Patriot Lies (Jack Widow Book 14) Read online

  She said, "Widow, what's happening? My guys are as confused as I am."

  "Come inside."

  He took her by the hand like lovers. He didn't do it on purpose. It just felt right. She didn't complain. He led her back through the open door and into the Akers’ dark house. He closed the door behind them and released Gray's hand.

  Widow walked Gray into a living room. She followed close behind him. Her eyes still needed to adjust to the low light.

  Widow presented her to Aker and his wife.

  "Michael, this is Sonya Gray. She's with me."

  Gray's eyes adjusted, and she reached out a hand to Aker. He took it and shook it. He didn't make eye contact. He just stared at the floor.

  Widow looked at Mrs. Aker.

  "Ma'am, I'm sorry. I don't know your name."

  Aker's wife said, "Gill."

  She offered a hand to Gray, slow, and feeble. Gray took it and shook it.

  "It's nice to meet you, Gill," she said. "What's going on here? Why did you guys lock the doors on my agents?"

  Widow said, "Why don't you two sit down and tell us?"

  He pointed at a sofa against the living room wall. The Akers nodded and moved to the sofa. Michael kept his arm around his wife, leading her to the sofa like she couldn't be trusted to do it herself, like a caring husband would.

  The Akers sat.

  Gray and Widow moved to the center of the room and sat on two chairs opposite the sofa. Widow put his hands on his knees and sat up straight and listened.

  Aker spoke while keeping his wife calm.

  "We have two little girls."

  Gray nodded along. She knew that. It was in her guy's report. Then she started to look around the room and through open doors for the girls. She must've realized that they weren't there because her eyes opened wide. She was about to jump out of her seat to get on her phone and call in a team to recover them. But Widow shot her a stare, asking her to wait. She caught on and stayed in her seat.

  Widow turned to Aker and said, "Go on."

  Aker said, "They’re twins. Five years old. They're gone. We woke up this morning, and they're gone—no sign of them. We started to get the agents in here, but my wife called me from their bedroom. We can't involve the cops. We shouldn't be involving you now."

  Aker paused a beat and swallowed and asked, "How could this happen? How could they have gotten past your agents?"

  Gray said, "I don't know, sir. But we're going to get them back."

  Gill Aker said, "How?"

  Gray didn't answer that.

  Widow asked, "There's a ransom note?"

  Aker said, "No note."

  "How do you know not to involve the cops?"

  Aker lifted a hand like it was the heaviest thing he'd ever lifted. He pointed behind them to a short hallway.

  "There's a message scrolled on a mirror in the girls' bedroom. See for yourself."

  Aker said nothing else. He just went back to holding his wife.

  Widow stood up and glanced at Gray. She stood and followed him back to the short hallway. They walked through the darkness. Widow didn't go for a light switch. In case this whole thing came to an FBI investigation, he didn't want his fingerprints confused with any potential kidnappers.

  He figured Gray was thinking the same thing because she didn't mention it. And she also didn't go for the light switches.

  In the hallway, she whispered, "Widow, we should call this in. I'm obligated."

  "No. We don't say anything until we have a look. If you feel like you can't handle that, then you should step outside. I'm not obligated."

  Gray said nothing to that. She didn't leave. She stayed with him. She reached into her pocket and took out her smartphone, turned on a flashlight app. The flash lit up the way in front of them.

  Widow came to the girls' bedroom door. It was obvious because there were kids’' drawings and small handcrafted art made with tiny hands stuck to the door. The door wasn't closed all the way. He used his boot to push the door all the way open. It squeaked on hinges.

  The Aker's house was all one level. The floors were dark hardwood throughout, with area rugs in all the right places.

  The girls' bedroom was big, bigger than Widow had expected. There was a long floor rug covered in cartoon characters he didn't recognize. There were two sets of everything in the room. Two beds. Two little desks. Two chairs. There were two separate shelves with the same lineup of stuffed animals neatly placed in some kind of order. There was only one closet. The door was wide open. Inside, he saw the girls had split the sides up equally between them. Each side was an exact mirror of the other. The same clothes were all folded the same way. The same shoes were set out on the floor. There were two of everything, all neatly placed, all neatly arranged, and all mirroring the other side of the closet.

