I hold my breath in anticipation.
“Not everyone. I’ll give you half of the agents. The pork is stinking up my home anyhow.”
Calling law enforcement pigs? Aren’t we beyond that? What’s next? Donut jokes?
“What about the doctor?” I press my luck. “Him plus half the agents.”
“He stays.”
“The nurse then?”
“No.”
Anticipating his response, I quickly counter. “Give us Kenzie.Please. I beg you. Send her out with the ten agents when you see me on your front porch. It’s a good deal.”
With vehemence, he rejects my compromise. “No. Fucking. Way. She’s anintegralpart of the discussion I’ll be having with you and her brother. The four of us have business to attend to.”
“Okay, I see. I see.”
Words rapidly fail me as my thoughts become jumbled. I’m so out of my depth here. My confidence is nosediving off a cliff.
Being a baddie was fun while it lasted.
Sensing my faltering, Reed mutes the call to bolster me with a little praise. “You’re doing fantastic. You’ve saved the lives of ten agents so far. Keep going. You’ve got this. Now you’re gonna ask him for more.”
I’m shocked he’s able to access that loving side of himself. It’s the first glimpse he’s given me of his loving heart since I got here. He’s been burdened with righteous fury. And I get it. Those are his people in there. Men and women like him who do their jobs in service to others.
As far as I can tell, they’re the only innocent victims in this mess. The surgeon was dirty to begin with. Kenzie probably is too. I don’t know about the nurse yet.
I return to the call with my spirit restored. “Ten agents for me. Ten for Reed. That’s the deal. You’ll still have three hostages. Take it or leave it.”
There’s a lengthy pause after I made my demands. Blood racing, my pulse thrums wildly from my neck to my fingertips.
No response.
The seconds tick by.
My stare burns a hole in the speakerphone.
Say something. Take the deal.
The tension prickles around us, crackling like static electricity. My eyes dart around the room, finding the others in a similar state of anxious paralysis.
He finally answers.
“Sixteen total. Be on the front porch in five minutes, or I’ll kill one per minute until you show up.”
And he hangs up.
FIFTY-NINE
A song in the night
REED
I’ve enduredmy fair share of bad shit straight from life’s asshole. It made me strong and stubborn. To a fault, at times.
The strife also made me grateful for the bright spots and the joy they bring. Things like riding my Ducati, busting bad guys, and pretending to be the hero. For a time, I thought gambling was one of those good things.
