B009G3EPMQ EBOK Read Online Free PDF

voice: “God in Heaven. Not Jess . . .”
    “John, I, I want you to know, there’s no reason to believe she isn’t still alive.” His fingers were damp and his hand was shaking. It was hard to keep a grip on the phone.
    “Is there a reason to doubt it?”
    “No, no! They were clear about that part. But you know she’s so smart and resourceful, and she’s received special training for things like this.”
    “Do they know why she was taken? Or where she is?”
    “They know more than they’re willing to tell me, for security reasons, but the security advisor thinks it was done for money, not to make an anti-American statement or anything like that.”
    “What can I do besides pray for her? Is there anything you need?”
    Erik thought about the famed Somali gossip lines running through every level of their society, as old as the people there, an invisible network linking families, friends, and cohorts all across eastern Africa. He considered the fact that each and every one of those kidnappers also had family and friends. Any one of them could be a source of information passed on about Jess to somehow use against her or against her negotiators.
    “I think we should all keep in mind that her kidnappers might try to get personal information on her, to force ransom negotiations in one way or another, and we shouldn’t help them.”
    “So we need to keep this quiet?”
    “Please. Completely. You can never tell where something could leak out. Her NGO is putting together a Crisis Management Team, and as soon as I have a number for them, I’ll put you in touch.”
    Erik could hear the concern in her father’s tone, but the older man kept his voice strong. “I’m so glad you’re there for her, Erik. Please, if there’s anything I can do . . .”
    “Just keep up good thoughts, John. We’ve got no reason to think this was done to make a public statement of some kind.”
    Of course he didn’t know that for certain. And he couldn’t tell if his words sounded as hollow to her father as they did to him. If so, he noted that John Buchanan was the kinder of them for not mentioning it.
    There was little more to say but to exchange awkward assurances. After he hung up, he found the call most notable for what John Buchanan didn’t say: You promised to take care of my daughter! Erik wouldn’t have blamed an anguished father for jumping to that thought, but he heard nothing but concern in her father’s voice. It eased the guilt but didn’t make it go away. The older man’s generosity of spirit made him feel as if he had swallowed a lump of iron.
    Shortly after he hung up on that call, his cell phone rang again.
    “Hello?”
    “Is this Erik Landemalm?”
    “Yes, who is—”
    “Agent Matt Espenshade with the FBI Legal Attaché Office in Nairobi. But please call me Matt. Anyway, we’re responsible for investigating major crimes against Americans here.”
    “. . . Yes. Uh, hello, Matt.”
    “I just want to check in with you, let you know we’re on this.”
    “Holy . . . I mean, who called you? I just found out myself!”
    “Yes. Now while we wait to be contacted with their ransom demand, is there anything special you need from us?”
    “Is there going to be a ransom demand?”
    “If there’s a crime against an innocent American citizen, there will be an FBI foreign office responsible for that region. It’s our job to oversee live investigations. That’s why you’re hearing from me and not someone from the Agency. The CIA goes after political players, military players. We step in when American citizens get snared in local crime.”
    “I’m serious; is there going to be a ransom demand?”
    “Of course that’s what we hope for.”
    “But will there be one?”
    “Well, these things tend to resolve one of two ways: ransom or rescue.”
    “Then you mean one of three ways, yes?”
    “Let’s think positive.”
    Erik felt the wiggle room in that reply, and his stomach sank. “Okay.” He