  On the far right wall were two matching desks. Above one of them was a corkboard with mementos strewn about. There were more kids’ drawings and crafts. There were also several photos of the girls thumbtacked to the board. Widow could see they were two little fair-haired girls. They were smiling in every photo, like two happy little kids.

  Widow was a good investigator. One of the secrets to being a good investigator was to stay cold, to stay unattached, but seeing their faces filled his veins with a furious blood rush. His teeth ground in his mouth. His temperature went up a degree. His heart started pounding in his chest. He knew that once he had them back safe and sound, there would be hell to pay for the man who had taken them.

  Gray seemed to be on the same page as Widow because she shone her phone light on the photos.

  In the bedroom to the left above the beds was a large window with plantation shutters. Each bed had matching bedding. The beds weren't made. The blankets and covers were haphazardly thrown on the floor, as if the twins had been lifted right up from deep sleep and taken in the night, which was exactly what had happened, according to the Akers.

  Gray moved the light back to the desks on the right.

  She said, "They said there was a message on the mirror."

  She shone the flashlight between the matching desks on a full-length wall mirror. Gray grabbed Widow's arm and squeezed it. Her nails dug into his forearm.

  "Look!" she said.

  A note was scrawled on the mirror. It was written in red paint from a kid's paint set. The tube was left open on one of the desktops. Red paint pooled under the nozzle onto the desktop.

  The message read: Get Jack Widow! Or they die! No cops! Or they die!

  That was it. There were no other instructions. No ransom. No trade. Just two demands.

  "Are these your guys from the Escalade?" Gray asked.

  "Have to be."

  Widow stared at the message for a long time seeming to be reading it over and over.

  Gray said, "Widow? You okay?"

  He turned and nodded and walked past her to the beds.

  "Shine the light over here," he said.

  Gray followed him with the light. He studied the beds and then turned to the shutters on the window. He reached up and grabbed the highest point of the opening rod and pulled it. The shutters opened with a swivel sound. Sunlight streamed into the room, illuminating the darkness with sudden white light. Gray shut off her phone light.

  Widow studied the window without touching it. It looked intact.

  "Let's check the rest of the house. Figure out how they got in."

  Gray nodded, and they walked back out of the twins' bedroom into the hall. They went back to the living room. The sunlight followed them, and the interior was much more easy to see now.

  Widow and Gray stopped in the living room and looked at the Akers.

  "Did you guys touch anything?" Widow asked.

  "No," Michael Akers answered.

  Gray asked, "Any sign of a break-in?"

  Michael Aker said, "The back door!"

  He pointed toward the kitchen.

  Widow asked, "Did you guys hear anything?"

  Gill Aker said, "No! N
othing!"

  Widow nodded and turned toward the kitchen. Gray followed behind him. The kitchen and dining room appeared normal. The Akers' kitchen was big. There was a large island in the middle. The light in the back of the house was better than the front. Sunlight crept in between the shutters.

  Widow walked right to the backdoor, which had panes of glass that connected together to form one large window. The glass of one of the panels was busted out. There was broken glass all over a floor mat. There was dirt on the floor.

  Gray said, "Looks like a clean break."

  Widow stayed quiet.

  Gray said, "I'm going to have to go over security protocols with my guys."

  "I'd say so."

  Widow leaned in and looked out the window. He stared down at a flower garden in the backyard. It was partially trampled.

  He said, "Looks like the FBI can get a footprint out of Gill's flower garden."

  Widow pointed at the dirt on the floor.

  Gray said, "If we call them. We should call them now."

  "No. Not yet."

  Widow followed the dirt on the ground, and Gray stayed behind him. They walked back through the dining room, the living room, and back to the girl's bedroom.

