“I’m sorry. A slip of the tongue. I only meant—”
“I know what you meant.” Andreas closed his eyes. “I shouldn’t have jumped on you. I’ve been under a hell of a strain lately.”
“But I understood Cassie was doing much better and would be coming home soon.”
“That’s the statement to the press to keep the reporters from searching for her. She’s the same as she was when we brought her home from Vasaro. We’ve tried four different psychiatrists, and they’ve done zilch.”
“Perhaps a little more time and—”
“I want her well now.” His eyes opened. “And I want to keep her safe. Find Travis.”
“Keller and his men will keep her safe. They know their ass is on the line.”
“They didn’t keep her safe at Vasaro. If Travis hadn’t shown up, she’d be dead or held hostage.”
“What?”
“Travis and his team came in minutes after Vasaro had been taken. They killed three of the attackers, one got away. Travis called me in Paris and told me what had happened.”
“He saved your daughter?”
Andreas nodded. “And stayed with her until we got there. He had a helicopter waiting and slipped away in the confusion after we arrived.”
Danley gave a low whistle. “Which left Keller with a copious amount of egg on his face.”
“He couldn’t clap him in custody. Travis was the hero of the hour . . . we thought.”
“Have you considered the possibility the rescue was a setup?”
“No, one of the wounded Secret Service men verified that Travis wasn’t one of the attackers and did save Cassie.”
“But you’re not searching for him to give him a medal.”
“I asked how he knew about the attempt and he said he dealt in information, among other commodities.”
“That’s true. He’s bartered several bits of information to us over the years. But if he wanted to interfere, why didn’t he just call the Secret Service and warn them?”
“That was my question. He said he’d found out too late and the attack was already in progress.”
“ Fishy.”
“He’d just saved my child. It wasn’t the moment to give him the third degree. We thought we had plenty of time. And we knew right away that something wasn’t right with Cassie. She was our first priority. She still is.” His lips tightened. “Travis told me I might not have been the target. They might have wanted Cassie.”
“What?”
“What better way to bend a father’s will than to threaten his child?”
“Did he name names?”
“If he had, don’t you think I’d have given them to you? He said he didn’t know. He knew only that there was going to be an attack on Vasaro.”
“Did you think he was lying?”
“How do I know? But if he’s so good at gathering information, then he can damn well find out who was behind the attack. You don’t seem to be doing the job.”
“The three dead men had terrorist affiliations.”
“But also were known to work for hire. You haven’t come up with any solid leads.”
“We’re working on it.”
“Then work harder. And bring me Travis.” He spoke to the driver. “Pull over, George.” After the limousine glided to a stop, he leaned over and opened the door. “I’ll have George place a call and have you picked up. I want to hear something positive from you within twenty-four hours.”
Danley got out of the car. “I’ll do my best, Mr. President.”
“Do better than that.” He slammed the door and leaned back on the seat. God, he hoped he’d lit a fire under Danley. There was something seriously wrong when it took all this time to track down just one man.
“Juniper, Mr. President?” George asked.
“Yes.” Take him to the serene beauty of that old house in the country and let him sit beside Cassie, who existed in a world he could never enter. Cassie, who seemed to be fading away more and more with every passing day.
He blinked rapidly as he felt tears burn his eyes. Jessica Riley had said that Cassie was not any worse, but God knows how she could tell.
Maybe she could though. Maybe dealing with children like Cassie had given her a sixth sense about them. It was his wife, Chelsea, who had urged him to try Jessica Riley. She’d read a book Jessica had written about her work with her younger sister, Melissa, who had been in a state similar to Cassie’s for over six years. Melissa was now attending Harvard, apparently completely cured. He’d checked Jessica out and found that she had excellent qualifications, but her treatments were sometimes unorthodox and controversial.