Primary Valor by Jack Mars (booksvooks TXT) 📗

sure,” Richmondsaid. “I have my suspicions, however. Joy isn’t necessarily a bad mother, but I’msorry to say that she makes bad choices. This guy Zorn was one of them. Iwouldn’t put it past him to have been involved in this somehow.”

“Did Zorn know a man named DarwinKing?” Don said.

Richmond’s eyes laser focused onDon in the rearview mirror.

“Everyone of a certain ilk knowsDarwin King,” Richmond said. “I’m sure Zorn knew him. I’m sure that if youlook, you’ll have no trouble finding pictures of them partying together. DarwinKing likes his parties.”

His eyes didn’t waver from Don’s.“Why do you ask?”

“None of what I’m about to say isguaranteed,” Don said. “But we’ve been tracking leads, and we’ve shaken thetree a bit. My people now believe that Darwin King took your granddaughter. Hedidn’t personally do it, obviously.”

“Obviously,” Richmond said. “DarwinKing isn’t capable of doing anything himself.”

Now Don eyed Richmond. “Do youknow him?”

“As I indicated, everyone of acertain ilk knows him. I qualify, unfortunately.”

“Do you have reason to believethat he might want to hurt you?”

The eyes still stared at Don. Butnow tears had begun streaming from them.

“I swear to God,” Richmond said. Heshook his head. “If he does anything to her…”

“Did you know this from thebeginning?” Don said. “My men risked their lives to get this information. Theykilled two men. They found three dead children. If you already knew…”

Now Richmond shook his headviolently. “Absolutely not. I had no idea. I had no reason to think it was himuntil this moment. But I do know him, and I know he’s a terrible person. We’vebanged heads in the past. He was a client of mine at one time, to be frank. Buthe wants what he wants when he wants it, and if he doesn’t get it, he decideshe doesn’t have to pay. Then he gets taken to court, where he loses. And evenwith judgments against him, he still doesn’t pay. Instead, he demands back themoney he paid upfront. He’s notorious for this.”

Richmond took a deep breath. “Hethinks I stole from him, but the truth is, he stole from me. And now…” Hisvoice trailed off.

“Now he’s taken Charlotte?” BillRyan said.

Don nodded. “We think so, yes. Wethink he hired professional kidnappers, human traffickers, to take her. Two ofthose men, as I mentioned, are now dead.”

Richmond nodded. “Good.”

“We believe he took Charlotte toan island off the coast of Honduras.”

Richmond’s shoulders slumped. “Honduras?”

“Yes. It’s outside United Statesjurisdiction, obviously. He’s far beyond the reach of law enforcement, and hehas protection from the Honduran military.”

“I will pay anything,” Richmondsaid.

Don raised a hand. “I have menthat are willing to go there and attempt a rescue. It would be on the companydime. But you have to understand a few things. One is we don’t know for a factthat he has her. It could be a mistake, so you shouldn’t get your hopes up. Two,if we go there and he does have her, it’s going to be a dangerous operation toget her back. She could be hurt during it. She could be killed. You need toknow that before we do anything at all.”

Richmond stared at Don in therearview. His eyes were red, but he had stopped crying. That was good. Don gotthe sense that Richmond was trying to be strong.

“All right,” he said. “I canaccept that.”

“There’s one more thing,” Donsaid. “I need to speak with my superiors. I’m going to feel them out. I may notget a green light from them, but if I don’t, my instinct is to do this anyway. Thatmeans this will not be a sanctioned hostage rescue. It will not be a policeaction. It will be a clandestine special operation. It will be completelysecret. If my agency is revealed to be behind it, or the covers of my men areblown, I’m going to be in deep doo-doo. I will need the help of influentialpeople who can…”

“Consider it done,” Richmond said.“If you can do this for me, whether it succeeds or fails, I will owe you mylife. I will move heaven and earth for you and your people, now and in thefuture. With Bill Ryan, and God, as my witnesses, I promise you that.”

Bill nodded. “I agree with Miles. I’mwith you, Don. You will always have my protection and help, such as it is. Iconsider you a great friend, one of my best, but more than just a friend. Ithink of you as my ally.”

Now Don nodded. Bill was prone tosappy emotional talk like this. That was fine. He had always been a loyalfriend. Don had no reason to doubt him. Richmond was the weak link in thischain.

“Miles,” he said. “Know that I’mgoing to go forward, based on this conversation. We may not talk again. This isme, telling you that I am moving on this.”

“Good,” Richmond said. “I want youto. I’m ready. I understand the risks.”

“You need to keep quiet about it. Youcannot tell a soul.”

Richmond nodded. “Of course. Ofcourse.”

“Do not tell your wife. Do nottell your mistress. Do not tell anyone.”

“Yes.”

“And know that I might comecalling on you one day. Maybe about this, maybe about something else.”

“I welcome that, Don.”

“Good,” Don said.

“And Don?”

“Yes.”

“When your guys find Darwin, if it’sat all possible, ask them to kill him. For me.”

Don’s eyes and Richmond’s eyeswere locked together in the mirror. Don could feel Bill Ryan’s eyes on both ofthem. This was one of the risks of associating with people outside the circle. Theytalked too much, and they said the wrong things.

Anyone with a tape of thisconversation could easily cut it to make it sound like a murder for hire. ButRichmond didn’t even seem to notice his error.

“Okay?” he said.

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

5:45 a.m. Central Standard Time (6:45 a.m. EasternStandard Time)

La Sierra de San Simon (St. Simon’s Saw)

Near Honduras

The Caribbean Sea

 

 

“Go away.”

The seabirds were screeching andcalling, letting him know that somewhere out there, the early sun was peekingover the horizon.

Here it was still dark.

And the bedside phone was ringing.Darwin King reached one hand to the table and picked it up. His first instinctwas to immediately hang it up again. But that was the wrong instinct. If a callcame