Final Target

Chapter Ten

The phone at the gatehouse rang at 12:17 A.M. two nights later.

"Get up here right away. She's having an episode" Jessica said when Travis picked up the phone. "And no games tonight, Travis."

"All the games are over. I'll be right there."

Larry Fike was frowning with concern as he watched Travis come down the hall a couple of minutes later. "It sounds like a bad one again. Good luck."

Travis nodded grimly. "We'll need it."

Cassie's scream tore through the room as he opened the door.

"How long?" Travis asked as he crossed to the child's bed.

"Ten minutes," Jessica said. "Thank God, you came right away."

He took Cassie's hands. "Come here, Jessica."

Jessica stepped closer. "What?"

He didn't look at her as he said in an undertone, " Find an excuse to send T eresa away."

She stared at him in bewilderment.

"Do it."

She turned to Teresa, who was standing by the door. "Go get me a hypodermic from the medicine chest downstairs."

"You think you'll need-"

"I hope not. I want to be prepared. Just get it."

Teresa hurried out of the room.

"How long will it take her?" Travis asked.

"I don't know. Last time I looked, there weren't any hypodermics in that chest. She'll look around and then go to the one on the third floor."

Cassie screamed.

"Do something. Talk to her."

Travis dropped Cassie's hands and stood up.

"What are you doing? Talk to her."

"We're leaving, Jessica."

She froze. "Not before you take care of her."

He opened his jacket, took out his laptop computer, and dropped it into Jessica's medical bag.

Cassie screamed.

"Talk to her. Can't you see she's hurting? She's screaming, dammit."

He turned to her and said quietly, "She has to scream, Jessica."

"What?"

"I can't help her. She has to scream."

"Is this some kind of power play? I told you that you'd won."

He closed the medical bag. "It's no power play."

"She's hurting. Mellie's hurting."

"Run out in the hall and tell Fike that you're having an emergency. Cassie's having a seizure and you need an ambulance to get her to the hospital. Give him this." He handed her a piece of paper." It's the number of the emergency room at Shenandoah General, the closest hospital."

"Don't do this to Cassie."

"And tell Fike to notify the President."

"Talk to her."

"Not yet. The sooner you put her in the ambulance, the sooner I can help her." He gave her a push. "Go to Fike."

"Damn you." She was sobbing as she ran into the hall.

Cassie screamed. The cry held all the agony and fear a child could feel.

He could stop it. God, how he wanted to stop it.

He walked to the window and stared blindly at the iron gate through which the ambulance would come.

He was wrapping Cassie in a blanket when Jessica came back into the room. "Fike?" he asked.

"He called the hospital. He's on the line with Andreas now. The ambulance should be here within ten minutes."

"Go get your sister and bring her down to the ambulance."

"How am I supposed to get her on her feet? She's probably in as much shock as Cassie."

"That's your problem." He picked up Cassie. "I've got enough on my plate."

"It's not going to work. You may get out of the gates, but there'll be a truckload of Secret Service at the hospital."

"It will work," he said as he passed Jessica. "Get Melissa downstairs."

Fike was outside in the hall. "Can I help?" He flinched as Cassie screamed again. "Christ, that poor kid."

Travis nodded. "You can make sure there's security at the hospital." He started down the hall. "And a earful of your guys to follow the ambulance."

"We've already taken care of the hospital." Fike ran down the stairs ahead of Travis. "And you can bet I'll be in that car following the kid."

"Good."

"What are you trying to do?" Jessica whispered, stunned.

"This way they think of us as a team." He heard the distant wail of a siren. "There's the ambulance. Get Melissa."

Cassie was already being placed in the ambulance when Jessica half led, half carried Melissa down the front steps.

"Jesus," Fike murmured when he saw Melissa's dazed, tearstained face. "What's wrong with-"

"You know how close she and Cassie have grown." Jessica pushed Melissa into the ambulance. "She wants to go to the hospital with her." She turned to Teresa as she climbed in after Melissa. "I'll call you from the emergency room."

The EMT slammed the door shut and ran around to the passenger seat. The siren wailed as the ambulance tore down the driveway with the Secret Service car following.

Jessica whirled on Travis. "Now help her" she said fiercely.

"I've every intention of doing that." Travis knelt beside Cassie, gathered her hands in his, and began to talk to her.

Within five minutes she started quieting and Jessica felt the tension ebbing out of her. No matter what happened to the rest of them, Cassie and Melissa were easing.

Travis checked his watch. He broke off in mid-sentence, got up, and looked out the back window at the Secret Service car behind them. "Too close," he muttered.

Even as he spoke, the ambulance took on more speed. Jessica fell sideways as the vehicle screeched around the curve in the road.

Bluff on one side. Steep slope on the other.

Travis glanced out the back window. At least two hundred yards separated them from the car now. The ambulance tore up the hill. A gentler slope ahead led to a stand of trees.

