Darden, for his part, was not holding up particularly well. No longer looking like a male catalog model for Brooks Brothers, he was dressed in blue jeans and a droopy plaid shirt. He was also chewing his fingernails ragged, muttering to himself, and taking endless trips to the men’s room.
Privately, Afton thought Darden might be ready to crack. It had been forty-eight hours since the first phone call had come in from the kidnappers. And there’d been nothing since. She suspected his nerves were pretty much frazzled.
Bagin tossed a half-gnawed hunk of crust into the pizza box, where it clunked loudly and bounced a few crumbs around. He flipped the lid closed, and then stood up slowly and stretched. Reached down and scratched his belly.
Max lifted an eyebrow. “You got a personal problem?” he asked.
Bagin slid a hand up and touched the area just below his throat. “I think that damn pizza gave me a case of heart—”
And that’s when the phone rang. Not any sort of melodic ring tone, but a shrill, startling ring. A ring that said, Okay, boys and girls, time to pull it together and get down to serious business.
Darden stared at his cell phone as if he couldn’t believe what was happening. As if an inanimate object had suddenly started speaking to him.
There was a flurry of officious footsteps and then Thacker’s voice barked out, “Answer it.”
Darden reached gingerly for his phone and pushed the On button.
“Hello?” he croaked. He sounded like a ninety-year-old man who’d lived in a cave for the last ten years.
Thacker snapped his fingers for everyone to shut up. He wanted Darden to answer the phone, listen carefully, and ask a few gently rehearsed questions. The cell phone had been adapted so that any conversation would be recorded. They would all hear the call in its entirety in a matter of minutes.
Darden bowed his shoulders forward and said, “Yes, I understand.” There was more conversation on the other end of the line and he said, “Okay, but it’s going to take me a while to get there.” He listened some more, his mouth going slack. “Absolutely.”
When he hung up, he looked like he’d been sucker punched in the gut.
“We gotta listen to the call!” Max boomed.
They all raced down the hall and crowded into a smaller room, which held a myriad of audio and video equipment. Dick Boyce, the tech guy, hit a button on a piece of equipment and the conversation crackled to life.
“Hello?” They were hearing Richard’s voice, just as they had a few moments earlier.
“Listen carefully, Mr. Darden,” came a male voice. “If you want to get your baby back alive, you are to drive to the corner of Sims and Weide in Saint Paul. Do you understand?”
Afton frowned. This wasn’t what she’d been expecting. She’d thought that the doll lady or the pizza guy would be calling. This was a man, same as the other night, with a fairly cultured voice. What was going on?
“Yes, I understand,” came Darden’s voice.
“Bring the two million dollars,” said the voice. “When you arrive, you will be given further instructions.”
“Okay, but it’s going to take me a while to get there,” Darden said.
“Come alone. No police.”
“Absolutely.”
*
WAS this the same guy who called the other night?” Thacker asked. Everyone was clustered around Darden, staring at him as if he were a class biology project.
“I think so.” Darden coughed and cleared his throat. “I’m pretty sure it was.”
“This person sounds very controlled,” Jasper said. “This is a guy who’s thought things through rather carefully. He’s not going to be easy to deal with.”
“Shouldn’t I get moving?” Darden quaked. He looked terrified, like a man about to face a firing squad. At the same time, he seemed anxious to be on his way with the ransom money. To get it over with.
That was when the mad scramble began. Everyone started talking at once while the tech guys double-checked the tiny tracking devices and microphones attached to Darden’s clothing.
“I still think we should put a camera on his jacket,” Thacker said. “Maybe stick it on his lapel?”
“You sure you want to do that?” Max asked.
“Positive,” Thacker said. “We need eyes. We can’t take any chances.”
“We’re already taking chances,” Afton said. To her, job one was getting Elizabeth Ann back safely. After that, she didn’t care if they shot the kidnapper with a high-powered rifle or dragged him to jail behind a fleet of squad cars.
But Thacker and Jasper were explicit in their plans. Darden had his tracking device, as well as a broadcast mike and a miniature camera. They wanted to know what was happening every second of the way. Vehicles carrying the FBI and two SWAT teams would follow Darden closely on parallel streets, and a helicopter would track his every move from overhead. The Saint Paul Police Department was standing by on alert, ready to jump in if needed.