Page 63 of Forged in Secrets

“It’s pretty strange for a kidnapper to seek such a specific amount,” Gabe said.

“Super weird,” Asher agreed.

“Whatever,” Ben said gruffly. “Who cares what the amount is. We need to get it. I’ll sell everything I own if I have to. It doesn’t matter.”

“Mr. Hinton is working on getting the necessary assets liquidated,” Gabe said, his typical fatherlike tone returning. “And I’m sorting out travel arrangements. I’ll be coming down with the Hintons myself.”

“Whoa,” Asher said, sounding shocked. “Won’t the place fall apart if you leave?”

Ben could understand his reaction. Gabe was an excellent field operative, but he preferred staying in San Antonio where he could supervise the rest of their team. Itwas the ideal setting for his favorite activity of bossing people around.

“Cameron will hold down the fort,” Gabe said firmly. “And I already talked to Reilly. He’s agreed to come off paternity leave if it comes to that.”

“If Lauren doesn’t kill him in a fit of postpartum rage before he can reach the office,” Asher added.

“Do you want us to tell the police about the ransom demand?” Ben asked, lowering his voice as a group of college boys sauntered past them, followed by two girls who looked barely old enough to drive, let alone be attending college.

They were in a secluded area of the resort, behind two buildings, but with the spring break crowds it felt like nowhere was truly private. The last thing Ben wanted was for someone to overhear and start asking questions.

“I told them to,” Gabe said. Asher clicked the volume button on the side of the phone several times, and he and Ben leaned in closer as Gabe continued. “But the Hintons refused. The ransom message they got was clear–come alone by car, no cops, no weapons, or Grace dies. They’re supposed to show up at noon tomorrow at a certain dock on a Mexican beach near the town of La Pesca, ready to transfer the money digitally.”

“Will they let you talk to Allie, at least?” Asher asked in a hushed voice as more college kids sauntered by. Ben nodded in agreement. Officer Allie Parker was their liaison at San Antonio PD, and everyone on the team trusted her implicitly. It seemed wise to Ben to at least inform her of what was about to go down, especially if they needed help from the Mexican authorities after the fact.

“Nope,” Gabe said. “Believe me, I pushed for it, but the Hintons weren’t willing to take any risk at all. I don’t likeit, but I can see where they’re coming from. And I’m not going to go against their wishes. They need our help; I can’t jeopardize their trust.”

“So where does that leave us?” Ben asked, eager to hang up the phone and get moving on whatever came next. Standing around here while Grace was in trouble felt like torture.

“Well, the Hintons agreed to let me go with them part way,” Gabe said. “If I take every precaution not to be spotted, of course. I’ll drive them as close as I can to the coordinates the kidnappers gave us, and from there I plan on planting one-way surveillance on the Hintons and keeping a close watch unless I absolutely need to engage.”

Asher shot Ben a glance. As usual, Ben felt as though he could read his twin’s mind even before he spoke. “You be careful. For Grace’s sake, and your own.”

“I’m supposed to be the one worrying about you guys, not the other way around,” Gabe said, releasing a loud sigh over the speaker. “I can’t exactly let Mr. and Mrs. Hinton deal with this on their own.”

“Especially Grace’s mom,” Asher said, a smile breaking his solemn expression. “Maybe have Bristol or Lauren help her pack. Somehow I doubt she owns anything appropriate to wear to a potentially deadly meeting in middle-of-nowhere Mexico.”

“I’ll make sure she leaves the family diamonds at home,” Gabe said flatly, clearly in no mood for Asher’s commentary.

Asher opened his mouth to speak, but Ben cut him off before he could set off a round of time-wasting bickering.

“Where did the ransom note come in?” he asked.

“That’s the silver lining,” Gabe said. “It was an email, and if anyone can trace the source, it’s you.”

Ben closed his eyes for a moment in a silent prayer of thanksgiving. If it had been an actual letter, there would have been no way to figure out anything useful in time.

“And get this,” Gabe continued. “It was delivered via a spoofed Hinton Logistics internal email address. I already sent you everything the guys at the office have. They’ll keep digging, but, well, they’re not you.”

“Okay,” Ben said. “I’ll get started.”

“Keep me posted,” Gabe said before hanging up.

Ben followed Asher without a word as he made his way toward the back of the building that housed their rooms and started heading up the back stairwell.

As his legs climbed up several flights of concrete, the rest of his muscles itched for real, tangible action.

“All I want to do right now is tear the island apart inch by inch until we find Grace,” he admitted as they reached their floor.

Asher reached over and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I plan on changing my clothes, grabbing a coffee and a couple extra guns, and doing just that,” he promised. “But God gave you the nerd magic. And right now, figuring out who sent that email is our best chance at getting ahead of the kidnapper.”

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