She’s Positive Read online

  “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 rea
ction. 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 we
ary 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.