Page 12 of Save Her Life (Sandra Vos #1)

ELEVEN

Sandra tried calling Gavin right back, but he wasn’t answering.

“Tell me if I have this right, Vos? A woman is in labor, and he’s refusing to talk or let her go?” Bowen asked.

She didn’t say anything. He’d summed it up.

“All right, then. It’s time to move in.” Bowen shot to his feet, no doubt to wrangle SWAT into action.

“If you go in there now, there will be lives lost. Possibly Cobb’s and the baby’s,” she rushed out.

“She does have a point,” Garrison said.

Bowen stopped for a moment, shook his head at his colleague, and left the command vehicle.

Sandra sat at the table to make a call to Assistant Director Rowe. It rang a few times before he answered.

“Have any good news for me?”

“Wish I did. It’s the opposite. Things are escalating. He wants more money, and the pregnant woman I told you about is in labor. Premature labor.”

“You need to find a way to get McConnell to let her go.”

“You don’t think I’ve been trying?” She massaged her temple and had an idea. It was a tiny offering but could warm Gavin into a more cooperative mood. “A while ago, he said he’d love a good coffee.”

“He’s shutting down and you want to reward that behavior?”

“I know this is going to come across contradictory to the rule of negotiating, but I feel if we show a small kindness to him, it will go a long way. He did release Vern Wilcox without anything in return. This would show that I remember, and that the small act mattered.”

“You better hope it’s a miracle brew, and he suddenly feels super cooperative. But if you feel good about this, then I trust you. But, if this doesn’t work out, it might be time to cut our losses and let SWAT move in.”

“Not you too.” Her shoulders sagged, and at her words the others in the command vehicle looked at her but quickly turned away again.

“Even you can’t win them all.”

“I still feel I can talk him out.”

“And you would because you can be… How to put this delicately?”

“Why start now?”

“Stubborn. Hard-headed.”

“I like to think of myself as determined and focused.”

“Well, whatever it is, use it.”

“And the ETA on the money?”

Elwood grumbled incoherently and hung up.

She returned to her chair and steeled herself to call Gavin when Patrick spoke.

“I got a hold of Gavin’s former employer. Guy’s name is Michael Underwood. He said that Human Resources was supposed to cancel the health insurance at the end of the month. He apologized if they made an error and said he’d reinstate it for another month if it would help.”

“Might be a matter of too little, too late,” she said but called Gavin.

He answered with, “I’m not letting her go.”

A woman screamed in the background, “You bastard!” It sounded like Megan Cobb.

Sandra’s proposition would wait. “This is Megan’s first child, Gavin. She’s scared, and I don’t blame her. The baby will be a month premature. There can be a lot of complications with that for the mother and child. As a father yourself, I can’t imagine you’d want that baby to be hurt.”

Silence, which she took as him waging war with his conscience.

“Gavin, you said you would never hurt her,” she said, piercing the quiet and reminding him of the words he’d spoken hours ago.

“I wouldn’t.”

“Good. Think of your daughter, and your future together. You have the chance to save a mother and her child. Cassie would respect that. You could even decide to walk away right now and have tomorrow.”

There was a lot of crying and panicked talking in the background. Sandra could make out that it was Gina reassuring Megan. This played out for some time and were the only sounds coming across the phone line.

“Fine,” he said.

“You will walk away?” Sandra tried to keep her voice level, but it wasn’t easy. Those in the vehicle were all watching her with expectant gazes. Negotiation was like walking across thin ice. You could be going along fine one moment but break through the next.

“Not me, but Megan. On one condition.”

And there it was… The crack in the ice. “What’s that, Gavin?”

“That you’ll remember this act for what it is. Good faith. Use it to get me a good deal.”

“You bet, Gavin.” At least he’d returned to reality and knew he’d face consequences for today’s actions.

“I’ll send her out the front door by herself, but if I sense any shady business, I will put a bullet in her head.”

Any relief that came with the prospect of Megan Cobb’s freedom was instantly doused by Gavin’s threat. Before now, Gavin talked about himself as if his actions were forced and reactive. “I hear you, Gavin. But when you let her go, I’ll get you that coffee with two sugars and cream right away, and we’ll talk more about getting you out of there.” She locked eyes with Patrick, who sighed but got on the phone. He’d have an officer source one from a coffee shop. They couldn’t exactly offer up some in a mug from the command vehicle.

“What about my money?”

“I’m still working on that.”

“Okay.”

“I’m going to stay on the line with you while you send Megan out, all right? You have any concerns then you talk to me.”

Things in the command vehicle became livelier. Bowen left to notify SWAT of the impending hostage release.

