“Jerry,” Colin said, keeping his voice calm. “Think this through. Think about what you’re doing.”
Jerry’s eyes were wild, and the sweat had popped out all over his face. He certainly looked like he was about to implode. Colin didn’t mind taking the guy out, but he couldn’t do that until he had Ava out of harm’s way.
“I need money, or they’ll kill me,” Jerry admitted. “So this is how things have to work. All of you will step back and give me a few minutes alone with Ava. She’ll tell me what I need to know.”
Ava shook her head. “I don’t know what you want.” She wasn’t crying, but Colin could see that she was trembling, and she had her left hand clutched protectively over her pregnant belly.
“Sure you do,” Jerry insisted. “Julie Grainger sent it to Ben.”
“You mean the photos?” Ava questioned.
“No!” Jerry growled. “Not the letter and the pictures. You damn well know what I’m looking for.”
Since Jerry was obviously getting more agitated, Colin interrupted whatever Ava had been about to say. “Jerry, you’re scaring her, and that’s not good for the baby. You really don’t want to hurt a pregnant woman. Not Ava. You know her. You’ve worked with her. She’s a good woman, and she doesn’t deserve to be treated like this.”
“Well, I don’t deserve it, either.” The sweat slipped into his eyes, and he blinked hard, probably because it was stinging. “I have a disease. I’m sick. And if I don’t get that money, they’ll kill me.”
“Who’ll kill you?” With his gun ready and aimed, Colin stepped inside, slowly, and maneuvered himself to the right so that Dylan could do the same.
“It doesn’t matter who wants me dead,” Jerry insisted. “The only thing that matters is the money.”
“No. The only thing that matters is Ava’s safety. Let her go, and we’ll deal with this the right way. We’ll figure out how to stop the people who want you dead.”
And the best way to do that was with Jerry behind bars.
Jerry pushed the gun harder against Ava’s head. “You’re the ones threatening Ava’s safety. I won’t kill her, not unless you make me. I just want to talk to her. Now get out and close the door.”
Jerry’s hand was shaking, and it was clear to Colin that he wouldn’t be able to talk the man into surrendering. But Colin didn’t give up. He couldn’t.
“Look at Ava, Jerry,” Colin said, remaining calm. “She’s scared. You don’t want her like this. Put down the gun, and we’ll figure out a way to get you the money you need. Maybe we can take some from the FBI evidence room and create a sting operation for the people who want to kill you.”
That wouldn’t happen, but Colin wanted Jerry to start thinking like an agent and not a hostage taker.
Colin saw the door ease open in the kitchen. With Jerry’s position, he wasn’t able to spot Tom tiptoeing inside the house. Tom quietly made his way toward the man.
“Well?” Colin prompted Jerry. He needed to talk to cover the sound of Tom’s footsteps. “What do you say? Should we all go back to town and work this out? Think about it, Jerry. You need to get these people threatening you off the streets. It’s what we do as FBI agents. We stop bad guys from hurting others.”
But Jerry only shook his head. “Get out now!” he yelled at the top of his lungs. The veins in his head were bulging, and the sweat was even worse. He kept blinking as he held the gun firmly against Ava’s head.
“All right, we’ll get out,” Colin lied. “We’ll give you a few minutes alone with Ava.”
Ava’s eyes widened, and he saw the terror. She didn’t want to be left alone with this monster. Colin wanted to reassure her that all would be well, but he couldn’t.
Because it might not be.
Dylan eased back toward the doorway. Colin did, too. Tom continued to make his way across the kitchen. A few more feet, and Tom would have a shot at Jerry. Maybe. If they could get Ava out of the way.
“Why don’t you have Ava sit down?” Colin suggested to Jerry.
Ava stared at Colin, and she seemed to be examining his face to determine what was really going on. After all, she was the wife of an agent, and she likely knew they wouldn’t just leave her there.
Without taking her eyes off Colin, Ava opened her mouth and moaned. A sound of pain. And she clutched her stomach. “Oh, God,” she wailed. “I’m going into labor.”
