Page 16 of The Rough Ride

He glanced at his tented boxers.Sorry, buddy, you’re stuck with me again.

Maybe he could take some parenting classes. How the hell does anybody learn how to do that correctly? Never lose their temper or yell at a kid? Even his mom lost it once in a while, though it was rare. Mostly, he remembered her kindness and encouragement. The way she’d hide him in different closets behind the clothes when he was little and tell him not to come out no matter what he heard. She’d promise to make his favorite dinner the next day if he’d stay in the closet until she came to get him. He’d never forget the fear lurking in her eyes.

As he grew older and bigger, he’d become aware of the bruises and welts on her body. She’d covered them well, but once in a while as he walked by her room, he’d catch a glance of her back as she changed into fresh clothes. He started standing in the gap between his father’s fists and her body. When he was twelve, he began training on the punching bag in their dank basement. He took his father’s abuse most of the time, but every once in a while he’d fill with rage and just flat-out deck him. Cold-cock the sonofabitch, drag his drunken body into the spare bedroom and lock the door.

Some would call that protective behavior, but to Nick it only proved one thing.

He could be as cold as his father.

13

What?Family members. Right.

Liz realized she’d left the names on her desk, so she raced through the bullpen and across the hallway to her office. She sifted through the small stack of papers and found the information the commander demanded while listening to the hostage negotiations on her headset as they took a turn for the worse. She grabbed the paper and shot out her office door, plowing straight into Erin carrying a box of papers. The box upended onto the floor, and Erin fell backward into a glass door.

Liz stuffed the list into her pocket and grabbed her head. “Oh Erin, I’m so sorry, are you alright?” She bent to help the poor girl off the floor. “I’m so sorry, let me help you.”

Erin put her hand up. “No, no, my fault. Red light’s on in the hallway. I should’ve stayed out of the way. Do what you have to do. I’ll get up in a minute on my own.”

“Who the fuck are you talking to, Nelson? ‘Cause it sure as shit isn’t me. I need that intel now,” the commander bellowed in her ear.

Liz nodded at Erin and dashed into the bullpen, pulling the door shut behind her. Every monitor was in motion. Different angles of the same scene. The takedown of a drug smuggler on a fishing vessel endeavoring to cruise into the Florida Keys unnoticed.

Good luck with that. The Keys had as many cyber-eyes as a major metropolitan area. They were just more discreet.

“I have the list, Commander.”

“How nice of you to join us, Nelson. Anytime you’re ready, read ‘em off,” he huffed.

Oh, how she hated working with this hostage negotiator. Blevins was a surly bastard. She bit back a retort because the perp on the monitor had a cabin full of undocumented immigrants and held three of them at gunpoint. Concern creased everyone’s forehead in the bullpen.

“Wife’s name is Maria. Children—Carlos, thirteen years, Bianca, ten years and Cecelia, six years. Copy that, Commander?”

“Got it. You’d better be right, Nelson.”

Liz closed her eyes and counted to three. What an arrogant prick. Of course, she was right. Her bullpen had worked feverishly for days to confirm the intel. Six government agencies worked together on this bust. A huge conglomeration of locals and feds pulling in unison for a live catch. And Blevins picked right now to threatenherwhile three innocent people had guns aimed at their heads?

She braced her hands on a desk and leaned forward. Every monitor displayed a different angle of the gunman and hostages. None of the snipers had a clear shot. A bullet traveling at high velocity would not only pierce the intended target but the innocent in front or behind him as well. Thiswas no time to play roulette with the law of unintended consequences.

She listened as Blevins recited the names of the perp’s family members and focused especially on the youngest, Cecelia. Was it really worth it to this guy to leave behind a wife and three children? Blevins tended to be successful as long as he didn’t deviate from the script.

Liz touched the mouthpiece on her headset. “Commander, we’d really like to capture this guy alive. He’s the only one we’ve apprehended who knows the entire food chain personally for this particular cartel.” Her headset crackled with his response.

“Yeah, well, I’d like the Easter bunny to start delivering candy at Christmas time, but we don’t always get what we want, now do we?”

She drew in a breath through her teeth. “You’re right, Blevins, but perhaps we could offer him a small concession to reel him in. Like cheeseburgers and cigarettes in prison? Twice yearly visas for his family to visit him? Think. Something that would make his life more bearable going forward. He’s worth a lot to Uncle Sam alive.”

Blevins snorted. “You damn people don’t realize that scumbags like this need to be terminated.”

“We’re on the same team, Commander. Let’s work together.”What was with this guy?He was as insubordinate as she’d ever seen. She waited and listened.

After a brief pause, Blevins launched into a speech in Spanish. She eyed the cameras; watching the young woman in front of the perp break down sobbing.

Carmen hurried across the bullpen and translated. “You need to let those people go. We’ll sweeten the deal and offeryou cheeseburgers in prison. Anything’s better than allowing the cartel to haul your sorry ass into the desert and kill you. Your family probably won’t want anything to do with you if the cartel even lets them live. Put the gun down, asshole, and let those people go.”

And with that, the perp raised the gun and fired at his own head. That fast. Negotiation over. Blood spattered the hostages and deck of the boat.

Carmen gasped, Liz dropped into a chair, and the major rose to her feet. The bullpen rumbled with a steady murmur. That translation was sonotthe heart and essence of what she’d suggested, and anger surged through her like a bolt of potent heat. She stood, touching her headset.

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