“No doubt about it. He wants to recover his money and bug out. He’ll pump himself full of over-the-counter caffeine pills for the drive. We need to be one-hundred percent certain we arrive there first.”

“We’ll also need satellite images of the area.” Harv paused meaningfully.

“Damn it, Harv, he could be involved in all of this.”

“Do you honestly believe that? Deep down?”

Nathan didn’t answer right away. “No, I guess not.” Harv was right, they did need satellite images. Without them, they’d be going in blind, without knowing the terrain. Although she could arrange it, he couldn’t risk asking Holly because, quite frankly, he didn’t trust the FBI. More accurately, he didn’t trust Director Lansing.

“I know you don’t want to ask, but we could really use his help. It could make or break this operation.”

Nathan said nothing.

“You want me to make the call?”

Nathan sighed. “He’s my father. I’ll make the call. You realize we’ll have to tell him everything.”

“Nate, it’s me, okay? I know you’ve been wanting to patch things up for a long time. Here’s your opportunity. Give the man a chance.”

“He’s a politician.”

“Has he ever lied to you?”

“No, I can honestly say he hasn’t.” His cell rang. Nathan unclipped it from his belt. He recognized the phone number on the LCD. It was Holly Simpson. “We have Ernie.”

“Nathan, thank God. The truck stop is all over the news. Every network’s covering it.”

“Holly, I can’t talk right now.”

“Are you okay? Special Agent Ferris just told me you were shot twice.”

“I’m okay. I’ll call you back in a few minutes. Don’t talk to anyone about this. No one.”

“Nathan—”

“A few minutes, Holly, I promise.” He ended the call and looked at Harv. “The cat’s out of the bag. It’s a good bet Leonard’s heard about this on the radio by now.”

“He’ll avoid the money cache until he hears from Ernie.”

“I’ve got that covered. We’re going to leak to the press that Ernie got away and all we recovered from the scene was his sniper rifle and his cell phone. We’ll also leak that we’re analyzing the cell company’s call logs. I’m betting that will make Leonard ditch his phone.”

“They must have some contingency meeting location if they’re separated for a long period of time.”

“No doubt they do.”

“Leonard could lie low awhile. He might wait a week or even a month before he approaches the money drop.”

“That’s a real possibility, but I’m betting his love of money will force his hand. For Leonard, this whole thing’s about money, not revenge. As long as Leonard believes his brother’s on the run, we’ve got a chance to nail him.”

“Bringing Ernie along complicates things.”