Page 84 of Every Last One

“Okay.” With that, Mindy clicked off.

“Holy hell.” Brice rubbed his forehead and bulged his eyes. “Great job, but I’m sure you considered that Tom Sparling is likely still out cold. And if he isn’t, he’s going to tell her he’s locked in a storage room.”

“I’m counting on the guy still being down for the count,” Sandra admitted. “Gibson?”

“On it, don’t you worry.” He fiddled around with the radio scanner.

Sandra continued. “Hopefully, ‘keeping the chatter to a minimum’ will prevent her from freaking out when Tom Sparling doesn’t respond to the request to surrender.”

“Let’s hope so. I’m guessing you have the rest of this worked out too?” Brice asked her.

“You know me so well.” Which was only true more recently. Before Olivia’s kidnapping, Sandra kept her walls up.

Gibson stood to make some notes on the markerboard, and Monica was finishing up the transcript.

“Gibson, did the Fat Cats site ever respond to the warrant for their user info?” she asked him.

“No, they’re delaying and hiding behind their lawyers,” Gibson said. “But we have our hostage takers’ names so I haven’t pushed it.”

Sandra turned to Brice. “And your efforts to shut them down? They clearly radicalize their members the way Mindy keeps dispensing with ‘fat cats’all the time. It’s almost like she’s giving them credit.”

“I’ll see this through, don’t you worry,” Brice told her. “You know these things don’t happen quickly, though.”

Which is too bad…

Monica looked up from her work. “I need to say something, or it will gnaw on me. Mindy said you can’t just sit back and wait for the universe to deliver. I agree you need to work toward your goals, sure, but it’s not anyone’s job to figure outhoweverything comes together. The universe decides that.”

Gibson groaned. Brice took his headset off, not giving any impression he’d heard Monica. Neal brewed himself a cup of coffee.

“I heard that.” Sandra offered Monica a kind smile.

“Okay, so let’s say Mindy convinces the others to surrender,” Neal started, after stirring a sugar packet into his cup. “Where are you getting two hundred and fifty grand in cash?”

“Leave that with me.” She’d be going to her boss, AD Elwood Rowe.

“Gladly.” Neal tossed the stir stick and sipped his coffee.

Now Sandra’s mind was working to untangle what Mindy would do once the money was handed to her. The million ways walking in there with a load of cash could go wrong…

“And she’s only out for herself,” Gibson put in. “I’m sure none of you missed that.”

“She just used the others to get herself in the door,” Neal said.

“More like to cover her ass.” Brice got up and made himself a coffee.

The door swung open, and Kreiger came inside. He jacked a thumb over his shoulder. “Did I just see the shot caller’s husband being escorted away with an officer? Shouldn’t you get him on the phone?”

“It’s not the best move in this case,” Brice told him.

Kreiger massaged his forehead and squinted like he had a headache. “I’m going to need more.”

“She’s doing all of this for him,” Sandra began. “So even if he told her not to, she’s in too deep and she knows it. This would only have her feeling more desperate, and we all know what people do when they feel desperate.”

“This.” Kreiger flailed an arm. “Storm into a hospital with guns. But I suppose you’re telling me we’re just going to keep standing around?”

Sandra smiled at Kreiger, more than happy to reveal her plan. “Not exactly.”

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