The young dark-haired man took out a piece of equipment from one of his bags, turned it on and walked around the room, pointing the wallet-size device in every direction.
“No bugs,” he announced several moments later.
All of them let out breaths of relief. Colin holstered his gun so he could shake hands with Dylan.
“This is Special Agent Jerry Ortiz,” Dylan said, pointing to the older man. “He’s the senior agent for FBI operations at the Kenner County Crime Lab.” He then tipped his head to the other man. “And that’s Bobby O’Shea, a forensic analyst. We were on our way to deliver supplies to you when Boyd ordered everyone but you two off the mountain.”
“How did you find your way through the tunnels?” Colin asked.
“We used some thermal equipment and literally followed the heat source—you two.”
Colin glanced at her. “Then, you’ll be able to use the tunnels to get Danielle out of here.”
Dylan nodded. “Sure.”
“Wait a minute.” Danielle put the candlestick aside and stepped between Colin and the other agent. “I’m not leaving until we get Luke away from Boyd. What if Boyd calls and asks to speak to me again?”
“We can have the call transferred to you,” Colin readily answered.
Danielle slapped her hand on his chest when Colin started to move around her. He was acting as if this were a done deal. And it wasn’t. “At any minute Boyd could come down here to the guesthouse and demand to see me,” she reminded him. “Or there could be a problem with a call transfer. If I’m not here or if he can’t speak to me right away, he could take it out on Luke. Or you.”
She hated that she sounded so emotional, especially with that or you part. Worse, her chest slap suddenly seemed a little intimate so she drew back her hand.
“I’m not leaving,” she insisted. And she repeated that to Dylan, Bobby and Jerry.
“She has a point,” Dylan agreed. Bobby and Jerry mumbled an agreement, too.
Colin scowled at all of them.
Probably because the mood suddenly seemed more than just awkward, Dylan cleared his throat and turned to Bobby. “Go ahead and set up the long-range eavesdropping equipment.”
“You brought the equipment with you?” Danielle asked at the same moment Colin asked a variation of the same question.
Dylan nodded. “We figured you’d want to hear what Boyd’s saying and doing.”
Of course. This way, they could possibly pinpoint their location, and Danielle would be able to listen and make sure Luke was okay.
“We need to monitor Boyd, too,” Dylan added. Bobby got to work setting up the equipment on the coffee table. “We know Boyd’s trying to find the fifty million dollars that was probably hidden by the former owner, Vincent Del Gardo.”
“So I’ve heard. Del Gardo, another mob guy,” Colin added. “Well, he certainly had fifty million and probably a lot more to hide, but Boyd probably hasn’t found it yet. Just a little while ago, he demanded a helicopter and fifty million in an offshore account. Does that mean Boyd’s giving up the search for the cash?”
“Maybe.” This time, it was Jerry who answered. The older agent propped his hands on his hips and watched Bobby put on some headphones and adjust the controls on the equipment. “Or Boyd could be planning to collect both the Del Gardo money and the ransom for Luke.”
Danielle hoped not because if Boyd were still looking for that money, it could delay Luke’s release.
“I’m in,” Bobby announced.
That sent all of them in the young agent’s direction. There was no visual feed, but Danielle could hear something. Beeps and sounds of a video game. But not just any video game. She recognized a familiar lion’s roar. Good. Boyd was letting Luke play Safari Explorer.
“I want you to record everything,” Dylan instructed Bobby.
“And report anything suspicious you hear back to me,” Jerry added. Though Jerry was a senior agent, that earned him a bit of raised eyebrow from Dylan, and Danielle wondered if there was some kind of power struggle going on here. She hoped not. “Remember, Boyd’s a killer and a liar. We can’t take anything he says as gospel.”
“What’s going on?” Colin demanded, taking the question right out of her mouth.
Dylan glanced at Jerry who nodded before Dylan explained, “We think Boyd might know something about Ben Parrish.” Since Colin started to bob his head as if he suddenly knew what this was all about, Dylan looked at her to deliver the rest of the details. “Ben is an FBI agent, and he’s missing.”
