Page 59 of The Agent
“I’m not going to hurt anyone.” He sounded annoyed. “Your father’s sitting right here beside me, not a hair on his head disturbed.”
“Let me talk to him,” she blurted. Her heart hammered in her chest, so fast she feared it might stop beating altogether. “I want to talk to him.”
“Fine, but be quick. You and I have some things to discuss.”
There was a shuffling noise, and then, to her sheer relief, her father came on the line. “Sweetheart?”
“Daddy?” she whispered. “Oh, God, Dad, are you okay?”
“I’m all right,” her father replied, but the slight quiver in his voice told her he was anything but all right.
“Has he hurt you?”
“No.”Not yet,was what he seemed to be saying. Her dad grew urgent, his words coming out so fast she struggled to keep up. “Don’t do a thing he asks, Marley. Your brother and I will be okay. Whatever he wants, don’t give it to him. Do you hear me, sweetheart, don’t—”
An angry curse whipped through the extension, and then Patrick returned. “Your father’s trying to be a hero,” he said with a chuckle. “But we both know you’re not going to leave him at my mercy, right,sweet pea?”
“What do you want?”
“I need you to bring me something. There’s some money stashed in your house. It’s hidden under…”
Marley tuned him out, the sound of footsteps sending alarm spinning through her. She heard the front door shut, then more footsteps coming toward the kitchen. Caleb appeared in the doorway a second later, and she quickly held up her hand to silence him.
His blue eyes immediately hardened as he looked at the cell phone pressed up to her ear.
“—and bring it to your father’s house,” Patrick finished. “One hour, Marley.”
An unsteady breath squeezed out of her lungs. “I c-can’t. They’re watching me.”
“The cops?”
“Yeah. They’re next door. And one is upstairs right now,” she said, avoiding Caleb’s eyes. “I can’t leave without them knowing.”
“You’re a smart girl. I’m sure you’ll find a way.” Patrick’s voice turned to ice. “You sure found a way to screw someone else while I was gone.”
She swallowed. “I…”
“I don’t want to hear your excuses,” Patrick snapped. “Get the money and bring it to me, or you can say goodbye to your baby brother and your daddy.”
“Please, don’t hurt—”
“And you’d better be alone,” he interrupted. “I’ll be watching you pull up, and if I sense anything funny, your father and junior die.”
He hung up, and Marley sagged against the counter. She gasped for air, salty tears welling up and coating her eyelashes. A pair of warm arms surrounded her, steadying her before she could keel over.
She whirled around and pressed her face against Caleb’s strong chest, her tears soaking the front of his shirt. “He has my dad and brother,” she wheezed between sobs. “He’s going to kill them if I don’t bring him the money.”
Caleb’s hands stroked her back, soothing her, bringing warmth to her suddenly freezing body. He tangled his fingers in her hair and angled her head so she was looking up at him. “It’s okay,” he murmured. “It’ll be okay.”
“How can you say that? He’s going to kill them!”
“I won’t let him,” Caleb replied. He used his thumb to wipe away her tears. “I won’t let him hurt them, Marley.”
“What are we going to do? He wants me to bring the money in an hour, and I have to go alone. If I bring the cops, he said he’ll kill them.”
Whatever confidence she lacked at the moment, Caleb made up for in spades. He released her and picked up the radio he’d put on the counter, alerting AJ and the others to the situation. As she stood there, shaken up and afraid, he placed a call to Hernandez and then to a man he referred to as Stevens.
Fifteen minutes later, Caleb had efficiently assembled a team in her living room, except for Stevens, who listened in on speakerphone.
