Page 90 of Billion-Dollar Ransom

“YOU KNOW, THIS is my favorite part of police work,” Mike Hardy said. “Up late, belly full of candy bars and coffee, waiting for absolutely nothing to happen.”

Nicky gave him a tiny smile. “We won’t have to wait too long. I don’t think these guys are going to leave an obscene amount of money just sitting there on the tarmac.”

“I don’t know, Nick,” he replied. “I’m not sure I’d drive all the way to Palmdale even for a billion dollars.”

“I’m surprised I can convince you to spend the night in Koreatown with me.”

“You’re right. You might as well be in the real Korea.”

This was about as much humor as they would allow themselves under the circumstances.

Though maybe humor was too generous. Both had spent the past twenty-four hours wide awake and stressed to the breaking point—pretty much anything would be funny at this moment.

Anything to ease the tension of Nicky’s secret fear that Mike was somehow involved with One.

That he was their mole in the task force.

Because it’s the charming ones you need to watch out for.

“I’m surprised you didn’t want to be out in the field for this one,” Nicky said. “You usually like to be in the center of the action.”

“Didn’t I just tell you how much I hate Palmdale?”

“But you’d have the thrill of the stakeout and all, just like in the good old days.”

Mike grinned and nodded slowly, understanding Nicky’s not-so-subtle dig. “The good old days with my pal Tim Dowd, you mean?”

Here it was, finally out in the open.

“Is that why you stayed behind, Mike? To keep an eye on our little task force?”

“Yeah, Nick. That’s exactly why I stayed behind. My job in this whole thing is to make sure you don’t get too close to my employers. Who are totally the kidnappers. If I start to think you’re onto them, I have instructions to take you out.” Mike made a gun with his fingers and pulled the trigger.

“But you wouldn’t have to kill me,” Nicky said. “It would be enough to let One know everything happening here in the Sandbox. And you could have given your accomplices access to our chat program.”

“Which would be incredibly clever, if I knew how to do such a thing, which I don’t,” Mike replied. Then he stared at Nicky, all humor drained from his face.

“What is it?” Nicky asked. “You ready to confess?”

Thing was, Nicky wasn’t sure if she was kidding right now. Maybe it was the lack of sleep or the general undercurrent of paranoia. But it would be very Mike Hardy to laugh and joke until the moment he admitted the ugly truth.

“It’s funny,” Hardy said. “When you asked me for help uncovering the mole, you know who I thought about straightaway?”

“Who?”

“You.”

Nicky returned Mike’s intense stare. “You’re going to have to walk me through that one.”

“Think about it,” Mike said. “You had this sudden promotion to lead this specific task force, and that’s after you’ve spent months investigating a smaller group of kidnappers.

Why didn’t you bust them? Why haven’t you shared a single suspect’s name?

Maybe you’re protecting them because you’ve joined forces with them.

Maybe you thought they were thinking too small.

Maybe it’s all about the billion-dollar score. ”

Nicky held Mike’s eyes for a long time before finally saying, “Well, Kaitlin will be starting college in a few years.”

Mike cracked a smile. “Okay, so we’ve established that neither of us is the mole?”

Nicky twisted her face into a grin. “We’ve established no such thing.”

Mike’s cell phone buzzed, rattling the desktop. “Hold on,” he said. “Must be my evil overlord One, calling to give me my next set of instructions.”

Nicky stared at him as he answered his cell.

“Tell me you’ve got something good for me,” Mike said. He nodded and stood up from his chair. “Put her on.” Then he handed his cell to Nicky.

“Mom?”

“Kaitlin, honey! Are you okay?”

“I’m fine, don’t freak out, everything’s good!”

“Where are you right now?”

“Surrounded by about a dozen dumpy old cops, thanks to you.”

“I’m sorry,” Nicky said. “I truly am. Listen, ask one of them to find you a place to crash for a while, preferably not the drunk tank. I’ll come get you as soon as I can.”

“Come on, Mom. The people in the drunk tank have the best stories!”

“I’ll see you soon. I love you.”

Kaitlin told her mother she loved her too, which gave Nicky the strength to deal with what lay ahead. She would need it.

Nicky handed the phone back to Mike, who was grinning wide.

“And that is why I stayed behind,” he said. “I was waiting for word from my crew. They picked up your girl outside the Grove, not far from where she disappeared.”

“Okay, so maybe you’re not the mole,” Nicky allowed.

“But you haven’t cleared yourself yet,” Mike said. “I mean, Special K is kind of a genius. You may need that billion dollars to cover the tuition for all the advanced degrees she’ll earn someday.”

“So let’s keep our eyes on her college fund.”