Chapter 58 Negotiating with a Carnation #2
To everyone’s surprise but mine, Reed intercedes. “Why would we do that? What guarantees do we have that you won’t shoot us on sight?”
Jabali’s tone shifts back to playful. “Oh, it’s the big man himself. Asking for guarantees, no less.”
And he laughs. Actually laughs. As if it’s the funniest thing in the world.
When he sobers, he resumes his theatrical mocking. “Well, well, well. I knew you were listening, but I didn’t think you had the gonads to talk to me. Especially after what your sister said about you.”
Reed fires back, “She’s a lying narcissist. I don’t give a damn what she told you.”
I pulse our hands, attempting to steady him.
He takes a protracted breath before continuing in a tone devoid of the earlier irritation. “What’s it gonna take for you to let those innocent people go, Jabali? Tell us what you want. A plane? Helicopter? Safe passage? Say the word.”
“Is that what you came on the line to say?” He laughs again. Louder and longer this time. “I’m disappointed in you. I had such high hopes.”
Carnival is toying with us.
This is all a game to him.
He won’t quit until he wins. With those hostages inside, he holds all the cards. And he knows it.
Bianca slides a piece of paper across the table to me. On it, she’s written a few of my goals as a reminder.
Ask about the hostages.
Any need for medical?
Ask him to release some in good faith.
Appeal to his humanity.
I have to quash an eye roll at the absurd assumption that he has any humanity. They have no idea who they’re dealing with.
If they did a fancy psychological profile of Carnauba wax, it was deeply flawed. In a rush or driven by laziness, they must have used AI to generate it.
Reed responds flatly, “I’m not trying to impress you.
All I want is to bring this to a peaceful end.
Nobody else needs to die today. We’ll let you walk free if you release the hostages.
You aren’t gonna get a better deal than that.
It’s the best-case scenario for you. And I think you know that. So what do you say?”
“Listen to me very carefully, Special Agent Reed Hayes,” he seethes into the phone, injecting pure evil into each syllable.
“I want our precious Lila standing in front of me. And I want you by her side. If you want to save these people, that is the only way. Nothing else is acceptable. If I have to repeat myself again, you’ll be picking up pieces of your friends off my lawn for months. ”
He isn’t budging. Negotiating with this man is pointless.
Nonetheless, I give it another try. “If you want us there, I need to know the condition of the hostages first. You aren’t the only one who has terms. Are they alive? Are any of them hurt? We need proof.”
There’s a smacking sound in the background, and a female voice cries out in pain.
“Tell your friend how the hostages are doing,” he demands.
Kenzie’s voice comes on the line, sounding pathetically frail. “Lila, are you coming? He’s gonna kill us if you don’t.”
I scrunch up my facial features, gnashing my teeth and forcing my eyes shut. I hate how I’m wondering if it’s only an act.
“Kenzie, can you tell us how many hostages he has?”
“Um, well, there’s me,” she quavers. Shocking. She put herself first. “Looks like they tied up twenty SWAT guys and two other people.”
They?
Shoot. Jabali isn’t the only one in that room with the hostages.
If I ask her how many people he has with him, he’ll probably yank the phone away from her.
Instead, I return to my checklist. “Is anyone wounded?”
“One of the FBI guys hasn’t woken up from the gas yet, but I think he’s breathing.”
My stomach pitches and rolls. “He gassed them?”
Some of Kenzie’s patented crappy attitude returns. “Well, how else do you think he knocked out that many SWAT guys at once? Duh.”
SSA Chase presses the mute button, then jabs her finger in Reed’s direction. “Do not respond to that. That’s an order.” To me, she commands, “Ask him again to let the agents and the doctor go.”
I unmute the call, licking my lips nervously. How do I leap from a snippy, belittling comment to asking him to send out his bargaining chips? Especially when he’s already refused.
Buying some time to figure that out, I offer a slow recap. “Okay, good. I’m glad nobody is hurt. That’s good to hear. We won’t need to worry about getting a paramedic up there. That’s easier for all of us. And we also know what he wants from us. So we’re making good progress.”
Bianca’s expression conveys approval of my approach, and she nods to encourage me to keep going. On the other end of the spectrum, SSA Chase has me glad I don’t have testicles. They’d have shriveled inside me by now.
I lower my stare to the speaker, where the view is easier to take. “Jabali, if Reed and I go inside your house, will you gas us too?”
He answers without hesitation. “No. I don’t want you unconscious, sweet girl. You’re much more fun awake.”
I mute the call and announce, “He won’t gas us. I believe him.”
Reed fumes like a ferocious lion, but I ignore him and return to my task.
“Do you promise to let everyone go when we get there?”
“Everyone? Hmm.” He makes a clicking sound, like he’s smacking his lips in contemplation.
I hold my breath in anticipation.
“Not everyone. I’ll give you half of the agents. The pork is stinking up my home anyhow.”
Calling law enforcement pigs? Aren’t we beyond that? What’s next? Donut jokes?
“What about the doctor?” I press my luck. “Him plus half the agents.”
“He stays.”
“The nurse then?”
“No.”
Anticipating his response, I quickly counter. “Give us Kenzie. Please. I beg you. Send her out with the ten agents when you see me on your front porch. It’s a good deal.”
With vehemence, he rejects my compromise. “No. Fucking. Way. She’s an integral part of the discussion I’ll be having with you and her brother. The four of us have business to attend to.”
“Okay, I see. I see.”
Words rapidly fail me as my thoughts become jumbled. I’m so out of my depth here. My confidence is nosediving off a cliff.
Being a baddie was fun while it lasted.
Sensing my faltering, Reed mutes the call to bolster me with a little praise. “You’re doing fantastic. You’ve saved the lives of ten agents so far. Keep going. You’ve got this. Now you’re gonna ask him for more.”
I’m shocked he’s able to access that loving side of himself. It’s the first glimpse he’s given me of his loving heart since I got here. He’s been burdened with righteous fury. And I get it. Those are his people in there. Men and women like him who do their jobs in service to others.
As far as I can tell, they’re the only innocent victims in this mess. The surgeon was dirty to begin with. Kenzie probably is too. I don’t know about the nurse yet.
I return to the call with my spirit restored. “Ten agents for me. Ten for Reed. That’s the deal. You’ll still have three hostages. Take it or leave it.”
There’s a lengthy pause after I made my demands. Blood racing, my pulse thrums wildly from my neck to my fingertips.
No response.
The seconds tick by.
My stare burns a hole in the speakerphone.
Say something. Take the deal.
The tension prickles around us, crackling like static electricity. My eyes dart around the room, finding the others in a similar state of anxious paralysis.
He finally answers.
“Sixteen total. Be on the front porch in five minutes, or I’ll kill one per minute until you show up.”
And he hangs up.