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

“I don’t think so,” George said. “The road goes through a cut just below the house, and they’d have to turn around in their seats and look back in order to see you—but if it makes you feel better, lie back on the porch when they get close.”


“Somebody needs to get their tag number,” Paul said.


“I’ll handle that,” George said. “In fact, I’ve still got the camera in my pocket—maybe I can get a good shot of the car, tag and all. Robbie, you stay here with Mr. Hall and your new friends. We’re going to walk down the driveway and get a bit closer to the road.”


Chapter 47