She’s Positive
Delores Fossen

www.millsandboon.co.uk

MILLS & BOON

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Table of Contents

Cover Page

Title Page

About the Author

Dedication

Chapter One

Chapter Two

Chapter Three

Chapter Four

Chapter Five

Chapter Six

Chapter Seven

Chapter Eight

Chapter Nine

Chapter Ten

Chapter Eleven

Chapter Twelve

Chapter Thirteen

Chapter Fourteen

Chapter Fifteen

Chapter Sixteen

Chapter Seventeen

Copyright

About the Author

Imagine a family tree that includes Texas cowboys, Choctaw and Cherokee Indians, a Louisiana pirate and a Scottish rebel who battled side by side with William Wallace. With ancestors like that, it’s easy to understand why Texas author and former air force captain DELORES FOSSEN feels as if she were genetically predisposed to writing romances. Along the way to fulfilling her DNA destiny, Delores married an air force top gun who just happens to be of Viking descent. With all those romantic bases covered, she doesn’t have to look too far for inspiration.

To all the wonderful folks at the Hudspeth Center.

Chapter One

“The hostage is Luke Vaughn, a three-year-old boy,” Colin Forester heard the tech explain.

Colin didn’t react. Not on the outside anyway. Inside, however, there was a firestorm of emotions. Colin had been an FBI hostage negotiator for seven years, and he’d seen the worst of the worst.

A kid hostage was the worst.

This one was hardly more than a baby. And the boy was in big trouble because this wasn’t an ordinary hostage situation.

According to the preliminary info Colin had gotten from his director at the Durango FBI office, the hostage taker wasn’t the usual perp for this sort of crime. He was a professional hit man. That’s the reason Colin had left Durango as soon as he got word of the kidnapping, so he could get to Kenner City and try to put a stop to this.

“Tell me about the hit man,” Colin said to Rusty Cepeda, the young Kenner County Crime Unit lab tech who was driving him to the estate. Rusty was obviously a rookie tech since he wasn’t on scene but rather playing chauffeur to Colin.

“His name is Boyd Perkins. Age forty-one. His rap sheet goes back nearly two decades, and he works for Nicky Wayne, a Vegas crime boss.”

So, not just a hit man but a career criminal.

Rusty continued to maneuver the four-wheel drive up the rain-slicked steep mountain road toward the Vaughn estate where the child was being held. It was a fifteen-minute trek from Kenner City to the estate, Rusty had told Colin when he’d picked him up in town. Colin wanted to use every second of that time to learn whatever he could about the persons involved.

“Boyd Perkins,” Colin repeated under his breath. When he made contact with him, he would call him by his first name. He’d try to establish a rapport while he diffused a situation that could turn deadly. “And Boyd’s ties to the Wayne crime family have been verified?”

“Oh, yeah,” Rusty confirmed. “And I guess you heard Boyd murdered an FBI agent?”

“I heard.” Colin had to take a deep breath. That alone made him want to take Boyd down, but arresting him for murder would have to wait. “Go over the details of the kidnapping again.” And Colin shut out the summer wind and the rain that were assaulting the vehicle. He shut out everything so he could focus.

“About ten hours ago, the boy’s father, Griffin Vaughn, reported that his son had been taken hostage inside the estate. The sheriff then called the Kenner County Crime Unit and the FBI, and we all hurried out to the scene. The estate has a gate, and it was locked up tight. Boyd’s controlling the gate from the inside. One of the FBI agents, Tom Ryan, was able to make phone contact with Boyd, but Boyd wouldn’t negotiate.”

Not yet anyway. Colin would have to change the hit man’s mind. “What about demands? Has Boyd made any?”

“Only that he wants us to move away from the house. We figured you could help with getting him to tell us what he’s after.”

It was near the top of the list, and then Colin could start to work on a compromise. “Did Boyd say if the child was okay?”

“He says he is. But Boyd warned us if Luke’s parents and the officers didn’t stay far away from the place, the boy would pay the consequences.”

That clenched Colin’s gut into a tight knot. The threat of violence. God knew how the kid was reacting to that. He didn’t know much about three-year-olds, but Luke probably realized he was in danger.

The Jeep crawled up the last leg of the road, and Colin spotted the house next to a lake that reflected the iron-gray sky. The place deserved to be labeled an estate because it sprawled out in front of them, seemingly taking up most of the mountain top. It’d be a bear to secure a place that size, but on the upside, the lake and the rugged terrain surrounding it might make it impossible for Boyd to escape.

“Any idea where Boyd’s holding the hostage?” Colin asked.

“We’re not sure, but he seems to be using the security system to monitor what we’re doing, and that system has cameras. Lots of them. He knows when we get too close to the fence, for instance. That’s why we set up operations on the east side of the property. The owner, Griffin Vaughn, said that’s a blind spot for surveillance. We’ve been bringing in the team that way so Boyd won’t know we’re putting agents in place in case we have to rush in for a rescue.”

A rescue. That was being optimistic. Because if it came down to the point where agents had to storm the house, Luke Vaughn’s chances of survival were slim.

“I heard you saved a kid over in Mesa Ridge about a year ago,” Rusty commented.

Colin settled for a “Yeah.” But that hadn’t been one of his success stories. Yes, he’d gotten the child out of the domestic violence situation. But he’d lost an adult hostage in a murder-suicide. Colin hadn’t been able to talk the twenty-eight-year-old man out of putting a bullet in the child’s mother.

He always remembered the failures.

Those were the ones that ate away at him and made him want to work ten times harder so that it wouldn’t happen again.

Rusty stopped about thirty yards from the estate fence and right at the edge of the activity. Even though everyone was dressed in rain gear, Colin spotted two fellow FBI agents and a man with a Kenner City sheriff’s hat. In addition, there were two Kenner County Crime Unit members carrying field kits.

Rusty opened the driver’s-side door but then turned and snared Colin’s gaze. “You’ll get this boy out of there?”

“I will.” With that promise he wasn’t sure he could keep, Colin threw open his own door. The rain came right at him, like razors whipping through the air.

“Colin?” someone called out.

Colin recognized the man walking toward him. Tom Ryan, FBI, and the commander for this particular crime scene. The lanky, somber-faced agent made his way to Colin, and they shook hands. “Damn glad you’re here.”

Colin nodded. “What’s the latest situation report?”

