Beverly Barton: Grace Under Fire

"I don't think Mr. Tyree has that authority," Elsa said.

"Uh-oh, it's gotten awfully quiet in there." Terrie scurried away from the door and barely made it into her chair before Jed barreled out of Hudson Prentice's office.

"Morning, ladies." Jed grinned as he glanced from Elsa to Terrie. "Why don't you take an early lunch today, Terrie? Mr. Prentice will be leaving for the afternoon. He has an appointment with Chief Winters, who will be here shortly to pick him up for questioning."

As soon as Jed disappeared down the hall, Terrie leaned over and gushed with information. "Mr. Tyree accused Mr. Prentice of being in cahoots with Booth Fortier. I didn't believe it, but now I do. If the chief of police is coming to get Mr. Prentice, then it must be true. Mr. Prentice claims that Mr. Tyree has no evidence against him, but he sounded scared. And Mr. Tyree said that the Dundee Agency has Mr. Prentice's personal telephone records that show he recently made several phone calls to a man named Oliver Neville."

Elsa dropped the file folders on Terrie's desk. "Don't spread this type of gossip around the office. Wait until Ms. Beaumont makes an official announcement. If Chief Winters isn't going to arrest Mr. Prentice, only question him, then perhaps it's all a big misunderstanding."

"Oh, yeah, sure thing. But I heard Mr. Tyree tell Mr. Prentice that things would go easier for him if he told the truth instead of waiting until the police had more evidence against him."

Elsa nodded, then turned and headed back toward the kitchenette area near her office, knowing the minute she was out of earshot, Terrie would be spreading the news throughout the complex. Elsa wasn't sure why the thought that Mr. Prentice might be involved with a mobster didn't surprise her. Perhaps it was because she'd never really respected Hudson Prentice, although she'd often felt sorry for him. What did surprise her was that he would betray Grace. She'd been so sure he was in love with Grace.

No sooner had Elsa returned to her desk, with a full coffee mug in hand, than her telephone rang. As she placed her coffee on a coaster atop her desk, she picked up the receiver.

"Sheffield Media, Inc. Grace Beaumont's office. How may I help you?"

"To whom am I speaking?" The voice was disguised, making certain Elsa couldn't identify it later.

"This is Elsa Leone, Ms. Beaumont's personal assistant."

"Miss Leone, I have someone here with me who'd like to speak to you."

"Who is this?" Elsa asked as she buzzed Grace's office, per Jed Tyree's instructions, were she to receive a suspicious call. "What do you want?"

"Elsa, it's Troy." Her brother sounded scared to death. His voice quivered. "Please, sis, you've got to help me. If you don't do what they say, they're going to kill me."

" Troy, who has you? Where are you?"

Jed rushed out of Grace's office, an extension phone to his ear. When Elsa looked up at him, he nodded and motioned for her to keep talking.

" Troy? What's going on?" Elsa asked.

" Troy 's a little tied up right now," the voice said. "But he sends his love."

"What do you want?"

"Your cooperation."

Elsa's stomach knotted painfully. "I'm listening."

"How much do you love your little brother? Enough to exchange your boss's life for his?"

Elsa closed her eyes as the painful realization hit her-someone connected to Booth Fortier had kidnapped Troy. "I don't understand-"

"Now, don't play dumb with me, Miss Leone. Not when I know what a smart girl you are. So listen up. Here's the deal-you find a way to bring Grace Beaumont to us and we'll give you back your little brother all in one piece."

"But how do you expect me to-"

"That's your problem. Figure it out. I'll call you back in one hour to tell you where we'll make the exchange."

The dial tone screamed in Elsa's ear. The end. Finality. Elsa glanced up at Jed, her frightened gaze meeting his troubled glare. "What-what am I going to do?"

"Don't panic," Jed told her. "We'll find a way to help your brother."

"But how? You heard what he said-they want Grace."

"Who wants me?" Grace walked out of her office into Elsa's just as the delivery boy from Café Continental arrived.

After Jed took the box lunches, then paid the boy and tipped him generously, getting rid of him as quickly as possible, he explained the details of Elsa's recent phone conversation to Grace.

Grace put her arms around Elsa. "We won't let them harm Troy." She looked to Jed. "Will we?"

"I don't want either of you trying to figure out a way to help Troy. Do you hear me?"

Jed's gaze went from Grace to Elsa and back to Grace. "I need to talk to the other Dundee agents, then contact my boss." He put his hand on Elsa's shoulder. "We'll figure out a way to save Troy without putting Grace in danger."

Elsa nodded, but knew in her heart that what Jed Tyree had promised them simply wasn't possible.

An hour later, after Elsa received the second phone call from the mystery man and Jed had been in contact with both Sawyer MacNamara and Dante Moran, the Dundee agents were assembled in Grace's office.

"No way in hell am I going to allow this," Jed bellowed.

"It's the only way to save Troy," Grace said.

Jed paced the floor like a wounded bull preparing to charge. Grace understood how he felt; if their roles were reversed, she'd feel the same. And it wasn't as if she was being noble or was fearlessly prepared to walk into the lion's den. She was scared senseless. But they truly had no other choice.

"I know it's not a foolproof plan." Dom Shea watched Jed moving about frantically. "But Moran has promised us that the Feds will be all over the place within fifteen minutes of Grace's arrival at the warehouse. They'll be as thick as flies on sh-" He cleared his throat. "They're moving up their timetable by forty-eight hours in order to take advantage of this situation."

"To hell with their timetable!" Jed spun around, leaned down and grasped the arms of Grace's chair on either side. "Don't you understand that there is no way either the FBI or Dundee 's can guarantee your safety? I'm not willing to risk your life. Not to save Troy Leone or anybody else. And certainly not to catch Booth Fortier. A week ago you might have been willing to die to bring Booth to justice, but I thought… I thought you felt differently now."

Grace grasped both of Jed's wrists and looked up into his face, their gazes connecting. "I want to live now more than I've ever wanted to live. Everything in my life is different. You know that." Grace sensed a hush fall over the room and knew that Elsa and the three Dundee agents were all aware that Jed and she were lovers. "But neither of us could live with ourselves if we don't do all we can to save Troy and to put Booth Fortier behind bars for the rest of his life."

Jed pulled away from Grace and stood, then glanced from one Dundee agent to the other. Dom, Rafe and J.J. "I'm going with her."

A rumble of protests arose from the agents, then Rafe said, "You can't do that and you damn well know it. For this thing to work, it's got to look as if Elsa and Grace slipped away from all of us without telling us what had happened with Troy."

"I'm not letting her go in alone," Jed told them.

"She won't be alone," Dom reminded him. "Not for long. She'll be wearing the homing device and we'll know where she is at all times, even if they move her from the warehouse. Once everything is in place, Moran's people will move in. And we'll be with them. I told Moran you had to be part of the rescue mission.

Grace stood, walked over to Jed and slipped her arm around his waist. "See, in the end, you'll he my knight in shining armor."

"Some white knight I am." Jed pulled her into his arms and held her fiercely. "If anything happens to you…"