Danielle stopped calling out Luke’s name. Boyd had latched on to her arm.
“No!” Colin shouted, but he couldn’t hear the sound of his own voice because of the pounding in his head.
Boyd didn’t listen. He didn’t even look down at Colin. Danielle did, though.
Her startled gaze connected with Colin’s for just a split second before Boyd put the gun to her head and shoved her inside.
DANIELLE HAD KNOWN that Boyd was upset, but she hadn’t realized he was desperate. Without Luke, he didn’t have a hostage.
Well, not until he’d put that gun to her head.
She had to get out of this. She couldn’t panic. Couldn’t overreact because she had to think of Luke and her baby. She had to calm Boyd down and get this situation under control.
With the fierce grip he had on her arm, he dragged her toward the massive window in the living room. She couldn’t see the guesthouse because of the sloping grounds, but she could still see Colin standing on the front lawn. He seemed oblivious to the rain and was staring at the house. She didn’t think it was her imagination that he was furious.
At her, no doubt.
He hadn’t wanted her to try to talk to Boyd, and maybe he’d been right about her walking into the lion’s den. But she had to do something to help Luke.
Boyd’s phone rang. It was clipped to his belt, and he glanced down at it. “It’s Colin,” he let her know. He flipped it open and said, “Get back to the guesthouse now. We’ll talk when the chopper arrives.”
Boyd didn’t wait for Colin to answer. He hung up, hooked the phone back on his belt and stared out the window with her. Colin was mumbling something. Probably profanity. And then he turned and hurried back to the guesthouse. He wouldn’t wait quietly there, she knew. Colin was probably already planning a way to get Luke and her out. She prayed he’d succeed.
“Call out to Luke again,” Boyd insisted. “Make the kid come out from wherever he’s hiding.”
Danielle opened her mouth to do that but then stopped. “Let Luke go.”
Boyd moved directly behind her, and she couldn’t see his expression. Hopefully, he couldn’t see hers, either, because she was certain she looked terrified.
And was.
Her unborn baby was in serious danger, and worse, it was only a matter of time before Colin did something drastic to get her out. He might even storm the place, and that could be disastrous for all of them.
If she could talk Boyd into releasing Luke that might make it easier for her to escape. She wouldn’t have to worry about what Boyd might do to Luke if she didn’t cooperate. This was the first step to her own freedom.
Besides, she’d gotten Luke into this by suggesting that he hide, which was obviously what he was doing. So, in a sense this was her fault, too. She’d only meant to help him. In case he needed to get away from a dangerous situation. She had no way of knowing that it would be turned against him.
“A child is only going to weigh you down,” Danielle said. She cleared her throat to get rid of some of the strain in her voice. “And a boy his size won’t make a very good human shield. Think about it.”
Boyd apparently did think about it because he stayed quiet. What he didn’t do was agree.
“I’ll make a better hostage,” she pressed. “Besides, the helicopter and money will be here soon. Things will go a lot smoother if you don’t have to bother with releasing a three-year-old.”
“All right,” Boyd finally said. “Call out to him. Tell him to go into the yard and then to the guesthouse.”
Danielle nodded and prayed that this would work. “Luke? It’s Dr. Connolly. You have to trust me because I’m going to get you back to your dad. So, if you can hear me, come out so I can see you.”
There was no response, and then she noticed the intercom on the wall. “I need to use that,” she told Boyd. “This is a big place, and he could be hiding anywhere. He might not be able to hear me from this room.”
“Make it quick,” he snarled, shoving her toward the intercom.
Danielle pressed the button and got ready to call out Luke’s name, but then she heard the sound behind them. Boyd whirled around, dragging her with him.
And there was Luke.
The little blond-haired boy climbed out from the massive stone hearth fireplace and brushed off his jeans and his Spider-Man T-shirt. He certainly didn’t look as if he’d been through a horrible ordeal. Well, not until she studied his big brown eyes. There was the fear. And she could tell he’d been crying.
