CHAPTER SIX

2:17 P.M.

“Damn!” Sam swore under his breath, and beside him, Phil and Lance let out similar curses. Just when they thought they had a good solution to the problem at hand, another cropped up.

Kaelyn rubbed her temples, not caring who saw and how they would perceive her.

How had she missed it? How did Anderson, or whatever the hell his name was, take her for a ride? She’d been so jubilant at getting his name that she hadn’t considered that he might have been lying to her. She’d been so confident that her submissive female routine had tugged on his heartstrings and he would play her straight.

This was one aspect of his personality that she hadn’t envisaged – that he could be as cunning and manipulative as he was cruel. She should have seen it. He was calculative and methodical; he didn’t make a move without considering the next plan of action. If he thought she was easily deceived, then he had made every use of that fact.

Silently, she mused about her next course of action. If Penny could get them a name, she would have the element of surprise on her side. If not, she would have to gain his trust so that he would tell them his real name.

Picking up the phone, she dialled.

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

2:30 P.M.

Ring ring.

Kyuhyun opened his eyes, eyeing the device on the table in front of him. This marked the third time the phone had rung, and he still hadn’t figured out who the other person on the line was. He hoped it was the police or someone who was trying to help them, and not the front desk asking why they were late for their flight.

Taking a discreet look at his watch, he saw that it was already past two in the afternoon. His eyes widened. He’d gone looking for Jiwoo just before eight that morning. Had nearly six hours already pass while they sat at the mercy of this madman?

He squeezed Zhou Mi’s hand, which he had taken to holding earlier, when the gunman held the gun to Siwon’s head. It was a small comfort, but comfort nonetheless. The Chinese man applied pressure back, but he didn’t turn, choosing instead to continue looking at the gunman.

Kyuhyun was thankful that he hadn’t attempted to shoot anyone else after that. Whatever the phone call had been about, it had calmed their captor down significantly. He no longer waved his gun around, although he still shot them glares full of hate. Still, Kyuhyun didn’t doubt that he would soon begin making good on his threats.

He’d identified himself as Keegan Anderson to the person on the phone, and although Kyuhyun didn’t understand much English, he understood that much. But Kyuhyun was sure he didn’t know any Keegan Anderson, and he was fairly positive the rest of s didn’t either. So why was he holding them hostage?

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *

2:39 P.M.

“You lied to me,” Kaelyn stated, her voice devoid of any emotion.

“Wh-what are you talking about?” She imagined Anderson squirming upon realizing that they’d discovered his deception faster than he anticipated.

“Keegan Anderson was born in ’47 and died three years ago,” Kaelyn told him, allowing a hint of anger to seep into her voice. “And unless dead men can pick up phones, you sound very much alive to me.”

“How did you find out?” he demanded.

Kaelyn ignored the question. “I trusted you, and you took me for a ride. Why’d you lie to me?”

“You don’t need to know my name!” He was shouting again, and Kaelyn watched as his hostages shrank back in fear.

“But I do,” she deliberately lowered her voice, so that he was forced to strain his ears to hear her next words. “I told you I want to understand you. But how can you expect me to do that when I don’t even know who you are?”

“That’s crap, you don’t care about me! You don’t want to understand me! You just want my money while you go out and have fun!”

Kaelyn in a breath. Now they were getting somewhere.

“Who wants your money?” she prompted.

There was no answer, just heavy breathing. Kaelyn tried a different tack. “You’re right. I don’t understand you. But I’m trying to. Can’t you hear my sincerity? But I need your help. You need to help me understand you.”

“You’ll never understand me, Kaelyn.” That was the first time he used her name, and Kaelyn took it as a positive sign that they were moving in the right direction.

“Try me,” she told him. “I daresay I’ve had more experience than you.”

“Do you know what it’s like?”

“Do I know what’s what like?”

“Do you know what it’s like, to lose someone?” He was breathing heavily again, and from the monitor, Kaelyn saw him bring his hand to his face, as if he were wiping away sweat or tears, she couldn’t tell.

“I do,” she affirmed. “I do know what it’s like to lose someone. Do you want to talk about what happened?”

“You’re lying!” He yelled into the phone, pointing his gun at his hostages again. Ryeowook started, then buried his face in Sungmin’s shoulder.

“No I’m not,” Kaelyn protested. “I have been nothing but truthful with you. Why would I lie to you? You’re the one who’s been lying to me.”

She heard him sigh loudly, but he didn’t say anything. She pressed again. “Why don’t we start again? Tell me your name. You’re not Keegan Anderson. But your last name is Anderson, isn’t it?”

It was pure speculation on her part, so she was astonished to see him nodding. “Ku-Kurt. Kurt Anderson.”

“Any relation to the deceased Keegan?” she asked. Phil nodded at her, a signal that they’d managed to find a Kurt Anderson in the system and that the picture matched their perp.

“He was my grandfather,” Kurt replied.

“So when you talked about losing someone, were you referring to him?”

Kurt laughed, but there was no mirth. “Old man Keegan was a miserly who drank all the time. When he wasn’t drinking, he was either sleeping around or beating people up. I was glad when he died.”

“Sounds like there’s no love lost there. So if it isn’t old Keegan’s death that’s got you all riled up, then who is it?”

Kurt turned suspicious. “Why do you want to know about the , anyway?”

That was the most telling indication to the SRT team that Kaelyn’s earlier conjunction had been correct. There was a woman involved in this.

“Boss,” Penny’s voice came tentatively over the speakerphone then, and Phil immediately muted it, transferring the call to his commset instead.

“Talk to me, Pen,” Phil said in a low voice. Kaelyn would hear their conversation on her commset, so she would still be kept in the loop if there was any pertinent information.

“Kurt Anderson is an American citizen of Korean descent,” Penny stated. “He’ll be 23 in two months. Parents are divorced; mother Kim Jin Hye lives in Seoul, father Raymond Anderson lives in Chicago.”

“Any other women his life?” Phil asked. “Girlfriend, wife, crush?”

“Up til recently, he was dating a girl called Amanda Chung, who is also Korean-American.”

“What do we know about her?”

“Nothing much, except that they dated for approximately four years before she called it quits two weeks ago. Friends say that she grew tired of his increasing possessiveness.”

Kaelyn tuned out the conversation between Phil and Penny; she had enough information for the moment. She turned her attention back to Kurt.

“Are you talking about Amanda?”

“How’d you know about her?” Kurt roared.

“Why don’t you tell me about her?” Kaelyn prompted instead.

“There’s nothing to say about her! I don’t want to talk about her!”

“Okay, that’s fine if you don’t want to talk about her,” Kaelyn told him. “But I do have a favor to ask of you.”

She could see his expression turn suspicious. “What?”

“Let me talk to one of the hostages,” she urged. “As a sign of good faith.”

“NO!”

“C’mon Kurt. You owe me one. You lied to me, remember? Now’s your chance to make it up to me,” she entreated.

“Fine,” Kurt relented. “But I choose who you speak to.”

“Done.”

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *