Sam stopped at the head of the bed and lowered himself so he could speak close to Resnick’s ear. “Adam, it’s me, Sam. I’m here. I need to talk to you. Grace’s life is on the line.”
For a moment there was no response from Resnick, and then he stirred lightly. His eyes fluttered open and he gave Sam a groggy look of half recognition.
“Titan,” he rasped.
Rio simmered with impatience. “We know it’s Titan.”
Sam shot Rio a scowl to silence him and then returned his attention to Resnick.
Resnick tried to raise his hand to grasp Sam’s shirt. Sam caught Resnick’s hand and held on so he wouldn’t overexert himself.
“Was looking up a lead I had when I was shot. Take a look at Gordon Farnsworth. He’s dirty but pays a lot of damn money for legitimacy. He’s got his fingers into damn near everything under the sun. Politics. Military. Funds other countries. Drugs. Gun running. There isn’t much he hasn’t done. He’s on everyone’s list but he’s slick as snot and no one’s been able to nail him on shit yet. He’s someone who would have had access to Titan and also the means to purchase their services.”
Sam frowned. “Why would he want Grace? Money? Sell her to the highest bidder?”
Resnick slowly shook his head then made a choking sound. He went gray, and for a minute, Rio thought they’d lost him. He leaned forward, desperate to know what Res-nick could tell them.
“Has a daughter,” Resnick rasped out. “Rumor is she’s very ill and he’s desperate to save her. All the money in the world can’t buy her a cure. He’s tried. She’s the only thing he loves. The only thing that makes him halfway human. She is his one weakness. The one thing that can be used against him.”
Rio straightened, his face going tight, his nostrils flaring. The bastard didn’t want Grace for any research program. He didn’t want her for the military and what she would mean for soldiers in battle. He wanted her to save his daughter.
“Find him,” Resnick whispered. “If he’s after Grace, I’d bet all I own that he wants her because she’s the only person who can save his daughter.”
Garrett pushed forward. “Do you know where he is, Adam? Do you have any information at all?”
Resnick sank into the pillow, and for a long moment was silent, his chest barely moving with air exchange. Phillips shot them a nervous look.
“Maybe you should go now. The nurse would have a fit if she knew we were pushing him this far.”
Rio leaned down, so he was just inches from Resnick’s face. “You care about her. You care about her and Shea both. You tried to protect them. Shea has Nathan, but now Grace has me. I’m going to get her back, Resnick. If I have to turn the whole goddamn world over, I’m going to get her back. Now help us, damn it. Anything. Give us a starting point. You have to know something. You’re a goddamn library of classified information.”
Resnick’s eyes opened to narrow slits, like he didn’t have the strength to open them farther.
“It’s rumored he has an island in the Mediterranean, just off the coast of Greece. He’s generous to the local economy, and with Greece in the economic state it’s currently in, his money has bought a lot of loyalty. Even if they do know who and what he is, they’ll never give him up because he provides jobs for the entire island and keeps the economy afloat.
“He’s flown in doctors from all over the world, and the word is, they’ve all told him the same thing. That there is no hope and that she doesn’t have long. Such news would have made him desperate enough to
do whatever it took to save her.”
Resnick paused and labored to catch his breath. His face was strained and it was evident he was in a great deal of pain. Again, Phillips stepped forward as if to put an end to the inquisition, but Resnick stopped him with a barely raised hand.
“Most notable is that CIA surveillance tapped into a phone conversation between Farnsworth and the man they believe led Titan when it was still in existence.”
“Hancock,” Rio muttered. “Goddamn Hancock.”
Sam put a hand on Resnick’s arm. “Thank you, Adam.”
Resnick stared up at Rio. “You just get her back. I very much want to meet the woman I consider a sister.”
Rio swallowed and nodded. “Failure isn’t an option.”
“Unfortunately that is also Titan’s motto,” Resnick said quietly.
“Yes, I know,” Rio said calmly. “I’m the one who coined it for them.”
CHAPTER 35
“YOU realize if you try to communicate with your boyfriend, Rio, that you’ll just get him killed.”
“Fuck off,” Grace said rudely from her perch on the couch in the airplane. They’d flown from the airstrip in the small jet that Hancock had appropriated from Rio’s group, but they’d landed an hour later and boarded a larger jet, taking off immediately. She still had no idea where they were going and she was pissed enough not to feel fear. Yet.
Hancock laughed. “I can see what he sees in you. You’re well matched, I think. I can’t ever imagine Rio with a dainty little mouse. He’d eat her alive.”
Grace faked a yawn. “I’m not interested in your analysis of Rio’s love life. I want to know where the hell you’re taking me and why.”
Hancock ignored her and looked out the window before checking one of his handheld devices. “We’ll be landing soon.”