“Hell in a hand basket probably isn’t what I’d put in an official statement, but things aren’t good. There are no injuries, but the kid’s three years old, Colin.”

“Yes, I heard.” And Colin couldn’t let the emotion in Tom’s voice get to him. Focus. Shut out everything but the job. Because emotion wasn’t worth spit right now. The job, his training, his experience—those were the things that would free little Luke.

“My wife, Callie, is over there with Luke’s parents. She’s trying to keep them calm.” Tom whipped his thumb toward the woman carrying a field kit. She had dripping wet blond hair and was looking around on the ground. Trailing behind her, with their gazes fixed on the estate, were no doubt the Vaughns. “Callie’s the head forensic scientist at the crime unit, and she’s looking for any trace evidence so we can try to verify that Perkins is working alone.” He paused. “We’re supposed to be on a romantic getaway,” he added in a mumble.

Tough timing, but Colin wanted all of them there. Anything at this point could be valuable in dealing with Boyd Perkins, and maybe Callie or her team would find something that would help him with this negotiation.

Rusty left them to join two others who were hovered under umbrellas outside a police cruiser and a black four-door FBI standard-issue vehicle.

Tom led Colin toward an older-model white van. “We’ve set up a command post in here out of Boyd’s line of sight, barely. We wanted to get as close as possible in case he tried to escape through the front,” the agent explained. “Boyd’s using a prepaid cell phone to communicate. No way to trace it. And so far he’s refused to answer the house phones.”

The prepaid cell phone could indicate this was premeditated, but then a man with Boyd’s record probably used phones like that all the time. “You said we could see the front, but what about other escape routes?”

“All covered, and that’s no easy task. We have an agent at the back of the estate, but there are miles of tunnels beneath this place. Boyd has the tunnel entrances on his end blocked off so we can’t get to him that way. But I’ve put barricades at the end of each one, so he can’t use them for escape. And Boyd knows that.”

Good. Colin didn’t want the man to have any options other than dealing with him. The job started now. And Colin took a deep breath, cleared his mind and stepped up into the van.

His clear mind suddenly got very cloudy.

Right there in front of him perched on the dull brown leather van seat was the last person on earth he wanted to see right now.

“Colin,” she said as if she’d been expecting him.

Well, he sure as hell hadn’t been expecting her. “Danielle,” he greeted once he got his teeth unclenched.

“You two know each other?” Tom asked, apparently not realizing that was the mother of all loaded questions.

“Oh, we know each other,” Colin snarled. “Danielle is my ex-wife. Or at least she will be…” He checked the date on his watch. Not that he needed to. It was for show. He knew exactly when the divorce would be final. “In three more days.” He stared at her. “What are you doing here, Danielle?”

She spared him a glance with those cool green eyes. Eyes the color of an Irish four-leaf clover, he used to say, adding that she was his lucky charm. But that was the old days. He wasn’t feeling nearly as generous with the sappy compliments since she’d walked out on him three months earlier.

“Callie and I are old college roommates,” Danielle volunteered. “She thought it’d be good to have a child psychologist on the scene, so she called and asked me to come out and help.” Danielle held out her hands, palms up. “And here I am. I take it you’re the negotiator they called in.”

There went the clenched teeth again. “They wanted the best.” Colin made sure he sounded as cocky as he could.

Since she was seated across from a narrow table that held phones and other communication equipment, Colin plopped down next to her, bumping his hip against hers to nudge her over. It wasn’t the brightest idea he’d ever had. Danielle and he might want to claw out each other’s eyes, but his body still reacted to her. Probably always would. Because even though their marriage had been a disaster, the sex had been the best ever.

His body obviously wasn’t going to let him forget that.

The hip-to-hip contact earned him a little glare, but Danielle didn’t budge. Colin gave her another nudge. This time, a verbal one. “I don’t need a child psychologist. I can handle this myself. And you’d only be in the way.”

Those green eyes suddenly weren’t so cool. She mumbled something under her breath and shoved some wet wisps of hair from her face. Then he noticed her left hand.

No wedding or engagement ring.

Just the faint imprint where they’d once been.

Colin kept his own left hand hidden away. No need for her to see that he hadn’t gotten around to taking off his ring yet. But he would now. He slipped it off and put it in his pocket.

He tossed her another stony glance. Got one from her in return. The glances turned to glares, and they sat there, staring at each 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.

“Dr. Connolly,” Colin repeated. “What makes you think she’s here?”

But Boyd ignored that. “Dr. Connolly?” Boyd said in a much louder voice. “I know you’re in that white van. Get on the phone now.”

Danielle stared at Colin. Waiting. Her eyes pleaded with him to do something. And since he had no choice, he gave her the nod to go ahead.

“I’m here, Boyd,” Danielle immediately said. “How can I help?”

“You can calm down this kid for me, that’s what you can do. You can make him understand that his whining is making me crazy.”

“Of course, I’ll talk to him. Please put him on the line.” Danielle swallowed hard, and the waiting began again.

Colin mentally groaned and cursed a blue streak.

This shouldn’t be happening. They were in a blind spot. Boyd shouldn’t be able to see them or monitor what they were doing, though Tom had said barely.

His gaze fired toward Tom. “How did he know she was here?” Colin mouthed.

Tom shook his head, grabbed a pair of binoculars and aimed them at the estate. After several moments, he shook his head again. “Boyd hasn’t reangled the security camera.”

“What about the police scanner?” Colin whispered. “Did anyone say a thing about her coming here?”

Another shake of his head. “She drove straight up without going into town. No one other than those of us on the scene should have known that she’d arrived.”

Oh, hell.

Not good. Because either Boyd had found a way around the blind spot, or they had a leak, and someone was a traitor.

Chapter Two

Danielle was aware of the possible security breach, also aware that a leak could compromise everything, but all of those concerns faded when she heard Luke’s voice.

“I don’t like doctors,” he told her. It wasn’t said in a bossy way. The boy was frightened.

“Don’t worry. I’m not that kind of doctor. I don’t give shots.”

“Good. ‘Cause I don’t like shots, neither.”

Colin was whispering something to Tom, but Danielle shut that out. “What do you like, Luke? Do you like to watch TV?”

“Yeah. I like Spider-Man, too.”

Danielle smiled in spite of the situation. “Why is he your favorite?”

“He kinda gets to fly. That’d be fun. I could fly up high with the birds and not fall.”

