Lights flashing and siren blaring, the police car sped to the scene. They found three other black-and-whites parked with headlights glaring on the door and curtained window of the end motel room. The officer in charge ushered Tori into the backseat of one of the cars, while Will and Beau were given bulletproof vests to wear. No doubt in the officer’s mind, a mere woman was best kept out of the way.
Seething with anxiety, Tori rolled down the window and strained to see what was happening. Forbes was speaking through a bullhorn, evidently trying to set up communication with Stella. An officer in protective gear walked to the door and laid a phone on the stoop. As he backed away, the door opened a few inches and the phone disappeared.
Somewhere beyond that door, helpless and terrified, was Erin. It was all Tori could do to keep from leaping out of the car, rushing to the door, and screaming to be let in.
A young policeman, perhaps assigned to keep an eye on her, stood nearby. Tori caught his attention. “What’s going on?” she demanded. “That’s my daughter in there.”
He stepped forward to listen, then reported back. “The woman’s demanding half a million dollars in cash and safe passage to the border. Once she’s across, she’ll release the girl.”
“She won’t do it,” Tori said. “I know her. She’ll kill Erin before she lets her go. Tell them that.”
“Don’t worry, Agent Forbes knows his job,” the young officer said. “I’ve worked with him before. If anybody can get your daughter back, he can.”
If anybody can . . . Lord, what if nobody could?
Through the open window she could hear Will arguing vehemently with Forbes. His words tore at her heart.
“Listen to me, damn it! I’m the o
ne Stella wants. Let me go in. Maybe I can trade places with Erin, or at least be inside to protect her.”
“That’s not the way we do things, Mr. Tyler,” Forbes said. “Now stand back and let us do our job.”
“Stand back, hell!” Will growled. “I’m going in. If you don’t back me, damn it, I’ll do it without your help.”
As Forbes relented, Tori forced herself to breathe. Will would lay down his life to save Erin. Right now, she had no choice except to let him—even if it meant she could lose them both.
Her frantic hands twisted in her lap. How could she just sit here and wait? There had to be something she could do. Will would be unarmed. But she had a gun. She barely knew how to shoot, but if she could make a difference she had to act—and act now.
With everyone’s eyes on Will, Tori took the small pistol out of her purse and pulled back the slide to chamber a bullet. Then she slipped out the far side of the police car. Ducking low and keeping to the shadows, she cut around through the darkness, heading for the back of the motel.
* * *
Erin had rolled onto her belly and managed to inchworm her way across the linoleum floor. Now she was just a few feet short of the door. Stella, gripping her pistol and intent on the danger out front, had yet to notice her. What now? She couldn’t use her hands or her feet. She couldn’t cry out. But if the chance came to make her move—any move she could—she had to be ready.
As she lay there, tense and waiting, she heard a voice outside—her father’s voice.
“Stella! I’m unarmed and I’m coming in! I’m the one you want, not an innocent girl! Take me and let Erin go!”
Stella opened the door a few inches. Lying behind her, Erin could see her father standing in the bright light with his hands up. He was wearing a bulletproof vest, but his head was unprotected. As Stella raised the pistol, Erin knew that was where she would aim. At close range it would be an easy, and fatal, shot.
Erin had to do something.
As Stella tensed to fire, Erin flung the last of her strength into a lightning-fast tuck-and-roll that slammed her curled body into the back of Stella’s legs. The pistol roared. Through the partly open doorway, Erin saw her father reel and drop to his knees. A red stain flowed down the sleeve of his jacket.
Stella staggered to one side, caught off balance. Pushing to her knees, Erin head-butted her out of the way, shouldered the door open, and tumbled out onto the stoop.
As the police rushed forward, she heard the door bang shut behind her and the click of the lock. Stella was still inside, but now she was alone.
* * *
Tori had heard the gunshot from the rear of the motel. As she made her way through the overgrown oleander bushes, she could only pray that the single bullet hadn’t struck any of her loved ones.
She’d guessed that in an old motel like this one, there would be a bathroom window in the back of each unit. If she could get in that way, she might be able to catch Stella by surprise and rescue Erin. Now she saw that she’d been right about the window. But it was high and appeared to be latched from the inside. Never mind, this plan was her only option. Somehow she would make it work.
She was glancing around for something to climb on when the window slid open. Tori raised her pistol as a dark shape, barely lit by the moon, squeezed out through the opening and dropped five feet to the ground, landing with a grunt of pain.
As the figure pushed to a crouch, the moonlight fell on an upturned face. Eyes as fierce as a cornered puma’s glared at Tori. It was Stella.