Saul took a breath. He was thinking now, his mind working through the situation the way it had learned to work over the past few weeks.He had learnt to assess threats, weigh options, and calculate next moves. But his thoughts were inconclusive in this case, scattered by the weight of what she had just told him. Three people were missing. A targeted kidnapping attempt. A pattern that stretched back further than he had realized."Okay," he said, and his voice was calmer than he felt."Okay, look. Stay where you are. Don't go anywhere. Don't tell anyone where you're staying. If someone is targeting your family, you need to be careful until we figure out who it is and what they want. I'll reach out to you later. We need to meet in person, somewhere safe, and then I'll see what I can do."He paused. The words that came next surprised him. They came from somewhere deep, somewhere that had nothing to do with strategy or calculation. "I'm so sorry, Dannie."The nickname slipped out befo

But even with all the struggles blatant on her face, she still managed to smile at him."Saul.. thank you for coming," she said. Her voice was steadier than it had been on the phone, but not by much. It was the voice of someone holding herself together by sheer force of will. "I know you didn't have to. After everything I did, I know you didn't have to."Saul didn't respond to that. He didn't know how. The past was still there between them, a third presence on the bench, but it felt smaller now. Less important. Whatever grudges he was still carrying, they could wait.She settled onto the bench beside him, her hands clasped tightly in her lap. She did not take off her glasses, but he could see the tension in her jaw, the way her fingers kept twisting around each other. She was really going through it. Whatever had happened, whatever was still happening, it was eating her alive from the inside."Okay," Saul said, turning slightly on the bench so he could face her directly. "Tell

"I was scared and confused," Daniella said. "I didn't understand what was happening. But I trusted him. I went into the bathroom and I locked the door and I waited. I waited for a long time. Fifteen minutes. Twenty. Thirty. The bathroom was quiet. Empty. Every time someone came in, my heart would start pounding, thinking it was him, but it never was. I kept checking my phone. No messages. No calls. I tried texting him and there was no response."She took a shaky breath. "I waited for almost an hour. And then I couldn't wait anymore. I came out. The hallway was empty. The men in the security uniforms were gone. Ephraim was gone. It was almost dark outside."She paused, and Saul could see her reliving the moment."I went to the real airport security," she continued. "The actual ones. The ones with the proper uniforms and the proper badges and the proper authority. I asked about the men who came to check us for radioactive residue. I asked where they had taken my fiancé." She shook her h

She didn't like that Saul had gone to see his ex-wife, had sat beside her on a park bench, had comforted her.She didn't like the way he had talked about Daniella just now, the sympathy in his voice, the concern, the way he had noticed she looked tired and pale. Kim had urged him to go, yes. She had practically pushed him out the door. But now that he was back, now that she could see the effect the meeting had had on him, she found herself wrestling with feelings she couldn't fully express without raising questions she wasn't ready to answer.So she only expressed half of it."Can she sleep at night?" Kim asked. Her voice was carefully neutral, but there was something underneath it, something that might have been concern or might have been something else entirely. "I mean, after everything that's happened to her family. Can she actually close her eyes and rest? She must be so exhausted, the poor thing."Saul frowned, considering the question. "I don't know. It didn't cross my mind

Leo stared at him, eyes blank with what looked like exasperated exhaustion.  Then he threw back his head and laughed.   It was a short, incredulous sound.  "Saul, I know you think we're detectives, but I assure you we aren't. We're corporate employees. IT and executive management. How do you expect us to walk into a prison, sit down with a bunch of hardened criminals, and make them tell us what we want? They're not going to just volunteer that information because we ask nicely." Saul met his eyes and held them. "How do you say it? Factor it out? I believe in that spectacular mind of yours." Leo opened his mouth to protest, but Kim cut him off before he could get the words out. "Fine. We'll handle it." She said it simply, without hesitation, the way she said everything when she had made up her mind.  "The sooner we do t