Page 81 of Trapped

He could picture Luntz standing at the front of a room full of troops. But that was all. None of what the guy had been saying was coming through.

Cash clenched his fists, then ordered himself to stop trying to force memories. It didn’t do any good. They came back when they were good and ready—or not at all.

What he had to do was focus on the present assignment— determining that it was safe enough for Sophia to come calling on the man inside the house.

He strained his ears. And as far as he could tell, there was no sound coming from the interior except the television set.

As he circled the property, he noted the exterior features and looked in other windows, but he saw no one else. When he checked the detached garage, he found two cars.

It was almost too perfect, with Luntz at home alone and watching television.

Was this a setup? Or was the man perfectly comfortable in his own surroundings and sure that he wasn’t in any kind of trouble?

Slipping back into the woods, Cash called Sophia.

“Give me ten minutes. Then come on ahead.”

“Okay.”

He hung up, then hurried back to the house, where he secured his pack on his back, then climbed up a drainpipe to the top of the covered patio. From there he crossed to an upstairs window and carefully cut a circle in one of the panes with a glass cutter—before slipping inside and tiptoeing toward the stairs.

He tried to stay calm, but his stomach was tied in knots.

Stationing himself in the shadows of the hall, he waited for the doorbell to ring.

It did—on schedule.

Moments later, he heard footsteps on the stone floor of the lower hall. Then Luntz turned on the exterior light and opened the door.

“May I help you?” he asked.

From the top of the stairs, Cash could hear Sophia’s voice drifting through the doorway. “I’m sorry to bother you so late in the evening.”

“Yes?” Luntz said.

“I’m Sara Rollins,” she said, giving the name they’d agreed upon. “I’m a clinical psychologist, and I’ve been working with a patient named Cash Baker. He’s mentioned you several times in our sessions, and I’m hoping you can give me some information about him.”

“Come in.”

She did, and he closed the door behind her.

“Where is Baker?”

“I’m not at liberty to say.”

“Why not?”

“He’s at a secure government facility.”

“Because?”

“He apparently had some kind of breakdown on an assignment in Afghanistan. And I understand that you set up the mission.”

“Where did you get that information?” Luntz asked sharply.

“I was able to hypnotize Baker.”

“Interesting.”

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