Page 29 of Save Her Life

Gavin sobbed heavier.

“Let me help you,” she said gently. “Just walk away from all this. You’ll still get a future with your daughter, and she’ll get the meds she needs.”

The seconds seemed to tick off in painful agony as she waited for Gavin to respond.

“Okay.”

One word, and she was breathing easier. It was another step closer to victory. But they weren’t quite there yet. “Okay, great. I will let everyone know that you are coming out peacefully. To make that clear to everyone though, you need to kick the gun out the door and come out with your hands up. Then lie face down on the ground. Can you do that, Gavin?”

“Yeah.”

He ended the call, and she tried calling him back, but he didn’t answer. Before she could make too much of it, the front door opened, and the gun was kicked out. Gavin followed, hands in the air, as he lowered himself to the ground.

Officers moved in and apprehended him.

A while later, the small flood of hostages streamed out escorted by SWAT officers. Each of them was directed to waiting paramedics to be looked over.

Everyone in the command vehicle hooted and hollered, high fives all around.

Ray held out his hand to her. “Great job.”

“You too.” She blew out a breath and took his hand, shook it. Everyone else did the same.

Sandra left the vehicle, braving the cold early morning air, and watched Gavin being led to a police car. What she saw was a desperate father with a warped sense of how to provide for his child. And it was those actions that would send him to prison, likely for the rest of his life since no deal had been extended. But at least he was alive to draw breath.

He looked at her as if he sensed her watching, and she swore when their eyes met, he knew who she was. Had he seen her when she’d first used the bullhorn or looked her up online before they cut service to his phone? She supposed it didn’t really matter.

The incident had taken ten hours and forty-five minutes from start to finish, but this night was finally over. And she couldn’t wait to crawl into bed.

THIRTEEN

Sandra’s strides ate up the sidewalk as she jogged along the Potomac River through Georgetown Waterfront Park. She inhaled the morning air, though she’d gotten a later start than she normally did due to last night. It was eleven AM and most people in the city were at work, set up behind their desks in their corporate offices. She was lucky to be outside and moving.

Her doctor recommended she do something else for exercise “at her age,” but she refused to accept that advice. She was in great physical shape, and there wasn’t a history of joint trouble in her family tree. It wouldn’t matter if there was though. Running was her meditation. Fresh air, moving, and breath expanding her lungs. Not only did the exercise revive her body and mind, it fed her soul. Out here, on the path, she was in her own world, left to her own thoughts. And with her line of work, with her past, she had to do something to keep the demons at bay.

He’s gone, Sandy. Sam’s gone…The thought fired through her mind, and she ticked up her speed. Her darkest memories often rose up and regurgitated old feelings for her to observe and heal. She expected the flashbacks would be worse after yesterday. Not just because of what she had done but theensuing uncertainty while waiting for the verdict on Darrell Patton’s parole request to come through.

Images and recollections had hit after she tucked herself into bed last night, chasing off sleep. The standard endorphin rush that lingered after a negotiation had left her system, but her mind remained awake, molested, and churning. She’d had to stare into the face of the man who had sentenced her brother to death. His bullet, fired from his gun. The intent, the carelessness… Her loss. The entire world’s really. Her brother was a bright light who would have changed things for the better, if only he’d been given a chance.

They said there was nothing they could do…

She clenched her teeth and pushed herself even harder, feeling the burning in her thighs and calves and sinking into it. Her heart was holding a fast, steady rhythm, and a quick peek at her smartwatch confirmed she was in the sweet spot of her cardio zone. But even here in this euphoric state, the recollections wedged in.

She had felt his life leave his body. It was seven o’clock in the evening, and she had been out at the mall with her friends. Sirens had penetrated the corridors an hour earlier. Even then, she somehow knew something was wrong.

“Sandra?” My friend Lisa turns to me. “You look like crap. Are you okay?”

I can’t find my voice. My chest is so heavy, and my stomach is clenching. “I need to… to call home.”

“Okay…”

Sandra ran past a mother pushing a baby in a stroller and dipped her head, before buckling down and pushing harder yet.

I call home on the nearest payphone. Reynold, the Davenports’ major-domo, answers. “Is Sam there?”

“No, miss, he’s out for dinner tonight with his friends. Do you wish that I leave a message for him?”

I shake my head but quickly realize Reynold wouldn’t have seen me. “No. Do you know where he went?”

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