Final Target

  Jessica grabbed Melissa.

  The ambulance screeched to a halt and the back door flew open.

  “I was getting worried,” Travis said as he straightened away from Cassie. “You ran it too close, Galen.”

  “I’m hurt. It wasn’t easy setting up those charges and diverting the traffic. I’m not used to having to worry about innocent bystanders.” A man in jeans and T-shirt began to roll the gurney out of the ambulance. “Is this the little girl who may cause me to lose my head?”

  “You can bet on it if you don’t lift off in two minutes.” He jumped out of the vehicle and helped Melissa to the ground. “Those Secret Service agents are no slouches. I figure we have a four-minute lead.”

  Galen’s eyes were on Melissa. “What’s wrong with her?”

  “It’s a long story. Bring Cassie.” He picked Melissa up and carried her to the helicopter. “Come on, Jessica.”

  Jessica jumped out of the ambulance and ran toward the helicopter. The ambulance driver and EMT were already climbing into the aircraft. The man Travis had called Galen placed Cassie gently in the helicopter and then boosted Jessica inside. He waved his arm at the pilot. “Go.”

  The helicopter lifted off and soared over the trees just as the Secret Service car tore into the clearing. Jessica tensed as she saw Fike jump out and pull his gun.

  “Don’t worry,” Travis said. “No one’s going to get trigger-happy when they know the President’s daughter is on board.”

  He was right. No shots were fired, and in seconds they were out of range.

  Cassie screamed.

  Galen jumped. “Holy shit.”

  “She’s back in the nightmare. I didn’t have time to get her entirely out of it.” Travis crawled over to Cassie. “How much time do we have?”

  “Ten minutes until we land at the airport and transfer planes.” Galen grimaced as Cassie screamed again. “Do something, will you? The kid sounds terrible.”

  “I’m doing it. I hope ten minutes are enough.” He began to talk to Cassie.

  Jessica cradled Mellie in her arms and watched him. Gentleness. Strength. Determination. How could he change from moment to moment? She had wanted to kill him in Cassie’s bedroom tonight. She still wanted to kill him. He was doing only what he had to do, and he’d done it at his convenience.

  “Wonders never cease, do they?” Galen was also watching Travis. “He’s actually reaching her. What’s his secret?”

  “He got a head start at Vasaro.”

  Galen nodded. “Yeah, that’s right. I remember when he came out of that study with her. I told him we should go, but he wouldn’t leave the kid. I had the devil of a time getting him out later.”

  “You were at Vasaro that night?”

  “Sure.” He grinned. “You may have heard Travis was the hero, but it was really me. I was just too modest to stay around and take the bows.” His smile faded. “Don’t worry, we’ll get you away safely. I’ve got it all set up.”

  “Why shouldn’t I worry? I don’t even know what happened tonight. How did you know we’d sent for an ambulance?”

  “When Travis knew Andreas was going to stash him somewhere, he called me and told me to be ready to set up a technical van.”

  She frowned in confusion. “To intercept the call to the hospital?”

  “Oh, that came later. He wanted me to trace his location at Juniper from his phone signal. And he wasn’t sure the Secret Service boys would obey the President’s orders not to listen to his calls. He wanted my guys to occasionally interrupt their satellite signal monitor when he said a code word to van der Beck. Of course, not all the time, or it would have tipped them off.”

  “Van der Beck?”

  “Never mind, I’m probably throwing too much at you.”

  “Yes, you are. And all this technical mumbo jumbo will be for nothing.” She shook her head. “Andreas will set every law enforcement agency in the country after us.”

  “I admit it’s quite a challenge.”

  She looked at him in astonishment.

  “Okay, maybe a little bit more than I’d usually take on.” He shrugged. “But Travis promised me he’d make it right.”

  “He’s going to make kidnapping the daughter of the President right?”

  He made a face. “Don’t remind me. As long as I take one step at a time, I’m okay. When he first told me about his plan, I wanted to break his neck. I told Travis the last time I saw him that I didn’t like living on the edge anymore.”

  “But you’re doing this for him. Why?”

