Chapter 48
FORTY-EIGHT
Watching Nurse Torres go into that supply room made Sandra sick. She was playing the hero just as she told her not to do. But seeing her come out with that man was even worse. He had a gun on her. She must have gone in there with his, but he got the upper hand.
“Why would she go back in there? It makes no sense,” Brice said.
“I think she was trying to get Sparling’s phone.” Sandra shared her suspicion.
“Why would she do that?” Kreiger leveled a glare at her with the enclosed accusation.
“I just asked if she knew where his phone was.” Sandra could say she cautioned her, but what difference had that made?
“Brave or stupid, take your pick,” Neal said.
Sandra couldn’t argue, as it surely appeared that way.
Luis switched from one camera to another as Sparling nudged Maria around the fourth level back to Phoebe Chapman’s room, where they went inside.
He didn’t seem to pay Maddox any attention, and somehow Dr. Bell must have been alerted because he’d left Maddox’s side.
Sandra wanted to call Sparling right away, but she had to call Mindy first to honor their deal.
Mindy answered after the first ring. “You heard everyone agree to surrender?”
“I did, and I’ll work on arranging the money.”
“Call me before you head in.”
“I will.” Sandra ended the call and ran to her workstation. “I’m trying Sparling’s cell phone,” she told everyone.
Brice got into position and so did the others.
“What do you want? I’m not in any mood to talk,” Sparling answered.
“You’ve been through a lot in the last eight months. I’m sorry for the loss of your wife.”
There was a moment of silence.
“You didn’t even know her,” he spat out.
“No, but I know what it’s like to lose someone.
” As she said this, she instinctively pinched the St. Michael pendant hanging from a chain around her neck.
“You lose your mind for a minute or two, maybe more. But that’s no reason to hurt other people, Tom.
Innocent people who have done nothing to you. ”
“You don’t know anything!”
“You think that Founders Hospital killed your wife.”
“They did.”
“The doctors might have failed her, but the little girl in that room, she hasn’t hurt you. Her name is Phoebe. She’s four years old and scheduled for a heart transplant tonight.” Sandra could only hope that humanity and empathy still lived within the man.
“The hospital will be to blame for whatever happens.” His voice trembled.
“Haven’t you heard, though, Tom? This is over. Mindy worked out a deal.”
“Good for her. Maybe I don’t want to surrender.”
His words were ominous, but his tone disheartening, belonging to a broken man with nothing to live for. “It sounds like you don’t know what the future holds from here, but it’s up to you.”
“I’ll tell you when it’s over.”
Either Maria or Gail screamed in the background, and the line went dead.
“That’s it. We’re moving in. Money or no money.” Kreiger lunged for the door.
Sandra ran after him, pulled back on his arm. “As we discussed before. Just skip the fourth floor for now. Let me work on him.”
“What you need to work on is getting your hands on that cash because ERT’s going in with or without you. It’s up to you to decide if you’re working with them or against them.”
“What the hell is that supposed to mean?” The question was out before Sandra got a leash on her anger.
“You’re about talking. Fine. But at some point, when that’s not working, more persuasive measures are needed.”
“So after all this time you’re going to sanction ERT going in there and risking lives?” Her heart was slamming against her ribcage.
“No one said anything about risking lives. We will proceed as discussed. You, should you decide to, will go in with ERT. You will be accompanied by two officers up to the eighth floor through the stairwell, where you’ll be prepared to hand over the money to Mindy Ashmore.”
“As long as ERT stays out of Ashmore’s sightline. We can’t risk scaring her.”
“Fine, but they’ll be hanging right outside the door, ready to move in if the need arises. That is my offer, take it or leave it. You preach about risking people’s lives. Well, Special Agent Vos, I’m not risking yours. Capiche?”
Anger was boiling in her veins, and her cheeks were on fire. She pushed past him. “I’ll get the money and let you know when I’m ready.” She flung the vehicle door open and stepped into the evening air.
She heard Kreiger come out behind her, but he carried on to the ERT tactical sergeant while she rounded the corner of the command vehicle and pulled out her phone to call Elwood Rowe.
She caught the remaining time on her phone. Thirty minutes.
When Elwood answered, she laid out the details in record time and finished with, “So I need two hundred and fifty K, in cash, delivered ASAP.”
Two seconds, then, “I’ll need more than that.”
“This is how we end this thing before anyone else is hurt.”
