Page 71 of Hidden Falls

Her driver attempted to evade them by bouncing up onto the sidewalk; one of the Security Solutions SUVs reversed direction and was able to cut the SUV limo off.

The driver and the bodyguard riding in back with Malia threw their doors open. They took shots at Sophie’s team’s SUVs, the bullets pinging uselessly off the armored vehicles.

Harry opened her door and took up a handheld megaphone behind it. “This is Malia’s mother, Detective Harry Clark,” she bellowed. “I demand that you release my daughter immediately.”

A short, charged silence.

Then, “Mom!” Malia called out from inside the SUV. “What are you doing?”

“I’m rescuing you!”

“Can’t you just talk to Papa like a normal sane human? I’m not a bone for you to fight over!” Malia yelled.

“He won’t return any of my calls or emails,” Harry yelled back. “I tried!”

“Then I’ll tell him he has to work things out with you! Back off, please. I don’t want anyone to get hurt!” Malia sounded on the verge of tears.

“I’ll back off when you’re in my car and we’re headed for the airport.” Harry’s voice was a crack of thunder.

“If I let you take Ramirez’s daughter from him, it will cost my life,” the bodyguard with Malia barked out. “She’s staying with me.”

Lei pointed to the screen as she addressed Sophie. “This. This is what I was afraid would happen. A hostage situation.”

Sophie bit her lip. Her fingers flew on the keyboard. “I’m trying to communicate with Ramirez. The team has jammed the limo’s comms. He needs to voluntarily let Malia go, or I’m afraid that guard will use her as a hostage.”

“Exactly. Did you note that Malia is referring to her biological father as ‘Papa?’”

“I did. An important change.” Sophie’s fingers continued to fly. “Okay. I’ve got a message through to Ramirez about the current situation.”

A few more tense moments passed, then they all heard the ringing of a cell phone in the bodyguard’s pocket. The man didn’t move; however, his gun was still aimed at Harry from behind the door.

“Pick up the call, Paulo!” Malia said. “It’s probably Papa, and you know it!”

Paulo took the phone out and held it to his ear. “Yes?”

Sophie spun a handheld controller with her fingertip and thumb, and the camera view aimed at Paulo attempted to narrow in but fuzzed out instead. “Son of a water buffalo. This is as good as our view gets. Audio isn’t any better.”

“Si. Si, Señor,” Paulo said. He held up the phone. “Don Ramirez is on speaker. He says you can meet with Malia and visit her, but she is not to leave the area.”

“Unacceptable!” Harry megaphoned. “She’s my daughter and she’s coming with me back to Hawaii!”

Paulo translated a rapid spate of Spanish. “Mr. Ramirez tells me to remind you that Malia is neither legally nor biologically your child. You stole her and took her out of the country. You have no rights whatsoever.”

Harry went silent at that.

“Mom.” Malia’s voice came from inside the limo; then the teenager stepped out, a petite shadow standing beside the hulking guard. “What my father says may be technically true, but you’re my mom in every way that counts. I want to go home to my life in Hawaii. To the family I’ve known all my life. To my friends.” Her voice broke. “But I also have family here, and maybe someday I’ll have friends here, too. Can everyone please put down your guns and let us figure this out like civilized people?”

A brusque order in Spanish came from the phone in Paulo’s hand. “Señor Ramirez says I am to let you go see Harry Clark if she will call off her team.”

“Done,” said Harry, her voice clear. She holstered her gun; so did the Security Solutions team, and so did Paulo and Malia’s driver.

Lei and Sophie watched a view of Malia’s face, tears streaming down her cheeks, approach in the button camera as Harry and her daughter ran to embrace each other.

Lei glanced at Sophie; they both chuckled, brushing tears off their own cheeks. “Now if they can get to some agreements, we can all go home,” Sophie said. “I’ll set up a conference room in a neutral location for Ramirez, Harry and Malia to meet with Dr. Wilson. If Harry and Ramirez both love their daughter like they say they do, they’ll listen to what Malia wants and let the girl take the lead.”

“We can hope, right?” Lei whooshed out a sigh. “Thanks, Sophie. We’d have never reached this point without you and your people.”

Sophie smiled. “I love bringing families back together, and that’s what we do in kidnap rescue on a good day.”

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