Free Hostage Negotiation by Lena Diaz Page A

he could do about that now. He’d fully expected it would only take a few minutes to convince her to hop back on her plane and go home. And since Deputy Holder had been paired up with him today to conduct the search of the grid that they’d been assigned, they’d driven to the airport together, rather than leave Holder by himself. They were using the buddy system while searching, acutely aware that they were looking for an extremely dangerous killer, and not wanting any officers isolated and alone, vulnerable to an ambush.
    After soothing the ruffled feathers of the TSA agent and promising not to park in front of the airport like that again, even with a deputy in the car, Zack gestured toward the rear door of the king cab. “Mind sitting back there, Holder? Miss Brighton will sit up front with me.”
    “No problem.”
    Holder nodded at Kaylee when Zack introduced them. As the deputy got into the backseat and took the suitcase, he gave Zack a questioning look. All Zack could do was shrug. How could he explain to the other man why he’d given in and let Kaylee come along with them when he didn’t understand it himself?
    He held open the front passenger door, expecting Kaylee to step up inside. But instead, she stood frozen on the sidewalk, her face as pale as ever. Immediately on alert, Zack turned around, scanning the people and vehicles near them. But he didn’t see anything alarming—except for the TSA agent staring at them, crossing his arms and waiting for the truck to get moving.
    “Miss Brighton... Kaylee, we need to go.”
    A shiver went through her body as she stared at the truck’s front bumper. And that was when Zack realized his blunder. In his rush to get to the airport and convince Kaylee to hop on the next plane to Miami, he hadn’t even considered the possibility that he’d be taking her back with him.
    In the same truck that he’d hit her with when she’d run from her abductor.
    He silently cursed himself for being such an idiot. He could practically see her thoughts flashing across her expressive face. She was valiantly trying to gather her courage, stiffening her spine.
    “Kaylee.” He kept his voice low, gentle. “It’s just a truck, okay? I promise it’s safe. And I’m so, so sorry that I didn’t think to bring a different vehicle. If you want, I can have Deputy Holder drive it back and we can take a cab.” He turned to do just that, wave down a cab, but her soft, warm fingers curled around his forearm.
    “No, wait.” Her hand tightened on his arm. “I’m sorry. You’re right. It’s just a truck.” She gave him a brave smile that was barely above a grimace. “I’ll be okay. Let’s go.”
    He was determined to get a cab but she moved past him and hopped up into the passenger seat. Since the TSA agent was striding toward them again and Zack knew he wouldn’t get off easy this time, he closed the door then hurriedly got into the driver’s side. He squealed the tires pulling away from the curb, leaving a very angry agent behind on the sidewalk, with his hands on his hips.
    Beside him, Kaylee sat stiff and silent. He wished he could think of something to make her feel better, but they weren’t that far from their destination. So he figured the best thing to do now was just bite the bullet and get there as quickly as he could.
    A few minutes later he was heading north on Airport Pulling Road. And a few minutes after that he slowed and put his blinker on to signal his turn onto Mercantile Avenue.
    Kaylee sat up straighter in her seat, her brows crinkling. “Wait, why are you turning? The sign to I-75 says to continue north on this road.”
    “We’re not going to the interstate.” He made the turn.
    She jerked her head toward him. “Isn’t that where you’re searching for Mary? Off Alligator Alley?”
    “Yes.”
    “I don’t understand. Where are we going?”
    “Here.” He turned into the parking lot in front of the Collier County Sheriff’s Office.
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