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

“Sounds like the generator. Let’s check the control box.”


Mike and I walked to the circuit-breaker panel and studied the indicators on the control box next to it that handled the switch over from grid power to generator power and back again. “Hmm,” I said. “It says here that the power from the grid is okay.”


“Robbie,” Mike said, “why don’t you take Thor upstairs and let him go down into his run? It’s been awhile since our last pit stop. And be sure that the gate to the outside stairs is locked. George and I are gonna go check the generator.”


He took the Irish Setter’s leash and headed into the house, while we exited the garage, closed the door behind us, and walked around the cabin. By the time we got to the far side, Thor was already busily inspecting—and marking—the perimeter of his run.


When we got to the generator shed, we could see that the door was closed and the lights inside were on.


Chapter 32