else is happening?â
âHereâs the deal, Agent Savich. I donât like the fact that those two guys are still hanging around here either. Iâm hoping that Fatsoâthatâs the name Sam gave one of the kidnappersâis hurt bad and thatâs why they havenât hightailed it out of here. But if he was badly hurt, then why not take him to a doctor? We have two doctors in town. Both of them call me from home every hour so Iâll know theyâre okay.â
âWell done,â Savich said.
âYeah, but you know, the truth is, I donât know what to make of it. Theyâve got to know that everyone is looking for them. Why would they stay local?â
âYouâre basing this on one witness?â
âYes. Her set of eyes is just fine.â
âYou shot Fatso in the arm?â
âYes, that Iâm sure of. Then I fired several more times while they were running back into the forest. Maybe I shot him again, I just didnât see, all I heard was a yelp.â She drew a deep breath. âI know where they were keeping Sam. Agent Glen Hodges said he and his people will dust the place for prints when they get here.â
âIâm not too happy that theyâre still around, but it sounds like youâve got everything under control. Weâll be there soon. Be careful, okay?â
Katie pressed the âoffâ button on her cell. Well, she was being careful. She was keeping Sam with her, the FBI was on the way, and sheâd called in all her peopleâwith the exception of Wade, whoâd already worked his butt off today. Everyone was out looking for that light gray van now.
Her cell phone played the first bars of âFly Me to the Moonâ a minute later. A manâs voice came on the line. âSheriff Benedict? This is Miles Kettering. Iâm with Agent Savich. Iâm sorry to bother you, but I just wanted to thank you, and . . . please take care of my boy. Savich told me he was still sleeping?â
âYes, heâs out like a light. Do you want me to wake him up?â
âOh no, itâs just that Iâmââ He stalled.
âI understand, Mr. Kettering. If someone had taken my child, Iâd be scared out of my mind until I actually had her in my arms. Youâre flying the Cessna?â
âYes. It was the best I could do on short notice, but itâs a solid little plane.â
âItâs pretty bad weather here, as Iâm sure you know. Youâre coming in at Ackermanâs Air Field?â
âYes, soon now.â
She checked that Miles Kettering had directions from Ackermanâs Air Field to her house before disconnecting.
She got a call not five minutes later from Glen Hodges, the SAC of the Knoxville Bureau field office.
âIâve got three agents in the car with me. Weâll be in Jessborough about two hours from now, give or take because of the weather. Is there any more you can tell me?â
âNo. Everyoneâs out looking for the gray van, and doing general surveillance on anyone looking like either of the two men. I gave Agent Savich the partial license plate of the van. He said he was going to call Agent Butch Ashburn.â
âYeah, Savich just called me. Agent Ashburn will get the owner of that van in no time.â
âAgent Savich and Mr. Kettering, the boyâs father, will be here soon as well.â
âSavich didnât say what he was doing involved in a kidnapping? Last I heard he was in L.A. playing around in one of the Hollywood studios.â
âIâm sure I donât know, Agent Hodges. I just assumed he was assigned to the case with Agent Ashburn.â
âOh no, Savich is the unit chief for the Criminal Apprehension Unit at headquarters.â
âWhatâs that?â
âHe works mostly with computers, setting up databases and data-mining programs to help catch criminals. TheBureau set up this unit
Aj Harmon, Christopher Harmon