Page 65 of The Rough Ride

“I’ve never killed anyone in my life. I’m an analyst. I sit in an office and juggle numbers and strategies.”

“Jazz’s diary says otherwise. You were responsible for his safety that day, Lieutenant. His death was a massive dereliction of duty on your part.”

“Jazz needed help and counseling.”Lots of freaking counseling.“He was in the wrong place at the wrong time.” Liz swept tears from her face and jumped off the chair. She wouldn’t dare tell whomever this was about his suicide and risk angering them. They had Ella.

“That’s a lie, and you know it. Little Ella here is in the wrong place at the wrong time, too. I suppose I could leave her somewhere like you did to Jazz. But the evenings are cooling down a little. On second thought, I don’t think babies this age know how to swim yet. That would be a quicker end. Listen to how she cries when I pinch her.”

Ella’s hurt cry pierced the air. Liz’s heart stuttered. Fury fueled the adrenaline and terror coursing through her body. She raced to the bathroom and grabbed the extra magazine clip she’d felt in the drawer. When she returned to the living room, she screamed into the vent. “What do you want from me? How can I make this right?”

“I thought you’d see my point of view,” the voice asserted. “I want a fair trade. Ella for you.”

“Okay. Done.” Liz held the gun up to a light, made sure the first bullet chambered. “How do I get Ella back?”

“I’ll leave her in the lobby. That lover boy of yours can get her later.”

“Whatever it takes,” Liz yelled from the kitchen. She rummaged through drawers and quickly lined her thick socks with several of Nick’s sheathed kitchen knives. If it were the last thing she did, shewouldeliminate this evil creature one digit at a time.Screw with my life, blow off my foot, but you will not hurt my child.

“Meet me in the alley on the east side of the building, Liz. Three minutes.”

“You put Ella in the vestibule of the main lobby first. I’ll be waiting for you at the door in the alley.” Liz wrapped a couple very sharp paring knives in a thick dishcloth and anchored them in the flap of her nursing bra, handles exposed.

“Alright, and Liz?”

“What?” she shrieked.

“Unarmed, please.”

Liz tossed a loose knife from her pocket on the dining room table and waited. Could they see her? She hadn’t located a camera in the heat vent.

“Atta girl. Unarmed.”

Liz tucked the loose knife back into her pocket and lobbedthe drapery remote onto the table. She stood back and listened. No reply probably meant they couldn’t see her. She slipped inside the drapes covering the elevator and tapped the down button.

They wanted war? GI Jane was on her way.

37

Liz glanced both ways when the elevator doors opened. To her left was the door to the alley. But before setting one foot outside the building, she had to make sure Ella was in the lobby vestibule. She turned right. The gun at her side, safety off, she ran almost noiselessly through the long, quiet hallway. Pain radiated up her leg, but she ignored it. Harsh automatic lights triggered as she moved. It made sense. The hallway had the markings of a fire exit.

The building was so much larger than she’d expected. She arrived at a door with a glass observation pane, forged ahead, and kept moving to a second fire door, which opened when she threw her body weight into it. Another fifty feet brought her to the third door markedLobby Entrance.She shined the little flashlight she’d confiscated from Nick’s kitchen junk drawer on the signs covering the door.Caution: Building alarm will sound when opened.

She took a step back. If she activated the building alarm, whoever had Ella might take off with her.

Liz scrutinized the lobby through the glass pane. It wasdark, except for a few shafts of illumination from a streetlight. She couldn’t see squat, dammit. The gleaming marble floors reflected the minimal light like a pond in the dark. Ella could be ten feet away, and Liz would never know from this angle.

She gave the door handle a tenuous tug. Locked.Shit.She swiped the hair off her face and stifled a frustrated sob.

There were only two alternatives. If Ella were in the lobby, she’d be chilly but reasonably safe for a short amount of time. But if she was still with the kidnapper, then she was probably in the car in the alley. It wasn’t worth the risk to activate the alarm system if her baby wasn’t safe.

She spun around and ran toward the alley. The second door stuck from this direction. She managed to open it just enough to squeeze through, but her prosthetic foot got caught at the bottom.Dammit.She heaved at the barrier and slipped into freedom.

Her innocent little girl. Caught up in something even her mother, the hotshot analyst, didn’t understand. The flowers, the work personas, the car. Was it all tied together somehow? Damp sweat chilled Liz as she approached the door to the alley.Had this maniac taken her stroller at the zoo?Oh dear lord, had this madwoman been close to her Ella that day?

She scanned the alley through the massive glass door in both directions. There wasn’t even a streetlight out there. But Ella was nearby. She could hear her crying outside.Mommy’s coming, sweetheart.Liz cracked the door open, slid into the night, and placed the flashlight at the bottom to keep it from latching shut. Once she got Ella, she’d get back in the building, take the elevator to the loft, and hunker down.

Flattening herself against the wall, Liz inched along the building to a large, dark sedan about twenty feet to her left. Ella’s cries tore at her heart. Panic clawed at her brain.Get thebaby. Just get the baby.The sedan’s back door was open. Ella had to be in the backseat.That bastard never put her in the vestibule.

Liz climbed halfway into the car, groping the seats, the floor, the ceiling. The crying sounded softer now, gentle baby sobs like when Ella felt alone or scared. Liz couldn’t find her in the back and reached over into the front, swishing her arms against the leather.

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