Page 81 of Rescued

Switch nodded in approval.

For a minute she thought Quentin wasn’t going to do it, but then there were some rustling sounds, and Kimberly came on the line. “Breanna? Please, do what he says.”

“I am,” Breanna said. “Are you okay? Are you hurt? He better not have hurt you.”

“I’m just scared.” Breanna could hear she was crying. “And I wish we could just go out for daiquiris, like we used to. Come and get me. Please.”

Daiquiris. That meant Kimberly wasn’t as okay as she was pretending to be, but she couldn’t say it in front of Quentin.

Quentin took the phone back. “See? It’s all fine. So show up at midnight like a good little girl. And if there’s anyone else with you besides the pilot, Kimberly dies.”

Breanna bit her lip. She said, “Just make sure you bring her. And—and that you bring her out into the open, where I can see she’s okay. Because if she’s not there, my pilot won’t even land. We’ll fly away, and you will never see me—or the bearer bonds—again.”

There was a short silence. Breanna was desperately afraid she’d pissed Quentin off, and Kimberly would suffer.

Switch rubbed her shoulder gently. It’s okay, he mouthed. You’re doing good.

Finally Quentin said, “You think you’re smart, don’t you? Like some kind of TV show heroine, negotiating with me. You’ll never get near that money. There are passwords and protocols for cashing those bonds.”

She looked at Switch, and he nodded. Tell him.

She said, “I know the passwords and protocols. If you hurt Kimberly, or she’s not at the rendezvous point, that money is mine.”

Switch took the phone and cut the call.

Breanna realized she was trembling. “You did great, babe,” Switch said. He wrapped his arm around her neck and hugged her to him. “You rocked it.”

She realized the other guys were nodding, looking at her with approval. Boomer gave her a thumbs-up. Damn.

Rex looked up from the communications console. “Negative on tracing the location he was calling from.”

Breanna added nervously, “He hasn’t sent the coordinates, either.”

Seconds later, the phone beeped, and a message came through. “Annnnd, there they are,” Switch said.

But they weren’t. Quentin’s message said, You get the coordinates when you’re in the air. 11:15.

“Fuck,” Switch said, passing the phone to Gunn. “Can I shoot him? I would really love to shoot him.”

“I’d love it too,” Breanna said. “As soon as Kimberly is safe.”

Gunn read the message and shook his head. “We’ll have to rejigger the plan. At least we have time. And maybe the satellite images will produce something.”

Breanna definitely hoped so. Because otherwise, they could have a problem.

Chapter 34

While Gunn and the others were re-jiggering the plans, Dealer pulled Breanna aside.

“Look,” he said. “I know nobody exactly trusts me with their valuables, because, well, thief.” He spread his hands in resignation. “But if you’re willing to trust me now, I have an idea that might give you a little extra insurance.”

Breanna gazed at him. He was a thief, and he enjoyed it. But he was also here at Outlaw Ridge, which meant that deep down, he wanted to help people, like the others.

It couldn’t hurt to hear him out.

“Okay,” she said. “Tell me.”

And Dealer began to outline his idea.