Professor and secret government analyst Ian Sanderson's bad day gets worse when he arrives home one miserable November evening to find an apparently incriminating photograph in a FedEx envelope in his doorway, followed by increasingly threatening photographs over the next two or three weeks. It isn't just Ian being set up: his partner, Randy, a lieutenant colonel working on a top-secret Pentagon project, is also at risk. Someone obviously wants something, but what? And from whom?<br><br> Soon, a mysterious caller demands that Randy disclose information about the project he's been working on. When he refuses, Ian's and Randy's sons, David and Paul, are kidnapped from an Amtrak passenger train. Resourceful and intelligent, the boys manage to escape-only to find themselves lost and alone in a remote wilderness. With time running out, can Ian and Randy track down their blackmailers? Or will the man known only as The Broker claim another set of victims?

The Burdens of Truth

“You got a better idea? Hold my blanket while I do it.”


He took the blanket from me, spread the two strands of wire as far apart as he could, and I bent down and gingerly stepped between them. Unfortunately, I stood up too soon and felt a stinging sensation when I did. Looking behind me, I saw that a good chunk of my boxers was left hanging on a barb. “Nothing like leaving a trail for someone to follow,” Paul said.


“Shut up and hand me the flashlight.”


I took the flashlight, pointed it at the wire, pulled the piece of cloth free, and tossed it into the stream, where it was immediately whisked away and out of sight.


“I’m ready when you are,” he said, handing me both blankets.


I held the wire up as he had done, and he made it safely through. We eased down the creek bed a bit and stepped out onto the bank. “I may never be warm again,” he said as we both used the blankets to dry our feet and lower legs as best we could.


Chapter 28