Diplomacy

happened.
    There it was on the screen, while the news anchor was still talking about all the extra money the U.S. President was asking Congress to support his war effort:
    - U.S. AMBASSADOR KIDNAPPED IN BRUSSELS –

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    Lucas gasped audibly. Oh my God! Jack. Then he turned to the young girl and ripped the remote out of her hand.
    “Mr. Carlton, really!”
    He felt his stomach turn and all the blood drained from his face as he flicked the channels in a desperate attempt to get more information.
    The Flemish Belgian TV was showing repeats of the nightly news, but nothing more. The Walloon Belgian channels were not showing any news at all. No news either on the Dutch channels, so he went back to BBC
    World, not even aware he was muttering “fuck, fuck, fuck” each time he pressed the button without finding anything.
    “…just minutes ago. Eyewitnesses report two or three shots being fired. The Ambassador was accompanied by his driver and a Secret Service man. We will be updating this story in the course of the morning as more information becomes available.” Lucas was stunned, unable to think clearly. Jack had been kidnapped. Who? Why?
    What if the shots fired had been aimed at him?
    Call the U.S. Embassy.
    Lucas turned around and grabbed a phone, dialing Gertje’s number from memory.
    “United States Embassy, how may I help you?” This wasn’t Gertje, this was the front desk.
    “You’re not Gertje, eh… Mrs. Claessens.”
    The friendly voice returned. “No, sir. All calls are directed to the front desk. Who may I say is calling?”
    Lucas knew he had to try. He took a deep breath, trying to control himself. “My name is Lucas Carlton. I am the British Liaison Officer for your Embassy. I would like to speak to Jack’s… Mr. Christensen’s secretary, Gertje Claessens.”
    “I’m sorry, sir, but I can’t redirect you. Can I take a message?” It was like talking to a bloody answering machine. “No, you can’t take a message. Forget it!”
    He dropped the phone on the desk, making the secretary closest to him jump as he stormed off in the direction of Sean’s corner office.

    142 | Z a h r a O w e n s

    He threw open the door and marched into the room without knocking. Sean took one look at his liaison officer’s tense features and realized that something was very wrong.
    “They won’t talk to me at the U.S. Embassy and the news isn’t telling us anything more, either,” Lucas blurted out without preamble.
    Sean gave the young man a stern look and then nodded at the men around the table. “We can resume this tomorrow after your report is finished. Thank you, gentlemen.”
    Lucas froze as he realized he had burst into Sean’s office in the middle of a meeting.
    As the men left the office Sean turned to Lucas. “Close the door, and you better have a damn good explanation for disturbing this meeting!” Lucas inhaled deeply and licked his lips before answering.
    “Someone has kidnapped Jack.”

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Chapter Eighteen
    “MARK?”
    “Mark, are you okay?”
    “Mark, wake up.”
    Jack sat close to his bodyguard on the dirty floor of what looked like a garage. He was sore from being roughly shoved down after Mark had fallen against him, unable to defend himself, with his hands tied behind his back. He moved his shoulders a bit and then his hands, to promote circulation, but they were constantly tingling from lack of blood supply. He had some trouble breathing, but he didn’t think it was a major problem. As long as he didn’t inhale too deeply, he was fine.
    Mark was another matter, though. The Secret Service man had managed to get his hands untied and when the two masked men noticed, one of them pointed his gun. Jack was in the line of fire and Mark did what he was trained to do: he jumped in front of Jack. Reflex made the younger assailant fire and Mark had taken the bullet for his Ambassador.
    Jack could only hope that Mark’s Kevlar vest had taken most of the impact, but he was sure he had seen some blood splatter across the agent’s perfectly white shirt.
    Also… Mark wasn’t moving, but Jack hoped he was still alive. He couldn’t hear Mark’s breathing and that worried him, because it was nearly quiet enough to hear his own heartbeat. Jack tried to move so he could place his ear against Mark’s chest and sighed in relief. He could hear a faint heartbeat and quick shallow breathing. Mark was alive.
    As Jack lifted his head from Mark’s