  “I owe him.” He shrugged. “Even so, if it was an ordinary job, I’d have told him to find someone else. This one means something to him.”

  “Money?”

  “Sure, but there’s something else thrown into the pot.” Then he added, “Besides, I like him. God knows why. He’s not an easy man to like. You have to beat down too many walls to get to him.”

  “Then I wouldn’t bother.” She glanced away from Travis. “What airport are we going to?”

  “A private field north of Baltimore. We’ll transfer to the jet there and by morning we should be in Antwerp. We drive from there to Amsterdam.” He grimaced. “I told him that’s the first place they’ll look for him. He said it was necessary.”

  She shook her head in wonder. “You talk as if flitting around the world is going to be so easy. I don’t even have my passport with me.”

  “ That’s okay. I have all kinds of documents for you. Part of the service. Of course, you’ll have to get used to a new name. I think it’s Mary or Marilyn or something like that. You won’t have to use it very often. We sort of skirt around immigration. Piece of cake.”

  False documents. Illegal entry. Piece of cake? The casualness with which he spoke made her think that for him criminal activity was a simple fact of life. To her it was a new and frightening world. “That’s hard for me to believe.”

  “You’ll see.” His gaze went to Melissa. “She’s looking better. Her color’s coming back. Is she on drugs?”

  “ No.”

  “Sick?”

  “No.” Her grasp tightened around Melissa’s shoulders. “She’s going to be fine.”

  Melissa woke up as they were getting her out of the helicopter.

  “Jessica . . .” She looked around dazedly. “What the devil . . . ?”

  “It’s okay.”

  “No, it’s not. Nothing’s been right all night. Broken. All broken . . .”

  “Can you walk?”

  “I’ll try . . . but slow. I’m groggy . . . and my knees are like rubber.”

  “Slow isn’t possible.” Galen picked her up and started at a run for the small private jet. “Just hold on and we’ll get there.”

  Melissa frowned up at him. “Who are you?”

  “Sean Galen.”

  “It’s okay, Mellie.” Jessica was running beside him. “I’ll explain later.”

  “You’ll have to.” Her eyes closed. “I’m too tired to think now. Where’s Travis?”

  “With Cassie.”

  “Good.”

  Her eyes suddenly flicked open and she stared up at Galen. “No. Don’t do it.”

  He looked down at her.

  “Don’t . . .” Her eyes closed again. “Don’t let him, Jessica. . . .”

  She was asleep.

  Galen ran up the stairs to the jet and deposited Melissa on a leather couch. He nodded at the privacy curtain that divided the plane into two compartments. “Travis is up front with the kid. Sit down and fasten your seat belts.” He headed for the cockpit. “We’re out of here.”

  “ Wait.”

  He looked back at Jessica.

  “I’m calling Andreas.”

  He stopped short. “You’d better talk to Travis about that.”

  “I don’t care what Travis says. I’m calling Andreas and telling him Cassie’s safe.” She added dryly, “Don’t worry, I won’t blow the whistle.”

  “He won’t believe you, but I suppose it can’t
hurt. Make it less than two minutes. I’ll tell Travis.” He disappeared behind the curtain.

  She drew a deep breath and then dialed Andreas.

  “You bitch.”

  “I can understand how you would think that.”

  “How much money were you paid to take my daughter?”

  “It wasn’t money. I had no choice. I was afraid for Cassie and I didn’t see any other way out.”

  “You said she was getting better.”

  “She was getting better, but it was only temporary and—”

  Travis was standing in the curtained doorway, and he made a motion to cut the call short.

  “I have to go. I just want to tell you that none of us intends to harm your daughter.”

  “What do you want from me?”

  “Nothing.”

  “I want to talk to Travis. Put that bastard on.”

  “He wants me to hang up.”

  “Tell him if he so much as touches her, we’ll catch him and crucify him. And that goes for you too.”

  “I’d probably feel the same way. You have to do what you have to do. But Cassie’s safe and we’ll try to keep her safe.” She hung up and looked at Travis. “I had to do it. I couldn’t let him go through that hell.”

