The Target

case, and let her fight right alongside us?"

    She walked away from him, rubbing her hands over her arms. Then she hugged herself. "You and I have done a good job of protecting Emma. Besides, I can't begin to imagine what she'd do if you just up and left. Don't you understand? Emma needs us, both of us."

    He cursed under his breath and ran his fingers through his dark hair. "Okay. So you're right. I agree. And I really don't want to leave Emma in any case. Now here's what we'll do first thing. You're going to call Louey in Germany and get him back here. It's very possible he's involved. How? I don't know, but it's possible. We need to talk to everyone."

    "I can try," she said and walked to the phone. Three minutes later, the speaker on, they were listening to the phone ring at the Bristol Hotel Kempinski in Berlin.

    Ramsey asked, "It's what? Six A.M. there?"

    "Something like that." She asked for Louey Santera's room.

    The phone rang three times, then, "Mr. Santera's suite. Rudy here. May I help you? It's just past dawn here, by the way."

    "Good morning to you, too, Rudy. This is Mrs. Santera. I don't know if Louey happened to mention it, but his daughter was kidnapped. Please put him on the phone."

    There was a miserable silence.

    "Now, Rudy."

    "Yes, ma'am."

    After a three-minute wait, Louey Santera said, "Molly, that you? What the hell's going on? Is Emma all right? I heard she was safe."

    "Yeah, she's just fine. However, all is not what it seems, Louey. You've got to come home right now. Today."

    "I can't. I have a concert tonight. Three more before I come back to the U.S."

    "Look, Louey, this is important. It's about your daughter's life. Doesn't that mean anything to you?"

    "Dammit, Molly, I could probably come back by the end of the week, but not before then. I-"

    "Today, Louey," said Mason Lord, his voice soft and very gentle.

    "Who's that?"

    "Hello, Louey," Mason Lord said. "This is your ex-father-in-law. How are you feeling this morning? It is morning, isn't it?"

    "Yes, damn you, it's morning. So Molly went home to Daddy, did she?"

    "I suggest you get yourself back here, Louey. You can make the Lufthansa flight from Frankfurt to Chicago."

    "I can't, I-"

    "Today, Louey. There are many things we need to talk about. Perhaps you have some explaining to do."

    They heard a woman's voice in the background. "Who is that, Louey? Why are you breathing so hard?"

    Molly laughed. "Bring her along, Louey. No one wants you to get lonesome." She hung up.

    Ramsey looked ready to burst into laughter. He said, "If it were between a grand jury and your father, I'd bet any day on your dad getting him home."

    "Oh yes," she said, and yawned. "He's good at scaring people's socks off."

    "I like your hair," he said, surprising both of them.

    She blinked at him. "My hair? What did you say? You like my hair?"

    "Yes," he said. "I do. It's substantial, your hair. I like all those curls. It's good hair."

    "Well, I like your hair too."

    He began to laugh. She joined him. The door opened and Mason Lord looked in. "What is going on here? Why are you two laughing?"

    Molly just shook her head. "Will we be picking Louey up at O'Hare?"

    Mason Lord looked back and forth between them. "I think Judge Hunt should pick Louey up. That would catch the little bastard off guard."

    Ramsey merely nodded. "I'd be delighted. I've got lots to say to Mr. Santera. I'll use my old prosecutorial style."

    "My daughter," Mason Lord said precisely, "doesn't have nice hair. She looks like a grown-up Little Orphan Annie. She has her grandmother's hair."

    He'd had it. Ramsey walked up to Mason Lord. He got right in his face. "Why don't you tell Molly how happy you are to see her after three years? Why don't you tell her that she's got brains and grit and you're about the luckiest guy alive to have her for your daughter?"

    Mason Lord turned on his heel and left the bedroom. Ramsey knew he'd gone too far. Mason Lord was enraged, nearly over the edge. But when he turned in the doorway, it wasn't Ramsey he went after. He said, his voice low and vicious, "Don't bother wasting your time sleeping with her. Louey said she was a cold lump in bed. No fun at all. Of course I had to have him disciplined when it got back to me what he'd said, but there it is anyway."

    Molly didn't fold at all from the hurt of his words. Instead, she said, her voice filled with amusement, "Well, Louey's the expert, isn't he? Bottom line, Dad, I'm really glad I