Jordyn Redwood - Taken Hostage

“Mr. Waterson! What are you doing here?”

He felt Regan’s hands at his shoulder and waist as she pulled him over to his back, quickly plucking the darts from his chest. She was stronger than he’d imagined.

Did she really have to ask, considering the plight she had left Sam in? Colby tried to answer but the dizziness, even with his eyes closed, had him about to toss his breakfast onto Regan’s lap.

She laid a calming hand on his chest. “I’m sorry. It’s just that you scared me. Why didn’t you just tell me it was you?”

What could he say? I’m so mad about Sam’s surgery being canceled that I want you arrested and held until you can do said operation. I didn’t know if you’d even remember me. If you’d still trust me enough, considering what happened yesterday, to open the door.

“Can you sit up?”

Colby held up a hand to stop her, still afraid if he opened his mouth he couldn’t control what might happen next—both by his body or his language. Worsening his nausea was the blood he was swallowing. He looked up, focusing on the sky and the gray fall clouds brewing black with another threat of rain. Breathing slowly, he felt the dizziness abate and he placed his hands behind him and pushed up. Blood from his nose began to drip onto his shirt.

Regan reached forward and pinched his nostrils together. He winced from the pain, though it was markedly less than the full-body muscle soreness he now suffered, akin to lifting weights in the gym for twelve hours. It surprised him that she didn’t hold anything as a barrier from his blood when it was likely ingrained in her DNA to never do such a thing. That could mean she was willing to risk her life to do whatever needed to be done. Perhaps it was the same thing that made her a medical research maverick.

Never in his life had a woman surprised him like that. It was the last thing he’d expected from the lithe, uber-intellectual doctor. There was a definite fire within her.

After countless minutes, she released her fingers but kept a palm open underneath his nose to catch any stray droplets.

“Why are you here?” Colby asked, the words more angry than he intended. As he’d feared, she backed away from him, her trepidation filling the space. She was afraid of something. He softened his voice. “Why didn’t you come to the hospital for Sam’s surgery? Are you all right?”

Regan sat back on her heels and looked away from him, her hands clasped tightly in her lap.

What could he expect from her? Why should she trust him?

He folded shaky arms around his legs, not sure he could stand without falling. “Whatever it is, I want to help. Not just for Sam but...”

For you, too? Was that what he was going to say? Was it more than desperation for Sam tugging at his heartstrings?

Regan gripped her thighs, her hands white with blue fingertips from the frigid breeze that blew and pulled dead leaves from skeleton branches.

Colby took a deep breath and the sharp, crisp air set his lungs on fire.

Silent tears fell down her face. What would cause a woman, who seemingly had dedicated her life to healing, to abandon a patient and her clinical trial? He’d asked himself this question over and over again because only when he knew the answer could he save her.

And save Sam.

“I’m here to help you so that you can still help Sam. If something happens to you, no one else will be able to do the surgery—or have the cure.”

Regan’s lips trembled and she pressed the back of her pale hand against her lips. Her silence wasn’t defiance at his request...it was fear.

Colby eased up to his knees and reached for the hand hanging limp at her side. He held it and rubbed the back of it with his thumb, hoping the friction would ease the chill. “Please...I can and will help you. Whatever it is. I’ll do anything to save Sam’s life.”

Her gray-green eyes took him in, measuring him with an intensity that caused his heart to skip several beats. Few women caused such a rise.

“Someone has taken my daughter, Olivia. As ransom, they want the modified polio virus. Your sister’s cure.” She raised an eyebrow...almost as a challenge to his resolve.

He stood, using her porch railing for support, and reached a hand out to her. “I think we need to go inside and talk. What you don’t know about me is that I’m used to finding bad guys...and it seems like some bad guys have your daughter.”

At first she wouldn’t do it—take his hand. He’d seen the look in women before who’d had less than ideal relationships with men, and he felt like he was asking the rabbit to trust the wolf. But then, ever so slowly, she reached out for him and took his hand. With his other hand, he clenched her elbow and pulled her up.

And in that moment, their eyes meeting, Colby wondered if he was trading his life for Sam’s.

FOUR

Regan trembled. It had been years since she’d had a man in her home. Colby’s inquisitive stare took in what remained of the home invasion that had snatched Olivia and Polina from what Regan considered a very safe house.

“When did you discover that they were missing?” Colby asked. He sat on her white couch, leaned forward and settled his elbows on his knees, his muscles still quivering from the effects of the Taser.

Hurting Colby added to the weight in her gut—so many misdeeds she needed to confess. What would he do when he found out what she’d done? Would he still help her?

“Last night when I got home. The house was a disaster—evidence of a struggle here on the lower level. When I was upstairs searching for Olivia and Polina, I got a text that told me to go back to the kitchen.”

“What did the text say?”

“It instructed me not to call law enforcement. To go back downstairs—which is where the ransom note was.”

“So they were watching you.”

Regan nodded. “I think so but from outside. I’ve searched the house pretty intently and didn’t find anything I would consider a camera or listening device.”

Colby glanced around. “Not exactly your area of expertise, either. Is the house unattended for long periods of time?”

Regan shook her head. “Polina is almost always here.”

“My guess is they had someone trailing you, but I couldn’t guarantee it was just that.”

The strength leached from her legs, and Regan sat next to Colby. Both stared straight ahead. Regan’s heart thundered in her chest. She needed to tell him before he made a commitment he wouldn’t back away from. At least, that was the kind of man she read Colby to be. Someone who wouldn’t walk away from a fight once he’d agreed to step into the ring.

“Let me see the note.”

Regan’s voice tightened. “I need to tell you something first.”

She stood without glancing back at him, walked to the front closet and pulled out the cooler she’d tucked into the corner under her full-length coats.

“What’s in there?” His voice was already full of suspicion.

“The modified polio virus. Your sister’s cure.”

“All of it?” he asked.

She nodded. “Yes, all of it. Those were the instructions. We only manufacture enough for a few patients at a time. I stole it from the hospital early this morning. This is what the kidnappers want for Olivia’s life. This is what the ransom note is asking me to exchange her for.”

Colby leaned back into the sofa, somewhat deflated. “So you’re not going to give them an alternative—something they believe could be the virus.”

“I won’t do anything that will risk Olivia’s life.”

Colby raised his hands in disbelief. “But you’re risking everyone else’s life—everyone who is hoping that their lives could be saved by what’s in those vials.”

“She’s my daughter,” Regan cried. “I’m hoping I can somehow get Olivia back without giving up my life’s work—and so many people’s hope at a full life.”