LITMIR.BIZ

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service? A million dollars a year per prisoner? More?”

      Nick stiffened beside her. His rage was palpable at being in the presence of the man who very likely was the kingpin behind his kidnapping.

      “Care to comment on who paid to have Nick kidnapped?” she asked without warning.

      Kloffman’s gaze darted back and forth between them. He definitely knew something he wasn’t sharing with them.

      “His loving wife, perhaps?” Laura snapped.

      “I have no idea.” Kloffman’s eyes slid down and to the left, a sure tell that he was lying.

      Laura leaned in close. “Was it her? Yes or no.”

      “No.” Another glance at the floor and a jump of the pulse pounding in his temple.

      She looked up at Nick grimly. “At least that mystery’s solved. It was your bitch of a wife.” She looked back down at Kloffman. “Where’s our son?”

      “Why would I kidnap some child?” Kloffman demanded angrily. “I’m not a monster.”

      “Five years in a box on one of your ships says that’s not true,” Nick snarled.

      Kloffman subsided, glaring belligerently.

      Laura spoke grimly. “The fact remains that no one but you has both the means and the motive to kidnap our son and pressure Nick not to testify against your firm. AbaCo’s going down in flames next week and Nick is the spark that’s going to ignite the firestorm.”

      Kloffman smiled coldly. “AbaCo is by no means going down in flames. Quite the contrary.”

      A chill passed down her spine. The German was entirely too sure of himself for her comfort. He should be sweating bullets if he was involved in Adam’s kidnapping. But instead, he was sitting here as smug as could be, actually smirking at her.

      She pulled out her pistol, and it had the desired effect on Kloffman. He paled. She spoke grimly. “Convince me why I should believe that you and AbaCo had nothing to do with our son’s disappearance.”

      Kloffman’s lips pressed tightly shut and she leaned forward, caressing his cheek with the barrel of the weapon. Her voice was velvet. “You see, Herr Kloffman. I’m a mother. And if something bad happens to my baby boy, I’m not going to give a damn whether or not I live or die. It won’t matter to me one bit if I rot in jail for the rest of my life. So I have nothing to lose by putting a bullet through your knee—or through your head.”

      Kloffman began to tremble and a fat bead of sweat ran down the side of his face. Now he was getting into the proper spirit of things.

      “I swear. I had nothing to do with your son’s kidnapping.”

      Nick replied tersely, “Convince us you and your goons didn’t do it.”

      Kloffman stammered, “I’m sure nobody in the firm would do such a thing without my approval.”

      Nick leaped all over that. “So you’re admitting that no major black ops happen at AbaCo without your knowledge?”

      “Are you kidding?”

      Kloffman looked like he’d blurted that out without thinking. He fell silent and a thoughtful look entered his eyes. She gave him as long as he wanted to work through whatever was on his mind. Nick also looked inclined to let the man stew in his thoughts for the time being.

      Eventually, Kloffman said heavily, “Many things happen without my knowledge at AbaCo. I’m purely a figurehead around there.”

      Laura stared. The statement had a definite ring of truth to it. The guy was a figurehead? “Who’s the real power at AbaCo, then?”

      Kloffman glared at Nick. “As Ms. Delaney put it so succinctly, a cabal of criminals put in place by your bitch of a wife.”

      “Can you prove that?” Laura demanded.

      “Why should I?” Kloffman shot back.

      She considered him carefully. “Because I’ll hold you responsible for kidnapping my son and kill you if you don’t?”

      He let out an exasperated sigh. “Look. They pay me a small fortune to be the public face of AbaCo. But I’m not about to go down in flames, as you say, for all the activities they’re into.”

      Nick leaped on that right away. “What else is AbaCo up to besides human trafficking?”

      Kloffman snorted. “That’s the tip of the iceberg.”

      Laura had no trouble believing that. “Again, I ask if you have any proof.”

      “Why should I hand any of it over to you?”

      Nick asked reasonably, “Who else would you give it to? If you were going to hand it over to the U.S. government, you’d have done it before now—when it became clear the feds are going to come after AbaCo with everything they’ve got in the upcoming trial. But you saw what Meredith’s goons did to me. I think you’re afraid to cross her. And rightly so, by the way.”

      Nick was doing an excellent job of playing good cop. Which left her to play bad cop.

      She leaned forward. “Don’t be stupid, Werner. I have the gun, and I won’t hesitate to use it.”

      The German looked back and forth between them. “Let me make a phone call to inquire about your boy.”

      She considered briefly. Why not? What could it hurt? She nodded and allowed the man to pull out a cell phone. He put it on speaker and laid it on the coffee table in front of him before hitting a speed dial number.

      Nick commented as a man’s voice came on the line, “I speak fluent German.”

      She threw him a grateful look. That could prove immensely helpful.

      Kloffman nodded irritably at them. “Klaus. It’s Kloffman. Did you hear that Nick Cass’s boy was kidnapped?”

      “It’s all over the news,” a heavily accented voice replied in English. “Serves the bastard right.”

      Kloffman asked, “Do you know anything about it that could implicate AbaCo?”

      “No.” The guy sounded genuinely surprised. “We had no such orders. Besides, everyone would suspect us right away. We’re not that stupid. Just do what you were sent to Washington to do and stay out of things that don’t concern you.”

      Laura was surprised by the scorn in this Klaus guy’s voice. That didn’t sound anything at all like the respect due a genuine CEO. She glanced over at Nick and he was frowning, too. Apparently, Werner was telling the truth about being a figurehead.

      “I’m sorry to bother you, Klaus.”

      The German ended the call. “Satisfied?” Kloffman spit out.

      She answered, “Not yet.”

      “Look. I have children of my own. I would not hurt your son.” As her gaze hardened, he added in desperation, “Why would I kidnap your boy? The trial’s going to be stopped anyway.”

      Laura started, and it was Nick who leaned forward and said smoothly, “Who did you cut the deal with, Werner?”

      “The CIA.”

      Laura was stunned. Her own agency had sold her out?

      Thankfully, Nick didn’t miss a beat and nodded beside her. “Of course. I’ll bet you’ve held a few prisoners for the agency, maybe given them a heads-up where certain shipments were headed. You scratch their back, and now you’ve called in the favor and forced them to scratch yours.”

      “Exactly,” Kloffman exclaimed, obviously relieved that Nick was on the same page. “In another day or two, the federal prosecutors will announce that national security could be compromised by proceeding with the case, and all charges will be quietly dropped. I have no need to kidnap your boy

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