"Come on. Come on," he murmured. "Now."

The highway behind them exploded. Fifty yards of concrete jettisoned into the sky. The escort car swerved to avoid the yawning hole torn in the tarmac, then whipped off the road and down the steep incline.

The ambulance careened down the gentler slope and into the trees.

"Hold on to your sister." Travis had Cassie in a secure grip as the ambulance bumped over the rough ground.

Jessica grabbed Melissa.

The ambulance screeched to a halt and the back door flew open.

"I was getting worried" Travis said as he straightened away from Cassie. "You ran it too close, Galen."

"I'm hurt. It wasn't easy setting up those charges and diverting the traffic. I'm not used to having to worry about innocent bystanders." A man in jeans and T-shirt began to roll the gurney out of the ambulance. " Is this the little girl who may cause me to lose my head?"

"You can bet on it if you don't lift off in two minutes." He jumped out of the vehicle and helped Melissa to the ground. "Those Secret Service agents are no slouches. I figure we have a four-minute lead."

Galen's eyes were on Melissa. "What's wrong with her?"

"It's a long story. Bring Cassie." He picked Melissa up and carried her to the helicopter. "Come on, Jessica."

Jessica jumped out of the ambulance and ran toward the helicopter. The ambulance driver and EMT were already climbing into the aircraft. The man Travis had called Galen placed Cassie gently in the helicopter and then boosted Jessica inside. He waved his arm at the pilot. "Go."

The helicopter lifted off and soared over the trees just as the Secret Service car tore into the clearing. Jessica tensed as she saw Fike jump out and pull his gun.

"Don't worry "Travis said. "No one's going to get trigger-happy when they know the President's daughter is on board."

He was right. No shots were fired, and in seconds they were out of range.

Cassie screamed.

Galen jumped. "Holy shit."

"She's back in the nightmare. I didn't have time to get her entirely out of it." Travis crawled over to Cassie. "How much time do we have?"

"Ten minutes until we land at the airport and transfer planes." Galen grimaced as Cassie screamed again. "Do something, will you? The kid sounds terrible."

"I'm doing it. I hope ten minutes are enough." He began to talk to Cassie.

Jessica cradled Mellie in her arms and watched him. Gentleness. Strength. Determination. How could he change from moment to moment? She had wanted to kill him in Cassie's bedroom tonight. She still wanted to kill him. He was doing only what he had to do, and he'd done it at his convenience.

"Wonders never cease, do they?" Galen was also watching Travis. "He's actually reaching her. What's his secret?"

"He got a head start at Vasaro."

Galen nodded. "Yeah, that's right. I remember when he came out of that study with her. I told him we should go, but he wouldn't leave the kid. I had the devil of a time getting him out later."

"You were at Vasaro that night?"

"Sure." He grinned. "You may have heard Travis was the hero, but it was really me. I was just too modest to stay around and take the bows." His smile faded. "Don't worry, we'll get you away safely. I've got it all set up."

"Why shouldn't I worry? I don't even know what happened tonight. How did you know we'd sent for an ambulance?"

"When Travis knew Andreas was going to stash him somewhere, he called me and told me to be ready to set up a technical van."

She frowned in confusion. "To intercept the call to the hospital?"

"Oh, that came later. He wanted me to trace his location at Juniper from his phone signal. And he wasn't sure the Secret Service boys would obey the President's orders not to listen to his calls. He wanted my guys to occasionally interrupt their satellite signal monitor when he said a code word to van der Beck. Of course, not all the time, or it would have tipped them off."

"Van der Beck?"

"Never mind, I'm probably throwing too much at you."

"Yes, you are. And all this technical mumbo jumbo will be for nothing." She shook her head. "Andreas will set every law enforcement agency in the country after us."

"I admit it's quite a challenge."

She looked at him in astonishment.

"Okay, maybe a little bit more than I'd usually take on." He shrugged. "But Travis promised me he'd make it right."

"He's going to make kidnapping the daughter of the President right?"

He made a face. "Don't remind me. As long as I take one step at a time, I'm okay. When he first told me about his plan, I wanted to break his neck. I told Travis the last time I saw him that I didn't like living on the edge anymore."

"But you're doing this for him. Why?"

"I owe him." He shrugged. "Even so, if it was an ordinary job, I'd have told him to find someone else. This one means something to him."

"Money?"

"Sure, but there's something else thrown into the pot." Then he added, "Besides, I like him. God knows why. He's not an easy man to like. You have to beat down too many walls to get to him."

"Then I wouldn't bother." She glanced away from Travis. "What airport are we going to?"

"A private field north of Baltimore. We'll transfer to the jet there and by morning we should be in Antwerp. We drive from there to Amsterdam." He grimaced. "I told him that's the first place they'll look for him. He said it was necessary."

