Lone Wolf by David Archer

it turns out that he's more important to me than you are? Maybe it would be worth it to me to let him have you.”
    “Oh, come on, man,” Pendergrast said frantically. “Do you have any idea how much information I can provide you? You keep me safe, and I can get you just about anything you want!”
    Noah crossed his arms and looked into Pendergrast's eyes. “Can you get me the location of the girl?”
    Pendergrast opened his mouth, but then closed it again. He licked his lips once more, then said, “I can, but you'd have to trust me. You'd have to leave Vladimir alone and let me handle him.”
    Noah smiled, the kind of smile a shark might wear just before it bites you. “What makes you think I would ever trust you, Jeremy?”
    Pendergrast burst out laughing. “Right now, whoever you are, you got my life in your hands. Do you think I'd be stupid enough to cross you? You took me in broad daylight, right out of my apartment! You're obviously an American, but you're not CIA or NSA, so I got a hunch you're somebody a lot darker than that. I know that both of those keep tabs on me, so the chance I could ever hide from you would be pretty slim, right? Yeah, you can trust me. You can trust me because I know damn well that if I get sideways with you, you're going to make me a dead man, yourself, and I suspect it wouldn't be anything I'd want to experience on the way. Good enough?”
    Noah stood there for a moment longer, then nodded. “I think you're being sincere,” he said. “Hang tight for another minute, and I'll let you down. Just remember what you just said, though, and understand that if you cross me, your death will be as slow and painful as I can possibly make it. Got that?”
    “I've got it, believe me, I've got it.”
    Noah traced his steps back to the ladder, and made his way down to the ground floor. He untied the rope from the hook that locked it in place, then slowly let the rope play through his fingers until Pendergrast's feet touched the floor. The man collapsed, unable to stand, and Moose moved in to pick him up.
    Noah walked over and unhooked him from the block and tackle, and then Moose tossed Pendergrast over his shoulder and carried him up to the house. It was a long walk again, punctuated now and then by grunts and groans from Pendergrast.
    Moose dropped him into a chair at the table, and then cut the zip strips to release him. Sarah went to the sink and got him a glass of water, cautioning him to sip slowly at first. Pendergrast nodded, but even by taking small sips, he emptied the glass within a minute.
    “I think I'm getting some circulation back,” he said. “Would it be possible to get to the bathroom?” He looked down at himself. “And could I maybe borrow a pair of pants from someone?”
    Noah nodded, and Moose grabbed the man by one arm and helped him stand. He was still weak, and his legs were unsteady, so Moose had to help him all the way to the bathroom. Stan Decker went to his room and got a pair of his own Dockers and brought them to him, and stayed in the bathroom with him as he stripped and showered, leaning against the walls of the stall to stay on his feet. When he was finished, he managed to walk back to the table with only minor support from Decker.
    “So, what's your plan?” Noah asked him. “How are you going to give me that location?”
    “I'll need a phone,” Pendergrast said. “I'll call Vladimir and tell him that the Israelis are on me, and I need to prove to them that the girl is unhurt. I can convince him that I have to go to her and get a photo of the two of us together in order to keep the Mossad off our backs. Israeli intelligence scares the hell out of him, I don't know why, but they do, and even though Israel and Mauritania don't maintain diplomatic relations, Israel would be dead set against this alliance with Russia and Syria. If they got wind of it, I guarantee you they really would be on top of me and anyone else they thought might know something.