Border War by William W. Johnstone

Author:William W. Johnstone [Johnstone, William W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Goodreads: 2013427
Publisher: Pinnacle
Published: 2006-09-01T04:00:00+00:00

Twenty-one

Tom’s cell phone rang while he and Bonnie were having a tense supper with Kelly. Since returning to the house after the meeting at City Hall, nothing had happened—no contact by the kidnappers, no calls or visits from the FBI or any other authorities. The reporters had all left, as had the two Laredo police officers. The FBI tech with his electronic equipment was the only outsider still there.

“I don’t understand it,” Kelly had said earlier. “It hasn’t even been forty-eight hours yet. It’s like they’ve all given up and written those girls off.”

Tom and Bonnie had done their best to assure her that wasn’t the case, but deep down, Tom feared that it was, at least where the authorities were concerned. He was plenty old enough to remember an embassy full of hostages sitting in Tehran while the people in charge dithered around and wrung their hands, unwilling to take any risks that might actually accomplish something. This situation was similar, although on a smaller scale. To the politicians in Washington, covering their asses was more important than rescuing those girls. Doing the right thing mattered a whole hell of a lot less than not doing the wrong thing—which in their minds meant anything that might hurt their chances of getting reelected.

It was a mess, all right, and Tom hated to think that the country had gone so far down that path. But that was why he had decided to talk to the relatives of the missing girls. So when the phone in his pocket rang, Tom felt a surge of hope. He answered it and heard a familiar voice say, “Tom, this is Wayne Van Sant. I’ve been talking to some guys I know, sounding them out about that idea of yours.”

“Glad to hear it, Wayne,” Tom said as he got to his feet. “Hang on a minute.” He took the phone away from his ear and said to Bonnie and Kelly, “I’ll be right back.”

Bonnie frowned a little. Tom knew that look of suspicion. He would deal with it later.

He left the dining room, went through the kitchen, and stepped out into the backyard. He said into the phone, “Okay, Wayne, go ahead. We can talk freely now.”

“What’s the matter, there still a bunch of cops at your sister-in-law’s house?”

“Worse, a suspicious wife.”

Van Sant chuckled, but Tom could tell his heart wasn’t in it. “I’ve spoken to a dozen of the other dads, and they’re all interested in helping out any way they can. And I mean any way.”

Tom’s pulse quickened. He said, “That’s good to hear. The first thing we need to do is get together and hammer out a plan.”

“That’s what I thought, too. You know anything about Laredo?”

“Not much,” Tom admitted. “I can sort of find my way around, but that’s all.”

“There’s a local gun club with a shooting range on the north side of town. Several of us are members. Why don’t we all meet there, say around eight o’clock?”

“Sounds good to me.”

Van

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.