Page 76 of Elusive Promise

"Sorry."

She rested her arms on the table and gazed into his eyes. "What are we going to do now, Jared?"

"I honestly don't know. Do you have any ideas?"

"We could go back to the Kumars. They should be happy to see me again. I'm sure they've been notified of Ben's involvement by now, and the fact that I found him and turned him over to the bureau would put me in a heroic light."

"True, but I'm not sure what there is to gain by talking to the Kumars. They're not going to know anything until tomorrow at ten when the ransom is supposed to be paid."

"There has to be something we can do. I can't just do nothing."

"I'm not thrilled with the idea, either. Hopefully, your pal Damon will come up with some good information."

"I should turn my phone back on in case he tries to reach me."

He pulled out his phone and turned it on as well. He didn't believe anyone was tracking their burner phones, but it would probably be better if they picked up a new set after they left their current location.

"No missed calls or texts," Parisa said. "He's probably tied up with Ben's interrogation."

He didn't have any calls from Gary, either. "I don't think we should go back to the apartment."

"I don't, either. Why don't we find a hotel on this side of the river and regroup?" she suggested.

"I have a better idea."

"What's that?"

"You'll see," he said, getting to his feet.

"I thought we were done with secrets," she complained.

"This is just a small one." And one he hoped he wouldn't regret. "If you don't like it when we get there, we can go somewhere else. But I need to clear my head, and I know the perfect way to do it."

As they got into the car, he sent a quick text. Then he turned off his phone.

Eighteen

On the way to wherever Jared was taking her, they stopped to pick up two new prepaid phones and tossed the ones they'd been using previously into a dumpster behind a restaurant. She knew Jared had another phone that he seemed determined to hang on to, but he'd turned it off, so hopefully it was untraceable. She had to trust that a spook knew how to stay off the radar.

As Jared headed toward Upstate New York, she became increasingly more curious as to where they were going, but she had to admit the quieter highways, the thick canopies of trees, the houses set back from the street, and the landscape dotted with horses and barns and long driveways made her feel calmer. She liked Manhattan with its energy and pace, the amazing food, art museums, and plays. But this more rural part of New York also had an appeal. They weren't that far from the city, but it felt like they were in another world.

Jared turned off the highway and entered a narrow lane that wound past a couple of houses, ending in a circular drive in front of a two-story house, with a big, rambling porch. There was lots of open space around the home, including a border of trees that created a wall of privacy, and a creek that meandered across the property.

As she stepped out onto the loose-pebbled drive, she said, "Whose place is this? And if you tell me it's a safe house, I'm going to have to suggest to the bureau that they step up their game."

He smiled. "It's not a safe house. It's the home my family moved into after 9/11."

"What? Wait a second. You're bringing me to your dad's house?" She was more than a little surprised.

"He's not here. He lives in Hawaii now. I bought the house from him three years ago, and I put it in a trust that cannot be traced to me."

"Not even by a rogue FBI agent?"

"Nothing is foolproof, but this place is as close to that as you can get. Let's go inside."

She followed him up the steps and into the house.

"It's a bit musty," he said, as they stepped into the entry.

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