Page 71 of Protecting Silver
“It may be, but we’re expediting this adoption for you.”
“Okay, and on another note, I balanced my checkbook yesterday and realized you hadn’t cashed the first check I wrote you.”
“About that, could you add the amount of that check as cash to the amount I just mentioned? It would be so much easier.”
“Absolutely, anything to get a child. I’ll see you in three hours Mr. Merriweather.” Patch waited to see if the other man would say anything, then hung up the phone. He held up his hand to stop Daniel from saying anything, then turned around and emptied his stomach in the toilet several feet away. After rinsing his mouth and wiping his face, he leaned his hands on the sink and stared at Daniel in the mirror.
“That fucking prick.”
“What? I wasn’t able to hear your end of the conversation, but it was recorded in another area of the building.”
“In a nutshell, Merriweather has a child for Silver and me. He wants two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in cash. When I asked about the check I’d already written, he wanted that in cash also. He’s selling me a child.”
“Fuck,” Daniel said. “When do you meet him?”
“In three and a half hours. He said the child is at the doctor’s, because he had the sniffles this morning and they want to have him checked out before we take him home with us.”
“How much do you want to bet,” came a voice from behind the two men. “That he’s going to kidnap a child from the hospital?” Silver said as she approached Patch. Not waiting for him to acknowledge her, she stepped up to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. As soon as Patch put his arms around her, he began to relax, and nodded when Daniel stepped away from them. After several minutes, Patch looked down and asked.
“You okay?”
“Yeah, but we have work to do. Get dressed and I’ll meet you in hair and makeup.”
“Okay, but what do we have to do?” Patch pulled on a pair of underwear beneath his towel and followed her out. It was crowded in the room they entered. Patch dressed in the clothes handed him, then sat in a chair and took Silver’s hand in his as they gave him the contacts and fixed his hair again.
“Daniel,” Silver said, and the other man was right there. “What are your plans?”
“What do you mean?”
“I mean, are you going to have men at the local hospitals waiting to see if anyone yells that their child is missing? Are you going to have backup for Douglas and me at Merriweather’s office? Are you going to have people in place to take that fucker down as soon as he leaves the building with the cash?”
Daniel grinned as he looked at Silver. “Already on it. I’m briefing at least fifty agents in the next ten minutes, and they’ll get their orders. I first had to call my boss and update him on the demand of cash. He’s getting that together as we speak. We’ve got most of it worked out, except for one thing.”
“Which is?”
‘You.”
“Me? What about me?”
“We need to get you and the child somewhere that Agents Babcock and Mann can protect you.”
“Oh, that’s easy.” Silver waved his concern away.
“Why do you say that?” Patch frowned at her. “I won’t do this if someone isn’t protecting you.”
“I can play it up that I’d like to take the child to the bathroom and wash his face, I have a feeling we’re going to have a screaming boy on our hands. I can say I read somewhere that washing their faces soothes them.”
“Great,” Daniel nodded and looked over at his two agents. “You’ve already staked out the place, will Silver’s plan work?”
“It will. We can keep her inside the bathroom until we get the all clear.”
“Okay, we’ll go with that,” Daniel said, and then he turned to Patch. “Just like last time, we’ll be listening and watching from the utility van, and we’ll have several agents in the area dressed in street clothes. There will only be one change.”
“What’s that?”
“I’ll be your driver,” Decker said as he entered the room. “And, I’ll be going inside with you.”
“Why?” Silver asked.
