Page 21 of Come For Me
And yet the consequences of that single decision had been anything but reasonable or normal.
Livie met Dain’s eyes. He could see the understanding, the sympathy for Derrick’s situation warring with the knowledge that her coworker was dead, her own child in danger because of this man’s actions. Her gaze pleaded with him to tell her what to do, how to fix this. He wouldn’t let her down. He just needed to come up with a plan.
“Why did Kelly come here?” he asked Derrick.
“The first payment was due last week.”
“And you didn’t have it.”
“Sylvie had her first treatment last week. The doctor required a deposit. It took most of what I owed, but they wouldn’t let me put off the payment. And then Kelly showed up—”
Because his boss wouldn’t take partial payment either. “And Stan?”
A tear escaped Derrick’s eyes then. “He tried to run. One of Kelly’s thugs—not one of those two,” he said with a jerk of his chin toward the door, “but a different one, he shot…”
A sob choked off in Livie’s throat, muffled behind her hand. Dain slid his palm down her spine, back up, trying to calm her, to give her strength. “He’s the one in the break room, isn’t he?” she asked him.
“I think so.” He knew so, but dwelling on it wouldn’t get them out of here. He met Derrick’s eye, told the man to proceed with a jerk of his chin.
Derrick cleared his throat. “Everyone saw Stan and went nuts. That’s when Kelly corralled us all in here. They made me tie everyone up so they couldn’t cause problems.” He scrubbed his hands over his cheeks, his eyes. “I’m sorry, Olivia. I really am. But you have to understand; without that money, Sylvie won’t get her treatments. I needed it.”
Dain felt a quiver go through Livie’s body where she continued to lean against him. “You think I care about the money?” she asked sharply. Dain knew exactly what she was thinking. Yes, stealing was wrong, but it was money, not a life. He couldn’t imagine choosing between his child’s life or death. “We would’ve helped you, Cecil. We would have; you know that.”
“It’s not enough,” he said, each word heavy with sadness. “I never meant for any of this to happen.”
Intentions wouldn’t bring Stan back to life, though. And they wouldn’t protect Livie and their baby if Kelly or his men were pushed too far. The negotiators would do their best, but giving Kelly what he wanted and getting everyone out of here was the only way to guarantee no one got hurt.
With his arm around her back, Dain urged Livie across the room to a quiet corner. “We need a plan, wife.”
“I know.”
He turned at the wall so he faced the conference room door, then pulled her against him. “Doing okay?”
Her smile was strained. “The baby’s not liking all this tension. I’m trying very hard not to throw up.”
His baby, his wife. He squeezed his eyes shut for the briefest moment. When he opened them, he caught the attention of an older woman sitting not too far away and nodded toward a table in the corner of the room. “Ma’am, can you bring us one of those bottles of water?”
The woman hurried to retrieve a bottle. “Here you go, Olivia,” she said as she handed it over. “You doing okay? They didn’t hurt you, did they?”
“I’m good, Rosie. I promise.”
Rosie retreated to her space along the wall.
Livie took a tentative sip, held it in her mouth, then swallowed. When that stayed down, she sipped again. Dain waited patiently until her gaze latched on to his once more. “What are we going to do?”
His brain had been puzzling over that question as he took care of Livie. “What do you know about these codes Kelly is looking for?”
“I know he keeps—kept—a copy of them in the safe in his office.”
He didn’t want to ask, didn’t want to put her any more at risk than he had to, but their backs were against a wall here. Livie was the vice president of the department Stan had headed. “Do you know the combination?”
Livie’s voice dropped to a whisper. “I think I’m the only one who knows it besides Stan. He was funny about information safety, anything that could tempt an employee, especially with the kinds of sums in those accounts. That’s probably why Cecil couldn’t access them himself—he doesn’t have the combination.”
“Okay.” He cupped her face, tilting it up until their foreheads met. Her beauty took his breath away, and for a moment he let everything go and just absorbed her, treasured her, assured her with his touch and his look that everything would be okay. And it would; he’d make sure of it. If he couldn’t kill the fucker who’d put that fear in her eyes, he’d sure as shit do the next best thing. “They’ll be back soon. The negotiator won’t keep them on the phone forever. Kelly never intended to be in this situation; he wants out as much as we do. So we’re going to give him what he wants: the combination to retrieve those codes.”
Livie’s breath hitched. “The problem is, even with the codes, he can’t leave. The police have this place surrounded, don’t they?”
“They do. But Kelly doesn’t need to get out; the hostages do. Take away the leverage and he’s left holding an empty bag.”
