She's Positive

“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?”