  “I’m not arguing. My only priority was to get you off the line before the call could be traced.” He turned back. “ Fasten your seat belt.”

  Tokyo

  Andreas whirled on Keller. “Did you get the location?”

  The Secret Service man shook his head. “She hung up too soon. If we’d just had thirty seconds more . . .”

  Andreas’s hand clenched until the knuckles turned white. “What the hell is all this Star Wars technology for if you can’t do a simple trace? If you can’t find a child who—” He had to stop and wait until he could speak again. “You promised me she’d be safe at Juniper. Now, you find my Cassie, damn you.”

  “Yes, sir, I’ve already notified Danley.”

  “Have they picked up Travis’s contact in Amsterdam?”

  He shook his head. “They were in van der Beck’s flat five minutes after we knew what Travis had done. He’d already slipped away.”

  “Then tell Danley to locate him.”

  “Danley’s boarding a plane in D.C. in twenty minutes. Should we notify the media about the kidnapping?”

  “God, no. If the whole world knows Cassie’s out there and vulnerable, she could be targeted by other groups. And how the hell do we know Travis won’t call back with a demand? I only talked to that bitch of a shrink. We’re not sure of anything, and until we are, you make damn sure no one knows Cassie’s missing. You find her.”

  “If Travis heads for Amsterdam, there’s a good chance we’ll need international help.”

  “Circulate pictures of Travis and Jessica Riley to every police department in Europe. Tell them the U.S. government would be very grateful for their cooperation in apprehending them. Make up some story. Call them . . . terrorists or anything else you can think of. Just don’t mention Cassie.”

  “Yes, Mr. President.”

  “I’m going to return to Washington. Make some excuse and call the Vice President to replace me here. Tell them I’ve got the flu or something.”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “And, Keller.”

  “Yes, sir?”

  “Make sure my wife doesn’t find out.” His voice was uneven. “Until you bring my daughter back, she’s not to know that Cassie’s not safe at Juniper.”

  11

  Melissa didn’t wake again until they were over the Atlantic.

  Vibration. Throb of engines. A plane . . .

  Plane?

  Jessica. Where was Jessica? She jerked upright.

  “Shh. It’s okay.” Jessica was suddenly beside her. “Everything’s fine, Mellie.”

  “I don’t think so.” She slowly sat up. It was a plane and she was lying on a leather couch. “I have an idea nothing’s fine. Cassie?”

  “She’s sleeping in the front. Travis is with her. I wanted to stay with you.”

  “Is she well?” She tried to remember. “There was an ambulance. . . .”

  “Travis arranged that.”

  “And this plane?”

  “Travis and his friend Sean Galen.”

  “Where are we going?”

  “Amsterdam. By way of Antwerp.”

  “Amster—” Melissa drew a deep breath and said slowly, “I believe you have a few things to tell me. I go to sleep at Juniper and I wake up on my way to Amsterdam?”

  “Would you like a cup of coffee?”

  “No, I’d like to know every single thing that I’ve obviously not been privy to.”

  Jessica sighed. “Okay, I just thought you might need the caffeine before I throw all this at you.” For the next several minutes she detailed the dilemma with which Travis had confronted her.

  Melissa started swearing. “I can’t believe it. I asked you what the problem was the other night, and you lied to me.”

  “Not really. I just didn’t tell you everything. Okay, I lied to you.”

  “Why?”

  “It was my decision whether or not to give in to Travis, and you would have complicated things.”

  “Your decision? I’m pretty deeply involved in this. I think I should have been allowed to put in my two cents’ worth.”

  “Cassie’s my patient.”

  “And you still think of me as a patient too. Which leaves you in charge, right? Well, I’m not a patient and I won’t be treated like one. I’m not sick or off my noggin and I can pull my own weight.”

  “You didn’t look like you were pulling your own weight tonight.”

  “That was a low blow.”

  “You deserved it. You may not be my patient, but as long as you have this connection with Cassie, you’re as much in danger as she is. Do you think I’m going to let anything bad happen to you because I’m afraid of hurting your feelings?”