“Probably dead,” Jerry interjected.
Dylan shrugged, though the shrug didn’t convey the emotion in his eyes. “If not dead, he could be hurt and unable to contact us. We need to find him. In addition to needing lots of answers, his wife, Ava, is a forensic scientist, and she’s pregnant. She’s scared, and she wants to know what happened to her husband.”
Danielle felt instant empathy. Other than being pregnant and scared, she didn’t have anything in common with this woman, but she wanted to help. Maybe this was another side effect of pregnancy hormones.
“We don’t want to take anything away from your primary mission,” Jerry continued, talking to Colin. “We want you to negotiate the boy away from Boyd, but we can’t just let this opportunity go, either. Finding Ben is critical.”
Colin glanced at the equipment. “Will the audio feed go directly to the crime lab?”
“No.” Jerry didn’t seem pleased about that, either. “Transmission is spotty out here at best and will have to be sent to us via disks. Once the disks are in the lab, I’ll analyze them and try to enhance them so we can get every word of conversation.” Jerry hitched his thumb toward Bobby. “So, the plan is we’ll leave Bobby here to monitor Boyd, while Dylan and I go out and try to find this missing agent.”
Danielle immediately thought of a concern. “What if Boyd figures out Bobby is here?”
“Bobby will have to avoid that at all cost,” Dylan explained. “If Boyd comes down here, Bobby will just have to use the tunnels to hide. In fact, that’s where we’ll put the extra supplies just so there aren’t equipment bags lying around.”
“Maybe Boyd won’t go into the tunnels and find the bags,” Jerry mumbled.
Mercy. She hoped this didn’t come back to haunt them, but on the upside, she could hear Luke playing the video game. He wasn’t whining, and Boyd wasn’t fussing. Maybe it would stay that way, and maybe Boyd would stay out of the tunnels.
“What about the helicopter Boyd requested?” Colin wanted to know.
“We already have someone working on that,” Jerry confirmed. “And from what I understand, Luke’s father is gathering funds as we speak. He wants to give Boyd the money.”
Of course he did. He wanted his son back.
Danielle automatically slid her hand over her belly. Just for reassurance that her own child was safe and well. But it was a mistake. She realized that Colin was looking at her. Probably because he thought she was cramping from yet another round of fertility drugs.
“Has anyone said anything about Boyd maybe having a mole in the FBI or maybe at the crime lab?” Colin asked.
Dylan and Jerry exchanged glances again. “We’re looking into it,” Jerry finally said.
Danielle didn’t intend to let that go. “But you think there might be one?”
Jerry shook his head, but it wasn’t a very convincing denial. “We have a new lab assistant. Rusty Cepeda. He just started work a couple of days ago.”
“Rusty?” Colin questioned. “The kid who drove me up to the estate this morning?”
“Yeah,” Dylan verified. “We didn’t know there was an issue about a possible mole.”
“And Rusty might not have anything to do with this,” Jerry quickly added. “But because he’s new, Callie wants us to take a hard look at his background.”
“Please do,” Danielle insisted. They had enough issues without adding a mole to the mix.
“We brought you a cell phone
charger, an extra phone, a laptop and a weapon,” Jerry continued, pointing to the equipment bags. “If you need anything else, give us a call, and I’ll get it to you.” He turned back to Dylan. “We should get out of here.”
“You might want to wait a minute,” Bobby said. He turned up the volume on the eavesdropping device.
Danielle heard Boyd’s voice, though there was some static that made it difficult to understand exactly what he was saying.
“He’s talking to his boss, Nicky Wayne,” Bobby supplied.
That got everyone’s attention. It was a long shot, but she hoped that the notorious Nicky Wayne would insist that Boyd release Luke immediately.
“Still no money,” Boyd said. And whatever else he added was lost because of the static.
“Can you make the reception better?” Colin asked.
Bobby shook his head. “This is the best I can do.”
