Takeover - Lisa Black [83]
“Look, something else keeps sticking out. Bobby seems to believe that his brother is dead.”
“He could mean dead to him. Didn’t the brother turn him in?”
“Yeah, but I don’t know if Bobby knows that.” Patrick patted his shirt pocket but didn’t bother to remove the pack of cigarettes from it. “I can ask the brother.”
“It’s interesting. It could be the only psychological advantage we can get. Neither of them has anyone else we could use for leverage, no close family, no job, no political agenda. And it might be a way to drive a wedge between Bobby and Lucas if we need to.”
“Bobby will put family over friends.”
“Exactly. If they’re going to take the money and run, fine. But if they’re going to take some hostages with them—and they’d be insane not to—then we have to stop them before they reach the curb.” He watched the monitor, where Lucas slowly herded his captives toward the front of the lobby. “They’re getting ready to receive the money shipment. Maybe now I can get Bobby on the phone.”
“He’s never let us talk to Bobby before,” Patrick observed.
“We’ve never asked to, and Bobby has expressed his opinion throughout. He’s no flunky.”
“In that case there’s something else you should know.” Patrick scanned the area for Jason and didn’t see him. “I know we’re not supposed to tell you everything, but if you do happen to get Bobby on the phone and he really does believe that his brother is dead…”
“What is it, Detective?”
“His brother—Eric—is here. He was getting off work at the airport, and I thought he might come in handy.”
Cavanaugh absorbed this. “We usually try not to do that. I know in old movies they always bring the beloved mother or long-suffering wife in to talk the guy down, but in real life that backfires more often than not. Hostage takers tend to blame everyone else for their troubles, and the people closest to them most of all.”
“I know that.”
“However, when Lucas hit Theresa, he said that Bobby wants to use the RDX on the building because he blames the government for losing his family. If you’re right and he really does believe that his brother is dead, discovering that he’s not could change everything.”
“We’ve got nothing else,” Patrick reminded him. “Lucas doesn’t seem to have an Achilles’ heel. At least Bobby has this family hang-up. We could use it to distract him at an opportune moment, if nothing else.”
“I’ll keep it in mind. Otherwise we’ll have to continue doing what we always do.” Cavanaugh picked up the receiver and punched a few buttons. “We pick our way through the minefield wearing a blindfold, using nothing but a toothpick and some chewing gum.”
They watched the TV screen. Lucas apparently did not want to give up his surveillance of the street and called to Bobby, who approached the phone. The stocky blond adjusted the position of the M4 carbine, finally tucking the butt onto his hip so that he could keep his finger on the trigger while leaving his left hand free.
They waited, letting the phone ring. Patrick felt as if they were trying to tempt a smallmouth bass by jiggling the hook.
“Hello?” Bobby said at last.
Cavanaugh introduced himself again, then asked, “This is Bobby Moyers, right?” as if he didn’t know.
Bobby ignored the question. “Is the money here?”
“Not yet.”
“Well, where is—”
“The truck is tied up in the traffic around the convention center. You know, that luncheon for the secretary of state. It will just be a few more minutes. If you stay on the line, I can keep you up to date.”
“Uh-huh.”
“I wanted to ask you something anyway—you said you don’t trust cops. I need to ask why, because if we’re all going to go home today without having shed any more blood, we need to establish a little trust between you and me, at least in some areas. You see what I mean?”
“Trust really isn’t an option here, Chris.”
“Why not?”
“You killed my family. I mean the Cleveland Police Department killed my family.”
“No one told me about