Page 11 of Save Her Life

“Yeah.”

That was close enough tothat’s right. Such a response would unconsciously embed in his subconscious that she was on the same page as him. “We have a husband out here, Joshua, who is really concerned about his wife, Megan. She just had a craving for ice cream.” By using names, relationship, and something so basic as why Megan was at the store, it would encourage the HT to see his hostages as real people like himself. If he viewed them that way, he’d be less likely to hurt anyone. “Could I talk to her, at least?”

He didn’t respond, and there was no background noise whatsoever. Not even the sound of anyone crying. He must be in another room from the hostages. But then how was he keeping them there? She continued. “Megan’s thirty-three, and she and her husband are expecting their first baby.”

He sniffled. Allergies, a cold, or emotion? It was hard to tell, but it was a break she needed.

“But she is okay, so I can tell Joshua, her husband, that?” she prompted.

“She’s just fine. I swear I didn’t hurt her.” He thrust the last sentence out with a note of disgust, as if injuring her would have been detestable.

Ray wrote,Detect empathy.

She did too, and that was a breakthrough. Sharing Megan’s story had worked. “You didn’t hurt her?” She intentionally parroted his words, serving them back in a curious tone. By repeating him, it confirmed she was listening when he spoke, and it was a tactic that would encourage him to elaborate. In this case, she wanted to ensure there wasn’t anything between the lines of what he’d said.

“No. She’s just fine.”

“That’s great news…” She left room for him to volunteer his name, which he didn’t. She wasn’t going to push it when he was still talking. “I’ll let her husband, Joshua, know that she’s okay, that she isn’t hurt.”

“Whatever. Everyone’s good,” he reiterated.

“You sound like you’re tired and could use some rest.”

He laughed, dry and full of irony. “The feds are here for me. I’m not going anywhere!”

“Sandra. I’m the only fed here, and I’m on your side, like everyone else here. All this can end peacefully now, no one gets hurt, including you, and you can go home and get some sleep. You haven’t done anything you can’t walk away from.”

“Nah, I saw them out there… The men dressed in Kevlar, carrying big guns. No way they are going to let that happen.” He sniffled again, and Sandra sensed desperation. And that bred impulsive action.

“Nah, we’ve been talking. I’ll let them know you just want to end this peacefully.”

There were several seconds of silence.

She spoke again. “Please, just let me do this for you. It’s the least I can do, but I’d really like to know what I should call you.”

“Gavin.”

Richie wrote this down with a fast hand.

“Gavin, we can do this now. As I said, you can still walk away from this. Do you want me to arrange for you to come out, allsafe and sound? Then you can put all this behind you and get some rest.”

“No, I’m not doing that.”

While she’d wished for a more positive answer, she hadn’t expected one. “All right. I’m still here for you, and as long as you continue to keep the hostages safe, we can keep talking. Is there something I can do for you? Anything that might make you feel more comfortable?”

“I just wanted the drugs,” he burst out. “That’s all, but they wouldn’t give them to me. I had no choice but to…”

Richie, ever the dutiful scribe, was furiously writing.

Ray gave her a note that read,Felt backed into a corner… Prescription?

“No choice but to what, Gavin?” She had to know what he was referring to. Taking hostages? Hurting someone and lying about it?

“Locking things down.”

“Okay. Tell me what drug you need, Gavin, and I’ll get it for you. Was it a prescription?”

Gavin hung up.

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