  Gray said, "Widow? What are we doing now?"

  "We know they got in the house. And we know they got past your guys. I can accept that."

  "I can't! I mean how did they get past my guys? They must've been slacking off."

  "Not necessarily. Guards are not infallible. They have to pee just like everyone else. Maybe one stepped away for a second."

  "We've got procedure for that."

  Widow stayed quiet. He kept following the dirt crumbs over the floor to the kids' bedroom until they were back inside the room.

  Gray asked, "What are you looking for?"

  "I'm wondering something. How did someone take them out without the parents hearing?"

  Gray thought for a moment and then said, "They drugged them?"

  Widow stopped near one of the beds. He stared at part of the covers. They were off the bed, lying on the floor. He knelt over and sifted through the folds in the blanket and stopped cold.

  From Gray's angle, she saw his shoulder's tense up.

  "What is it?" she asked.

  Widow reached down in front of him and found something. He pinched the end of it, less likely to have been touched by the intruder and lifted it up for Gray to see.

  She stared at the object in terror. It was a small plastic syringe top cover, the kind used to cover the needle end of a syringe.

  "They injected the girls with something."

  "Poison?"

  "No. I don't think so. It's probably a sedative. They must've done it in their sleep to keep them asleep and sedated so they wouldn't struggle. That's how they got them out without alerting the parents."

  Gray asked, "Now what do we do?"

  But the answer didn't come from Widow.

  Right then, they heard a phone ringing.

  Widow looked at Gray. They both start looking around the room.

  "Where is that coming from?" Gray asked.

  Widow dropped the syringe cap and left it where he’d found it and stood up. He headed to one of the desks. He reached underneath and found a cheap burner phone. It was duct-taped to the bottom of the desk. He ripped it off, pulled it out, and showed it to Gray.

  "Answer it."

  Widow clicked the talk button and put the phone to his ear.

  A male voice asked, "Jack Widow?"

  Thirty-Five

  Gray stood by Widow. She stared at him, stared at his face. She looked for signs of response, something that might tell her what the caller was saying.

  From the other room, both Michael and Gill Aker came straight back to their daughters' bedroom after they heard the phone ring. They stopped in the doorway, standing together, holding each other like one parental unit.

  Gill Aker said, "Is it them? Tell them not to hurt my daughters. Tell them we'll give them anything they want."

  Michael Aker put a loving hand on his wife's shoulder. He pulled her as close to him as anyone could.

  He said, "Let Widow talk."

  Widow stood over the little desks. He looked like a giant compared to them. He closed his eyes and tried to listen to the background for any signs that could help him track the caller.

  "You know my name. But I don't know yours. Who are you?"

  The caller said, "I have to say, what bad luck it is that our paths cross like this again."

  Again? Widow thought. Does he mean from two days ago? The Escalade following him around?

  Widow asked, "Are they alive?"

  "Straight to the point? That's not your style. Not really. Not what I’ve heard."

  "What've you heard?"

  "I heard you liked to pretend to be a Navy SEAL. That you used to rat them out to your bosses. Whoever the hell that was. I heard you're some kinda hotshot undercover operator. That true?"

  "Meet me and find out."

  The caller laughed.

  "We have already met. What's the matter, Widow? Searching your memory for who I am?"

  Widow glanced back at Gray. She shrugged. Quickly, Widow put a hand over the phone's receiver. He whispered to her.

  "They know about me. About Unit Ten."

  Gray stared back at him, with questions in her eyes like she thought there was a leak somewhere. Or maybe these guys had a contact, an NCIS informant.

  Widow repeated his question.

  "Are they alive?"

  Silence.

  "I saw you the other day. You know? At the park bench, where Eggers died."

  Widow stayed quiet.

  The caller said, "You're no fun, Widow. So, I'll just cut to the chase. Go there now. Alone. Tell your NCIS buddies to go home. I see one person wearing navy blue, or a car, or a guy on a cell phone that I don't like, I'll kill these little girls. I'll send pieces of them to their parents. There'll be so many pieces that it'll take weeks to gather them to get enough to bury. You understand what I'm saying?"