Boyd said something else that wasn’t clear, and Danielle could barely hear the beeps of Luke’s game. It sounded as if Boyd was moving farther away from the boy. Maybe so Luke wouldn’t overhear the conversation.
“You’re sure you want me out tomorrow?” Boyd asked. He paused. “All right. Consider it done.” Another pause and Boyd ended the call.
Well, that certainly didn’t give them any revelations, but it was a start.
“If I could get closer to Boyd, that might help,” Bobby said, turning down the device. The young analyst looked at Jerry. “Sir, what if I move the equipment deeper into the tunnels toward the estate?”
Jerry pulled back his shoulders, perhaps because he figured this could be dangerous if Boyd detected what was happening. It certainly sounded risky.
“I think it’s worth a try,” Dylan spoke up.
Jerry didn’t look as if he wanted to agree, but he finally nodded. “Just be careful and remember to report back to me everything Boyd says.” Jerry shook his head. “This guy is bad news, and I want him put away.”
Colin and the men shook hands, and Jerry and Dylan grabbed the equipment bags. They left the two others sitting on the floor but those would have to be tucked out of sight. The men made their way back through the closet and into the tunnels. Bobby picked up his eavesdropping device, as well, and turned on his flashlight.
“If I get better reception in the tunnels, I’ll move all of my stuff down there,” Bobby told them, and he disappeared down the steps behind the other men.
Colin and Danielle stood there. In silence. Both of them staring at the closet.
“If Boyd finds out about this…” she mumbled. She couldn’t finish. She didn’t want to think of what might happen.
“Yeah,” Colin verified. He stayed quiet for several moments before he looked at her. “You don’t owe me an explanation, but I’d like one.”
Danielle didn’t intend to jump into an answer. Any answer. But the request certainly caused her to swallow hard. “An explanation about what?”
His gaze landed on her stomach.
Oh, God. Colin knew about the baby.
She tried not to panic, though inside that’s exactly what she was doing. “I’m fine, really,” she lied, hoping the lie would be enough. Now was not the time to tell him that he was going to be a father.
Danielle tried to move away from him, but he caught on to her arm. “What’s going on with you?” he demanded. “Why the secret comment to Callie? Why the strange behavior?”
She forced her chin up. It was time to go on the offensive. “Strange behavior? Maybe because a boy’s well-being is at stake, and I’m having to work next to my estranged husband. That’s worth a moment or two of strange behavior, don’t you think?”
Apparently not. Because his gaze drifted back to her stomach again, and the only thing Danielle could do was brace herself for the question. If Colin did indeed ask if she was pregnant, she wouldn’t be able to tell him a direct lie. Not about that.
But there was no question from him. Just his glare, which started to soften. There was still plenty of fire in those blue eyes. Plenty of emotion, too. But it started to change. Slowly. Subtly, at first. However, she recognized that look.
The fire wasn’t all from his anger over the lack of answers.
Just like that, her body started to soften, too. Actually, it started to insist that she move closer. She didn’t.
But Colin did.
He leaned in. Until he was close. So close that his shirt brushed against her breasts and sent a warm tingle through her. His gaze dropped from her eyes.
To her mouth.
His breath touched her lips. Not a kiss exactly, but it was just as intoxicating as the real thing. And that’s why she couldn’t stay put.
Danielle tried to get away from him, but Colin held on to her. Of course, she wasn’t trying that hard to move. Her feet seemed anchored in place, and her body was screaming for that kiss to happen. Probably because her body knew a kiss from Colin was a prelude to hot sex.
“Okay,” she said, just to be saying something. “So, we’re still attracted to each other. So what? We always have been, and we both know where that got us, right?”
She’d meant it as a stinging jab to get him to back off, but because her voice was still reacting to the near kiss, it came out steamy and more like an invitation for him to continue.
And that’s what he did.
Colin leaned in even closer. Danielle still didn’t move. She just stood there waiting for the inevitable. She wasn’t any better at resisting him now than she had been months earlier.