Her voice was certainly convincing enough, but because Colin could see her face, he knew this was a ploy. Smart woman.
And Jerry reacted.
He eased up just a little on the grip he had on her, and Ava slid down as if she were about to sit on the floor.
Everything happened at warp speed after that.
Tom bolted from the kitchen. Jerry turned toward him and aimed his gun. But Tom didn’t give the man a chance to get off a shot. Tom fired, just as he’d been trained to do, and two bullets slammed into Jerry’s chest.
Jerry dropped to the floor.
Ava rushed toward Colin, and just in case Jerry wasn’t finished, Colin moved Ava behind him. Danielle hurried back to the house, latched on to the woman’s arm and pulled her in the direction of the car.
“Call an ambulance,” Colin told Danielle.
With their guns still drawn and ready, all three agents went toward Jerry. The man was bleeding out fast.
Colin kicked Jerry’s gun out of the way and stooped down so he could question him. This might be the only chance he got because Jerry probably wouldn’t make it.
“Are you working for Nicky Wayne?” Colin asked.
For a moment Colin didn’t think Jerry would answer, but he finally nodded. “I had to. Gambling debts.” His gaze came to Colin’s. “I was a good agent. Once.”
“I know you were.” But Colin wasn’t about to cut him any slack. “Were you feeding Boyd information?”
Another nod.
Then Jerry was definitely the mole.
“Were you working alone or did someone else in the KCCU or FBI help you?”
“Alone,” Jerry whispered.
That left one more question that Colin wanted answered. “Did you fire shots at Danielle and me?”
“Yes.” He swallowed hard. Shook his head. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean for things to get this far out of hand. It wasn’t personal.”
Well, it’d felt damn personal to Colin, especially since Danielle had been right in the line of fire. Those memories would stay with him for a lifetime. And God knew how many nightmares this would create for both of them. He could thank Jerry and his gambling habits for that.
Because Colin was having a hard time hanging on to his temper, he stepped back.
Tom moved closer to continue. “What did you want to get from Ava?”
Jerry opened his mouth but then clutched his chest. He tried to speak but no sound came. There was a rattle in his throat, and the last breath Jerry would ever take rushed out of his body.
“Hell,” Tom mumbled.
The others cursed, as well.
Colin put his gun into the back waist of his pants and turned to check on Danielle and Ava. His phone rang, and he groaned when he saw that the call was from Boyd.
“Yeah?” Colin answered.
“Did you find something for me?”
Colin looked at the dead man on the floor. “We found something.” In the distance, Colin heard the ambulance.
A sound he didn’t want Boyd to hear.
“We’re on our way back now,” Colin assured him, and he hung up.
“You won’t tell Boyd his coworker is dead?” Danielle asked.
“No.” Colin glanced at Dylan and Tom. “We need to keep this as quiet as we can. Until after Luke is released.”
If Boyd found out that Jerry had been shot and killed, then who knew how the man would react.
Luke could be put in even more danger.
“REMEMBER,” Colin warned her in a whisper. “Don’t say a word about the shooting when we’re in the guesthouse.”
Danielle simply nodded.
This was the first time Danielle had ever seen anyone shot and killed. She didn’t regret the outcome of that standoff. The man had been willing to hurt or even murder Ava. All so he could pay off his gambling debts. No. She was glad Jerry was dead, but she would never forget those images.
Images that Colin had no doubt seen too many times.
“Are you okay?” Colin asked.
“Yes.” He knew that wasn’t true. But there was nothing he could do to make things better. Right now, the only thing that mattered was Luke, and that’s what she had to focus on so she wouldn’t fall apart.
They walked up the hill to the estate. Dylan had dropped them off at the end of the road, and they’d hurried and hoped that the photos and Julie’s letter would be enough to get Boyd to go through with Luke’s release time. It had to be enough because she was at her breaking point. No doubt Luke was, too. This couldn’t go on any longer.