Danielle was relieved that he seemed to be relaxing a bit. “I’ll bet it would be fun. Do you play video games, too?”

“Sure. I got lots of ‘em, but the funnest is Safari Explorer. I play with my daddy.” He paused. “Can my daddy come and get me?”

“Soon,” she assured him. She heard the tremble in his voice and knew she had to pull him away from that reaction. Judging from Boyd’s comments, the tone could set him off. Danielle wanted them both calm. “Luke, have you found the lost baby giraffe in Safari Explorer?”

“Not yet. The purple hippos knock my boat over.”

She mentally went through the levels of the game. “Ah, there’s a trick to that. Want me to tell you what it is?” Danielle glanced out of the corner of her eye. Colin was staring at her now.

“Yes, please,” Luke said. She’d found her connection, and now she had to make the most of it.

“How about I just give you a hint about how to get to the baby giraffe? That way, it’ll still be your game, and I won’t really be helping you too much.”

“Okay.”

The hopeful little voice cut her to the bone. She wanted to get him out of there. But she couldn’t. Creating a distraction and keeping the situation calm was the only thing she could do right now. “Here’s the hint, Luke. When you cross the river, don’t go in a straight line. Do you know what that means, not to go in a straight line?”

“Sure, I do. I’m smart, and I can do it. This time, I bet I get away from those hippos.”

“I’ll bet you do, too. You’ll get to the other side, and you’ll be one step closer to finding the baby giraffe.” She took a moment and thought out her next move. “Luke, why don’t you put Mr. Perkins back on the phone?”

That earned her a raised eyebrow from Colin. “What are you doing?” he mouthed.

“What I need to do,” she mouthed back.

Oh, yes. There it was. The inevitable tension. When Callie had called her and asked her to come to the Vaughn estate, Danielle hadn’t known that Colin would be there. But if she had, it still wouldn’t have stopped her. She wanted to help this child, even if she had to go through the emotional roadblock that Colin would create.

Besides, she needed to talk to Colin.

At least Danielle thought she did. She was in her element talking to Luke, but her soon-to-be ex was a different story. Communication had never been their strong suit. Ironic, considering their jobs both hinged on excellent verbal interaction.

“Yeah?” Boyd snapped when he came back on the line.

“I need a favor,” Danielle calmly explained. “This is something that’ll help all of us, you especially. A three-year-old child gets bored easily, and if Luke’s bored, he’ll keep thinking about what’s going on. He’ll keep whining.” She nearly choked on the word. It wasn’t whining when a child was being held hostage. It was a natural human reaction.

“So how do I keep him from not being bored?” Boyd wanted to know.

“Let Luke play his video games. No matter where you are in the house, the system shouldn’t be that hard for you to set up. In fact, he’ll probably be able to help you with that because Luke’s very smart.” She needed to remind this monster that he was dealing with a precious life. “While you’re at it, give him some books, crayons—”

“And that’ll keep him quiet?”

Danielle decided to push a little. “Well, the only sure way to keep him quiet is to release him so he can be with his family.”

“You’re wasting your breath, Doc.”

Fine. That was Colin’s area anyway. She’d leave that to him. “Just please give Luke the activities to do. And make sure he’s eating right. Not too many sweets, or it might make him hyper or irritable. Do you have a good supply of food at the estate? If not, we can have some brought in—”

“I’ll give the kid his video games. That’s all you need to be concerned with.”

“How do you know me?” Danielle asked before he could end the call. “Have we met before?”

Boyd laughed. Not from humor, though. It seemed as if he was taunting her. And then he hung up.

Colin reached over, turned off the recorder and made some notes. “I think he has a visual on the van. Maybe some hidden camera that the owner didn’t know about.” He seemed to be talking to himself. “If he saw us get inside here, he could have used a laptop to do a computer search.”

Yes, but that wouldn’t explain how he knew her name so he could do such a search. And that only added to all the other questions and concerns.

Danielle tried to control her reaction. She tried to tamp down her breathing and her racing heart. But she failed. Her breath shattered, and she got up, despite the sudden dizzy spell. She had to get out of there. She couldn’t come unglued, not in front of Colin.

“Are you…okay?” Colin asked.

“Fine,” she lied.

Danielle knew she couldn’t go far in case Boyd called right back, but she maneuvered herself around Colin. No easy task in the converted van. She had to squeeze herself between him and the table while she was hunkered down so her head wouldn’t hit the ceiling.

It put them face-to-face.

So close, she took in his scent. The clean smell of the rain. His musky aftershave. The wet leather of his black jacket and Lucchese boots. Unfortunately, even with the slight scowl he was sporting, Colin was as hot as ever. He had a face that women noticed, with those classic good looks, midnight-black hair and sizzling blue eyes.

Well, she noticed anyway.

Always had. For better or worse. Colin Forester knew how to make her body beg. But at thirty-eight she was old enough to know that she needed more than great sex. She needed a husband. A family. And while Colin was a pro at his job and in the bedroom, they hadn’t seen eye to eye in other facets of their lives.

And that was the very reason Danielle quickly moved away from him.

That scent, those eyes, could pull her back in, and she couldn’t go there. He obviously didn’t want to do that, either.

The rain had turned to a light mist so Danielle didn’t bother getting an umbrella. Besides, she was already damp from the earlier trek from her car to the van. She stepped onto the soggy ground, the mud squeezing over her heels—again. She’d made the mistake of dressing for work in a skirt suit, but this obviously wasn’t a normal work situation.

That was true on many levels.

Luke’s parents came rushing toward the van. Her friend, Callie, was right behind them, trying to stop them, but it was a losing battle.

“Stay back,” Colin warned. “We think Boyd might have a visual on the van.”

That stopped the parents, and Colin got out so he could go over to them.

“You talked to Luke?” Griffin Vaughn asked her. She felt the concern in both Griffin and his wife, and the worry was etched on their rain-soaked faces. They wanted their boy back.

“I did. Your son is okay. He’s a very brave little boy, and he’s holding up well.” Because Danielle had to catch her breath, she tipped her head to Colin. “Special Agent Forester will give you the details of the conversation.”

Danielle stepped away, leaving them with Colin. She needed just a minute. But she didn’t get it. Callie stepped right in front of her.

“Okay. What’s wrong?” Callie demanded.

