LITMIR.BIZ

      Chapter One

      “The hostage is Luke Vaughn, a three-year-old boy,” Colin Forester heard the tech explain.

      Colin didn’t react. Not on the outside anyway. Inside, however, there was a firestorm of emotions. Colin had been an FBI hostage negotiator for seven years, and he’d seen the worst of the worst.

      A kid hostage was the worst.

      This one was hardly more than a baby. And the boy was in big trouble because this wasn’t an ordinary hostage situation.

      According to the preliminary info Colin had gotten from his director at the Durango FBI office, the hostage taker wasn’t the usual perp for this sort of crime. He was a professional hit man. That’s the reason Colin had left Durango as soon as he got word of the kidnapping, so he could get to Kenner City and try to put a stop to this.

      “Tell me about the hit man,” Colin said to Rusty Cepeda, the young Kenner County Crime Unit lab tech who was driving him to the estate. Rusty was obviously a rookie tech since he wasn’t on scene but rather playing chauffeur to Colin.

      “His name is Boyd Perkins. Age forty-one. His rap sheet goes back nearly two decades, and he works for Nicky Wayne, a Vegas crime boss.”

      So, not just a hit man but a career criminal.

      Rusty continued to maneuver the four-wheel drive up the rain-slicked steep mountain road toward the Vaughn estate where the child was being held. It was a fifteen-minute trek from Kenner City to the estate, Rusty had told Colin when he’d picked him up in town. Colin wanted to use every second of that time to learn whatever he could about the persons involved.

      “Boyd Perkins,” Colin repeated under his breath. When he made contact with him, he would call him by his first name. He’d try to establish a rapport while he diffused a situation that could turn deadly. “And Boyd’s ties to the Wayne crime family have been verified?”

      “Oh, yeah,” Rusty confirmed. “And I guess you heard Boyd murdered an FBI agent?”

      “I heard.” Colin had to take a deep breath. That alone made him want to take Boyd down, but arresting him for murder would have to wait. “Go over the details of the kidnapping again.” And Colin shut out the summer wind and the rain that were assaulting the vehicle. He shut out everything so he could focus.

      “About ten hours ago, the boy’s father, Griffin Vaughn, reported that his son had been taken hostage inside the estate. The sheriff then called the Kenner County Crime Unit and the FBI, and we all hurried out to the scene. The estate has a gate, and it was locked up tight. Boyd’s controlling the gate from the inside. One of the FBI agents, Tom Ryan, was able to make phone contact with Boyd, but Boyd wouldn’t negotiate.”

      Not yet anyway. Colin would have to change the hit man’s mind. “What about demands? Has Boyd made any?”

      “Only that he wants us to move away from the house. We figured you could help with getting him to tell us what he’s after.”

      It was near the top of the list, and then Colin could start to work on a compromise. “Did Boyd say if the child was okay?”

      “He says he is. But Boyd warned us if Luke’s parents and the officers didn’t stay far away from the place, the boy would pay the consequences.”

      That clenched Colin’s gut into a tight knot. The threat of violence. God knew how the kid was reacting to that. He didn’t know much about three-year-olds, but Luke probably realized he was in danger.

      The Jeep crawled up the last leg of the road, and Colin spotted the house next to a lake that reflected the iron-gray sky. The place deserved to be labeled an estate because it sprawled out in front of them, seemingly taking up most of the mountain top. It’d be a bear to secure a place that size, but on the upside, the lake and the rugged terrain surrounding it might make it impossible for Boyd to escape.

      “Any idea where Boyd’s holding the hostage?” Colin asked.

      “We’re

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