Page 104 of Lawbreaker

“My poor Odalie,” Stasia said, pressing close to Tanner for comfort.

“Oh, my poor baby,” Heather whispered almost to herself.

Cole drew her close and held her. “We’ve been through storms before, honey. We’ll weather this one, too. Through thick and thin...” he began.

Heather looked up at him and smiled through her tears. “And even thinner!”

They both smiled. It was a catchphrase from a TV show they’d both loved many years ago. They did that a lot, Tanner thought. They spoke in a private language of taglines, remembered dialogue from movies and TV, quotes from famous soldiers, lines from songs. The kids were amused by it, although none of them ever understood it. Perhaps they weren’t meant to. Cole and Heather were so close that one of them was almost never seen separately. It was always the two of them, together.

Just as Tanner sat down, his cell phone rang. He looked at the number. He didn’t recognize it. Heather looked at him with real pain. So did Cole and John, and Stasia. He drew in a long breath and just sat until the ringing stopped.

“What will Tony do, do you know?” John asked.

Stasia turned her head. “Whatever it takes to get her back safely,” she said quietly. “Most of what he does these days is legitimate. But he can walk into a room back in Jersey even today, and the meanest man in the room will step aside.”

“Some bad situations call for a bad man,” Tanner told them.

“Fire with fire,” Cole agreed. He sighed. “Tony may have been a bad man, but he saved my baby from a rattlesnake bite the last time he was here. He’s okay in my book.”

“Mine, too,” Heather said, smiling.

The others smiled as well.

Meanwhile, a furious Tony was getting things done with methodical efficiency. He sent three men to a bar near a famous college in New England. He sent another man to the airport in Dallas. A fifth man walked into the room with an armful of burner phones.

“Here, take the damned things,” the man said. “I think five cops followed me home! And I’m on the right side of the law!”

“Oh, stop bellyaching, Hunter,” Ben chuckled. “You know you loved being mistaken for one of us.”

Dane Hunter chuckled. “Maybe so.” He studied Tony. “How sure are you that this agent can be turned?”

“Ninety percent,” Tony said, pocketing two of the burner phones. He handed the rest to Ben. “He had a drunken escapade with severe results that his boss, Phillip James, was holding over his head. It might have meant a very long jail term. We, uh, sort of helped the evidence and the arrest reports get mislaid...”

Hunter had both fingers in his ears. “I’m not aiding and abetting. No more disclosures!”

Ben made chicken noises.

“You’d cover your ears if you had my boss,” Hunter assured him. “Anyway, if you can turn this guy, we can put James away for a very long time.”

“I’ll do my best. If I can convince him, he’ll call you when he leaves Dallas.”

“Fair enough,” Hunter said.

Tony turned to Ben. “Reimburse him for the phones. Then call Teddy and tell him it’s the fed’s birthday and we were giving him a cake.” He glanced at Hunter with twinkling eyes. “Just so nobody thinks we’re in cahoots with you.”

Hunter chuckled. Ben rolled his eyes as he went to look in the petty cash drawer.

“I do envy you the people you keep around you,” Hunter told Tony when he was ready to leave. “Loyalty these days is a rare commodity.”

“It is.” Tony shook hands with him. “Thanks for the help.”

“I was already in the store looking for a new cell phone.” He showed his. It was scarred, the screen was cracked and most of the protective case was gone.

“You should stop throwing it at walls,” Tony advised.

Hunter shrugged. “I’m a troubled man.”

Tony just laughed.

---