Since Callie and she were nearly the same height, it was impossible to avoid eye contact. Her old friend might be a forensic scientist who preferred to deal with facts and evidence, but Callie was no dummy in the emotional arena. Plus, Danielle doubted she was being very secretive. Talk about wearing her heart on her sleeve.

“It’s always emotional when a child’s involved,” Danielle said, figuring Callie would see that it was a ploy to change the subject. “And it doesn’t help that I’m in the van with Colin. Before the last call, I was about to get out and ask you to scrounge me up another vehicle.”

Callie caught on to her arm and moved her to the end of the van. “Never met a shrink who could dodge the truth. Must have something to do with all that empathy and connection to other people.” She shook her head.

“Look, I didn’t know the FBI was sending in Colin, and if this is too much for you, then I’ll get someone else.”

“I’ve already established a rapport with Luke. And maybe with Boyd, too. It’d be a setback to replace me at this point.”

Callie took in a weary breath. “Colin, then—”

“No.” God. Danielle hated that she had to say this, but she had no choice. “Colin’s the best, and Luke needs the best right now.”

“I don’t doubt that Colin and you are both good at what you do. But I can’t have you two at each other’s throats. That won’t help Luke. That won’t help any of us.”

The dizziness hit her again, and Danielle had to grope behind her to catch on to the van. “Trust me, Colin won’t let anything personal get in the way of doing this job. Especially not anything personal that has to do with me.”

But she was talking to the wind because Callie was just staring at her. “What’s wrong with you? Are you sick?”

“No,” Danielle answered as quickly as she could.

Callie just kept staring. “You’re not doing fertility treatments again, are you?” She didn’t wait for Danielle to deny it. “Because I figured after all this time, you’d given up on having a child.”

“I did give up.” Danielle hadn’t meant for that to sound like the start of a confession, but it was. “Callie, I’m pregnant.”

The words rushed out of her before Danielle could stop them. Mercy. She needed to tell someone this secret.

“Pregnant?” Callie’s mouth dropped open.

She looked at Danielle’s stomach. There was a slight baby bump there, probably not even noticeable to anyone else, but even so it was concealed behind the sapphire-blue business jacket. However, she couldn’t conceal her swollen fingers. She was retaining water like crazy, and just the day before her fingers had reached the point where she’d had to use soap and then oil to remove her wedding and engagement rings. Of course, with her divorce looming, the rings would have had to come off anyway.

That didn’t explain why she was wearing them on a chain around her neck.

“The doctor said it’s a miracle baby,” Danielle told Callie. “That there was only a one in a million shot I’d ever conceive.” But she had. And she was carrying that miracle inside her. “I’m nearly four months along,” she added. And held her breath. Because Callie could and would do the math.

It didn’t take her friend long. “Colin and you split three months ago. It’s his child.” And there was no doubt in her tone or expression.

Danielle didn’t even try to lie. “Yes.”

Callie grabbed on to her shoulder as if she were about to whoop for joy, but the joy went south in a hurry. “You haven’t told him.”

“No. I meant to. I mean, I tried. I phoned him right after I found out, but he was away on assignment. Days later, when he finally got around to calling me back, the divorce papers had just arrived, and he was in the worst of moods.”

“Oh, damn.” Callie groaned. She glanced around, probably to make sure their conversation was still as private as it could be, considering their location. Callie moved her even farther behind the van. “How do you think Colin will take the news?”

That was the million dollar question. There were times when he’d seemed indifferent during the fertility treatments. Times when he’d asked her flat out to stop. Coupled with his long hours and intense assignments, Danielle wondered if he had truly ever wanted a child.

“I don’t know how Colin will feel,” Danielle admitted. And she certainly didn’t know how he’d feel about her being his baby’s mother. He was finished with her. He hadn’t made one attempt to stop the divorce. So, he might see the baby as some kind of trap that would keep him connected to her.

Danielle didn’t want this baby to ever feel that kind of resentment. Like she had. Before her parents’ divorce, how many times had she heard her father say that her mother had trapped him into marriage? She wanted better for her child, even if that meant having only one parent.

Callie touched her arm, rubbed lightly. “Look, I’m your friend, Danielle, but I have to think of Luke first. He has to be the priority here.”

“I understand.” Danielle had already had this argument with herself and knew what she had to do. “Now isn’t the time to tell Colin I’m carrying his baby. Best to wait, until all of this is resolved.” And even then she wasn’t sure she’d go through with it. Maybe it was better if Colin never knew.

Callie nodded. “You can do that? You can work with Colin and keep this secret to yourself?”

“What secret?” someone asked.

Danielle was glad that Callie caught on to her or she might have fallen on her face. Because the someone was Colin, and she didn’t know how he’d gotten so close without Callie or her noticing, but he’d managed it. He was only a few feet away.

Close enough to have heard everything.

“What secret?” he repeated, putting his hands on his hips.

“Just girl talk,” Callie volunteered.

Colin looked at Callie. Then, at Danielle. He wasn’t buying it, and that would make this assignment even more uncomfortable. Colin was like a bulldog with a bone when he thought he was on to something.

Callie excused herself and headed toward one of the vehicles. Danielle sprang into action, too.

“Did you calm down Luke’s parents?” Danielle asked, forcing herself to move. She should return to the van. To the job. She had to be more like Colin now and concentrate only on what had to be done.

But Colin caught on to her when she tried to walk past him. The eye contact came, and he examined her face with those intense blue eyes. “What secret?”

Best to try to keep it light. “It wouldn’t be a secret now if I told you, would it?”

He still didn’t let go of her, and it seemed as if he changed his mind a dozen times about saying anything. “Are you seeing someone else?”

“God, no.” She saw the surprise go through his eyes, and she wanted to smack herself. The denial had come much too adamantly and quickly. She should have let him think that he was right, and he wouldn’t have pressed about the secret.

But she didn’t want to hurt him.

Or maybe that was wishful thinking on her part—that Colin would be hurt or jealous if she had another man in her life. It wasn’t logical, but even though their marriage was over, the thought of him with another woman would hurt her to the core. That was something she’d have to work out eventually, because if he hadn’t already, Colin would find someone else. Someone not obsessed with having a baby. Someone more sympathetic to the ever-increasing dangerous assignments that he volunteered to do.

She glanced at his left hand.

