Page 70 of Hidden With You

“Yes,” Ryan said. “Thank you. On a more formal note, you’ve both redeemed yourself in this meeting. If you two will agree to put this behind you, I don’t think we need to impose any sort of formal penalties on either of you for that scene in the office. Jasper, you’re still on probation for the failure to disclose.”

“Yes, sir. That’s a price I’m willing to pay.”

Across the table, Jasper saw Zelda smile. And he counted the minutes until he could have her in his arms.

Unfortunately, as Ryan continued to talk, he realized that moment wasn’t coming anytime soon. “We need a plan for figuring out how to take this man down. I want a live capture. I want him to stand trial for what he’s done. And ultimately, I want a full confession. So the question is, what’s our game plan?”

Ryan leaned back in the chair, surveying everyone at the table and waiting for them to come up with a response. Unfortunately, Jasper didn’t have anything.

“No one?” Ryan looked at all of them. “Should we open it to the team? Get various ideas from the other agents out in the office?”

Jasper was about to say that that was a good idea, when he had a sudden brainstorm. “Maybe not just yet. I want to run this by everyone and see if it’s crazy, but I have an idea. Or, to be more accurate, I have an idea of how we can come up with an idea.”

They all looked at him like he’d lost it, which made sense as he certainly sounded that way. “How sure are we that he’s our guy?” He looked around the table, looking hard at each of them. “Ninety percent? Eighty? One hundred? Personally, I’m going to go with ninety-five. How about you all?”

He paused, waiting for the responses, and finally everyone agreed with him. At least in their minds, Malloy was guilty. In fact, the only one who didn’t say ninety-five percent was Zelda. Her answer was ninety-nine. “I’ll leave a one percent margin,” she said. “But he doesn’t deserve more than that.”

“All right then. What’s our plan?”

She frowned. “What are you talking about?”

“That’s my plan,” he said. “To learn what you’d do if this was a Martin King book.”

She sat back, her eyes wide. “You’re seriously asking me that? You’re asking me what I would do in an over-the-top thriller?”

“Yep.”

He thought she was going to argue. He thought she was going to tell him he was nuts. Instead, she smiled. A slow smile that lit up her entire face. “Okay,” she said. “Let me think. Something bold. Something unexpected. I’m just not sure what it is yet.”

“Well, the first problem to tackle is getting him here. He’s currently overseas. Remember?”

“Damn,” she said. “And considering what he’s been up to, he’s probably intending to stay there.” She drummed her fingers on the table, clearly thinking.

“Which means it’s not a question of how you would capture Malloy in your book,” Ollie said, “It’s how you would lure him back to the States.”

Zelda nodded slowly. “Some sort of inter-agency operation. Big and colorful. Something that plays out with lots of action, especially if it’s going to be adapted into a movie. But for this, flashy doesn’t feel right. Something quick and dirty. Clever. But I don’t know—oh!”

She looked at each of them in turn, a wide smile on her beautiful face. “I think I’ve got the perfect solution.”