Deadlock by Robert Liparulo

couch facing him.
    Larry folded his coat neatly on his lap. He patted it down, then said, “Okay, I got a call. Brendan Page’s assistant, secretary, somebody. He’s agreed to meet with you.”
    â€œWhen?”
    â€œRight away. Tomorrow. At his headquarters in Washington state. But only tomorrow, she was very clear about that. What did you do? What magic button did you push?”
    Hutch gaped at Laura. He said, “Nichols.” Had to be. The same call that had sent Hutch to his office for half the afternoon, and had gotten Laura and Hutch talking about his investigation . . . Page had somehow found out about it. Page’s sudden interest in him could not be a coincidence.
    Maybe the trigger had been Hutch conducting Internet research on the other term Nichols had given him: Genjuros. Or one of the people Hutch had called about it, including a few of Nichols’s former colleagues. He hoped for the doctor’s sake it hadn’t been his call to Hutch that had caught Page’s attention-that would mean Page had a bead on Nichols’s location.
    Larry said, “This is it, buddy. You’ve been trying to get a sit-down
with him for a year.”
    Hutch stood and paced away from the sofa. He looked at the darkened hallway leading to the bedrooms. “I can’t,” he said. “I’ve got the kids this week.” He turned back to Laura. “You and Dillon. I can’t just leave.”
    â€œDon’t worry about us, Hutch,” Laura said. “Do what you have to do. Maybe Janet could take the kids back.”
    Hutch shook his head. “It took me six months to get joint custody. Something like this . . . taking off for work-not even work-she’ll find a way to use it against me, try to get sole custody again.”
    â€œSo don’t tell her,” Larry said. He looked from Hutch’s gaping expression to Laura’s and back. “It’s one day, up and back. Laura can watch them for one day . Right?”
    â€œUh . . .” Laura said. “I guess.”
    â€œParents have babysitters,” Larry continued. “It’s not like you’re leaving them alone. Hutch, we’re talking Brendan Page here. Faceto-face.”
    â€œI can watch them,” Laura said. “That’s not a problem. But, Hutch, isn’t your whole point that the man is dangerous?”
    â€œI thought of that,” Larry said. “That’s what had me going back and forth. But the more I think about it, if Page wanted to get Hutch, he wouldn’t do it this way, calling me, asking Hutch to meet him there.”
    Hutch nodded. “He’d do something like rig my brakes. Make it look like an accident.”
    Laura said, “I know it’s none of my business, but I don’t like it. That guy really, really scares me.”
    Hutch retrieved his wineglass from the table, saw it was empty, and set it back down. He looked pleadingly at Laura and said, “I can’t not do this. It’s my chance to see his headquarters with my own eyes. To get a read on the man, maybe draw him out some, get him to say something that will help me put the rest of the puzzle together.”
    She reached out and grabbed his hand. “Then do it. Dillon will understand. And Larry’s right, I’ll just be the babysitter for a day.”
    Hutch frowned. “It couldn’t come at a worse time.”
    â€œBut it came,” Larry said. “You never thought it would. But listen, don’t give him any clues about what you know. Nothing. Guy like that, prone to violence? You never know where his tipping point is. What will be the one person you talk to, the one thing you say that makes him decide that his life would be easier dealing with your disappearance than dealing with you?”

FOURTEEN
    Lying in the darkness of his bedroom, Michael thought he might be going crazy. He could not stop his mind from reeling out snippet after snippet of