"What's that, Daddy?"

James hid a smile behind his hand and answered, "That's a telephone, sweetie. You put money in it to make it work."

"Nuh-uh. It's too big. See?" She pointed to his cell in his hand.

"It's from before cell phones."

She rolled her eyes and walked away, her four-year-old way of telling him he was nuts, and the conversation was over.

James chuckled, picked up the handset, and put it to his ear. He did it basically to show her that it really was a phone in case she turned around. What happened, though, froze his blood.

"Good, you're back. Don't hang up this time. You still have the job to finish."

"Sorry, I just passed this phone and picked it up on a lark. Whoever you were talking to is long gone."

"Don't play stupid, James; I can see you and your little girl. If you want to play hardball, that's exactly what I'll do. She's in the crosshairs as we speak."

James didn't know what else to do. He said, "