  The Akers couldn't hear the caller's side of the conversation, but Gill knew what was being offered. She sensed it. She read it on Widow's face. The frantic side she was trying to hold back wouldn't be restrained any longer. She covered her mouth and burst into screams. She screamed into her hands. Michael grabbed her with both arms wrapped around her tight. He used all of his strength to pull her back out of the doorway and into the hall.

  Gray saw the same thing that Gill saw. She grabbed Widow's forearm with one hand and squeezed it. Her other hand covered her mouth like she was trying to cover up her gasps.

  Rage filled Widow worse than before. He couldn't hide it. He clenched his fist tight like he was going to use it as a sledgehammer.

  Gray felt his biceps. His forearms expanded and tightened through his coat sleeve.

  The caller said, "And Widow?"

  Widow breathed in and breathed out.

  "Yes?"

  "Bring the drive with you. You know? The video feed you got from Haspman. And make sure it's the only copy! Make sure it's original. We can check it. We got a guy who can tell if it's a copy or if it's been copied or even downloaded. It better not have been. If you got copies, bring them. You know what happens if you don't?"

  The guy's voice sounded familiar. It had just hit Widow. But he couldn't place him. There was too much fury in his blood for him to think clearly, objectively.

  "Yes."

  "What?"

  Widow stayed quiet.

  The caller said, "Tell me what happens if you deviate from my instructions."

  Widow glanced over at the Akers. He looked at Gill. They met eyes.

  He said, "You'll kill them."

  "That's not what I said. Tell me exactly what I said. Say it out loud. Repeat it verbatim. I want the parents to hear you say it. I know they're there. I imagine they're in the room with you now."

  Widow paused and said, "You'll kill them. You'll send pieces of t
hem to their parents."

  "And?"

  "There'll be so many pieces that it'll take weeks to get enough of them to bury."

  "Close enough. Thank you, Widow. Keep the phone on you. See you soon. Don't take too long. I'm short on patience."

  The caller hung up, and the phone went dead.

  Widow pulled the burner phone away from his ear and stared at it. He slipped it into his pocket with the phone Aker had given him. He turned and looked past Gray and stared at Gill Aker. She was sobbing uncontrollably. He stared at her for a long second. Then he turned to Gray.

  "He wants me to meet him."

  Michael Aker said, "I'm coming with you!"

  Gill Aker said, "We both are!"

  Gray said, "No! Out of the question! You guys stay here! We'll get them back!"

  Gill Aker said, "No! We're coming!"

  Widow put up a hand.

  "None of you are going. I have to go alone. He'll hurt them if I don't do exactly as he said."

  Michael Aker asked, "Do you think he'll give them back?"

  "Yes. I do. If I follow his instructions, he'll return them unharmed. He just wants something from me. That's it. I'm going alone."

  Gray said, "Like hell you are."

  Widow looked down at her. He stared into her eyes.

  He said, "No choice. We're out of time. He said to meet him now. I have to do this. Otherwise, we might never see the girls again."

  Gray didn't argue. They pushed past the Akers and into the living room and back to the front door.

  Michael Aker asked, "Are you going to get them back?"

  Widow stopped at the door and turned back.

  "I'm going to meet the kidnappers right now."

  Gill Aker had tears in her eyes.

  "Please, get my babies back," she said.

  "I will, ma'am," Widow said. He opened the front door and walked out into the sunlight.

  Gray followed close behind him.

  "Do you think these guys are telling the truth?"

  "I don't know."

  "Could be a trap."

  "It probably is a trap."

  "Who is it? Who's doing this?"

  "The guys on the video. They want to meet where Eggers died."

  "So, what do we do?"

  "I go. Alone."

  "What? No way!"

  "I have to! You saw the message. You saw they snuck right in past your guys like it was nothing. They've bribed city officials. They seem to have a long reach. I can't risk the girls’ lives."