Deep Cover (The Extractor Series Book 4) by Mike Ryan (best novels to read to improve english txt) 📗

“I mean, what would be the point of drawing us in?” Bridge asked.

“I agree.”

“If he was in charge, he’d have had an easier time of it if we weren’t involved, so, no, I can’t see him pulling the strings on this.”

“I agree. Just a thought.”

“Question is, what do they need him for?”

“We’ve been pondering that question for days, Luke.”

“And we’ve still got no answers.”

Bridge sat down and started thinking, trying to figure out what Kenny would want with Chris Abbott. It was something that he needed him alive for. But what? They weren’t involved in the same business, and Chris didn’t have any idea what his brother was into as far as being mixed up with the CIA. So what would the connection be? Bridge went over to his computer and started going over all the information again. After a little while, he brought up pictures of the two brothers, putting them side by side on the screen. He stared at them for a few minutes before it finally hit him.

“That’s it.”

Nicole heard him saying something and looked over at him. “What?”

“That’s it.”

“What’s it?”

“I think I know what they want him for.”

Nicole came over to Bridge and looked at the screen. She didn’t see it, though. “What?”

Bridge pointed at the two pictures. “Look. They look similar.”

“Well, they are brothers, you know.”

“I know. That’s the point. They’re brothers. They look similar.”

“And?”

“And that’s why they want him. They need someone who looks like Gary Abbott. Since that’s obviously not possible, they need someone who looks just like him. Who would that be?”

“Chris Abbott,” Nicole answered. “I mean, I get your logic, but I don’t understand why. What would they need his face for? They didn’t work together, so, I… I don’t know what the point would be.”

Bridge put his hand over his mouth as he leaned back in his chair and thought about it. He took a few deep breaths. “Here’s a few possibilities.”

“OK?”

“They need his face to access something. To pretend he’s his brother so they can get something. Maybe money? Maybe something else, I don’t know.”

“Or?”

“Or maybe they will play it off like he’s his brother and exchange him for something. A ransom, reward, debt, something like that.”

“I don’t think that’ll stand up. With all of the ways you can identify people’s identities these days, plus the fact that I’m sure Chris wouldn’t just willfully go along with it, they wouldn’t be able to fool anybody for more than a day at most.”

“Which would bring us back to the other point. They need him, his face, his presence, something, to get something for them.”

“But what? They obviously didn’t know each other.”

Bridge sat there staring at the screen. Then another thought hit them. What if they were going about this case the wrong way? Maybe they had the whole thing wrong from the get-go.

“What if they did?”

“What?” Nicole said. “If Abbott, Gary, was blowing the whistle on them, then…”

“What if he wasn’t?”

“Huh?”

“What if it’s all wrong? What if Kenny wasn’t the mole Abbott was talking about?”

“I don’t understand.”

“Just a guess that I’m throwing out here, but what if Abbott was actually in business with Kenny somehow? Then Abbott throws out some mole story, that may or may not actually be true, getting the CIA to look more heavily into that, then whatever it was he and Kenny were doing.”

“I dunno, Luke, we’ve looked at the records, the CIA’s looked at the records, there’s nothing to suggest the two knew each other. There’s nothing to even suggest that Abbott was into anything nefarious.”

“I know, I know. But we know Kenny’s reputation. He’s a master manipulator, can hide anything or anyone.”

“But… and I say but… if that’s the case, and they actually were in bed together, then why would he kill him? What sense would that make? And why wait a year to get his brother if that’s what he needed him for?”

Bridge shook his head. “I don’t know. I don’t have any of those answers. I’m not even sure I have any of the right questions. It just seems like maybe that’s a better theory than what we’ve been working with.”

“It doesn’t really make sense any which way you slice it. Either the way we’ve been thinking or now. I dunno. Maybe he doesn’t really need Chris for anything. Maybe we just haven’t found his body yet.”

“No, I don’t think so. If he was planning on killing him, he could’ve done it already. Back at the house, or even before the house, wherever it was that they took him from. They didn’t need to take him with them. But they did. Why? ‘Cause they need him for something. And the only reason I can think of, is that they need him to finish something that his brother started. And if that’s the case, they must have been in cahoots.”

“Maybe Kenny is just aware of something that Abbott was into.”

“How would he know unless he was involved?”

“I don’t know. I’m not liking this very much.”

“Join the club.”

Bridge was just about to call Pinnacle One with his theories when his phone suddenly rang. He was surprised to see it was the same number he was about to call.

“Joe, we must be reading each other’s minds. I was just about to call you.”

“Regarding the same thing, I take it?”

“I’m not sure. What are you calling for?”

“I’m calling about Kenny and company slipping out of the country.”

“What?”

“I take it that’s not what you had to say then?”

“No, it wasn’t. What happened?”

“Not sure. We just found out a few hours ago.”

“There goes my theory about waiting a while,” Bridge said. “How’d they get out?”

“As far as we can tell, it happened two days ago. We’ve been backtracking their steps to figure out how they did it. They must have travelled down to North Carolina by car. They took a flight from there to Brazil. And then from Brazil to Paris.”

“Smart. They avoided the obvious places we’d look. But their names still should have popped up somewhere.”

“Would’ve