Page 3 of A Colby Christmas Rescue

“The call came from the Nashville area,” Chelsea confirmed. “But I’m having a difficult time narrowing down an exact location. The call bounced all over the Volunteer State like a football in a final play free-for-all. If another call originates from that phone, it’s possible a drop in signal strength could create a hesitation in the smoke screen they’re using. All I need is a call using that phone which lasts a few minutes and a couple of strength hesitations. The signal will automatically go to where it’s strongest—where it originates.”

“Thank you, Chelsea.” Victoria turned to the others. “Thoughts?”

Ian Michaels and Simon Ruhl had been with Victoria the longest of all her outstanding investigators. Nicole Reed Michaels, Ian’s wife, was another of her most trusted. Between the three of them they had a world of experience and knowledge. More important, they were highly skilled in the art of evading danger and recovering assets.

“I’m hearing nothing from Interpol or our friend in the Mossad,” Ian said. “My impression so far is that we’re dealing with a domestic situation.”

“I agree,” Nicole confirmed. “My contacts in the CIA, the State Department and the NSA have heard no recent chatter related to our agency or anyone close to it.”

Victoria wanted to be relieved at least a little, but she was not. She turned to Lucas. “What are you hearing from Thomas Casey?”

Like Lucas, Thomas Casey had once been a ghost of the highest order. A man who knew all things and who could go in and out of all places—wherever in the world—like smoke undetected. Their contacts and assets were scattered far and wide. But with that level of reach came fierce enemies...fierce competition.

“Ian and Nicole are correct,” Lucas said, “this is not an international situation. This is someone closer to home.”

“My contacts in the FBI—” Simon went next “—have confirmed rumblings in the southeast but nothing necessarily high level. Yet, they are not willing to take a bigger connection off the table.”

Nicole rolled her eyes. “That’s just like the Bureau. Always trying to make a situation bigger than it might be.”

Simon shrugged. “They have agreed to put out feelers at the university and in the neighborhood where Luke lives.”

“In my opinion,” Ian said, “we should be heading in that direction even now.”

“Luke said I was not to do anything until I received further instructions.” The worry and uncertainty had Victoria’s heart pounding again. No matter how many times she had faced life and death, knowing that a member of her family was in danger tore her apart inside.

“We should at least call Jamie,” Lucas offered. He paced from the conference table to where Victoria sat on the edge of her desk, his trademark limp more visible than usual. He too was worried. These sorts of situations were far harder to tolerate at their ages.

And yet, they would die before backing down. She hoped whoever was behind this understood who they were dealing with.

“I don’t want to call her,” Victoria said, “until we have something more to share. At this point we know basically nothing.”

Lucas leaned against Victoria’s desk, putting himself next to her. “You’re right, of course, but I feel as if we’re doing nothing at all to alleviate the situation.”

“The only part that gives me any relief is that Luke sounded somewhat calm despite the fear I heard in his voice,” Victoria offered. “His tone was not as frantic as it could have been.” Whether the rationale should or not, it gave her some sense of peace.

Nicole looked up from her tablet. “I’ve moved the requested ten million to a separate account—the one we generally use for ransom demands.”

“Very good.” Victoria should have already thought of that herself. Perhaps turning seventy-one last year had slowed her cognitively more than she’d realized. No. That wasn’t true. There was absolutely nothing wrong with her brain. This was a problem with her heart.

And she was terrified.

“Luke has numerous friends,” Simon mentioned, scrolling through the notes on his phone. “I’ve cued up a list with contact details in the event we need to start tracking them down. His professors. His class schedule. We have everything we need to begin a thorough search for him.” His gaze settled on Victoria. “Whenever you say the word.”

Her instincts urged her to act, but...the grandmother in her feared not following the directions given.

“We know from our contact at Nashville Metro that his car is at his condo. It hasn’t left his parking space,” Lucas said.

All their vehicles were tagged with state-of-the-art tracking devices. But having Nashville Metro confirm as much was good news indeed. “Which suggests,” Victoria pointed out, “that wherever he is, someone picked him up or that person is at his condo with him.” The latter was not likely since they all had panic buttons in their private homes as well. She felt confident Luke would have found a way to trigger that alarm.

The Colbys had suffered more than their share of losses. They did not take chances.

And yet, this ransom situation had happened just the same. Victoria felt powerless.

His cell phone had been turned off and the battery removed as soon as the call had ended, limiting its use as a tracking device. Victoria suspected his phone had only been used to ensure Victoria understood they did indeed have Luke in custody.

Ian said, “Nashville Metro have reported nothing in the way of hostage situations. There have been no new kidnappings in the past seventy-two hours. This appears to be an isolated event.”

Nicole looked to Victoria once more. “I’ve run the enemy list through the steps and found no new activities.”

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