  Melissa stared at her for a moment and then said grudgingly, “Dammit, you could have let me be right this one time, Saint Jessica. I’m all full of righteous indignation and you pull the carpet out from under me.” She shook her head. “But you still should have told me. Together we could have found a way to pull the plug on Travis. His whole scheme is absolutely insane.”

  “Do you think I don’t know that? I couldn’t see any way out. We need him.”

  She couldn’t argue about that, Melissa realized in frustration. “Why Amsterdam?”

  “Travis has business there.” She hesitated. “I didn’t tell you, but I got him to promise me . . . the Wind Dancer.”

  Melissa froze. “What?”

  “I pressured him into promising he’d find a way to bring Cassie and the statue together.”

  “ No.”

  “Yes.” She looked down at Melissa’s hands clenched on the coverlet. “I knew this would upset you, but you’re wrong. I believe this is a chance to help her. I’m not sure I can trust Travis to keep his word, but I’m going to try to hold him to it. I won’t go through all this madness and not get something out of it.”

  Melissa could feel the muscles of her stomach twist. “Christ, how can I convince you what a mistake you’re making?” she whispered.

  “You can’t convince me. My patient. My decision.” Jessica squeezed her hand. “I’m afraid this time you’ll just have to come along for the ride.” She got to her feet. “Now I think I’ll make coffee and sandwiches. If you want to get out of that nightshirt, there’s a change of clothes and a toothbrush in the bathroom. They’re in an overnight case neatly labeled with your name.” She headed down the aisle toward the back of the plane. “Galen seems to have provided for everything.”

  Galen. A memory came back to Melissa of the man who had carried her to the jet. Dark hair, dark eyes, quick, strong . . .

  And dangerous, very dangerous.

  She had gotten those same vibes from Travis. He was probably even more dangerous than Galen. Certainly more dangerou
s to her, because he was the one who had promised Jessica the Wind Dancer. She had to talk to Travis, tell him to forget about the damn statue.

  Emerald eyes . . .

  Not now. Block that memory. She was upset and shaking, and she needed to be clearheaded when she dealt with Travis.

  Jesus, the Wind Dancer. As if this situation weren’t bad enough . . .

  She got up and headed for the bathroom.

  “I want to speak to you.”

  Travis looked up from his notebook. “How do you feel, Melissa?”

  “Mad as hell.” She glanced at Cassie. Her eyes were closed and she was probably asleep. Better not to take a chance. “We need to talk. Privately.”

  “That doesn’t surprise me.” He stood up and moved down the aisle. “We can keep an eye on her from here.”

  “Your concern is touching considering what you put her through.”

  “I couldn’t see any other way. I know it must have been hard for her . . . and you.”

  “You don’t know jack.” Her voice was shaking. “We trusted you and you weren’t there for us. And if that wasn’t bad enough, you pulled Jessica into this stupidity. If she doesn’t get thrown into jail, she’s bound to lose her license. I could kill you.”

  “I’ll make it turn out right for Jessica.”

  “And Cassie? Jessica told me you’ve promised her the Wind Dancer. You can’t do that. The Wind Dancer’s bad news.”

  “If Cassie’s afraid of being with the statue, maybe she just needs to face her fears.”

  “It’s bad news.”

  He studied her face. “If Cassie’s looking for the statue, she can’t have bad feelings toward it, can she?”

  She didn’t answer. “If it’s in the Museum d’Andreas, how are you going to get hold of it? There has to be all kinds of security surrounding it.” She shrugged. “Why am I worrying? You won’t be able to keep your word to Jessica. We’ll probably get caught in Amsterdam.”

  “That’s a favorable option to you?”

  “Yes. Why are we going to Amsterdam anyway? Isn’t it the first place they’ll look for you?”

  “Yes. But I have business there. I have to see my friend.”

  “You have a friend? He must not have known you for long.”

  “All my life. He and my father were partners. He helped raise me.” He smiled. “He says he likes me, but I suppose he just doesn’t want to admit he did a bad job with me.”