Delores Fossen - She's Positive

“You want me inside the estate?” Colin asked. He fished out his wallet and personal cell phone and dropped them onto the table.

“No. See the guesthouse just inside the fence?”

Danielle had already noticed the small building that had a similar facade to the estate itself. But the guesthouse wasn’t the problem. It was getting there. Colin and she would be out in the open.

“You can wait here,” Colin told her. He climbed behind the seat and took off his shoulder holster. What he didn’t do was remove the backup pistol that Danielle knew he always carried in an ankle holster. “I’ll talk to Boyd. I’ll make him see there’s no reason for you to be on scene.”

But there was a reason. A huge one. Even if Colin figured out a way to keep Boyd calm and get him to back off his demand that she be there, it would mean she wouldn’t be around for Luke. He needed her, and she wasn’t going to abandon him.

“Please come now,” she heard Luke say. His voice filled the van and seemingly the entire mountain. He hadn’t shouted, but he might as well have because his words slammed through her. “Please.”

“I’m coming,” she let him know. “Just think about your video game. About those hippos. Think about saving the baby giraffe.” Danielle got out of the van and lifted her hands into the air.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Colin mumbled in a gruff whisper.

“We’re doing the only thing we can do. We’re saving a child,” she reminded him.

And she started for the guesthouse. Still cursing, Colin hurried to maneuver himself in front of her.

Danielle could feel Boyd’s rifle trained right on them.

This nightmare had just taken a bad turn.

Colin knew letting Boyd dictate the situation was a mistake. He had to figure out a way to stop this from spiraling out of control.

“Stay behind me,” he warned Danielle.

And by God she’d better listen. She should have stayed in the van and let him talk to Boyd. Not that it likely would have helped. Boyd seemed hell-bent on getting them out of that vehicle and into the open. But he might have been able to convince Boyd to allow anyone other than Danielle to walk into what could essentially be a trap.

“We didn’t have a choice,” she whispered.

Colin cursed because he knew she was right.

He lifted his left hand, a show of surrender, but he kept the cell phone in his right. If necessary, he could get to his backup weapon that he’d moved from his ankle holster to the back waist of his pants, but he might not be able to get to it in time if Boyd starting shooting. If that happened, Danielle and Luke could be hurt. Or worse.

“Boyd, I’m asking you man-to-man to send Dr. Connolly back,” Colin insisted. Danielle and he slowed when they approached the high metal gates. “If you do, it’ll prove to me that you want to work toward a peaceful resolution. You don’t need two more hostages.”

“Well, you won’t exactly be hostages. You’ll just be staying in the guesthouse. Nearby but not underfoot. I’ve got a camera fixed on the place, and I’ll know if you try to leave or if you try to bring in any badges.”

The explanation sounded almost logical, but Colin immediately found the weak spot in Boyd’s argument. “But why risk having us so close at all? You can obviously watch us in the van, too.”

But Colin knew the answer before Boyd even spoke.

“True. I can see the van, if I stand outside. I’d prefer not to do that. Plus, you wouldn’t be in rifle range there, now would you? I want you close by. Because soon, very soon, I’ll have some…chores for you two to do.”

Since the phone was on speaker, Danielle obviously heard that, and her sharp intake of breath caused her lips to tremble. Colin didn’t want to think of what a hit man would consider chores.

The only thing good in all of it was that perhaps this meant there was no mole. Boyd seemed to have found a way around the blind spot by going outside. That still didn’t explain how the man had figured out who Danielle was. She wasn’t exactly a public figure. But maybe Boyd had access to profiler or facial recognition software. If so, he could have spotted her when she arrived and gotten a picture of her to feed through the software. Colin hoped that’s what had happened.

Because the alternative made him damn uneasy.

“This is a waste of time,” Colin tried again. “Just give us your demands, and we can end all of this.”

“Demands can wait,” Boyd said, causing Colin to mentally curse. Colin couldn’t offer up all of Griffin’s bankroll, not on his first try of negotiations anyway, but he needed to get something on the table that he could use to bargain with. Once Danielle and he had some cover, he could do that.

“Luke?” Danielle said, aiming her voice toward the phone. “You doing okay? Are you still thinking about the hippos?”

“No.”

Oh, man. That little voice had a way of cutting to the bone.

“Well, you should think about them,” Danielle continued. “Because Agent Forester and I are here. We’re on the grounds. We’re walking through the gate right now. And we’ll do whatever Mr. Perkins tells us so that he won’t be upset. How does that sound?”

“Okay, I guess. Is Agent For-ster good or bad?”

“Oh, he’s very good. His job is to help little boys like you, and he’s the best.” Her mouth was still trembling, but she said that with a boatload of confidence.

Confidence that Colin wasn’t sure he deserved. He should have gotten her out of this before it even started. He thought of the other woman, the one he hadn’t been able to save. That couldn’t happen again.

It. Couldn’t. Happen.

“Stop right there,” Boyd ordered, his voice slicing through the silence.

They were still a good twenty feet from the guesthouse. Literally with no place to hide or duck for shelter if Boyd started shooting.

“Take off your jackets,” Boyd demanded.

Colin had anticipated the demand, but Danielle obviously hadn’t. She gasped and mumbled something. Colin wasn’t happy with the demand, either, but Boyd wasn’t stupid. This was a weapons check. Colin only hoped it didn’t extend to the gun he was trying to keep hidden.

Danielle slowly unbuttoned her jacket. Like her lips, her hands were shaking now. That only made him curse more because she shouldn’t have to be going through this.

Colin dropped his jacket onto the ground in front of him. Danielle did the same. And she stared down at it, completely dodging his gaze.

“Now take off your shirts,” Boyd added.

This time, Danielle’s gasp was a little louder.

“Rethink that,” Colin insisted, aware it wasn’t his negotiator’s voice. But hey, he wasn’t speaking as an agent now, but a man defending his wife’s, well, whatever. Honor and modesty seemed insignificant compared to the hostage situation, but he didn’t want Danielle to have to strip down in front of a hit man.

Colin unbuttoned his shirt, popping a few buttons in the process, and he threw the garment onto the ground with his jacket.

“Prove to me that neither of you are armed,” Boyd countered.

Colin’s hands went to his hips. “I don’t mind taking off all my clothes, but think of your young hostage.”

“He’s not watching. Strip!”

Hell. Boyd wasn’t going to give them any breaks. “Keep your clothes on,” he mumbled to Danielle, and he passed her the phone so his hands would be free. He needed to do some maneuvering.

Colin pulled off his boots, socks and empty ankle holster, and he put them on the growing heap of clothes. Next came the pants. This was the tricky part. He slipped the snub-nosed .38 into the back pocket and eased off his pants so the gun would stay in place. His wedding ring was in that pocket, too, and he didn’t want either falling out. He dropped the pants onto the heap, as well.