Harper Allen - Shotgun Daddy

“Put it on speaker.” His command was directed to the technician.

Gabe countered the order instantly. “Not yet, Jackson. Give it two more rings.” His manner was businesslike, but his voice betrayed a hint of warning as he went on. “My show, Larry, remember? Pick it up on the first ring and you’ve already handed the caller the advantage before a single word’s spoken. Second ring, he still knows you were sitting there waiting for him. By the end of the third ring he’s starting to get a little antsy.”

The phone rang again.

“You can bet this isn’t a cold call. He’ll be working from a script, whether it’s written down or not. Emotion’s going to make him want to deviate from his script, and if he does he’s more likely to make a slip.”

“So what if he slips up?” Caro heard her own voice rise. “They’ve still got Jess. We’re still going to do what they say, aren’t we?”

The phone rang a third time. Gabe nodded, his eyes meeting hers for the first time since he’d walked into the room.

“Yeah, we’re going to do what they say. But the more we know about them and how they react, the better, especially if anything goes wrong during the handover.” He moved toward the phone. “And handovers never go exactly to plan, do they, Jackson.”

“You got that right, Gabe,” Kanin’s man said tensely. “On your signal.”

“Now.”

Even as Gabe pressed the speaker button on the phone, Caro heard a tiny ping as the fourth ring began and was cut off. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Jackson flick a switch on his equipment.

“Dixon? You there?”

At the kidnapper’s abrupt question, Jackson glanced at his monitors. Her heart pounding, Caro gave her full attention to Gabe.

“Dixon’s not handling this. My name’s Riggs and I’m the hostage negotiator in charge. What do I call you?”

There was a pause. Then the caller spoke again, his tone oddly metallic.

“How about Leo, Riggs? Or does that name bring back bad memories?”

Caro was close enough to see the muscle that jumped at the side of Gabe’s jaw as he answered. “You’ve made your point—you’ve heard of me but I don’t know anything about you. Fair enough. I’m ready and willing to deal under whatever name you choose, but first I want to know for sure that Crawford’s still alive. Put him on or I’m hanging up.”

“No, dammit!” The shocked exclamation came from Dixon. Gabe nailed him with a glance and turned back to the phone.

“Put Jess on, Leo. The lady who’s calling the shots has given me a free hand to deal the cards as I see fit, no matter what anyone else here might say. If I can’t satisfy myself that the man I’m negotiating for is alive, all bets are off.”

“Gabe? Hell, old buddy, so Caro found you, did she?”

The voice was weak and uneven, but unmistakably Jess’s, although the forced jauntiness in his tone was a pale facsimile of his normal good humor. Without warning Caro felt a sob catch in her throat.

“She found me.” Gabe’s smile was strained. “Jess, this is procedure, okay? I need proof that it’s you. What was the name of that hammerheaded Appaloosa Del Hawkins had on the Double B when we were kids? The one with such a wicked temper none of us could ever ride it?”

Jess’s laugh was shaky. “Chorizo,” he said promptly. “He’s still on the Double B. And dammit, you Navajo son of a gun, I happen to know that you rode the brute after Tye and Con and I gave up on him.”

“Bravo, Riggs.” The metallic voice was back on the line, and this time Caro thought she heard a touch of mockery beneath his words. “Bravo. You’ve proven you’re a professional and not about to take my word for anything. Satisfied?”

“That it’s Jess, and he’s still alive? Yeah, I’m satisfied,” Gabe said evenly. “What are your terms, Leo?”

“Five million in bearer bonds if we can finalize this within forty-eight hours. The price goes up considerably if you need more time.”

“Two million and you get it tonight at a handover point of your choice.” Gabe’s reply was flat. “Take it, Leo. You know I won’t be able to get the authorities involved in an ambush at such short notice, so it’s a deal you shouldn’t pass up.”

“Three million.”

The technician stiffened. Touching Gabe on the arm, he nodded toward the screen in front of him and gave a thumbs-up. Following Gabe’s gaze, Caro saw that the scrolling lines of numbers on Jackson’s monitor had been replaced by a single ten-digit one, accompanied by a street address and the city location of Tijuana. Gabe nodded, started to switch his attention back to the phone, and stopped.

The scrolling numbers had reappeared. They were replaced again, this time by another number and a highlighted address in—

Caro stared at the monitor, confused. Oshawa, Canada? Surely that couldn’t be right. She blinked as a third number and city came up on the screen.

Jackson slumped back in his chair, shaking his head in defeat.

Gabe kept his voice even. “Three million in bearer bonds. When and where?”

“In an hour, where the road takes a curve at the fifteen-mile mark from the villa,” came the succinct answer. “And Riggs—just you, Dixon and the woman Crawford mentioned. She’s his fiancée, I understand. Not that I think you’re amateur enough to be considering a double cross of me and my people, but with a woman present, I know you won’t take risks.”

“You’re damn right I won’t risk the woman. She’s not—” Gabe began, but the kidnapper cut him off.

“That part’s nonnegotiable, negotiator. If she doesn’t show, your friend Jess ends up the way Leo Roswell did.”

Abruptly the line went dead.

Kanin’s excited voice was the first to break the silence. “Did we find out where the bastard was calling from?”

Jackson shook his head in frustration. “He had some kind of scrambling device that was way beyond anything I’ve ever come up against before. And his voiceprint was fed through a filter.”

“He’s arrogant.” Gabe flexed his shoulders, and Caro heard a tendon pop. “That’s useful to know.”

“He was taunting you, wasn’t he?” she said, watching him closely. “That’s why he chose the name Leo—to show you he knew what happened on your last case.”

“Which doesn’t mean squat,” Kanin said loudly. “For God’s sake, Rosten’s death was front-page news at the time.”

“Roswell, Larry. Leo Roswell.” Gabe looked at Caro, his gaze holding nothing more than professional assessment. “Yeah, he was taunting me. But his attitude just might trip him up and lead to his capture.”

“You really think that’s possible?” Dixon’s tone was eager. “Dammit, man, if you can somehow foil these bastards, Crawford Solutions’ll owe you big time. The ransom’s coming out of the company’s own pockets, you know. Since Jess never used bodyguards, the insurance companies refused to cover him for this kind of contingency. What are you planning?”

“I’m planning to hand over the three million in bearer bonds Caro informed me earlier today was on hand,” Gabe said. “I’m planning to get Jess back home safely. I’m not planning to do anything—anything, understand?—that could get him or anyone else killed.”

He rubbed his jaw, and again Caro glimpsed tension behind his gesture. “Jess’s abductors are going to be pissed off enough as it is when you and I show up alone, Dixon—but that can’t be helped.”

“Leo said my presence at the handover was nonnegotiable,” she interjected. “If Jess’s safe return hinges on my being there, I intend—”

“I don’t give a damn about your intentions, you’re not going,” Gabe said. “And that’s nonnegotiable.”