No wedding ring. He’d already removed it, and he didn’t have the same swollen-finger excuse that she did. Colin had removed the ring because for him this divorce was a done deal. No more negotiations. Just the cleanup.

So that there wouldn’t be any more questions, Danielle eased out of his grip and headed toward the Vaughns, who were about thirty feet from the van. Griffin, the father, was trying to talk Tom into calling Boyd again so he could speak to him. Which wouldn’t be a good idea. It was best to keep Boyd calm, and a conversation with a terrified, angry father definitely wouldn’t help.

“Boyd has agreed to set up some video games for Luke,” Danielle told them. They stared at her and hung on to each word. “As I build a rapport with Boyd, I’ll try to make the conversations longer with Luke, while Colin works for your son’s release.”

“But I have to talk to Boyd. I’ll pay whatever he’s asking.”

“Right now, he’s not asking for money.”

“Then offer it,” Griffin insisted. “And I want to talk to Luke. I have to hear my son.”

Even though her child wasn’t born yet, Danielle understood that. “I’ll see what I can do.”

Both Colin and Tom looked at her as if she’d lost her mind. And maybe she had. Unless Griffin could totally keep the fear out of his voice, the call might upset Luke. It might make things worse. But Danielle couldn’t stop herself from seeing this as a parent. If their situations were reversed, she wouldn’t take no for an answer.

She would do anything to talk to her child.

Tom led the couple away, back toward the fence. Danielle climbed into the van. Colin was right behind her and dropped down on the seat next to her. Not by choice. It was the only place for him to sit so he’d be right next to the phone.

“You shouldn’t have given the father that kind of hope,” Colin grumbled.

“Hope is about all he has right now. And us. Colin, we have to get this little boy back to his parents.”

“Us?” he repeated. “Does that mean you’re staying?”

“I’m staying.” But the real question was, could she get through this without having a total meltdown? She was already a hormonal mess.

Danielle tried to change the subject again. “Any word on how Boyd knew I was here?”

He stared at her so long she didn’t think he would drop the subject. Finally, though, he did. “Tom thinks he might have some kind of equipment that allows him to tap into the on-site communications system. Or the van might be in his line of sight after all. Griffin Vaughn insists this is a blind spot, but that doesn’t mean Boyd couldn’t have found a way around it.”

“Either of those possibilities is better than having a mole among us.”

Colin lifted his shoulder. “We can’t rule that out yet.”

The relief was obviously short-lived. “You really think someone out here could be a traitor and feeding Boyd information?”

Another shrug. “Boyd works for a powerful criminal, Nicky Wayne. Wayne has a lot of money, and money can corrupt people. Even people who wear a badge.”

She looked around and prayed he was wrong. They had enough on their plates without worrying if someone was aiding and abetting the enemy. “So, what do we do—move the van farther back?”

“Too late for that. If Boyd’s manipulated the security camera, then he knows we’re here.”

Yes. That included Tom and Callie, too, since they had stood close to the van.

“Plus, I want to stay in the immediate area so that when the eavesdropping equipment arrives we’ll have a chance of hearing what’s going on inside,” Colin added.

It was a good plan. One that would likely cause extreme stress. She didn’t know if she could hold her tongue if she heard Boyd yelling at the already frightened child.

“So, how’d you know about that video game?” Colin asked.

It took a moment to switch gears. “Part of the job. I use games sometimes in therapy, to help a child relax. If we can get Luke to concentrate on the game, he’ll be less likely to get on Boyd’s nerves. A calmer Boyd is what we all want, right?”

Colin looked at her. Full eye contact. She felt the muscles tense in his right arm, which was pressed against her left one. “Right,” he grumbled.

But he wasn’t talking about Boyd. They were back to the secret.

Danielle braced herself for more questions and was in such a high state of anticipation that she jumped when the ringing sound shot through the van. Because she was so close to Colin and therefore close to the phone, she saw it was the same number as before. Boyd’s number.

Round two was about to start.

Colin flicked on the recorder and answered the call on speaker. “Boyd, it’s me, Colin.”

“Yeah, I know who it is, Colin.” It sounded as if he were mocking the friendliness that Colin was trying to establish.

Still, Colin stayed calm. “What can I do for you, Boyd?”

“You can tell me what the hell you think you’re doing.”

“What do you mean?” Colin still sounded calm, but she felt him tense again.

“I said no badges and no parents near the fence or the gate. You didn’t listen. You didn’t obey. Now, somebody’s gonna pay for that.”

“Boyd, just calm down. I’ll get them out of here.”

“Not just the parents,” Boyd barked. “Everybody but the doc and you.”

That sent a chill through Danielle.

“I want you two nearby, just in case I need some, uh, what do you call it? Yeah, leverage,” Boyd joked. “That’s what you two can be—my leverage in case your friends are stupid enough to try to storm the place.”

Colin glanced at her. “Are you asking Dr. Connolly and me to trade places with Luke?”

“No. I’m thinking I got the best leverage of all with the kid. You and the doc will be my backup of sorts.”

Colin was shaking his head before Boyd even finished. “I’m a federal agent. You can’t get better leverage than that. Dr. Connolly doesn’t need to stay.”

“Yeah. She does. Grab your binoculars, Colin, and have a good look at the west side of the house. Not the house itself. I’m in the garden.”

Oh, God. Outside. Not where they’d expected a hostage taker to be. The usual pattern was for the perp to remain concealed.

“That’s where I am right now,” Boyd continued. “Watching you. Oh, and save your bullets because the kid is right here with me, and you wouldn’t want the little fellow to get hurt, now would you?”

Danielle heard Luke then. He was asking for his father again. Mercy. This could turn very ugly fast.

Colin did look through the binoculars and cursed under his breath. “He’s watching us,” he scribbled on the notepad. “And he has a rifle.”

“Tell them to leave,” Boyd insisted. “And no tricks, no dragging their feet. They got five minutes to clear out.”

“Evacuate now!” Colin called out to Tom. “The situation’s escalated. Boyd’s not in the house. He went onto the grounds, and he can see us.”

Tom cursed. So did Colin under his breath. And the place turned to chaos. Everyone began to scramble toward their vehicles. Except Tom. He raced to the van, took the notepad and wrote, “We’ll go to the other side of the mountain, out of his sight but not too far.”

However, it would be far enough so that Colin and she wouldn’t have immediate backup.

“I don’t want Dr. Connolly here,” Colin said. It took her a moment to realize he was talking to Boyd again. “I want her to leave with the others.”

