Cross Country

home.
    “Ali!” I called and went forward to him.
“Ali!”
    “Daddy! Daddy!” he shrieked as he ran and threw himself into my outstretched arms. My little boy was crying and shaking uncontrollably.
    No, no — I was the one crying and shaking
. Ali was just holding on to me incredibly tightly. He kept repeating, “Daddy, Daddy, Daddy!” I couldn’t hear the words enough times.
    What was happening here?
I wondered, looking to the CIA men for answers. Now I saw that Eric Dana and my friend Al Tunney had come to the house as well.
    Then I heard, “Alex? Is that you in there? Alex, is that you?”
    The voice was Nana’s, but the next person entering the living room was Jannie.
    She had her arms stretched out, and she was sobbing as she ran and crashed into my chest. “Oh, my sweet girl, my darling girl,” I whispered as she pressed into me. “Oh, Jannie, sweetheart. Oh, my baby, my baby.”
    “I’m okay, we’re okay,” Jannie said. “They kept us in a room. They asked us so many questions. We didn’t know why, Daddy, we didn’t know anything.”
    “No, of course you didn’t.”
    Then Nana slouched into the living room, and she looked terrible and wonderful all at the same time. She came to us, and then we were all group hugging. The CIA agents just looked on, warmly, it seemed to me, but they said nothing.
    “They didn’t harm us,” said Nana. “Thank God, we’re all here together. We’re all safe.”
    That was enough for this unbelievable moment, the most emotional one of my life — we were all together, and we were safe.

Chapter 156
    THE GOOD MOOD was broken by Steven Millard from the CIA. “Detective Cross, can we have a moment? Whenever you’re ready,” he said.
    I went out with Millard, who I took to be the highest-ranking of the CIA representatives at the house. He was the group chief, right? There were four of their vehicles parked outside. Three agents, two of them women, stood around on the sidewalk. I wondered if they had been picked to make it easier for my family when they were brought home.
    “Where were they? Where did you find them?” I asked Millard. “Who took them?”
    He walked ramrod straight and I decided he had probably been military before he came to the CIA. He seemed very sure of himself, confident about who he was and his role here.
So what was it? Who the hell was Steven Millard? What was his role?
    “I told you before, Detective, we’re the good guys — we’re
still
the good guys. Most of us are busting our asses to do a good job and help keep this country safe. . . . Ian Flaherty wasn’t. He sold us out, maybe a couple of times. The last time, it was to the Chinese. Maybe to a bad apple from their basket.”
    “My family,” I said, reminding Millard of my question.
    “We had Flaherty under surveillance from the moment he reached Washington. Trust me on that one. He led us to your family. I don’t know if they would’ve been released. A couple of mercenaries were with them — they were working with Flaherty. Flaherty was working for the Chinese. Your family was questioned, but mostly they were just insurance, in case it was needed. Flaherty was afraid you might have found out about him in Lagos.”
    I shook my head. “Bribery has become a way of life there. Adanne Tansi knew the Chinese were involved with oil trading in the Delta. Thousands of Nigerians have been murdered down there, as you know.”
    “Yes, we know,” said Millard.
    “And you knew the civil war was coming, but you did nothing to stop it.”
    “There was nothing we could do. We don’t need another Iraq, do we?”
    I stared into his eyes. “Where’s Flaherty now?”
    Millard didn’t flinch as he answered. “We have him. We’re talking to him now. Eventually he’ll talk to us. We know that Mr. Sowande, your Tiger, worked for him.”
    “That’s all you can tell me?”
    Millard shook his head. “No. I can tell you this. Go home to your family, Detective Cross. They’re special. You’ve been away from them too much.”
    I nodded at Millard. He wasn’t going to level with me, so there was nothing else to say. I turned around and began to walk back to my house.
    He was right about one thing:
My family was special
.
    They were waiting for me on the porch, and as I got close, another dark sedan pulled up in front. Damon stepped out, and he looked my way. He half waved, half saluted.
    But then Damon came running, and so did I.
    The Cross family was back together again.