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For Margo.
It was all for Margo. He just had to keep telling himself that. Everyone’s goal was to get Margo back.
“All right, first of all, the transfer will be at a remote location which Jerry will be calling us with at dawn.” Jerry’s name was said with such derision Simon almost smiled. The distaste on Donovan’s face was clear for everyone to see.
“Dawn? What is
he, a Bond villain?” Nick folded his arms.
“I don’t think you’re far off, Mr. Crandall. I believe he thinks he’s far more intelligent than he is. Unfortunately, that also makes him a bit of a wildcard.”
“And these Call of Duty dudes? Do you think it’s smart not to involve the cops? Not that I’m the first one to call on the boys in blue,” Nick finished when Lila gave him a look. “What? I can be smart about stuff.”
“While not eloquently stated, you’re not wrong. Aidan Roth and his team are very professional. He’s a former SEAL with a lot of high profile clients. They are no stranger to kidnappings, I’m afraid. Though their particular talents lie in extraction mostly. We’ve discovered a few things while speaking with Ian.”
Nick arched a brow. “Did it include waterboarding? I’d have been interested in watching that.”
“He’s been very forthcoming.”
“He got caught.” Simon leaned against the door. “He’s saving his own ass.” He pushed off the door. “Did you talk to Margo?”
“No, I was attempting to facilitate that when—“ He cleared his throat. “Well, we will work with what we have, won’t we?”
Simon fisted his hands. “How do we know he isn’t just going to kill her?” Asking it made his entire body throb from his hair to his toes.
He couldn’t lose her. He wouldn’t survive it.
“It’s always been about money. This Jerry person fancies himself a businessman. Ian is convinced his mother is more in control of Jerry than the man realizes. I don’t have enough information to know if that’s accurate.”
“You’re not sure he’s telling the truth?” Lila asked.
Donovan let out a slow breath. “It’s not that. Each of you knows your own truth. It doesn’t always line up with an outsider’s perception, now does it?”
Each one of them looked away. Because that was the heart of everything in the end. They’d all had secrets at one time or another, but only his brother’s included something life and death.
Ian.
Simon dug his fists into his blurry eyes. He’d been awake for close to twenty hours and he hadn’t managed to eat anything. Hell, he’d only drank half a bottle of water all damn day.
“While we were digging through Ian’s background, my Lewis Corp. security found something that might help our situation. Not in any physical way, but perhaps it will set minds at ease.”
“Nothing about me will be at ease until Margo is in front of me.”
“No. I’m sorry, Simon, I agree. But with Ian being our sole source of information, it helps to have as many details at hand as possible.” He pulled a phone out of his jacket pocket. Not the same one Simon had half crushed. This one was sleeker and looked much like an iPhone, but not one he’d ever seen.
Leave it to Donovan to have access to an unreleased one.
He set the phone on the conference table and pushed play. “Based on the time stamp of the surveillance, it was just before he came to see me.”
“Surveillance?”
“Just listen.”
There was a rustling then Ian’s voice boomed into the room. Small and hesitant, talking to his mother. The audio changed again and then it continued.
“Because he was smart—far smarter than me. If something hurts you, you should rip it out. Not sit there and nurse the pain until it’s part of you.”
Then there was sharp banging.