“No way, Colin. I’m calling the shots.”

“I know you are, but it’ll be easier if you only have Luke and me to watch—”

“Oh, the doc won’t give me any trouble, and since she’s your wife and all, I’m thinking she’ll be able to keep you in line. Because, after all, you being the do-gooder Boy Scout kind of man that you are, you’ll do anything to keep the little woman safe, won’t you?”

The muscles in Colin’s jaw turned to iron. “Boyd—”

“Enough of this!” Boyd yelled. “I’m opening the front gate. Now, here’s what I want you to do. No guns. No equipment or bags of any kind, except for the cell phone you’re using right now. Leave your wallet and the doc’s purse in the van. Both of you put your hands in the air and start walking toward the estate.”

Colin and she glanced at each other, both trying to figure out how to handle this. But their time for decision making was cut very short.

“Just come, Doctor,” Luke said. His voice was shaky, and he sounded scared again. “Mr. Perkins wants you to come really, really bad.”

“You want me inside the estate?” Colin asked. He fished out his wallet and personal cell phone and dropped them onto the table.

“No. See the guesthouse just inside the fence?”

Danielle had already noticed the small building that had a similar facade to the estate itself. But the guesthouse wasn’t the problem. It was getting there. Colin and she would be out in the open.

“You can wait here,” Colin told her. He climbed behind the seat and took off his shoulder holster. What he didn’t do was remove the backup pistol that Danielle knew he always carried in an ankle holster. “I’ll talk to Boyd. I’ll make him see there’s no reason for you to be on scene.”

But there was a reason. A huge one. Even if Colin figured out a way to keep Boyd calm and get him to back off his demand that she be there, it would mean she wouldn’t be around for Luke. He needed her, and she wasn’t going to abandon him.

“Please come now,” she heard Luke say. His voice filled the van and seemingly the entire mountain. He hadn’t shouted, but he might as well have because his words slammed through her. “Please.”

“I’m coming,” she let him know. “Just think about your video game. About those hippos. Think about saving the baby giraffe.” Danielle got out of the van and lifted her hands into the air.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?” Colin mumbled in a gruff whisper.

“We’re doing the only thing we can do. We’re saving a child,” she reminded him.

And she started for the guesthouse. Still cursing, Colin hurried to maneuver himself in front of her.

Danielle could feel Boyd’s rifle trained right on them.

Chapter Three

This nightmare had just taken a bad turn.

Colin knew letting Boyd dictate the situation was a mistake. He had to figure out a way to stop this from spiraling out of control.

“Stay behind me,” he warned Danielle.

And by God she’d better listen. She should have stayed in the van and let him talk to Boyd. Not that it likely would have helped. Boyd seemed hell-bent on getting them out of that vehicle and into the open. But he might have been able to convince Boyd to allow anyone other than Danielle to walk into what could essentially be a trap.

“We didn’t have a choice,” she whispered.

Colin cursed because he knew she was right.

He lifted his left hand, a show of surrender, but he kept the cell phone in his right. If necessary, he could get to his backup weapon that he’d moved from his ankle holster to the back waist of his pants, but he might not be able to get to it in time if Boyd starting shooting. If that happened, Danielle and Luke could be hurt. Or worse.

“Boyd, I’m asking you man-to-man to send Dr. Connolly back,” Colin insisted. Danielle and he slowed when they approached the high metal gates. “If you do, it’ll prove to me that you want to work toward a peaceful resolution. You don’t need two more hostages.”

“Well, you won’t exactly be hostages. You’ll just be staying in the guesthouse. Nearby but not underfoot. I’ve got a camera fixed on the place, and I’ll know if you try to leave or if you try to bring in any badges.”

The explanation sounded almost logical, but Colin immediately found the weak spot in Boyd’s argument. “But why risk having us so close at all? You can obviously watch us in the van, too.”

But Colin knew the answer before Boyd even spoke.

“True. I can see the van, if I stand outside. I’d prefer not to do that. Plus, you wouldn’t be in rifle range there, now would you? I want you close by. Because soon, very soon, I’ll have some…chores for you two to do.”

Since the phone was on speaker, Danielle obviously heard that, and her sharp intake of breath caused her lips to tremble. Colin didn’t want to think of what a hit man would consider chores.

The only thing good in all of it was that perhaps this meant there was no mole. Boyd seemed to have found a way around the blind spot by going outside. That still didn’t explain how the man had figured out who Danielle was. She wasn’t exactly a public figure. But maybe Boyd had access to profiler or facial recognition software. If so, he could have spotted her when she arrived and gotten a picture of her to feed through the software. Colin hoped that’s what had happened.

Because the alternative made him damn uneasy.

“This is a waste of time,” Colin tried again. “Just give us your demands, and we can end all of this.”

“Demands can wait,” Boyd said, causing Colin to mentally curse. Colin couldn’t offer up all of Griffin’s bankroll, not on his first try of negotiations anyway, but he needed to get something on the table that he could use to bargain with. Once Danielle and he had some cover, he could do that.

“Luke?” Danielle said, aiming her voice toward the phone. “You doing okay? Are you still thinking about the hippos?”

“No.”

Oh, man. That little voice had a way of cutting to the bone.

“Well, you should think about them,” Danielle continued. “Because Agent Forester and I are here. We’re on the grounds. We’re walking through the gate right now. And we’ll do whatever Mr. Perkins tells us so that he won’t be upset. How does that sound?”

“Okay, I guess. Is Agent For-ster good or bad?”

“Oh, he’s very good. His job is to help little boys like you, and he’s the best.” Her mouth was still trembling, but she said that with a boatload of confidence.

Confidence that Colin wasn’t sure he deserved. He should have gotten her out of this before it even started. He thought of the other woman, the one he hadn’t been able to save. That couldn’t happen again.

It. Couldn’t. Happen.

“Stop right there,” Boyd ordered, his voice slicing through the silence.

They were still a good twenty feet from the guesthouse. Literally with no place to hide or duck for shelter if Boyd started shooting.

“Take off your jackets,” Boyd demanded.

Colin had anticipated the demand, but Danielle obviously hadn’t. She gasped and mumbled something. Colin wasn’t happy with the demand, either, but Boyd wasn’t stupid. This was a weapons check. Colin only hoped it didn’t extend to the gun he was trying to keep hidden.

