Chapter 19
"Hello? Oh, please—Hello?" It was no use; the call was lost. Kara spun to face Craig and Agent Nyler. "We have to get to Bainbridge Island!"
"Not yet," Agent Nyler shook his head.
"What? No, he's there, we have to—"
Kara was cut off by a hard, though not uncompassionate, look from Agent Nyler. "It could be a ruse. Your son may be there, or he may still be here in Seattle somewhere. Even so—Gail, have them get the helicopter ready, just in case. If they find the boy, we'll fly Mr. and Mrs. Fleming there right away."
Gail, Agent Nyler's near-retirement and entirely capable-looking administrative assistant, stepped away quickly to make the necessary arrangements.
They were in Agent Nyler's office on one of the upper floors of a building in downtown Seattle. It was tidy, despite spots of clutter—stacks of papers and files on tables along two walls, information Nyler had assembled on the cases he was investigating. Craig and Kara stood beside one wall while Eddie sat stiffly in a leather chair against another.
Agent Nyler returned to his desk and thumbed through copies of the photographs Eddie had given him. The originals had been sent with Agent Bentley. "Bainbridge Police are already en route. They'll be at the cabin before we could get airborne," he said with a glance up at Kara. "We'll know in ten minutes whether Zach is there. If he's not, then the call may have been an attempt to throw us off his trail."
"You don't have a trail," Eddie commented dryly.
"We have a house and an apartment, and also a car to look for," Nyler replied. "That's more than we had this morning." He gave Eddie a wry look. "And we have you."
Eddie turned away with a grimace.
Kara began to pace the length of the office. She was shaking. Craig caught her from behind as she neared him. He held her in front of him, his hands on her arms. He had strong hands. They helped to ease the shaking.
After a couple of long minutes, Eddie pointed to the pictures on the desk and broke the uneasy silence. "Are those good enough for you?"
"They're…enough to make me uncomfortable," Nyler admitted. "I—" He cut off as his phone beeped. He checked it, scanning an incoming text message. "Apparently, they are good enough. The judge just gave Agent Bentley a search warrant. She's going to search Agent Jack—that is, Albert K.'s home."
"And the stuff on McWrait?"
"It's impressive. We'll get to it later. Right now, we have a boy to find. I've pulled a few agents to check out Albert K.; that's an urgent matter. But McWrait—he's not going anywhere. I want every possible agent working on finding Zach." He looked up at Kara again. She tried to offer him a grateful smile, but couldn't manage it. Her nerves were long since shot.
Agent Nyler left the room, leaving her alone with Craig and Eddie. Craig kissed the back of her head. "He's right," Craig told her quietly. "It makes more sense for us to stay here until—"
"I know!" she barked at him. "I just want him to be there. I just want to know he's okay."
Craig rubbed her shoulders. His hands were steady, but when she looked back at him, his face was tight with concern. She put an arm around his waist and hugged him, and with a long exhale he returned the embrace. He needed her as much as she needed him right now. Eddie stood and gazed politely out the window.
Agent Nyler returned a minute later, carrying a handful of water bottles. He handed one each to Craig and Kara and tossed a third to Eddie. "You need to take care of yourselves," he said. "I want you ready if we have to move quickly."
Kara opened her bottle and took a few gulps. It helped. Being so worried about Zach, she hadn't realized how thirsty she had become.
The agent's cell phone rang. He glanced at the number and looked up at Craig and Kara. "Bainbridge Police," he informed them. Kara's pulse quickened as he connected the call. "This is Nyler." His eyes focused on the wall behind them for a moment, then snapped back to Craig and Kara. He shook his head sadly.
Kara sagged back against Craig. He ran a hand through his hair.
"No one there at all?" Agent Nyler asked the caller. Then his eyes locked onto Craig and Kara again, and he raised one finger—more information was coming to him. "What was it?... Yes, send it… I agree. Put a checkpoint at the bridge. And contact the State Patrol—have them watch the ferries. It's been an hour—they could have headed that way… Right. Let me know if you find anything more."
Nyler disconnected the call and stepped around his desk, tapping commands on his phone. "No one was at the cabin, but they found something interesting on one of the beds—a photograph… One of their officers snapped a picture of it and is sending it now."
His phone chirped again a few seconds later, and Agent Nyler pulled the photo up on the screen. He studied it briefly before handing the phone to Craig. "What do you think?"
Craig and Kara considered it together. "That's Zach," Craig said. "Maybe four years old?"
Kara nodded. "It looks just like him, only smaller." The picture, distorted slightly for being a photo of a photo, displayed a young boy with brown hair and those beautiful blue eyes Zach had somehow inherited from Craig, sitting at a table, a plate of macaroni and cheese in front of him. He was looking up at the camera calmly. Kara could only pray that he was calm now, and not too afraid.
"Eddie." She beckoned the young man to join them. "You knew him when he was little."
Eddie came and studied the photo. "That's him," he confirmed. "Cute little tyke."
"He was there, Craig," Kara moaned. "The woman on the phone was right, but she called us too late. We almost found him."
Agent Nyler took the phone back and returned a call to the Bainbridge officer, verifying that this was the boy they were searching for, but six or so years ago. When he got off the phone again, he faced Eddie. "You know your father best, Eddie," he said. "Anticipate his next move. Where's he taking this boy? I want to beat him there."
Eddie sighed. "He'll get him out of the area eventually, once he's done with whatever business he has here."
"And take him where?"
"You keep asking me that. I don't know. He has a research lab somewhere."
"How will he go?" Agent Nyler questioned. "By plane? Boat?"
"Well, not by car, at least not his own car. Maybe a rental, under a false name. I can give you his aliases, the ones I know. Flying would be too risky—airport security would identify him right away. Maybe boat."
Nyler accepted this information with a nod. "I'll update authorities at the seaports. Might as well notify the airports, too, just to cover all our bases. But what if he does go by car, or by bus or train?"
Eddie shook his head. "I have no idea. He could take him anywhere."
Kara clenched her jaw. Having been within an hour of finding Zach—twice, now—this was not the news she had wanted to hear.
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