Mac hesitated before responding. “How do you know about that?”
“I know everything about you, Abigail. Where you were born, the apartment you lived in when you were a baby, how beautiful you looked when you took your first communion…how devastated you were when you learned of your parents’ untimely deaths.”
He was goading her. Pushing her to act out, which would only put Coop in more danger than he already was.
With a surprisingly steady voice, Mac said, “You’ve got three seconds to let me talk to Sean, or I swear to God, I’m hanging up. One…”
“You hang up, I’m putting a bullet in his brain.”
“Do that, you’ll never see a fucking dime.” Mac closed her eyes and stayed strong. They’d played this game before with more bastards than she could remember. They had to keep the upper hand, or else Coopwoulddie. “Two…”
“I’m in charge here, not you!”
“But I’m the one with the money,” Mac reminded him. “Seems to me, you need it pretty badly.”
Her voice may sound like she was calm and collected, but inside, she felt sick to her soul. The odds were on their side, but the risk was greater than any she’d taken before.
Tears fell from her tightened eyelids as Mac held her breath and choked out, “Three.”
Moving her trembling thumb to the side of her phone, she started to end the call. She froze when she heard the robotic voice muffle a low curse.
“Fine. Here.”
Her breath stilled as she waited, praying her partner was okay. There was silence, followed by a shuffling sound. She could hear a mumbled voice and then Coop finally came on the line.
“Don’t do it, Mac!” he begged her. “Don’t give this bastard what he wants.”
Her knees nearly gave out from relief. His voice sounded strained like he was in pain, but he was still alive!
“Are you okay? How badly are you hurt?”
“I’m…good. It’s a trap, Mac. Need to stay…away.”
“You know I can’t do that.”
“P-please.”
“Listen to me, Sean. I’m going to get you out of there, okay? Trevor and Derek are with me, and we are going to find you. I need you to hang on until we get there, okay?”
“Appreciate the thought, baby. But you and I both know…he’s going to kill me no matter what.”
“That’s not going to happen,” she vowed. “I promise. I need to know who took you.”
“That’s enough.” The robotic voice was back.
“No!” She swallowed her fear. “You son of a bitch. I don’t know who you are, but I swear to God if you lay another finger on him, it’ll be the last thing you do.”
“Walnut Creek,” the man cut her off. He began giving his instructions. “There’s an old ballfield there. Sign says Shady Grove Park. Take the dirt road directly across from it and drive all the way to the end. You’ll see a two-story brick building there, right on the water’s edge.”
“How do I know you’re really there?”
“We’ve been talking long enough. I’m sure your teammates have tracked the call by now.”
Mac’s pulse spiked. The man who took Coop was a lot smarter than she’d given him credit for.
“Bring the money to me within the hour, or your partner dies.”
An hour was nowhere near enough time to put a solid rescue plan together.