“Stay back,” Colin told her. It was starting to drizzle, so he positioned her just beneath the awning and hurried up the steps and dropped the envelope onto the porch. The moment he did that, his phone rang. He answered it and put it on speaker.
“So, what do you have for me?” Boyd asked.
“A letter and photos that seem to implicate Ben Parrish as a dirty agent. Seem being the operative word.”
And Danielle held her breath, praying that this was what Boyd wanted. Later, Tom and Dylan could sort out Ben’s guilt or innocence, but right now, the potentially incriminating photos would have to work.
“Pictures?” Boyd questioned.
“Yeah. Of you, Ben and Nicky Wayne. Any idea who took them?”
“No. But it’ll be interesting to find out. What about money? Did you find out anything about Del Gardo’s missing cash?”
“Nothing. We went over every inch of Ben Parrish’s house, and there was no money.”
Boyd didn’t say anything, and the moments dragged by. Danielle had thought she would be numb by now, but she was far from it. She could feel every nerve in her body.
“All right, then,” Boyd finally answered. “Leave the envelope on the porch and go back to the guesthouse.”
“What about Luke?” Colin immediately asked.
“Don’t worry. He’s fine. He’s playing that new video game. And I’ll release the kid like I promised.” Boyd didn’t sound cocky today. Just tired. “That gives you enough time to make sure there are no hitches with the helicopter and the ransom money. And don’t you dare think about using weather as an excuse.”
“There’ll be no hitches of any kind,” Colin promised him. He came back down the steps, and they started for the guesthouse.
The moment they were inside, Bobby raced up the steps. “Boyd’s on the phone with Nicky Wayne,” he whispered.
Colin slammed the door and hurried down into the tunnel. Danielle tried to hurry but realized she wasn’t moving very fast. She was still shaken from the shooting, and she was certain that she was about to have one heck of an adrenaline crash.
“No. They didn’t get us what we needed,” Boyd said to his boss. “Maybe because it wasn’t there. If Ava had it, she would have given it up when she saw these pictures. She must hate her husband by now.”
Yes. And things would likely get worse for the woman. After all, she was pregnant and her missing husband now had connections to a crime family.
“No. I don’t want to send them back to the Parrish house to keep looking, especially since we don’t know if our mutual friend was even telling the truth about it being there,” Boyd continued. “I want to get out of here. I don’t know how much more I can take being holed up in here with everybody just waiting to gun me down.”
Danielle had to put her hand over her mouth to stop herself from cheering. But that’s exactly what she wanted to do. This was the first time she could see an end to this nightmare.
“Everything’s a go with the helicopter and ransom money?” Bobby asked.
“Yes,” Colin answered.
Colin pulled Danielle into his arms for a celebratory hug. Of course, it wasn’t really over because the FBI would no doubt try to stop Boyd from escaping, but they wouldn’t do that until Luke was safe.
“The pictures?” Boyd said to Nicky. “Yeah. That was some surprise that Parrish’s wife had them. I got no idea why Parrish saved them. Or who else might have seen them. Still, no matter.”
Boyd paused. Cleared his throat. “Well, you know where I stand when it comes to him. He helped me a lot. If it hadn’t been for Ben Parrish, I wouldn’t have been able to kill Special Agent Julie Grainger.”
Chapter Thirteen
Boyd’s admission brought their mini celebration to a grinding halt, and Colin felt Danielle go totally stiff. Bobby froze, as well, and stared at Colin.
Hell.
This was not what they wanted to hear, and it would almost certainly devastate Ava. After everything she’d been through today, she didn’t need this news about her husband.
If it was true.
Since Boyd likely knew they were listening, he could be playing mind games with them. Maybe it was a distraction to stop them from focusing on the hostage situation and have them tie up some of the agents and resources to investigate the allegations.
But Colin had to accept that it also might be true, and even though he didn’t want resources diverted from this case, he couldn’t stand by and pretend he hadn’t heard it. Coupled with those pictures and Julie’s letter, they were damning words indeed. Had Ben Parrish helped Boyd kill Julie because she’d learned that Ben was working for the Wayne family?
