Page 97 of Billion-Dollar Ransom

[Scant polite laughter.]

ASHENBRENNER: Please continue, Agent Gordon.

GORDON: Another kidnapper, Two, was rumored to be ex-LAPD, but nobody except One knew his real identity as former LAPD officer Tim Dowd. Agent Parker proved herself so helpful to Five that he mentioned her to One, who thought she’d be useful for a side element to the main kidnapping plot. Agent Parker became Six.

ROACHE: And what was Six’s task?

GORDON: To kidnap my daughter.

[Astonished gasps.]

ROACHE [Banging on desk]: That’s enough of that!

GORDON: The idea was that my daughter would be taken at just the right moment to hobble the task force and distract me.

ROACHE: But your daughter was never in any real danger.

GORDON: No. But my daughter didn’t know that until later that night. [Pause.] She’s still pretty sore at me.

[Warm laughter.]

GORDON: There was no other way to play it. It had to look real to the mole in the task force. To my daughter. And, most important, to One.

ASHENBRENNER: Apologies, but I’m trying to keep track here. We know the dual identities of One—Captain Jeffrey Penney and Mr. Virgil Tighe, both deceased. We also know the true identities of Two, Five, and, now, Six. But what about the kidnappers known as Three and Four? I’ve read your reports very carefully, but I don’t see any names.

GORDON: Unfortunately, we have not identified them yet.

ROACHE: That’s mighty tough for me to swallow. What about the Schraeder children? Uh… [Flips through pages.] Calvin and Finnegan? Didn’t they give you a detailed description of the perpetrators?

GORDON: The children were vague about their captors. We consulted with the top child psychologists at UCLA, and they believe the shock of the kidnapping made it difficult for them to remember specifics.

ROACHE: As I said, Agent Gordon, I find that very difficult to swallow.

GORDON: Do you have children, Mr. Chairman? No? Maybe if you did, you’d have an easier time understanding.

CHAPTER 108

Friday, 5:07 p.m.

SEBASTIÁN FROZE WHEN he heard the sirens in the distance.

They didn’t soundquitelike the police sirens from back home, and at first, he thought it might be an ambulance or fire engine. But as the wailing sirens grew louder, he realized that, no, this was the sound of the law. When they’d moved to Costa Rica, Sebastián had watched a YouTube video showing local cops—the Fuerza Pública—in action, just so he’d know what to expect. This wasdefinitelythe police.

And the sirens were getting closer.

All Sebastián could think wasIf the police come, what will we do about dinner?

Sebastián used to be a kidnapper with the code name Three. He and his wife, Four, had finally stopped thinking about themselves as numbers a while ago. They’d also stopped usingtheir birth names when they arrived in Costa Rica and purchased new identities. The names and backgrounds were solid, but they didn’tfeellike Sebastián, Valeria, and Sofía.

The door behind Sebastián slid open. He spun around to see Valeria holding a tray of carne. She immediately knew something was wrong.

“Do you hear that?” Sebastián asked. “I think they’re getting closer.”

“Hear what?”

“There are more of them now…”

They listened, and, yes—there were clearlymultiplepolice sirens.