“That is good.”
“And some water would be great,” adds Blythe.
“I’ll start working on it as soon as we hang up. But first I’d like to talk to—Morrow, is it?”
“Yes,” says Blythe. “I’ll get her.”
There is a shuffle, and a new voice comes on the line. “Hello?” she says.
“Am I speaking with Morrow?” asks Hope.
“Yes, this is she,” says Morrow.
“Hi, Morrow. This is Hope. I just wanted to speak with each of you, get a gauge on how you’re feeling and any urgent needs you have.”
“I urgently need to get out of here,” quips Morrow.
Hope gives a little laugh. “I understand that completely. We are working behind the scenes here to make that happen. I appreciate you hanging in there.”
“Has my—” Morrow stops.
“Has your what?” prompts Hope.
“It’s silly. I doubt you’d know the answer. I just—I was wondering if perhaps my daughter has contacted you guys? If she knows about this?” Part of Morrow wants Hope to say yes, and part of her wants Hope to say no.
“I know the chief of police is liaising with family members, as well as with the media and other branches of law enforcement. So he would know better than I would if she’s been made aware. I will say, based on the media turning up and members of the public coming by, there’s a good bet that she does know.” Hope does not say that this is the biggest thing to happen in Sunset Beach in quite a while, and it’s likely the whole town knows by now.
“Okay,” says Morrow.
“Would you like me to get a message to her if I can?”
“No, that’s okay,” says Morrow. “I’ll... tell her myself soon enough.”
“I like that positive attitude,” says Hope. “Now, if you could just give the phone to Nadine, I will have spoken to everyone.”
“Okay,” Morrow agrees.
There is more shuffling until Nadine speaks, her voice wary as she asks, “Yes?”
“Nadine, is it?” Hope asks. This is, she knows, the woman at the center of the dispute, the unwitting catalyst. Hope thinks of the last negotiation. There’d been a woman at the center of that siege as well. But she’d never gotten to speak to her. The suspect never allowed it. In that regard, this is progress.
“Yes,” says Nadine. She rushes to add, “I just want to say I’m sorry about all this. I should’ve torn up the papers when he asked and been done with it. Now I’ve gone and caused all this trouble.”
“Youdidn’t cause all this,” says Hope. She wants to say more;she wants to preach a sermon on whose fault this is. But she holds her tongue. “I don’t want you to worry about that. Just try to relax while you wait on us to get you out.”
“You never know what could happen,” says Nadine. There is innuendo in her voice, but Hope isn’t sure what she’s getting at. She wonders if Nadine is up to something, and if so, do the others know? She feels a little zing of excitement travel through her. Perhaps the hostages are plotting something. If they are, Hope hopes it’s a safe plan, preferably risk averse.
“Can you put Tommy back on now?”
“Yes,” Nadine says. “And, Hope?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you.”
“I haven’t done anything yet,” protests Hope.
“You will,” says Nadine.
