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

He walked over to the booth where Pete sat, said something to him, and picked up Pete’s tray. Zeb brought the tray over to our table and set it at the empty spot across from Jared. Pete followed him and sat down in front of his tray. Then Zeb said, “Pete, meet Sean and Paul. They’re the guys who got kidnapped last Christmas. Remember, I told you about them.”


“And this is their friend Jared,” Zeb said. “Pete, Jared. Jared, Pete.”


They shook hands, and Zeb stood talking with us for a minute until he said, “Listen, guys, I’ve gotta go back to my trainee—this is gonna be her first time at the register during the lunch rush, and it’s just about to begin. Give Zeke and me a call when you can and maybe we can get together—George has the number.”


Jared and Pete seemed to be so engrossed in conversation that our existence had been temporarily forgotten, so I got up, went to George’s table, and sat down.


Chapter 67