Free Hostage Negotiation by Lena Diaz

considering making her wait while he washed.
    Hurrying forward, he schooled his expression into one of patience instead of the impatient, angry expression he knew he must have worn before. They stopped a few feet from each other, the crowd parting like rapids around a boulder as he debated whether or not to shake her hand. He didn’t want to frighten her. The decision was taken from him when she reached out, not with one hand, but both hands, and wrapped them around his waist.
    “Thank God you came.” Her voice sounded ragged. “Thank you.”
    His shock turned to guilt again as he gently put his arms around her, holding her against his chest. Her whole body was shaking. And it was only then that he realized how traumatic it must have been for her to take the flight out here and brave the crowds of strangers in the airport.
    “Come on.” He urged her toward the wall and away from the steady stream of people. “Do you have more luggage we need to pick up?”
    “N...no. Just this.” She pulled away from him, gave him a watery smile and motioned toward her carry-on. “I’m not even sure what I brought. I just tossed things in until it was full and left.”
    “May I?” He moved his hand toward the suitcase handle but waited for her permission. She seemed so fragile, like a doe that might bolt if he made any sudden moves.
    “Um, sure. Okay. Thank you.” Her eyes flitted past him, taking in their surroundings.
    “Kaylee?”
    “Yes?” She sounded distracted as she watched the people walk past.
    “You can let go of the handle now.”
    She looked down at her hand on her suitcase then let go. “I’m...I’m sorry.” She squared her shoulders before looking up at him again. Some of the fear had left her eyes, and in its place was a look he hadn’t seen in her before...determination. “I really am sorry. About interfering with your search. I promise I wouldn’t have done so if I could have...if I could...do this by myself.” She motioned to the crowd moving past them. “I’m still...uneasy...around strangers.” She fisted her hands at her sides. “I just... I want to help. I know I can help. But I’m not strong enough yet to do it on my own. If you’re with me, I know I can do this, help you find Mary.”
    As she stared up at him with such complete trust and faith, he felt something crack open inside, letting her in where he’d never let anyone else in since losing Jo Lynne all those years ago.
    And that scared the hell out of him.
    He had a job to do, an incredibly important one. There were lives at stake. He couldn’t let this beautiful, fragile woman distract him from what needed to be done. And somehow he had to break this...bond...or whatever it was, that had struck up between them since the moment he’d held her broken body on that road and felt her hand clutch his.
    “We need to go.” Steeling himself against the hurt look that flickered across her face, he turned toward the exit, pulling her suitcase behind him. “It’s going to rain again soon. We need to hurry or we’ll get soaked.”
    “There’s been a lot of rain around here from what I’ve seen on the news.” She was slightly out of breath, probably from keeping pace with his much longer legs.
    He slowed down to match her shorter stride. “It’s wreaked havoc on our search, I can tell you that.”
    They exited through automatic sliding glass doors and he gestured toward his dark blue four-by-four pickup truck parked at the curb about thirty feet to the right with Collier County Deputy Holder standing outside it, arguing with a TSA agent. From the relieved look on Holder’s face when he saw Zack, he was obviously losing the argument.
    “Here he is right now,” Holder told the TSA guard. “This is Chief Zack Scott.”
    Zack smiled at the agent and shook his hand, acutely aware that Kaylee had sucked in a breath and stopped slightly behind him. She probably hadn’t expected him to bring another cop with him. But there was nothing