“Hi,” Danielle forced herself to say. “Are you okay, Luke?”
He nodded. “I was hiding.”
“Yes, I noticed.” She glanced back at Boyd. “But you can leave now, so you don’t need to hide anymore.”
His eyes brightened immediately. “I can really go to my daddy?”
“You can really go,” she assured him, even though her words were broken and clipped with emotion.
“Leave through the front door,” Boyd instructed. “Go to the guesthouse. And tell them to stay put. Got that?”
“Yup. I tell them to stay put.” He ran straight for the door but then stopped and looked back at Danielle. “Are you coming with me, Dr. Connolly?”
“No!” Boyd snarled.
“Not right now,” Danielle explained. She forced a smile. “Go ahead. I’ll talk to you soon, Luke. Say hi to your dad and mom for me.”
“I will.” Luke waved at her, opened the door and hurried out.
Boyd was right there to shut the door and lock it. He also took out his phone. He was so close that she could hear the ringing when he made a call.
Colin answered.
“Luke’s on his way down to you,” Boyd told him.
“What about Dr. Connolly?” Colin immediately asked.
“She’s staying with me until the chopper gets here.”
Danielle heard Colin’s silence and knew what he was thinking. They couldn’t trust Boyd, and he might intend to take her on the helicopter. In some ways she would be a preferable hostage to a child. But that also meant he might be more inclined to kill her when she was no longer needed as a human shield.
“I want to talk to her,” Colin insisted.
Boyd cursed under his breath and pushed the phone against her ear. “Make it quick.”
“Can Boyd hear me?” Colin asked, his voice an angry whisper.
“Probably.” Though Boyd had moved several inches away so he could look out the window. “Did Luke make it to you yet?”
“He’s almost here. He’s just outside the guesthouse.”
Thank God. Luke was safe. Now, she could concentrate on her own situation.
Which wasn’t looking especially good.
“I’m getting you out of there,” Colin insisted, his voice still low but heavy with emotion. “Oh, and Danielle? I know about the baby.”
Oh. God.
Colin knew. He knew! How the heck had he found out?
The timing couldn’t have been worse. And that explained the anger she heard in his voice. He was furious with her for not telling him.
“I’m sorry,” she said, but she was talking to herself because Boyd jerked the phone from her ear and jabbed the end call button.
“Come on.” Boyd latched on to her arm and started moving again.
“Where are you taking me?” Danielle asked.
“To a place where I can watch the badges. Especially Colin. Because here’s the deal.” Boyd jammed the gun against her head. “If he tries to pull a fast one and rescue you, then both of you will die right here, right now. And that includes the baby you’re carrying.”
Chapter Fifteen
Since he was in earshot of Bobby’s eavesdropping equipment, Colin heard the threat that Boyd made to Danielle.
And that includes the baby you’re carrying.
Even more, Boyd was expecting an attack of some kind and had no doubt gone to watch the security cameras.
Colin had to get Danielle out of there. But first,
he had to deal with the boy who was making a beeline for the guesthouse. The kid looked so little, too little, to have been put through this ordeal.
Colin threw open the door, and Luke came to a skidding halt on the wet grass. The kid didn’t trust him. With good reason. After nearly three days with the likes of Boyd Perkins, Colin wouldn’t have been in a trusting mood, either.
“It’s all right,” Colin assured him. “I’m Agent Forester.”
Luke nodded. “Dr. Connolly said you’re okay.”
“I am.”
But Colin wondered if that was true.
After all, his own wife hadn’t been able to tell him one of the most important things that would ever happen to a couple. Danielle obviously didn’t trust him. Still, that was a thought he had to save for later. He needed to get the boy inside and out of the potential line of fire. Danielle had risked her life to make sure Luke was safe, and Colin wasn’t going to do anything to cancel out her sacrifice.
Without trying to alarm the boy, Colin gently ushered Luke inside and made a visual check to see if he was all right. Definitely no signs of trauma.