“So you plan to hand cash over in person?”
She knew he was trying to stress the risk involved with doing that.
She could argue that she’d pulled it off in the past, but realized that was the exception not the standard.
“I’ll do what needs to be done.” As she said this, maybe Kreiger had a point.
She was so concerned about the lives of others, but where did her own safety weigh in?
“I don’t think I can justify that.”
“And how do you think it will go over when you tell Director Hamilton that Jordon Maddox died because we didn’t stick to the deal?”
“A deal you never should have made.”
“But I did.” She batted away at all the bitter frustration bubbling up inside her. “I realize this isn’t standard procedure.”
“No, it’s a desperate measure.”
“Under extreme circumstances.” She paused for a few seconds. “Let me end this.”
“Fine,” Elwood huffed out, “but you better hope this turns up roses. You’ll see the money within fifteen minutes.”
Leaving fifteen and cutting it close… “Thanks.”
Elwood ended the call, and she looked up at the sky. It was a clear night, and soon the stars would be shining brightly, indifferent to the chaos down here.
She took a few deep breaths. A run along the Potomac was the balm she needed right now, but it wasn’t an option, and it wouldn’t wash away reality.
Over a thousand lives were on the line, and her mother was fifteen minutes down the street facing her own health scare.
Sandra took the time to try Dana. When she answered, Sandra got to the point.
“How is Mom? What are the doctors saying?”
“Are you finished with your job for the day, Sandra?” Dana said, destabilizing Sandra’s emotions. It was unlike Dana to respond to a question with one.
“I’m not.”
“Well, there is news, Sandra.”
Just that much soured her stomach. “Tell me.”
“The doctor wants to wait until you get here.”
Sandra’s eyes filled with hot tears. The world around her felt like it was spinning. It was never good when one had to hear the diagnosis in person. “Ah, okay.”
“She’s resting right now, so don’t worry yourself, please. There is nothing you could do if you were here. Your job is important.”
Sandra sniffled, thanked Dana, and hung up. She continued to grip on to her phone. The results must be life-changing, possibly life-threatening for the doctor to hold off.
“Sandra?” Brice’s voice reached her before he did. She had just enough time to wipe her eyes and pocket her phone.
“Elwood’s getting the money over. Should be here in fifteen minutes.”
“Good. Are you okay?” He angled his head, peering into her eyes.
“Yeah, I’m fine. Why?” The question was a challenge. She could hear her stuffy nose, and in the light, he probably saw that her eyes were wet.
He pointed at her. “That right there.”
“What, right where?” She made a show of looking around her.
“You’re not as good at hiding your personal shit as you think you are.”
“You say that because you saw me at my worst.” Having Olivia kidnapped certainly qualified as that.
“If you don’t want to tell me, that’s fine. I understand. It’s best we keep some mystery about ourselves.” Brice turned to walk back to the vehicle door.
“It’s Margo, my mom.”
He pivoted back but didn’t speak, leaving the space open for her to continue.
“Something’s wrong with her.” She gave him the highlights. “I guess the doctor has some answers, but I’ll need to wait until this is all over. Apparently, it’s news best delivered face to face.”
“Oh, Sandra. I’m sorry to hear that. You should go to her. I can handle this and step up as lead.” He put the latter out there with a bit of a smirk, as if teasing with her.
“Wouldn’t you like that?” she volleyed back, trying to muster some frivolity. “No, in all seriousness, my leaving wouldn’t change things anyway. I’m seeing this through. We’re close now. We’ve got to be, and Mindy Ashmore is used to dealing with me.”
“All right, but if you change your mind…”
She shook her head. “Thanks, but I won’t.”
“Ah, you might like to know something else.”
Sandra braced herself.
“A bit of Kreiger’s mystery has been unraveled. After you both left, Neal told me Kreiger’s haunted by a past incident when he held off from sending ERT in. The gunman killed a family of four, including a six-year-old boy.”
Sandra assimilated that. She thought back to earlier when she’d mistaken his abandoned sentence for judgment.
I’m not, but… It came after Brice pointed out the innocent lives at stake in that boardroom.
She’d assumed Kreiger didn’t see them that way.
She was wrong and couldn’t have been further from the truth.
After Kreiger’s experience, he’d always consider the innocent, the ones in danger.
He wanted a peaceful resolution like she did, but life told him that came from action, not talking. “Thank you for telling me.”