I was surprised to find about a dozen officers inside the conference room. These were top people too, the best in Washington. I understood that it was a show of support and concern for me. Most of the detectives were people I'd worked with on other cases. Chief of Detectives Davies, Bree, and Sampson had reached out to officers with street connections who might help locate my family.

If anyone could.

Chapter 133

FROM THERE, THE day got stranger and stranger for me.

At eleven o'clock, I faced a smaller group inside a win-dowless conference room at CIA headquarters out at Langley. The atmosphere in the room couldn't have been more different from the one at Daly. Everyone except me wore a suit and tie. The body language was stiff and uncomfortable. No one wanted to be there except me - I needed their help.

A case officer from the National Clandestine Service • named Merrill Snyder greeted me with a firm handshake and the unpromising line “Thanks for coming to see us, Dr. Cross.”

“Can we start?” I asked him.

“We're just waiting for one more,” Snyder said. “There's coffee, soft drinks.”

“Where's Eric Dana?” I asked, remembering the leader's name from the last time I'd been out to Langley.

“He's on vacation. The man we're waiting on is his superior. Sure you don't want some coffee?”

“No, I'm fine. I don't need any more caffeine this morning, trust me.”

“I understand. You still haven't heard from whoever abducted your family?” Snyder asked. “No communication?”

Before I could answer him, the door to the conference room swung wide open. A tall, dark-haired man in his early forties, wearing a gray suit and silver-and-red-striped tie, entered. He carried himself like someone important, which he probably was.

And right behind him came… Ian Flaherty.

Chapter 134

THE MAN EVERYONE had been waiting for introduced himself as Steven Millard. He said he was with National Clandestine Service but gave no rank. 1 remembered now that Al Tunney had mentioned his name before I went to Africa. Millard was the group chief, who'd been involved from the start.

All Flaherty said was, “Dr. Cross.”

“Has there been any word about your family?” Millard wanted to know right off.

Snyder cut in. “No word so far. They haven't contacted him.”

“There are cops from Metro at my house now,” I told them.

“They'll answer my phone and call me.”

“That's good. About all you can do,” said Millard. I couldn't figure out what to make of him. I was sure he knew about my meeting with Eric Dana before I'd left for Africa, but how much more did Millard know?

“I need whatever help you can give me,” I finally said. “I really need some help.”

“You can count on it,” said Millard. “But I have a couple of questions you might be able to help us out with first. Detective Cross, why did you go to Africa in the first place?”