“Are you hurt anywhere?” Colin asked.
Luke shook his head. “But I really don’t want to be with Mr. Perkins anymore.”
“I know you don’t, and you won’t have to be. You’re safe now.” Colin pointed to the sofa where Bobby was sitting with the equipment. “That’s Mr. Bobby O’Shea, and he’s going to watch you until your daddy gets here.”
“My daddy’s coming?” The kid sounded so hopeful that it nearly broke Colin’s heart.
“Yeah. He’s coming.” Bobby had already called Luke’s father, Griffin Vaughn.
One day, if he got very lucky, he’d be there for his own child when it really mattered. Though he didn’t know how any father could endure this.
There were some bumping sounds by the closet door, and several seconds later, Dylan emerged from the stairs. He was out of breath and had probably raced through the tunnel to get to them. Dylan spotted Luke and smiled, but the smile was short-lived.
Dylan whipped his attention to Colin. “How did you get him out?”
“I didn’t. Danielle traded places with him.”
“And you let her?” Dylan practically shouted.
“No. I didn’t let her. She went on her own when I was talking to Tom.” Colin nearly cursed but then remembered the little boy in the room. “Did you know that Danielle’s pregnant?”
Dylan shook his head and mumbled the profanity that Colin had bitten off. “Boyd says he’ll let her go?”
“Yeah.” But they both knew that wasn’t worth the breath Boyd had used to make that assurance. No, Boyd would try to take her with him so that the badges would back off. And when Boyd was free and away from there, he’d kill her.
But Colin intended to stop that from happening.
“The helicopter is about twenty-five minutes out. If the weather doesn’t slow him down,” Dylan explained. He handed Colin a piece of paper. “That’s the number of the offshore account with the ransom money.”
Colin took the paper and shoved it into his pants pocket. He took out his gun and checked the clip. He was loaded up, but he still grabbed two other clips from the kitchen cabinets where he’d hidden them. Colin shoved those into his pocket, as well.
“Where’s the SWAT team?” Colin asked Dylan.
“Assembling on the road. They’ll be ready in ten, maybe fifteen minutes.” Dylan paused and watched Colin position the gun in the waist of his pants. “Why?”
“Because I might need them.” He turned to the boy sitting next to Bobby. “Luke, where did Mr. Perkins take you when you were watching the security cameras?”
“You mean the boring pictures of the yard and places like that?”
Colin nodded. To a kid, those would be boring pictures, and who knew how long Boyd had made Luke sit there watching them. But to Colin, he was hoping those boring pictures would be a distraction, one that would prevent Boyd from realizing that his plan was about to fail.
“They’re not like TV. They don’t show cartoons or anything, and they’re in my dad’s little office. Not the one upstairs where he does work,” Luke explained. “This one is by the kitchen.”
It was a lot to ask of a three-year-old to give him specific directions, but Colin desperately needed them. “If you go through the back door, where is this room?”
“Well, if you go in the back door, you gotta be careful ’cause it’s raining, and the floor might be all slippery. But you wipe your feet and walk through the kitchen and go that way.” He pointed to his right. “The office is on that side.” And then he pointed to his left. “It’s got a whole bunch of little TVs, but I’m not allowed to touch ’em because they’ll break.”
“Thanks. Dr. Connolly will really appreciate you telling me.”
“Mr. Perkins locks the door,” Luke added.
Of course he did. Boyd wouldn’t make any of this easy.
Colin looked at Bobby. “Go ahead and take Luke through the front tunnel to the road. And call his dad so he can get out of here.”
He wanted that reunion to take place soon, and Colin didn’t want Luke this close to the estate in case something went wrong. The guesthouse had windows, and bullets could easily eat their way through the glass.
“What do you think you’re going to do?” Dylan asked.
“I don’t think it. I will do it.” Colin pointed to the eavesdropping equipment. “I need you to monitor that. If something goes wrong inside the estate, call me. I’ll have my cell set to vibrate.” And he did just that so that Boyd wouldn’t be able to hear the phone if it rang.
