She's Positive. Delores Fossen

other.

      The rain had obviously gotten to her mop of shoulder-length caramel-brown curls. Not in an unattractive way, either. Much to his disgust. She looked as if she’d just stepped from a warm shower. Her face was all dewy, and her cheeks were flushed with color. She looked healthy and content and probably hadn’t lost a minute of sleep over their breakup.

      “Any time you guys are ready, I’d like to get started,” Tom said. He was standing outside the van volleying glances at both of them. And probably questioning if they were real professionals. They certainly weren’t acting like it, and that was Colin’s cue to get to work. Later, after he’d established contact, he’d figure out a way to give the boot to his soon-to-be ex-wife, and she could take her dewy fresh look and get the heck out of there.

      “Do we have any long-range eavesdropping equipment so we can monitor what Boyd’s doing?” Colin asked Tom.

      “Equipment’s on the way. Should be here any time now. We’ve requested an infrared thermal scanner, too.”

      Good. Because they’d need both. The estate was a big place, and they’d have to pinpoint Boyd and Luke’s exact location if the worst happened and negotiations didn’t work. Then, they might have no choice but to move in.

      Colin picked up the cell phone from the table and looked at what was written on the manila notepad. “Is that Boyd’s number?”

      Tom nodded. “I’ve tried to keep him talking, but he always hangs up.”

      Well, Colin would see if he could fix that. “Make sure the parents stay at a distance. I don’t want them in on this conversation.” He turned on the recorder, punched in the numbers and put the phone on speaker to free his hands so he could take notes and start creating the hostage taker’s profile.

      The first ring seemed to take several minutes. Waiting was the hardest part. Colin slowed his breathing to keep himself calm. Took another deep breath.

      Boyd Perkins answered on the fourth ring.

      “Boyd?” Colin didn’t wait for the man to confirm it was him. He also jotted down the start time of the call. “I’m Special Agent Colin Forester.”

      “What do you want?” Boyd growled. But it wasn’t overly emotional. More the tone of a man who’d been inconvenienced than one who was angry.

      “I just want to talk. And I want to know how Luke’s doing.”

      “The kid’s fine. For now.”

      Colin wasn’t immune to that threat, but he eased it aside. “Good. That’s good, Boyd. Now, I need to know how we can keep it that way. You must have demands, but so far you haven’t let anybody know what those are.”

      “I want time to finish up some things in here.”

      “Time?” Luke repeated. That sent an uneasy feeling through him. “For what?”

      “Nothing to do with the kid,” Boyd readily answered. “I’m looking for something. When I find it, I’ll let you know. But for now, I want all you badges to back off and go back down the mountain.”

      “We have backed off.” What they couldn’t do, however, was leave the area. “But Luke’s parents are worried about him, and I’m sure Luke misses them. He’s a good kid and has no part in this. Why don’t you let him go and then we can talk about giving you that time you want?”

      Boyd made a sarcastic grunt. “If I let him go, you’ll just storm in here and kill me. Not gonna happen. As soon as I find what I’m looking for, I’ll get back to you.”

      “Wait,” Colin said, since it sounded as if Boyd were about to hang up. “I want to talk to Luke. I want to make sure he’s okay. Before you say no, think about it this way. We badges will be a lot more cooperative if we know the boy hasn’t been harmed.”

      Silence.

      The moments crawled by.

      Oh, yeah. Waiting was the hardest part.

      “I’ll get back to you on that, too,” Boyd snapped, and he hung up.

      Colin turned off the recorder, jotted down the end time of the call. Just a little under two minutes. It was a start, even though he doubted Boyd would call back any time soon.

      “Any idea what Boyd’s looking for?” Colin asked Tom.

      “We think he’s after fifty million dollars. The previous owner might have hidden the money in the estate or in those tunnels I told you about.”

      Fifty million? Whoa. So, this was a crime of greed, not passion. In some ways that made it easier. Boyd likely wouldn’t harm Luke because the child was the very thing that would give him the time to search for all that money. But Colin had to wonder—what would happen if Boyd got his hands on the cash? That, however, was an issue for later.

      First, he had to settle another concern before it went any further.

      He turned to Danielle. “This isn’t going to work,” he let her know.

      Her chin came up. “I can help.”

      Maybe she could. She was a darn good psychologist, but Colin couldn’t do his job if he had to sit side by side with her. Too bad he couldn’t just tell her that, but that would mean admitting that she’d slashed his heart to bits. No way did he want her to know that. Better to let her believe that the only thing left between them was the bitterness.

      And not this ridiculous attraction.

      “Danielle,” he started. It was his negotiator’s voice. Calm, friendly, but with just a hint of detachment. “This standoff could go on for days. Weeks, even. You don’t want to be here with me for that length of time, do you?”

      She opened her mouth. Closed it. Repeated the process, adding a defeated sigh, before she shook her head and prepared to exit the van. “I need to talk to Callie.”

      Colin scowled. She was giving up with hardly a fight. Yep, she didn’t want to be there. It was really over between them.

      He gave a crisp nod and was about to tell Tom to locate another psychologist, but the phone interrupted him. On the caller ID screen, he saw that it was Boyd.

      “Boyd,” Colin answered, turning the recorder back on. “You’ll let me speak to Luke.” He tried not to make it sound like a question.

      Boyd didn’t answer. There was a shuffle of movement on the other end of the line. Colin listened, trying to make sense of every sound. After several seconds, Colin realized the person now on the phone had a different breathing pattern than Boyd’s.

      “Luke?” Colin said. “Are you there, buddy?”

      “I’m here,” the boy answered.

      God, he sounded so little.

      And scared.

      Colin’s pen snapped under the pressure of his grip, and he grabbed another so he’d be ready to write. “Luke, are you okay?”

      “I guess. But I wanta see my daddy and my mom. Please.”

      Danielle pressed her fingertips to her lips, and Colin saw her blink back tears. He’d never seen her break on the job. Never. But the little boy’s plea would have gotten to anyone.

      Well, anyone except Boyd.

      There were more muffled sounds, and Boyd returned to the line. “He’s still whimpering,” Boyd complained.

      “I’ll talk to him,” Colin insisted. “I’ll calm him down.”

      “No. You’re done talking to him. I want somebody else. Somebody that knows how to handle kids, and I don’t mean his parents. Don’t want to talk to them. Put Dr. Danielle Connolly on the phone.”

      Colin’s heart went to his knees. Apparently so did Danielle’s. She froze, and her eyes widened.