Special Forces Father by Mallory Kane Page B

staredat Dawson, who nodded reassuringly at him, still holding up his hand.
    Travis felt helpless, listening to Dawson dealing with the kidnapper while he stood there, having no idea what to do or say—or even think.
    “A deal?” The voice laughed harshly. “Who the hell do you think you are?”
    “I’m the guy who can get you what you want,” Dawson said.
    “I told Dr. Chalmet what I want.”
    “Right,” Dawson drawled, cutting his eyes to Travis, who still wasn’t sure what was going on. He just hoped Dawson knew what he was doing. “You want Senator Stamps to be ruled temporarily insane so he can skip out on his assault charge. That’s what you want?”
    “That’s right,” the voice said.
    Travis realized that Dawson had taken control of the conversation. “No, it’s not. What you want is money. It’s the people who hired you that want Stamps off on an insanity plea.”
    “Same difference,” the voice said petulantly. “What the hell is it to you? And hey. You still haven’t told me who the hell you are.”
    “Nope. And I’m not going to. You don’t need to know who I am. All you need to know is I’ve got plenty of money and I’m willing to give it to you to return Dr. Chalmet’sson to her and walk away.”
    “How—” the voice stopped, then spoke again. “I took a job and I intend to finish it. But say you want to buy some insurance, be sure the kid stays healthy, that’s fine with me. But I ain’t walking out on a job. I got a reputation.”
    “Oh, you’ve got a reputation. ” Dawson hit the mute button, then looked at Travis. “Like I said, he’s a pro.”
    “Hell, yeah,a good one,” the man on the phone said. “Now you’d better let me speak to the doctor, now. ”
    “So he’s a pro—a professional kidnapper?” The idea that his son was being held by a man who kidnapped children for a living horrified Travis.
    Dawson shrugged and pressed his lips together. “My guess is he does more than just kidnappings.”
    Travis’s stomach felt as if it had hit the floor.“You think he’s a hit man,” he said.
    “He’s not going to hurt the boy,” Dawson responded quickly. “He needs him.”
    Although that was what Travis had told Kate to reassure her, Dawson’s words didn’t make him feel a whole lot better. He was becoming more and more worried about Max. Where was the man keeping him? Was he safe and warm? Was the man feeding him and giving him enough to drink?
    Dawson held up his hand again and took the phone off Mute. “I’m representing Dr. Chalmet,” he said into the phone. “You can talk to me.”
    “Oh, hell, no,” the man said. “I don’t talk to her right now, I’m hanging up and she can kiss her kid goodbye.”
    “You’re not going to hurt the kid. He’s your ace in the hole.”
    “Look, asshole. I heard the trial’s been moved up. If the doctordoesn’t know that already, you tell her,” the kidnapper went on. “And tell her this. She missed her chance to talk to her kid. Little sucker’s been whining so I thought maybe he’d like to hear his mama’s voice. But that ain’t happening now. I’ll call back one more time and when I do, she better be there to talk to me or I’ll hang up and hell will freeze over before she ever sees her kid again. Yougot that?”
    Travis touched Dawson’s arm and pointed to himself. Dawson shook his head.
    “I got it. Dr. Chalmet will be very sorry she missed your call, but she’s busy working on your demands. So there’s no reason to punish her or her child because she’s doing what you told her to. Why don’t you call back at seven o’clock this evening and—”
    There was a click on the line. The man hadhung up.
    “Damn it!” Travis cried. He whirled around and kicked the chair nearest him.
    “Take it easy, Trav. That temper of yours won’t do your son any good. I’d have thought Special Forces might have trained that out of you.”
    Travis instantly regretted the outburst. He was a little