Undercover Jeopardy. Kathleen Tailer

of her voice, but she was deeply concerned about the amount of blood on the bandages. Daniel was right. J.P. needed a doctor, and he needed one now. If he didn’t get one, he might end up bleeding out right there on the floor. She adjusted the bandages and tied them a bit tighter. “Don’t worry, J.P. I’m going to get you some help.”

      He grabbed her arm and held it way too tightly. “Don’t turn me over to the cops,” he hissed.

      “I don’t have a choice. If I don’t, you’ll die right here and right now. Is that what you want?”

      “Don’t do it, Hailey. I’m warning you.”

      “Warning me?” she laughed, even though there was no mirth in her voice. “What do you plan to do to me if you’re six feet under, pushing up daisies?”

      He tried to pull himself up but groaned and fell back against the floor. He grabbed for her arm again, but she stayed just out of reach. “I’d rather die than get caught. If you turn me over to the cops, I’ll end up in prison, and it will be all your fault. If that happens, I’ll make you pay. I swear I will.”

      “Maybe,” she said with a frown. “But at least you’ll be alive.” She knew J.P. was a true believer in the cause, and the chances of him ratting them out were next to nil once he was arrested, but she took his threat against her seriously. J.P. was a dangerous enemy to have. Still, she couldn’t just let him die.

      “How is he?” Terrell asked as he reappeared and sauntered over to her side. He must have noticed her worried expression because some of the confidence went out of his step as he looked between her and J.P.

      “Not good.” She stood and motioned toward the vault. “How’s the progress back there?”

      Terrell shrugged. “The same. Slow but steady.”

      She motioned to J.P. “He’s going to die if we don’t get him some help. He’s bleeding way too much.”

      Terrell shook his head. “Then he dies. The boss won’t like it if we let anybody in here or if we let them take him to a hospital. You know the rules.”

      J.P. called out to Terrell. “Hey, man. Don’t let her turn me over to the cops.”

      Bethany moved so she was blocking Terrell’s view of J.P. and caught the bigger man’s eye. “Did you hear what I said? He’ll die if we don’t get him to a hospital.”

      “Then let him die,” Terrell suddenly yelled, his voice filling with anger. “Aren’t you listening? There’s a bigger picture here, woman. You can’t take a chance that he’ll talk.” He stalked up to Bethany and leaned over her, his stance threatening. “The cause is the only thing that matters.”

      She didn’t back down. “I won’t let him die.”

      “It’s not up to you. Listen to what he’s saying. He doesn’t even want your help.”

      “Do you want his death on your conscience?” she spat. She knew Terrell was twice her size and strength, but she had to stand up to him. This was important. This was life and death. She looked into his eyes and wondered how far he would go. He looked angry enough to shoot her just for daring to challenge him. Or would he shoot J.P. himself and make the whole argument moot? Despite his glare, she couldn’t back down. “I don’t want him on my conscience when I know I could have saved him.”

      “The boss will not be happy about it. Let him die.”

      Bethany looked from J.P. to Terrell, both of whom were glowering. Her insides were fighting a raging battle. Was this the end of her undercover assignment right here and now? Even if it meant she had wasted a year of her life on this mission, life was too precious to just throw it away.

      “I’m sorry, boys. I can’t just stand here and do nothing. I won’t.”

      Terrell nodded. “Okay. You’ve made your choice.”

      He raised his weapon.

       FOUR

      Daniel watched the confrontation and felt his adrenaline surge as his protective instincts kicked in. Even if it cost him his life, he would not stand by and watch Bethany get hurt. He didn’t know if the bodybuilder robber would actually shoot her or not, but he couldn’t wait and find out. Daniel didn’t like the way the man was holding his rifle. He stood and moved toward them. “Hey now.”

      In one fleeting second, all of the bigger man’s anger focused on Daniel. He took several steps toward him and raised the butt of his weapon as if preparing to hit Daniel across the face. “You stay back, do you hear me?”

      Daniel put his hands up and retreated a few steps. He had accomplished his objective—he had distracted him and gotten him to move away from Bethany. “Yeah, I hear you.”

      The bodybuilder loomed threateningly over him, and Daniel could see the red in his eyes and smell garlic on his breath even through the mask. “Sit back down! Now! Or I’ll make sure you never stand up again!”

      Daniel obeyed, his hands still up in front of him. He didn’t know what to expect and wouldn’t have been surprised if the robber had bashed him with the rifle just for good measure. The man was so angry his hands were shaking. It had to be the stress. This heist was taking longer than any of them had probably expected, and the threat of capture had to be looming in all of their minds. Daniel wondered if they were criminals by trade or if this was a one-time deal.

      The phone broke the silence once again with a steady ring.

      Bethany held back and didn’t move. She simply looked at the big man, apparently waiting for permission before answering the phone or doing anything else. Daniel didn’t blame her. The robber was an incredibly large man with heavily developed muscles and a threatening presence. He would be a dangerous foe in any situation, and in his current stance of agitation, it wasn’t worth challenging him without a very good reason.

      The phone stopped ringing, then started again after about thirty seconds or so. No one else said a word. The air felt heavy. Even the other hostages were smart enough to stay quiet and subdued.

      Finally, the bodybuilder relented. He motioned with his weapon toward the phone, then started pacing in front of the hostages, glaring at them as he did so. “Fine, answer the stupid phone and do whatever you want to do with J.P., but I’m not taking the blame. When the boss finds out, it’ll be you who answers to him. Not me.”

      Bethany nodded and swung her rifle behind her, then walked over and quickly picked up the receiver. “Yeah?”

      She was silent as she listened, then turned and looked into the other robber’s eyes as she spoke. “Look, we’ve got a man down. He’s been shot, and he needs a doctor. I want you to send in someone to get him. One man and a stretcher. That’s it.”

      She listened again and then stood straighter as her eyes narrowed. “No, I’m not letting a hostage take him outside. You’re going to send in one EMT with a stretcher on wheels and he’s going to come in and get the guy, and then he’s going to turn around and leave. If he’s armed, I’ll kill him. If he does anything foolish, I’ll kill him. Got it?”

      She listened some more and then slammed down the phone and turned to the bodybuilder. “Okay, they’re sending in a guy with a stretcher. Can you let him in the front door?”

      The big robber blew out a breath, then nodded. “Yeah, I guess. The boss is going to blow a gasket over this. Cover me while I work.”

      J.P. groaned loudly. “Don’t hand me over to them.” He tried to sit up again but failed miserably. “I’ll get you back, Hailey. I promise you that.”

      Daniel was surprised that the wounded man said Bethany’s undercover name out loud. Hailey must be what Bethany was calling herself these days. He could tell it was a major breach of etiquette for the robbers