Bobby caught on to Luke’s hand and helped the boy down the stairs and into the tunnel. Within minutes, maybe less, Luke would be safe.
“What are you planning?” Dylan demanded.
Colin ignored his question. “How do I get to the tunnel that you cleared, the one that leads to the back of the estate?”
Dylan’s hands went to his hips. “You mean the tunnel that might have explosives in it?”
“Yeah. That one.” Colin got right in his face. “And before you say I’m not going, just think of it this way. What if it were your pregnant wife in there with Boyd?”
A muscle stirred in Dylan’s jaw. And he finally nodded. “Go down into the closet tunnel and head right. It’ll take you to the road where you’ll see a small yellow flag to mark the other tunnel entrance. It leads directly under the estate.”
“Thanks.” Colin started for the tunnel steps but stopped when he remembered one final detail. “I might need the SWAT for a diversion so have them ready to respond.”
“I will.” Dylan slapped him on the arm. “Good luck.”
Oh, he needed good luck and then some. He had to do everything humanly possible to get to Danielle before the helicopter arrived. Because if Boyd managed to get her off the grounds, Colin knew in his heart he’d never see her alive again.
And with that thought, he barreled down the tunnel steps and started to run.
BOYD FORCED HER INTO A ROOM filled with security monitors. He shut the door, locked it and shoved her into one of the two chairs. The floor was littered with empty bags of chips and other snacks, and there were dirty dishes on the desktops. Boyd had obviously spent some time in here.
“Don’t move,” he warned Danielle.
She didn’t, but she did look around for a possible escape route. Since there were no windows, the only way out was the door, and Boyd was between it and her. Besides, he had his gun, and Danielle knew he wouldn’t hesitate to use it on her.
There was no movement on any of the screens, even though they seemed to display every angle of the property. Including the guesthouse. No sign of Luke, which meant he’d already made it inside.
God knew the chaos that was going on in the guesthouse. Colin was no doubt scrambling to come up with a solution to get her out. There was only one problem with that. Boyd wouldn’t hesitate to kill Colin, either.
>
Boyd’s phone rang, and while he volleyed nervous glances between the screens and her, he answered it and put it on speaker.
“Boyd, it’s me.”
Colin. Just the sound of his voice made her feel better, though he did seem out of breath.
“I’m kinda busy here,” Boyd barked.
“I know, but I wanted to give you an update. I have the numbers for the ransom account in my hand. And the helicopter should be here any minute. I’ll meet you at the chopper to give you the numbers, and you can give me Danielle.”
“I don’t want you or any other badges near the chopper. I already made that clear.”
“Then how is the exchange going to happen?” Not a question exactly. More like a challenge.
“Easy. You’ll give me the numbers over the phone, and I’ll release the doc.”
Boyd was lying, and the icy glance he gave her confirmed that.
He wasn’t planning to let her go.
“Did Danielle tell you she’s pregnant?” Colin asked.
Boyd shrugged. “It didn’t come up in conversation.” Though he still had a panicked look in his eyes, that was similar to the same cocky comebacks he’d been giving throughout this hostage situation. “Does that mean some rug rat will be calling you daddy soon?”
“It means that I’ll kill you if you hurt her.”
The threat caused Boyd to snap to attention. And because she was watching him so closely, she saw the panic go up a notch. For just a second. And then Boyd tried to wrestle it back under control.
“That’s not your negotiator’s voice, Colin. You having an emotional moment here?”
“I’m not just a negotiator. I’m a federal agent. I know how to kill.”
“So do I,” Boyd reminded him. “And unlike you, I’m not bothered by a pesky conscience or an oath sworn to a badge.”
“But you have no reason to hurt Danielle. We’re giving you every demand you’ve requested.”
“Right, no reason. Just don’t give me one, okay?”
She heard the sound of the helicopter approaching and knew that time was running out. “May I say something to Colin?” she asked.
She’s Positive Page 15
