Thr3e by Ted Dekker Read Free Book Online Page A

riddle?”
    “Call Samantha. Ask for her help. The two of you can put your stinking heads together and figure it out.”
    “I’m not even sure I can reach Samantha. How will you know what I tell her?”
    Slater’s deep chuckle filled the phone. “You don’t do what I’m doing without learning the tools of the trade, boy. I have ears and eyes everywhere. Did you know that with the right toys you can understand a man inside a house from over a thousand yards away? Seeing is even easier. The clock is ticking. You’re down to twenty-nine minutes and thirty-two seconds. I suggest you hustle.”
    The line clicked.
    “Slater?”
    Nothing. Kevin shoved the phone into its cradle and looked at his watch. 4:15 . There was going to be another explosion in thirty minutes, this time involving his best friend, which made no sense because he had no best friends. In life he’s your friend, but death is the end . No cops.

4
    F BI SPECIAL AGENT JENNIFER PETERS hurried down the hall, her pulse hammering with an urgency she hadn’t felt for three months. The Long Beach bomb report had come in several hours ago, but she hadn’t been told. Why? She rounded the corner and shoved the Los Angeles bureau chief’s door open.
    Frank Longmont sat at his desk, phone pressed to his ear. He didn’t bother looking up at her. He knew, didn’t he? The weasel had purposefully stalled.
    “Sir?”
    Frank held up his hand. Jennifer crossed her arms while the chief talked on. Only then did she notice two other agents, whom she didn’t recognize, seated at the small conference table to her left. Looked like East Coast stiffs. Their eyes lingered. She turned from them and steadied her breathing.
    Her blue business suit had only the smallest of slits up her left leg, but she couldn’t shake the certainty that what was decent, even conservative in her mind, still drew frequent glances from men. Her hair was dark, to her shoulders, and her eyes a soft hazel. She had the kind of face others might spend their lives trying to imitate—symmetrical with soft skin and rich color. There was no disguising her physical beauty. Beauty is a gift, her father used to say. Just don’t flaunt it . A gift. Jennifer had found beauty just as often a handicap. Many people of both genders had difficulty accepting both beauty and excellence from the same person.
    To compensate, she tried her best to ignore her appearance and instead focus on excellence. Brains are also a gift, her father used to say. And God had not been stingy. At age thirty, Jennifer Peters was regarded as one of the best forensic psychologists on the West Coast.
    But in the end it hadn’t mattered. Her excellence hadn’t saved her brother. Which left her as what? A beautiful woman who was much more interested in being smart than beautiful, but who wasn’t so smart after all. A nothing. A nothing whose failure had killed her brother. And now a nothing who was being ignored by the bureau chief.
    Frank set down his phone and turned to the two men at the table. “Excuse us for a moment, gentlemen.”
    The two agents exchanged glances, rose, and left. Jennifer waited for the click of the door latch before speaking.
    “Why wasn’t I told?”
    Frank spread his hands. “You obviously were.”
    She glared at him. “It’s been five hours! I should already be in Long Beach.”
    “I’ve been on the phone with the Long Beach police chief. We’ll be there first thing in the morning.”
    We’ll? He was being cagey. She walked to his desk, hands on hips. “Okay, cut the innuendos. What’s going on?”
    Frank smiled. “Please, Jennifer, take a seat. Take a breath.”
    She didn’t like the tone of his voice. Easy, girl. Your life’s in this man’s hands.
    “It’s him, isn’t it?”
    “We don’t have enough yet. Sit.” They locked stares. She sat in one of the large chairs facing the desk and crossed her legs.
    Frank tapped his finger on the desk absently. “I was thinking of letting Craig take