Measure Of Darkness
HERE ARE THE FACTSFor the parents whose children have been taken, for the brokenlives we piece back together one relentless investigation at a time, our town house is a sanctuary. My name is Alice Crane. I’m just one of a talented team working for Naomi Nantz, the brilliant and very private detective. Today that sanctuary was violated.The famous kid-finder Randall Shane was taken away by unknown assailants, possibly government agents. Shane’s client is dead, and a boy known as “the keyboard kid” is missing. What is the boy’s connection to a top secret physics lab? Unknown—for now. But under Naomi’s lead, we will infiltrate every illicit boardroom and bedroom and war room. We’ll find that little boy or die trying. The only thing guaranteed in this life is that Naomi Nantz won’t give up. Not now, not ever.“JORDAN’S FULL-THROTTLE STYLE MAKES THIS AN EMOTIONALLY REWARDING THRILLER THAT MOVES LIKE LIGHTNING.” —Publishers Weekly on Taken
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HERE ARE THE FACTS
For the parents whose children have been taken, for the broken lives we piece back together one relentless investigation at a time, our town house is a sanctuary.
My name is Alice Crane. I’m just one of a talented team working for Naomi Nantz, the brilliant and very private detective.
Today that sanctuary was violated. The famous kid-finder Randall Shane was taken away by unknown assailants, possibly government agents. Shane’s client is dead, and a boy known as “the keyboard kid” is missing. What is the boy’s connection to a top secret physics lab? Unknown—for now. But under Naomi’s lead, we will infiltrate every illicit boardroom and bedroom and war room. We’ll find that little boy or die trying.
The only thing guaranteed in this life is that Naomi Nantz won’t give up. Not now, not ever.
Praise for the novels of
CHRIS JORDAN
“Harlan Coben meets Mary Higgins Clark—
that’s Taken. [It] will send chills up your spine.”
—Steve Berry
“A skillful storyteller,
Jordan keeps the action constant.”
—RT Book Reviews
“One of the short list novels for thriller of the year.”
—Midwest Book Review on Taken
“Shouldn’t be missed; with its plethora of thrills, engaging characters, and fast plotting, it has
all that’s needed…to make for a late night.”
—New Mystery Reader Magazine on Taken
“Jordan takes the action one step beyond.”
—RT Book Reviews on Trapped
“Puts you in the shoes of the parent
going through their child’s teen years and turns it into a great mystery novel.”
—The Bookworm Society on Trapped
“Extremely well written…a very good read,
with an interesting twist.”
—Crime Squad on Taken
“Heart-pounding.”
—Publishers Weekly on Torn
For Lynn, forever and always.
Contents
Little Gull Cottage
Prides Crossing, Massachusetts
Being a genius isn’t terribly useful when you’re five years old. Joey understands chord progressions, he sees the shape of music way better than most adults, but has very little understanding of evil in the shape of man. And yet he senses that something is wrong. The bad man has never touched or threatened the boy—all communication comes through the woman—but the man’s very presence makes Joey regress to his old habit of sucking his thumb. A habit he long ago—a year at least—abandoned to please his mother.
Mi Ma. Mommy. Joey last saw his mother two weeks ago, and he worries incessantly that he may never see her again, despite more or less constant reassurance from the woman who is taking care of him.
“Where’s my real mommy?” he asks. It’s his most frequent question, and the only one that matters.
“I told you, sweetie, she had to go away to the hospital.”
Joey nods, his eyes big. “Real Mommy’s okay?”
“She’s fine. She’ll be back in a few days, as soon as she’s all the way better. Okay?”
“Okay,” he says.
“You want to play some more? How about your Mozart, you love Mozart.”
On the verge of tears he shakes his head.
“How about a story. The Phantom Tollbooth? You like that one, don’t you?”
Weeping silently, the boy sucks his thumb and nods.
The scary man has many names. Just lately he’s been calling himself Kidder. He thinks of himself as having a sense of humor, although others might disagree. If the ability to kill without remorse is funny—and it does sometimes make him laugh out loud—then he has a great sense of humor. His present assignment involves keeping an eye on a very special little boy and his caregiver. Great location. A private, oceanfront estate with absentee owners. Less than an hour from the city and yet it’s country quiet, with total privacy and a lovely view of the sea. Easy duty for him, not so much for the woman, who gets all in a tizzy when the boy whines for his real mother.
Kidder doesn’t get it, why the kid won’t stop whining. The little brat has a new mommy, one focused solely on his welfare—a definite improvement on the old one, no question there. He has his special kid-size piano keyboard and his headphones, where he can practice for hours at a time—and only when he wants to, it’s not like anybody makes him. If he’s bored with music he has all the toys in the world, pizza whenever he wants and a big-screen TV loaded with DVDs of his favorite shows. Not exactly a torture situation. More like a trip to his own personal Disney World.
