. We have no choice, none.”
Hackett shot a glance toward Gannon.
“It could be the only way to get Tilly home,” Gannon said.
“Earl,” Larson said from down the hall. “Call from EPIC.”
Gannon’s ears pricked up. He knew EPIC was short for the El Paso Intelligence Center, the multi-agency operation at the U.S.-Mexico border that coordinated information on Mexican cartels and human smugglers.
Gannon had an idea and took it to a quiet corner of the house. Up to now, he’d been useless in the search for his niece. Using his cell phone, he called Isabel Luna in Mexico. “Isabel Luna, El Heraldo.”
“It’s Jack Gannon.” He lowered his voice. “I’m in Arizona and I need your help but this is confidential. You can’t report any of this yet.”
“Of course, Jack, we are working together.”
“An eleven-year-old girl has been kidnapped from her home in Phoenix, Arizona, by narcos. They claim a Phoenix businessman who runs a courier company stole five million dollars from them and vanished. He has five days to surface and return the money.”
“Has any of this been reported?”
“Not a word yet, but you must keep this all confidential.”
“Why the secrecy?”
“The girl is my niece.”
“Your niece? Do you know who took her?”
“No, my sister works for the man the kidnappers are trying to pressure.”
“What can I do to help you, Jack?”
“I need you to find out who might be responsible. Can you check with your sources in Juarez, see what you can dig up confidentially?”
“I will at once.”
Gannon ended the call and exhaled just as his phone rang.
“Jack, Melody in New York. Where are you and what do you have?”
“I’m in Phoenix and we have a story.”
“What is it?”
“An eleven-year-old girl has been kidnapped from her Phoenix home, likely tied to the theft of five million dollars from a cartel.”
“I’ll put it on the next news budget. You write us a first hit. We’ll need it in about thirty minutes.”
“No. We can’t write anything yet.”
“What?”
“Alert our Phoenix bureau to expect a news conference with the FBI late in the day.”
“News conference? Isn’t this our exclusive?”
“No, it’s complicated.”
“We need exclusives, Jack.”
“I know and this could lead to one. You have to trust me.”
“What’s going on?”
Since he’d already told Isabel Luna, Gannon surrendered his information to the editor he trusted most.
“The girl who’s been kidnapped is the daughter of my estranged sister, Cora-my niece. I’m sorry, but it’s complicated. I’ll explain later.”
“Good Lord. Is she okay?”
“No.”
“Are you okay?”
“I’m not sure.”
“Is there anything we can do?”
“Thanks, I’ll let you know. Just trust me on this for now, please. I really have to go. I’ll call you when I know more.”
Gannon scanned the house and saw Cora on the edge of a chair, being offered water and comfort by paramedics. They’d been monitoring her vital signs from the get-go.
Watching her now, he battled his emotions.
Am I scum? His sister had called him for help. Was he being a brother and an uncle, or was he being a reporter? Why did he feel a greater obligation to his job than to Cora? Because it didn’t feel like she was his sister. At times he felt that she was a stranger. Then there were warm flashes, when he’d recognized the same gentle spirit who’d guided him when he was a boy.
His big sister, Cora.
And he wondered what their lives would’ve been like had she not run off and devastated their family. But dwelling on it made him angry. His thoughts shifted when Cora indicated that she wanted to talk to him alone.
The paramedics gave them privacy.
Cora gripped his arm.
Since this had happened, she hadn’t slept or eaten. Her eyes were reddened from tears. She pulled him closer. Her lower lip started trembling.
“Am I being punished, Jack.”
“What do you mean?”
“For my past. In the worst times of my life I had to do things to survive-awful things, Jack.”
“What things? Tell me. Maybe it will help find Tilly.”
“No, it’s not like that.”
“If it has something to do with why you cut yourself off from us, then tell me. I need to know. I deserve to know.”
“I can’t.” Her face contorted with fear. “What if I never see her again?”
“Take it easy.”
“This is not about me, not about my mistakes. It’s about my daughter.”
“I know, I know. You’re upset. Maybe you should rest.”
“You have to help me find her before it’s too late, find out who took her and bring her back!” She collapsed onto his chest.
“It’s all right,” he whispered, looking down at her. He held her until she calmed down. When the paramedics returned to check on her, Gannon met Hackett’s stare. He’d been watching.
He took Gannon aside.
“Saw you on your phone, Jack. Mind telling me who were you talking to and what you told them?”
Gannon considered his question.
“My boss needs to know where I am.”
“That right? Listen, you’d better give serious thought about your role here. For some reason, your long-lost sister thinks having you here now is important.”
“She was scared and she called me. The situation brought us together.”
“That’s fine-you’re family. But your actions could be counterproductive to our efforts. Anything you learn here is privileged. Sharing it outside the investigation could undermine our work, force us to look at excluding you from the house and consider obstruction charges. You got that?”
“Oh, I get it.”
“Good.”
“We have the same goal-the safe return of my niece.”
“As long as we’re on the same page, Jack.”
“We are-the one that says you do your job and I’ll do mine.”
Hackett glared at Gannon until a heart-stopping shriek cut through the impasse. Paramedics were struggling to stem Cora’s rising hysteria as she moaned to everyone.
“Please, bring my daughter back to me! Please!”
9
Phoenix, Arizona
T ick. Tick. Tick.
The clock on the wall of the FBI’s office was all Cora could hear.
Time counting down on Tilly’s life.
Or was that Cora’s heart racing under the fierce light of cameras?
Some fifty news people had gathered for the press conference at the FBI’s Field Office. They adjusted lenses, tripods, checked BlackBerry phones, made notes and last-minute cell phone calls while Cora and other officials took their places in front of the crowd.
The announcements would start momentarily.
Prior to arriving, Cora had slept for an hour but adrenaline still rushed through her. She’d refused sedatives from the paramedics and had managed to eat saltine crackers to quell her stomach butterflies after she’d agreed to make a live statement to the press.
Hackett and Gannon had convinced her that it was critical to reach out to the kidnappers and that this was the best way to speak directly to them, to Tilly, to Lyle, and to get the whole world looking for them. It could lead to a break in the case. Her plea would be distributed everywhere on the air and online.
Jack had helped her compose a few sentences. They were printed in large font on the folded sheet of paper she now held in her hand.