He took his hand from her arm and slipped it around her waist. It was gentle. Coaxing. Something that Colin was especially good at doing. And just when Danielle thought—finally!—the kiss would happen…
It didn’t.
That’s because a deafening sound blasted through the room.
Chapter Five
What the hell was happening?
That was Colin’s first reaction, and it was quickly followed by the realization that he needed to protect Danielle. He pushed her behind him and drew his weapon, but his gun wouldn’t be much defense against this.
There’d been an explosion.
The blast shook the guesthouse and sent pictures and other items crashing to the floor. Colin moved Danielle aside before a heavy framed oil painting came crashing down on her. He got them to the center of the room, away from the falling debris and out of the path of an overhead light fixture that was swaying and looked ready to drop.
Colin looked around to see if he could identify the source and origin of the explosion, but there was nothing to indicate that the blast had occurred in the guesthouse itself. However, there was dust rising from the tunnel opening where Bobby and the others had exited only minutes earlier.
“The tunnel,” Danielle said on a gasp, and she headed straight toward it.
Colin caught on to her again. “Wait. Don’t go any closer. There could be a secondary explosion.”
Or the tunnel could be damaged to the point that it was ready to collapse. He didn’t want to speculate on what’d happened to Bobby, Jerry and Dylan, but Colin had to consider that the men had been hurt or even killed.
He waited several moments, to make sure everything had stopped shaking, and then Colin began to inch his way toward the closet opening that led to the tunnel. He didn’t get far because the cell phone rang. He checked the caller ID screen and saw it was Boyd.
Colin cursed. Took a deep breath to steady himself. And he answered it.
“I didn’t figure you for a stupid man, Colin,” Boyd greeted. “Maybe I should have made it clear about staying put. Maybe I should have also let you know that I set explosives in the tunnels.”
Oh, man. So, that’s what had happened.
“There’s no good reason for you or Dr. Connolly to be in the tunnels,” Boyd continued. “So, tell me? Is she hurt?”
Colin debated his answer. Boyd obviously didn’t know who’d been in that tunnel, which meant he didn’t have visual surveillance and he had assumed
that Danielle had been the one to trip the explosive. It sickened Colin to think that could have happened. After all, he’d tried to force her to leave via those very tunnels, and they could have become a death trap for her.
“I should check on her,” Colin finally said.
“Right. And if she’s alive and well, tell her not to go down there again. Got it?”
Colin had to bite his tongue over Boyd’s flippant attitude. “I’ll tell her.”
“Oh, and Colin? No ambulance if she’s hurt. You’ll just have to deal with the consequences yourself. Consider it her punishment for acting like a fool.”
“I’m sure she’s sorry.” Colin somehow kept his voice calm. He looked at Danielle. To see how she was holding up, and he could have sworn she was paler than she had been just minutes earlier. “How’s Luke?” he asked Boyd.
“Those video games work like a charm. The kid hasn’t made a peep since he started playing them.”
“And you can thank Danielle for that.” Colin needed to do a little damage control because he didn’t want Boyd to sever communication between Danielle and Luke.
“Thank her for me,” Boyd barked. “And tell her next time I might not be in such a generous mood and forgive her for disobeying my orders to stay put. Don’t forget I’m holding all the cards here, Colin.”
“I won’t forget. Neither will Danielle. We both just want Luke back safe.”
“Yeah, yeah.” And with that taunting farewell, Boyd hung up.
Colin clicked the end call button so he could try to get in touch with Dylan. However, the phone rang again before he could do that.
It was Jerry Ortiz.
“What happened?” Jerry frantically asked the moment that Colin answered.
“An explosion. Are you okay?”
“Dylan and I are fine. We’d just made it out when we heard the blast. What about Bobby?”
“I was about to check on him.” And God knew what he’d find.
Colin made his way to the opening and looked down into the dark hole. There were stairs leading down, and Colin could see just a glimmer of light. “Bobby?” he called out.
She’s Positive Page 5
