Page 97 of Save Her Life

“Shit, shit, shit!” He started pacing and tugging at his hair.

Knowing there was an FBI response helped her envision a happy ending easier than a moment ago, but Jennings’s mental state was far from ideal. She needed to work on setting him at ease. “You didn’t want all this to happen. You just wanted the gold you worked so hard to get your hands on. Things have just gotten out of control.” Sandra passed a quick glance at Olivia, so minuscule that Jennings could have missed it. A tear snaked down her daughter’s cheek, and it nearly toppled Sandra.

Jennings leveled a nasty stare at her. “Which they’ll have now,” he spat. “They’re all over your Mercedes back there. Fuck, I should have had us bring the crate inside. Son of a bitch!” He punched the wall and howled.

“It’s not too late, Lonnie.” She continued talking to him in a docile manner. If she could get him to calm down, she might be able to turn things around.

“It clearly is!”

“It’s not over until it’s over. The people out there want this to come to a peaceful resolution too. No one needs to get hurt. That call is up to you.”

“No, it’s over.”

“It’s not,” she said firmly.

Jennings stomped back over to Olivia and put the gun to her head again.

The mother in her screamed.

Time stood still.

The negotiator in her came to life. “You kill her, there will be nothing stopping those people from coming in here and killing you.Nothing.That’s not whatyouwant.” It was very clear that Jennings was more narcissistic than suicidal. “You want your gold. I can help you get it.”

Seconds ticked off. One by painful one.

Jennings eventually said, “What do you propose?”

“The way this works is there must be a back and forth, give and take. You do something, you get something. It’s how everyone walks away happy. I’m sure I can get you half of the gold?—”

“Half?”

“Actually more than half, five bars, if you give uphalfof your hostages.” She flicked a look to Olivia, and her stomach clenched. She couldn’t think about what might happen when Jennings discovered the gold was fake.

“Her? No, I can’t do that. I won’t. And what good is some of the gold?”

“It’s worth a lot, Lonnie. Now, I’m not outside, but I know from many incidents I’ve worked, some like this one, there’salways guys with guns who want to rush in and put an end to things.” She hoped he received the mental picture she was trying to project. A hail of bullets. A bloodbath.

Again, time slowed. Stood still.

“Fine,” he said. “But any of this goes sideways, I will kill you both.”

“I understand. Just give me your phone, and I’ll let Brice know what you’ve agreed to.”

“Okay.” Jennings powered his phone, unlocked it, and handed it over to her.

She called Brice. At the sound of his voice, her heart lifted. There was hope for a happy ending. She just had to focus and do the job she was trained for. “Lonnie’s ready to send out Olivia for five of the gold bars.”

There was a delay to his response. No doubt he was considering how this would turn out once Jennings discovered the bars were fake. But that was her problem to worry about. “I hear you, Sandra. We’ll get that together. Five minutes at the back door.”

“Five minutes,” she repeated. She’d normally set a timer, but she couldn’t risk Jennings’s phone chiming and jolting him. To Jennings, she said, “We have to get Olivia ready to leave.”

“Cut the ties with this.” Jennings took a pair of clippers from a pocket and handed them to her. He held his gun on them while Sandra removed the restraints binding Olivia’s wrists and ankles to the chair. As soon as she was freed, Olivia popped up, arms open wide to hug her mother, but her legs crumpled before she got there. Sandra steadied her and squeezed her as hard as she could.

“That’s enough.” Jennings nudged Olivia’s shoulder.

The girl stood taller, and Sandra caught the defiant glint in her eye. She subtly shook her head, advising her daughter toback down. She breathed easier when she saw Olivia’s shoulders lower slightly.

“We need to go to the back door. That’s where they’ll make the exchange.” She said all this to Jennings, not her daughter, and purposely spoke of her as if she wasn’t there. Jennings needed to feel he had some power in this moment.

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