Trust Me by Jeff Abbott Page A

them kill my kid.’
    ‘I’m not going to let them have our money,’ Mouser said. ‘And he’s Warren Dantry’s kid, right?’
    A long pause, a curled lip that told Mouser Henry was uncomfortable with Mouser’s knowledge of his family. Mouser studied the professor in front of him. Henry always looked like he was running late for a lecture and he looked the same now, except in his gaze an intense anger steamed.
    ‘Yes. He was Warren’s son.’ Henry folded his arms. ‘I think of him as my son now.’
    ‘Answer me one question. Do you have our money, Henry?’
    Henry stared at him, as though anticipating the sight of a gun or a knife. ‘No. I tried to access the accounts; the passwords have been changed.’
     
    All of Mouser’s pride, all his excitement over the mission well done, the blow against the Beast, turned to ash.
    ‘You can’t access the money?’ Snow asked, as though she didn’t understand.
    ‘Not for you. Not for anyone in the Night Road.’ Henry crossed his arms. ‘I rushed back here as soon as I could, so we can figure out what to do …’
    ‘No. No.’ Mouser lurched forward, to seize Henry. Henry raised a gun from under his own jacket. Mouser stopped.
    ‘Stop. We can’t fight amongst ourselves. What’s done is done. Listen to me. We’re going to fix this. We have to move forward with the first wave. And Hellfire stays on schedule.’
    Mouser stopped himself. He wanted to strangle the life out of Henry Shawcross at that moment. Another betrayal, that’s all this was, just like every other moment in his life where he approached greatness, only to see his glory snatched away. He forced calmness into his breath. He felt the pressure of a hand on his shoulder; he glanced behind him.
    Snow said, ‘Was there any mention from the kidnapper about the first wave of attacks?’
    ‘No.’
    ‘Or of Hellfire?’ Her eyes were bright.
    ‘No. So the kidnapper is interested in the fifty million - not in stopping the attacks themselves,’ Henry said.
    ‘All right. They asked for a ransom of our money. What did you say?’ Mouser sat back down on the couch.
    Henry returned his gun to his jacket. ‘I wasn’t willing to acknowledge that I had the money in case the conversation was being taped.’
    ‘So you refused to ransom your own kid. Your loyalty is an inspiration.’
    ‘I may have saved us all by doing so. Because I know who kidnapped Luke.’
     
    ‘Who?’
    ‘The banker who was in charge of setting up the financial accounts around the country for the fifty million is missing. Eric Lindoe. He hasn’t been at his job in the past three days.’
    ‘Who could have shut you out of the accounts?’
    ‘Only Eric. Only he and I had access. Mine is under a false name of course.’
    ‘You’re not making sense, Henry. If Eric Lindoe took the money, he has no reason to kidnap your stepson,’ Snow said in an even tone. She kept her grip on Mouser’s shoulder and he shrugged it off.
    ‘I think there is a simple explanation. If Eric was just a common embezzler, then he could simply steal the money and try to hide from us. There would be no reason to involve Luke. If the government - the Beast, as you so charmingly say, Mouser - has discovered us and turned Eric against us, again, there would be no need to kidnap my son. The FBI would freeze the funds, arrest Eric, and arrest me, try to force your names and those of everyone in the Night Road from me. And they would care about stopping the attacks, and then stopping Hellfire - they wouldn’t have the money as a focus. We face contradictory facts. Ergo, we must follow a third alternative: Eric wants everyone - us and our enemy - to think he doesn’t have the money, and our enemy is not the government.’
    ‘Ergo so who?’ Mouser asked, mocking.
    ‘Our enemy wants the fifty million for themselves. It might be someone in the Night Road, turning traitor against us, although no one in the group knows that Eric is our banker. Only I know him. So. I