“Okay,” Gavin said.

She listened while it sounded like Gina was coaxing Megan to her feet. She was crying, and then the soles of shoes hit the store’s flooring. A few minutes later, the front door opened, and Megan stumbled out.

SWAT officers moved in to get her.

“They’re getting too close!” Gavin yelled.

Sandra recoiled, her eardrums throbbing. “They’re just helping Megan. You’re safe, Gavin. I promise you.” God, she hoped that’s all they had planned! But surely, they wouldn’t try anything with a pregnant woman in the crossfire.

“That better be all it is. I don’t want to hurt anyone.” His voice was quivering.

Sandra held her breath as she continued to watch everything play out on the monitor. It wasn’t long, and Megan Cobb was safely with paramedics. Her husband was guided over to his wife by a police officer.

“That was a great thing you did, Gavin. Your coffee is almost here.” She turned to Ray, who turned to Patrick, and picked up the phone again.

A second later, he was nodding.

“Gavin, I was just informed it’s here now. We can leave it at the front door, but we need your assurance no one will get hurt.”

“I promise, but I don’t want to see anyone with a gun. If I step out, someone’s going to shoot me.”

Sandra knew there would be no convincing any of the SWAT officers to disarm themselves to deliver the coffee. “I don’t think they will go for that, Gavin. You have my word that when you duck out for the coffee, no one will fire at you.” She was lying through her teeth here. This wasn’t a promise she could make. There were powers higher than her, and some of them wanted this standoff over and done, no matter how it shook out for the HT. His life wasn’t their priority, but that’s why it had to be hers.

“I’ll send a hostage to get the coffee.”

“You can do that, Gavin. Up to you. Enjoy your coffee.” She looked at Garrison, and he got on the phone. She overheard him filling in Bowen.

A few minutes later, the coffee was put in place, and the officers retreated.

When they cleared, the door opened, and a woman stepped out, moving slowly and looking around.

Sandra recognized her from the photo she looked at moments ago. It’s Gina Andrews , she wrote on a piece of paper.

She had a white bag in her hand.

“What does she have, Gavin?” Sandra asked.

No response.

“Hurry up!” Gavin yelled, clearly directing this at Gina, but it rang through the phone piercing Sandra’s ears.

Gina continued to pivot her head like an anxious rabbit trying to avoid becoming prey. Then she tore off, upsetting the coffee, and running down the plaza out of his sightline, with the bag still in hand.

Patrick left the command center.

“Fuck!” Gavin cussed.

Richie had received a call and scribbled, SWAT was just cleared for the shot if one opens up on the markerboard.

“Gavin, listen to me. Please. Surrender peacefully. Think about your daughter’s future. Yours.”

“It’s too late for me now. Just get the meds, they’re in that bag, to Cassie.”

“We can still resolve this peacefully.” But she had a sour feeling in her gut. He’d originally said the pharmacist wouldn’t hand them over. Had he since helped himself or had he lied? Was the pharmacist long dead or a casualty of the gunfire? If the latter, he would have been confronting the man again when Gavin’s girlfriend called. Talk about bad timing. “It’s great that you have the meds, but Cassie needs her father too, Gavin.” As she spoke, she saw shadows dance behind the glass of the door, and that meant SWAT would see them. Even better than her, as they’d be equipped with high-powered scopes.

She picked up the employee list and scanned down to the pharmacist. Stanley Moody. His background showed a balding, middle-aged man, married, mid-forties. “Gavin, how did you get the meds?”

“The pharmacist.”

He was keeping his responses short, and she needed more information. “The pharmacist gave you the meds?”

“That’s right.”

“When was this?”

“A while ago.”

Still not definitive enough. “Is Stanley okay, Gavin?” She used his first name only for added familiarity. It would have been the name on his tag.

“I’m not going to talk about Stanley.” He might have used his name, but his voice and tone were cold and detached.

Not good at all. “We have a rapport going, Gavin. You help me help you , remember?”

“I didn’t mean to. He was just being so stubborn and wasn’t giving me what I needed. Then Karen called.” He wailed out.

“Did you shoot him, Gavin?” she repeated.

“He’s fine,” Gavin said.

Sandra could feel herself losing hold on the negotiation, and she didn’t like the hesitation any more than his word choice. “Let me talk to Stanley.”

“I can’t let you do that.” Gavin hung up.

Sandra closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose. She wanted to go for a very long run, purge the last six hours and fifteen minutes from her system, and come back recharged. She was considering grabbing some fresh air when Gina Andrews was led inside the command vehicle by Patrick and Bowen.