He hit the key for Tyler’s speed dial.
He had to call the number twice before Tyler picked up.
“Kathy?”
She delivered the message as calmly as possible.
“I’ll meet you there,” said Tyler. He clicked off.
Kathy looked at Grant.
“You did the right thing,” he said. For me.
CHAPTER
64
TYLER HURRIED INTO THE MALL and looked around. Hearing from Kathy had floored him. The CIA wanted to talk to his dad! He could hardly believe it. Kathy had said they thought he’d been set up. If he could get to the CIA, maybe he had a good shot at getting all this sorted out.
The Starbucks was up ahead. He looked cautiously around again. He trusted Kathy completely, but with all the crazy things happening he knew he needed to be careful. The mall was pretty full, though, and thus he felt safe.
He felt the hand on his arm and whirled around. He was staring up at a police officer.
“Tyler Wingo?” the man said.
Tyler stammered, “Yu-yes?”
“You need to come with me, son.”
“Why?”
Another man in a suit appeared behind him. He held out his ID card.
“FBI. Special Agent Martin. You need to come with us, Mr. Wingo. Down to the WFO in D.C. for questioning.”
“What about?”
The man looked at him incredulously. “About your father, Mr. Wingo. What else would it be? You running a drug ring or something?”
“No. But I’m meeting with someone at Starbucks.”
“We know all about Ms. Burnett. We have already collected her. She’s in big trouble, Mr. Wingo. Do you know what accessory after the fact means?”
Tyler looked like he might throw up. “N-no. Is it bad?”
“It could be very bad, depending on how this turns out. Now let’s go.”
They escorted Tyler out of the mall and the three climbed into a black SUV with tinted windows. It immediately drove off.
Tyler’s phone vibrated in his pocket. His father’s text had finally come through. He did not have a chance to answer it. The text sat there unanswered, as did the message his father had left on Tyler’s voice mail.
Thirty minutes later Sean, Michelle, and Wingo rushed into the mall.
Michelle held up a warning hand. “Wait. Let’s do this right. They could have used Tyler to flush you, Sam, which means they could be waiting to ambush us.”
“In a crowded mall?” said Wingo.
Sean said, “They’ve already done it once to us. These guys don’t seem to care where they hit you or who gets hurt in the process.”