Fifth Victim Read Online Free PDF Page A

favour of going, you mean?’
    He nodded. ‘Without any official reports, we’re working blind. Anything you can learn about what happened to the other victims might make the difference to Dina being taken or not.’
    I fell silent. Since I’d joined Parker’s outfit I’d worked family protection details numerous times. Usually in places like Mexico or Columbia, where prevention was always better than the alternative. There, it was a toss-up whether the hostage would be returned alive, even if the ransom was paid. And if it wasn’t, well, less than a quarter of hostages in Latin America survived rescue attempts, and only a tiny fraction of kidnappers were ever caught. If the ransom was large enough, a whole rake of people could be included in the pay-off, including local police officials.
    But this was not some dusty South American backwater. The parents must have known the odds of detection and capture were far better here, that by keeping silent they had, in effect, given the kidnappers a licence to continue their deadly game. So, what were they so afraid of, that it was worth risking their children’s lives?
    ‘Is it coincidence, I wonder, that all three families paid up without going to the cops?’
    ‘Might be, but I kinda doubt it,’ Parker said. ‘Which means they were targeted very carefully. Somebody knew they had the available cash and the inclination to pay up clean and fast.’
    ‘An inside job, you mean?’ I murmured. ‘And if they all had the kind of general security Caroline Willner employs, you’d need pros to make the snatch in the first place. Disgruntled ex-employees perhaps?’
    ‘Maybe. I’ll check it out. Finding a common link between the victims is our best lead to tracking down a multiple kidnapper.’
    I gave him a long level stare while he pretended to be absorbed in negotiating traffic. ‘Either I’m supposed to be protecting Dina or playing detective,’ I said mildly. ‘Which is it, Parker?’
    ‘The two objectives are not mutually exclusive.’ He allowed himself a fractional smile. ‘You may think you hide it well, but lack of exercise is sending you as stir-crazy as that horse of Dina’s.’
    I paused a beat, then said, ‘Even if I do go with her to this regatta thing she mentioned, I’ve no authority to question these other kids. They may still be traumatised, not want to talk about what they’ve been through.’
    Every kidnap victim reacted differently, but all too often there was guilt at the sacrifices made by the family, resentment at their own helplessness, and an overwhelming general sense of fear at going out and doing normal things again. Feelings that could last for weeks or even years after the event. Some former hostages never fully recovered.
    ‘Sure,’ Parker said, and there was satisfaction in his dry tone. He had me hooked, and he knew it. ‘And that’s why they’re all turning out for a birthday party aboard a million-dollar yacht, huh?’
    I opened my mouth and shut it again, acknowledging defeat. ‘Good point. Well made.’
    ‘I thought so.’ He smiled out loud then, creasing the corners of his eyes and taking years off his face, and added casually, ‘Mrs Willner wants you on duty first thing tomorrow morning.’
    ‘Fine,’ I said. ‘I had nothing else planned.’
    ‘You were organising logistics for Paraguay …?’
    ‘All in hand. I emailed my report to Bill Rendelson before we left this morning.’
    ‘That was fast work.’
    ‘Ah well, I try constantly to disappoint Bill with my unexpected efficiency.’ It was better than admitting I didn’t sleep much these days, either.
    Parker sighed. ‘You don’t have anything to prove, Charlie,’ he said quietly. ‘If anyone ever thought you were just along for the ride, they kinda revised that opinion a long time ago.’
    ‘Even Bill?’
    ‘Even Bill,’ he agreed gravely.
    Bill Rendelson ran Parker’s office with an iron fist inside an equally iron glove. Invalided out of active duty