Danielle slowly unbuttoned her jacket. Like her lips, her hands were shaking now. That only made him curse more because she shouldn’t have to be going through this.

Colin dropped his jacket onto the ground in front of him. Danielle did the same. And she stared down at it, completely dodging his gaze.

“Now take off your shirts,” Boyd added.

This time, Danielle’s gasp was a little louder.

“Rethink that,” Colin insisted, aware it wasn’t his negotiator’s voice. But hey, he wasn’t speaking as an agent now, but a man defending his wife’s, well, whatever. Honor and modesty seemed insignificant compared to the hostage situation, but he didn’t want Danielle to have to strip down in front of a hit man.

Colin unbuttoned his shirt, popping a few buttons in the process, and he threw the garment onto the ground with his jacket.

“Prove to me that neither of you are armed,” Boyd countered.

Colin’s hands went to his hips. “I don’t mind taking off all my clothes, but think of your young hostage.”

“He’s not watching. Strip!”

Hell. Boyd wasn’t going to give them any breaks. “Keep your clothes on,” he mumbled to Danielle, and he passed her the phone so his hands would be free. He needed to do some maneuvering.

Colin pulled off his boots, socks and empty ankle holster, and he put them on the growing heap of clothes. Next came the pants. This was the tricky part. He slipped the snub-nosed .38 into the back pocket and eased off his pants so the gun would stay in place. His wedding ring was in that pocket, too, and he didn’t want either falling out. He dropped the pants onto the heap, as well.

Leaving him to stand there in his boxers.

With Danielle staring at him.

Since he’d been married to her for over three years, she’d obviously seen him buck naked, but for some reason, it felt damn uncomfortable. And even more uncomfortable that she’d probably have to strip, as well.

“Satisfied?” Colin said, turning toward the phone that Danielle still held.

“Yeah. Now, it’s the doc’s turn.”

“She doesn’t even know how to fire a gun,” Colin protested. To diffuse this, he needed to go on the offensive.

Too bad Danielle wasn’t going to like it.

But it was better than a strip-down.

Colin stepped slightly away from her so that he was still partly shielding her, and he met her concerned gaze. Concerned being a massive understatement.

“I’m going to lift your top a little just so he can see you’re not carrying concealed.”

She blinked. “Turn around. I’ll do it.”

Colin blinked, too. “Jeez. I’ve seen everything you have beneath those clothes.”

“Turn around,” she insisted. And she dodged his gaze again.

Great. Was she hiding some kind of body hickey that she’d received from a lover she’d adamantly denied having. He’d gotten a God, no from her when he’d suggested that she had found someone else. Still, it wasn’t his business anymore.

Even if it felt as if it were.

Danielle didn’t budge until he turned his back. Colin faced the direction where he thought Boyd was still standing, and he heard Danielle’s movements behind him. A moment later, her shirt dropped into her clothes pile. Followed by her shoes.

Then, her skirt.

Which meant she was standing there in her bra and panties. He hoped it wasn’t the skimpy underwear she preferred to wear. The woman certainly had stimulating taste in undergarments. His favorite was a devil-red set, with the bra barely covering her nipples and panties that left nothing to the imagination.

Unlike now.

He was imagining.

And cursing himself.

“No gun,” Danielle announced. “And I’m getting dressed now.”

“Take your things into the guesthouse,” Boyd insisted. “Dress there. I’ll call you after you’ve had time to get settled.”

“Get Luke those video games,” Danielle added, but Boyd had already hung up. She scooped up her clothes and held them in front of her like a shield.

She hurried toward the guesthouse, and even though Colin moved to her side after he gathered up his own clothes, he still caught a glimpse of the underwear.

It was the devil-red set.

Thankfully, the door to the guesthouse was unlocked, and she started to dress the moment they got inside. Not slowly, either. She was breaking some kind of speed record. Colin dressed, too, as he looked around to see what potential security hazards the place might have.

Windows for one thing. Two of them faced the estate, which meant Boyd could use them for surveillance. Colin went to them and shut the plantation-style blinds. He also locked both the front and back doors.

He strapped on the ankle holster and put the gun back inside, and after he put on his pants, he checked out the rest of the guesthouse. There wasn’t much to it. The main area had a sofa, two chairs and a small kitchen off to the right. On the left was a large bedroom suite with a bath. The decor was crisp and clean, the kind of place he would expect for the guests of a multi-millionaire like Griffin Vaughn.

“You think he has the place bugged?” Danielle asked.

“Maybe. But I doubt it.” He took the phone from her and made sure the end call button had been pressed so it would save the battery. Colin didn’t want to think what would happen if they lost use of the cell. The guesthouse had phones, but he couldn’t rely on those since Boyd had so far refused to use any of the estate phones.

“Check and see if we have food and water,” he instructed.

She finished buttoning her blouse but not before he caught a glimpse of her breasts. Yeah. That bra really didn’t hide much.

Danielle went to the kitchenette while Colin searched the place for bugs. Not that an eavesdropping device would be easy to find, but he looked in the obvious places. Under the phones. On the lamp bases. Beneath the coffee table and bed. He was just getting up from the floor of the bedroom when Danielle came in.

“There’s plenty of bottled water and canned goods.”

So, they wouldn’t starve. Of course, that was the least of their worries.

Danielle made a sweeping glance around the room, and her eyes landed on the bed. “Uh, how long do you think we’ll have to be here?”

“Your guess is as good as mine.” But he understood her hesitation about the bed. “If we’re still here tonight, I can take the sofa.”

“Oh. Sure.” She didn’t sound relieved, exactly, but he didn’t know what that tone meant. His ex was certainly acting funny. “Maybe when Boyd calls back with his chore list, he’ll give his demands and you can continue with the negotiations.”

Yeah. And Colin was betting that eventually those demands would include lots and lots of money, especially if Boyd didn’t find those millions he was searching for. Griffin Vaughn was probably already gathering together as much cash as he could manage.

He looked at the way Danielle was gripping the door, and he tipped his head toward the sofa. “Why don’t you sit down? It might be hours before Boyd calls back.”

She didn’t argue, but what she did do was stagger a bit when she turned around. Colin went after and caught up with her before she reached the sofa.

“You okay?” he asked. He turned her toward him so he could study her face.

“Sure,” she said in the same tone and speed as God, no.