She shook her head in wonder. "You talk as if flitting around the world is going to be so easy. I don't even have my passport with me."

"That's okay. I have all kinds of documents for you. Part of the service. Of course, you'll have to get used to a new name. I think it's Mary or Marilyn or something like that. You won't have to use it very often. We sort of skirt around immigration. Piece of cake."

False documents. Illegal entry. Piece of cake? The casualness with which he spoke made her think that for him criminal activity was a simple fact of life. To her it was a new and frightening world. "That's hard for me to believe."

"You'll see." His gaze went to Melissa. "She's looking better. Her color's coming back. Is she on drugs?"

"No."

"Sick?"

"No." Her grasp tightened around Melissa's shoulders. "She's going to be fine."

Melissa woke up as they were getting her out of the helicopter.

"Jessica…" She looked around dazedly. "What the devil…?"

"It's okay."

"No, it's not. Nothing's been right all night. Broken. All broken…"

"Can you walk?"

"I'll try…but slow. I'm groggy…and my knees are like rubber."

"Slow isn't possible." Galen picked her up and started at a run for the small private jet. "Just hold on and we'll get there."

Melissa frowned up at him. "Who are you?"

"Sean Galen."

"It's okay, Mellie." Jessica was running beside him. "I'll explain later."

"You'll have to." Her eyes closed. "I'm too tired to think now. Where's Travis?"

"With Cassie."

"Good."

Her eyes suddenly flicked open and she stared up at Galen. "No. Don't do it."

He looked down at her.

"Don't…" Her eyes closed again. "Don't let him, Jessica…"

She was asleep.

Galen ran up the stairs to the jet and deposited Melissa on a leather couch. He nodded at the privacy curtain that divided the plane into two compartments. "Travis is up front with the kid. Sit down and fasten your seat belts." He headed for the cockpit. "We're out of here."

"Wait."

He looked back at Jessica.

"I'm calling Andreas."

He stopped short. "You'd better talk to Travis about that."

"I don't care what Travis says. I'm calling Andreas and telling him Cassie's safe." She added dryly, "Don't worry, I won't blow the whistle."

"He won't believe you, but I suppose it can't hurt. Make it less than two minutes. I'll tell Travis." He disappeared behind the curtain.

She drew a deep breath and then dialed Andreas.

"You bitch."

"I can understand how you would think that."

"How much money were you paid to take my daughter?"

"It wasn't money. I had no choice. I was afraid for Cassie and I didn't see any other way out."

"You said she was getting better."

"She was getting better, but it was only temporary and-"

Travis was standing in the curtained doorway, and he made a motion to cut the call short.

"I have to go. I just want to tell you that none of us intends to harm your daughter."

"What do you want from me?"

"Nothing."

"I want to talk to Travis. Put that bastard on."

"He wants me to hang up."

"Tell him if he so much as touches her, we'll catch him and crucify him. And that goes for you too."

"I'd probably feel the same way. You have to do what you have to do. But Cassie's safe and we'll try to keep her safe." She hung up and looked at Travis. "I had to do it. I couldn't let him go through that hell."

"I'm not arguing. My only priority was to get you off the line before the call could be traced." He turned back. "Fasten your seat belt."

Tokyo

Andreas whirled on Keller. "Did you get the location?"

The Secret Service man shook his head. "She hung up too soon. If we'd just had thirty seconds more…"

Andreas's hand clenched until the knuckles turned white. "What the hell is all this Star Wars technology for if you can't do a simple trace? If you can't find a child who-" He had to stop and wait until he could speak again. "You promised me she'd be safe at Juniper. Now, you find my Cassie, damn you."

"Yes, sir, I've already notified Danley."

"Have they picked up Travis's contact in Amsterdam?"

He shook his head. "They were in van der Beck's flat five minutes after we knew what Travis had done. He'd already slipped away."

"Then tell Danley to locate him."

"Danley's boarding a plane in D.C. in twenty minutes. Should we notify the media about the kidnapping?"

"God, no. If the whole world knows Cassie's out there and vulnerable, she could be targeted by other groups. And how the hell do we know Travis won't call back with a demand? I only talked to that bitch of a shrink. We're not sure of anything, and until we are, you make damn sure no one knows Cassie's missing. You find her."

"If Travis heads for Amsterdam, there's a good chance we'll need international help."

"Circulate pictures of Travis and Jessica Riley to every police department in Europe. Tell them the U.S. government would be very grateful for their cooperation in apprehending them. Make up some story. Call them…terrorists or anything else you can think of. Just don't mention Cassie."

"Yes, Mr. President."

"I'm going to return to Washington. Make some excuse and call the Vice President to replace me here. Tell them I've got the flu or something."

"Yes, sir."

"And, Keller."

"Yes, sir?"

"Make sure my wife doesn't find out." His voice was uneven. "Until you bring my daughter back, she's not to know that Cassie's not safe at Juniper."