“Call Tom Ryan,” Colin instructed Bobby. “Let him know what we just heard. He’ll also need a copy of the recording of that conversation.”
Bobby nodded, and judging from his somber expression, he knew where this would lead. There’d be an investigation into a dirty agent, and it wouldn’t be pretty.
After this hostage situation was over, Colin might be able to lend Tom and Dylan a hand in sorting this all out. But right now, his hands were full.
Colin led Danielle back up the stairs and into the guesthouse. He checked his watch. A few hours to go. That was it—if all went well. But Colin wasn’t going to borrow trouble. Boyd had made it clear that he was ready to bring this to an end. Colin certainly was. He wanted both Luke and Danielle far away from Boyd and anyone connected to the Wayne crime family.
He glanced at her to see how she was holding up. Not well, apparently. Danielle had gripped the closet door, her hand was shaking and she looked well beyond exhaustion. She was on her way to a serious crash.
“I don’t know how you live with seeing death all the time,” she mumbled. She stared at him. “Look at you. You’re not even falling apart.”
Oh, yes he was. Inside, anyway. It hurt to see her like this, to know that this would be part of her forever, and there was nothing he could do to take it away.
“Now you know why I don’t like to talk about my job,” he said. He went to her. Scooped her up in his arms and carried her to the bed. He eased her onto the mattress. “Rest until it’s time for the exchange.”
Danielle opened her mouth to protest, but he pushed his fingers against her lips.
“Rest,” he ordered. “I need you to be a hundred percent when Boyd releases Luke because you’ll be the one to get the boy away from here and back to his parents.”
Colin was betting he would have to go after Boyd once the man surrendered Luke. He couldn’t discuss the details with Danielle, not with Boyd perhaps listening, but the plan was to use the GPS on the helicopter and follow it. Boyd would probably head to an airport or maybe even an open area where he’d already arranged to have a getaway vehicle waiting. Colin and the rest of the agents would somehow have to stop Boyd. And as for the money, well, they’d put tracers on it, too, if Boyd somehow managed to transfer it before they caught up with him.
Boyd would fry for this kidnapping and Julie’s murder.
Co
lin started to move away, but Danielle grabbed his hand. “Stay with me,” she insisted.
She was still shaking, but her eyelids were already heavy and drifting closed. Hopefully, she would sleep whether she wanted to or not.
He shut the door, climbed onto the bed with her and pulled her into a spoon position so that his front was against her back. It was her favorite sleeping position, and she settled into him, as she always had.
This was familiar ground.
Too familiar. And it brought back memories that he shouldn’t be having. After this was all said and done, he needed to take the time to sort out his feelings. For her. For their marriage.
For his life.
Maybe it was those kissing sessions he’d had with her and the near sex earlier that morning, but there seemed to be a renewed intimacy between them. Of course, intimacy had never been their problem. The problem had been getting them on the same page when it came to her fertility treatments and his job. Well, the fertility treatments appeared to be a thing of the past.
That left the job.
He wanted to tell her that he was no longer going to volunteer for the most dangerous assignments available. That wouldn’t undo all the arguments and the pain they’d had in the past, but it might be enough of a start that she would rethink the divorce.
He was certainly rethinking it.
Colin was rethinking a lot of things.
The rhythm of Danielle’s breathing changed, and he realized she’d fallen asleep. Good. He could thank the exhaustion and the soothing rain that was hitting softly against the windows and roof. But for him, there was nothing soothing about being so close to her. It reminded him they’d done more than spoon while in bed.
Much more.
Once he was certain she was asleep, Colin eased away from her and moved to the head of the bed so he could prop himself against the headboard. He grabbed a pen and some paper from the nightstand and started the notes he’d need to make for the incident report involving Jerry’s death.
The paperwork for the shooting would be a bear to complete, and once Luke was free, there’d be paperwork and reports for that, as well. Best to get started rather than gawk at Danielle. Colin forced himself to get busy, and he jotted down times and details so he wouldn’t forget them.
She’s Positive Page 13
