Parking the car at a safe distance, Stella climbed out. The night air was frigid, the ground coated with icy hail. She would have to bring the girl inside, a bother, but she’d promised to deliver the little bitch in good condition.
A bell rang when she opened the door of the office. The Mexican woman who came to the desk was wearing a ratty fleece bathrobe. From somewhere out of sight, a TV was blaring.
“Just one of you?” the woman asked.
“No, my daughter’s with me. She’s sick. I’m taking her to the doctor in the morning.” Stella thrust a wad of small bills across the desk. “Here’s an extra ten for keeping things quiet.”
Stella was given a key to the unit on the far end. She backed the car up to the door and got out to open it. Before unlocking the trunk she took the Smith and Wesson .38, the gun she’d used to kill Clay, out of her purse. Before today, when someone needed killing, she’d always paid or manipulated others to do the job. Until she’d fired at the man and seen him fall dead, she hadn’t known what a powerful rush it could be. She wouldn’t mind feeling that rush again, maybe soon.
The girl was alert but quiet. Stella thrust the pistol toward her face. “Behave yourself and you can come inside. But no tricks, understand?”
She nodded. Stella had parked at an angle to keep the inside of the trunk out the office woman’s line of sight. It took some maneuvering, with the back door open, to make it appear that she was getting someone out of the backseat. She blocked the view with the blanket while Erin got out of the trunk. Then, without freeing the girl’s ankles, Stella wrapped her in the blanket, jump-walked her inside, and shoved her onto the bed. “Stay,” she ordered, taking a moment to step out and close the trunk, then lock the door. “I’ll cut your legs loose so you can use the bathroom, but you’ll have to do it with your arms taped. And the door stays open. I’m not taking my eyes off you, hear? And don’t you make a sound. Right now, I’ve got a phone call to make.”
* * *
It was coming up on midnight when Beau got the call. Will and Tori were on their feet at once, crowding close as they tried to make sense of the half-heard dialogue. Only after he’d ended the call did they get the full story.
“They’ve found where Erin is,” Beau said. “This woman in Eagle Pass, who checked them into a motel, saw the AMBER alert on TV and called it in.”
“They’re sure it’s Erin?” Tori felt faint.
“She said the woman gave a different name, but she had red hair and claimed to have her daughter with her. The girl went inside wrapped in a blanket, so she wasn’t seen. But the license plate on the car is a match to Stella’s. It’s got to be her!”
“Have they got Erin yet?” Will demanded. “What’s happening down there?”
“The local police have the place surrounded, but they’re holding off, waiting for the FBI hostage negotiator to show up before they move in. They’re all hoping the situation won’t turn into a shoot-out.”
“Lord, we can’t just sit here and wait!” Will paced as he talked, his hands clenching into fists. “If we can get there, we might be able to help, or at least let Erin know we’re there!”
“But the border’s hours away,” Tori said. “If we have to drive . . .” She shook her head.
“I know,” Beau said. “That’s why my friends from the FBI are stopping by to pick us up in the chopper. Get your coats on. We’re meeting them at the school athletic field in twenty minutes.”
* * *
Using the toilet with her hands taped behind her back was tricky, but after two hours in the motel room, Erin was getting the knack of it, even in the dark. She sat with the bathroom door open, in full view of Stella, who was sitting in a chair with her back to the door and the pistol resting in her lap. Through the drawn curtains the streetlamp outside cast long shadows into the unlit room.
Erin’s hopes that the woman would fall asleep, so she could carry out her escape plan, were fading. It was a good plan, she thought—lock the bathroom door, break the water glass, and use one sharp edge to cut through the tape, then unlatch the bathroom window and climb out. She’d seen it done in the movies. There was no reason it couldn’t work in real life. But Stella, watching her every move with those cold green eyes, showed no signs of nodding off.
Erin tried not to think about how scared she was. Stella would enjoy seeing her fall apart and cry. But she wouldn’t give the red-haired witch the satisfaction. She wouldn’t let the woman see the terror that lay like a coiled reptile in the pit of her stomach.
“Aren’t you getting hungry?” she asked, sitting on the bed. “Maybe there’s a vending machine outside. We could at least get a couple of candy bars.”
“Shut up, you little bitch!” Stella snapped. “Nobody’s going anywhere till my friend comes to pick you up. After that, you won’t be my problem anymore.” She stiffened, as if hearing something. One hand moved the window drape aside far enough to see out. “Maybe that’s him now. It’s—Shit!” She dropped the curtain and sprang to her feet. “It’s the cops. One peep out of you, girl, and you’re dead.” She pointed the gun at Erin. “Lie down on the floor—over there, on the far side of the bed!”
Erin did as she was told, trembling in spite of herself as Stella bound her ankles again, then taped her mouth. Through the curtain she glimpsed headlights moving beyond the window, then nothing. Unable to cry out or get up, she could only lie still and wait.
* * *
Tori clutched her shoulder bag as the helicopter swooped in over the lights of Eagle Pass. FBI agent Forbes, an experienced hostage negotiator, had told them not to bring any weapons. But until now, Tori had forgotten about the nine-millimeter Kel-Tec Will had given her to carry. Her fingertips traced the small pistol’s outline through the purse’s leather folds. She didn’t plan to use it, of course. But it gave her a measure of comfort to know it was there, loaded and ready.
Will sat silent beside her. She could feel the tension in his body, see the determination in his face, and she knew he would do anything to get their daughter back. But he was afraid, too, just as she was. Anything could happen down there, in the dangerous dark.
The helicopter touched down in an empty parking lot, where a local police car was waiting for them. Agent Forbes climbed in front with the driver, leaving Tori, Will, and Beau to crowd into the backseat. They listened while the driver gave Forbes an update.
“It’s not looking good. Somebody made a move too soon and the woman got wind of the police. She’s threatening to kill the girl if we don’t back off.”
“Just get me there.” Forbes spoke calmly, but Tori could feel her heart in her throat. How many times on the news had she seen hostage situations where both the kidnapper and the hostage ended up dead? Right now, it appeared that Stella was using Erin as a bargaining chip. But if the woman was facing certain capture or death, it would be like her to kill her enemy’s daughter as a final act of revenge.