And that made Colin suspicious. “You and Callie were talking about your secret.” He knew there’d be fallout from this question, but he rationalized that since they were now a team to save Luke, then he had a right to know her mental and physical state. “Are you taking those fertility drugs again?”

“No.” Yet another quick response. But then, she shook her head. “I’m just a little dizzy, that’s all. I saw some crackers in the cabinet, and I think I’ll have one.”

She stepped away from him and walked across the room. Oh, yes. She was unsteady. But maybe it was just nerves. He hoped so because he knew those fertility drugs were hell on wheels when it came to Danielle’s health. They made her raw and jumpy. She didn’t need either with all the other stress.

She opened the pack of crackers and nibbled on one while she rested her back against the countertop. The silence came. Closing in around them. Making the situation more awkward than it already was. They didn’t dare talk about anything important or anything that would help Boyd because even though Colin had looked the place over, it didn’t mean the hit man couldn’t hear their every word.

Danielle finished off the cracker, had another one and then made her way back to the sofa. Toward him. But she didn’t sit. She stopped only a few inches away, came up on her toes, and put her mouth to his ear.

“Did you manage to keep your gun?” she whispered.

He nodded. Tried not to react to her warm breath and the closeness. He failed and reacted anyway.

Colin switched positions and put his mouth to her ear. “The next step is to negotiate you out of here.”

She shook her head. Probably because she didn’t realize it would send his mouth brushing across her cheek. Like a kiss. She stepped back. Continued to shake her head. “I can help,” she mouthed.

“So you’ve said.” Because their eyes were now locked and they were still very close, he debated whether he should just tell her the truth. Or at least part of it. He went for a partial. “You distract me.”

“What?” she said with a little whispered outrage.

“You still have that red underwear.” And he added a smile to ease the tension between them.

The corner of her mouth lifted, too. Almost a smile. Before she waved it off, as well. “Colin, I can’t.”

He didn’t want that clarified, but he had to wonder—was she talking about sex or something else? Since the best part of their marriage had been sex, he figured he had his answer.

The phone rang, and Colin actually welcomed the intrusion. Especially since it was Boyd. “This is Colin,” he answered.

“All settled in?”

“As much as we can be settled in. Now, it’s time for action, from you. We’ve cooperated with everything you’ve asked. I need your cooperation in return. What will it take to get you to release Luke?”

Boyd hesitated so long that Colin wasn’t sure he’d answer. “I want a helicopter when it comes time for me to leave.”

“A helicopter,” Colin repeated. He went to the other side of the room where there was a desk and wrote that down, hoping there’d be more details. “When and where?”

Again, he hesitated. “Noon tomorrow, I guess.”

“Don’t guess. Let’s nail down a time because I’ve got to run this past my boss.” It was a standard ploy not to give in too quickly. Always leave room for negotiation.

“All right, noon. You can have the pilot land in the open space at the back of the garden. No one else other than the pilot will be in the chopper, understand?”

“I understand.” Though the pilot would have some kind of backup. Colin didn’t know whom or what just yet. That was an issue to be worked out with the FBI office.

“I’m not finished,” Boyd let him know. “I also want fifty million dollars wired to an offshore account in the Caymans.”

“Fifty million.” The same amount that was supposedly hidden somewhere in the estate. Did that mean Boyd was giving up his quest to find it and settling for Vaughn’s money instead?

“When I confirm the money’s been transferred and the helicopter’s here,” Boyd continued, “I’ll tell you where and how you can find the kid.”

“I don’t know if Griffin Vaughn has access to that kind of money,” Colin bargained. Though he probably did. Thankfully, the man was rich and was willing to pay to get his son back. Once they had Luke safely out of there, they could work on apprehending Boyd and retrieving the ransom money.

“Then he’d better find access,” Boyd barked.

“I’ll let him know what you said. But before any funds are transferred, I’ll want proof that Luke is all right.”

“Oh, you’ll get proof. And remember, don’t do anything stupid. Because you might not be in that van, but it doesn’t mean I don’t know exactly what you’re doing. Got that?”

Boyd hung up before Colin could even respond.

Danielle checked her watch. “Will the Vaughns be able to come up with that much money so soon?” she whispered.

“Probably.” Heck, they might even have it ready.

And Boyd would have known that.

So, why the delay? Why not request the helicopter and the money immediately? Maybe because he hadn’t given up his search after all.

Because Colin wanted to save the cell battery, he used the house phone to make the next call. He didn’t have Agent Tom Ryan’s number, but he called the Durango office and had them do the transfer.

Tom answered on the first ring. “What happened?”

“Danielle and I are in the guesthouse, on the grounds. Boyd says he has visual, and who knows—he might even be listening. But we finally got some demands. Fifty million in an offshore account and a helicopter. He wants them by tomorrow at noon.”

Tom made a sound to indicate he was thinking about that. Colin understood that sound. Tom was wondering about the delay, as well. “Talk to Griffin Vaughn and work out the details,” Colin suggested. “See if this is even possible and get back to me.”

“I will. Are you and Danielle safe there?”

Colin glanced around, and his attention landed on Danielle. She looked pale and uneasy. “Yes, we’re safe.” But that was for her benefit. He had no idea if that was even true.

Colin hung up and made a note of the time of the call because when this was all said and done, he’d need to do a thorough report.

Danielle stood, her hand gripping the sofa. “I need to go to the bathroom. I won’t be long.”

“Wait. Let me check the place first.” He’d done a cursory, but if she was going in there, he wanted to be as sure as he could be.

Colin stepped in ahead of her. He looked in the medicine cabinet, the linen closet and around the toilet area. The shower was massive, built for two, and he examined the sprayer head and the knobs. Nothing dangerous there. It all looked clean.

Danielle was still in the doorway, but he didn’t miss it when her grip tightened on the frame. He also didn’t miss that she’d gotten even paler.

“What’s wrong?” And by God, this time he would get an answer.

He walked toward her but only made it one step. Before he heard the sound.

A thump.

Colin stopped. Listened. Danielle listened, too, turning in the direction of the sound. It’d come from the living area, and Colin brushed past her to see if he could find the source.

Another thump.

This one, louder than the first.

Even though it was a risk if Boyd had visual access, Colin drew his gun and positioned himself in front of Danielle.

The third thump was more of a bashing sound.

And that’s when Colin knew.

Someone was breaking in.

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