Lullabies & Dead Bodies, page 27
“Love you too.”
“Hey there! Give me that.”
Sidney greeted Bree at the front door of Hope House and took the large basket containing the casserole and dinner rolls from her hands.
“Bree! You shouldn’t be carrying something this heavy.”
“Oh, stop it. You sound like Adam. I’m pregnant, not helpless.”
“Yeah, I admit I’m a little surprised that he even allows you to drive right now,” Sidney teased. Everyone close to them had witnessed Adam’s overbearing paternal instincts growing as Bree’s pregnancy progressed.
“Don’t say that around him. You’ll put the idea in his overprotective head.”
Sidney laughed and led her down the hall to the kitchen.
“It was really nice of you to do this,” Sidney placed the huge basket on the counter.
“Do what?”
They turned to see Zoe enter the kitchen.
“Bring over a delicious and healthy meal for the residents.” Sidney gestured to the basket, which she noticed also contained a plate of brownies for dessert.
“It was nothing,” Bree said with a wave of her hand. “I just wanted to do something to help.”
“Well, we certainly appreciate any kindness,” Zoe smiled at her.
“Bree, this is my new boss, Zoe Ridley, founder and director of Hope House.”
“Oh, hello. It’s nice to meet you.” Bree reached out a hand, which Zoe shook.
“Zoe, this is my good friend, Bree Taylor, one of the best cooks I’ve ever met in my entire life. And also my future sister-in-law.”
Bree turned big round eyes on her, and Sidney couldn’t help herself. She burst into excited giggles. She hadn’t told anyone yet, not even her brother, Simon, and she couldn’t contain it any longer.
“No. Way!”
“Yes!”
“Really?”
Sidney nodded frantically.
“Yep! It happened last night.”
As if on cue, they squealed together like preteens at a boyband concert, and Zoe stood by laughing. Two of the residents rushed into the kitchen, equal parts of fear and curiosity on their faces. One of them was Carla, Kevin’s mom.
“Congratulations!” Zoe called out.
“Thank you!” Sidney said, still unable to control the grin on her face.
“Adam didn’t say a word. Let me see the ring!” Bree demanded.
Sidney shook her head. “Nope, no. There’s no ring yet. Adam didn’t say anything because he probably didn’t know. Ike’s proposal was completely spontaneous, and very sweet and romantic.”
“Oh, my God. Sid. I’m so excited and happy for you! For both of you. Isaac is so great, and he’s deserved this kind of happiness for a long time.”
“Thank you. And I agree. About Isaac, I mean.”
They were silent for a few seconds. And then Bree grinned.
“Sisters!” she squealed.
“Sisters!”
Sidney’s answering squeal was met with more laughter from Zoe and the other ladies while Sidney and Bree embraced.
Once the excitement died down, and Bree had given them the reheating instructions for the casserole, Sidney took her on a little tour of the first floor of the facility.
“When is your baby due?”
Tina, one of the residents, looked up at Bree from her spot on the couch. She was curled up with her feet beneath her, looking somewhat like an abandoned kitten.
“Three more weeks.” Bree made a face, and Sidney smiled at the exchange.
“Is it your first?” Tina asked.
“It is. My husband and I are really excited.”
“It’s my first too.” Tina said, caressing her small baby bump. “I’m really happy about it, but nervous too. I just never thought I’d be doing this alone, you know?”
“Oh. I’m sorry.” Bree sat down next to her, and Sidney could see the compassion all over her friend’s face.
“No, don’t be,” Tina said. “I did what I had to do for my baby. Leaving was the best thing. I know that. It’s just hard.”
Bree reached out and squeezed the girl’s hand, and Sidney took a seat in a nearby chair and settled in, listening to them talk about babies and about Tina’s plans to head back home to Phoenix just as soon as her mother wired the bus fair for her.
As they discussed Tina’s future, a large figure appeared in the wide doorway of living room, and Sidney glanced up to see a man, angry and glowering, looming above them.
He was familiar somehow. She’d seen him before. But where?
“I’m here for my wife,” he growled, and Sidney’s stomach fell.
The man from yesterday afternoon. The man who’d tried to yank his wife out the front door and only left when they’d called the police.
Tom. That was his name.
“Diane!”
The man bellowed, and turned down the hall.
Sidney got to her feet.
She had zero idea of what to do, but she knew they needed to do something. How did he get inside the house? He hadn’t come through the front door, they would’ve heard him. Not to mention the front door was kept locked to prevent these things from happening.
“Diane!”
At the sound of an angry man’s voice in the house, the tension spiked like heat during a desert summer. Sidney could feel it.
Carla and another resident came in from the kitchen and they froze at the sight of him.
Zoe came running from the office.
“You again! How did you get in here?”
“I want Diane! Where is she?”
While Zoe tried to reason with him, Sidney pulled out her cellphone and shot a text to Isaac.
* * *
911 Need help @HopeHouse
* * *
“Sir, you are trespassing, and I will call the police again,” Zoe glared at him.
To a chorus of screams, Tom suddenly whipped out a gun.
“You’re not calling anybody, bitch!”
He swung the gun like a club, ramming the butt of it into Zoe’s head.
She fell to the floor, unconscious.
He turned to face Sidney and the others.
“Throw your cellphones over here right now. Nobody’s calling anyone until I get to talk to my wife!”
Sidney and Bree tossed their cellphones over to him, where he kicked them into a corner near where Zoe lay.
“You too!” he shouted at Tina.
“I-I don’t have a cellphone. I don’t have one.”
At that moment, Sidney’s cellphone began to ring. Or rather, sing. The chorus of Whitney Houston’s “Love That Man.” Her special ringtone for Isaac.
“Diane! You better get your ass out here now, or you’ll be sorry!”
Two women came slowly down the stairs, clutching each other and crying.
“Oh, my God!”
Diane let go of the other woman and ran down the rest of the stairs, rushing over to Zoe.
“What did you do, Tom? What did you do to her?”
Sidney’s phone began to sing again.
Tom grabbed Diane by the arm and pulled her to him. Then he brandished the gun at the other woman.
“Get over there with the others!”
All the women huddled together, and Sidney’s mind raced frantically. The children. If Tom had broken in just an hour earlier the three children who were in residence would’ve still been here. Thank God they were at school right now.
“We’re leaving,” Tom said, tightening his grip on Diane’s arm. “You’re coming with me.”
“Oooh.”
Bree let out a low agonizing moan and doubled over.
“Bree!”
Sidney reached out and took her hand.
“Are you okay?”
Tom waved his gun at them just as Sidney’s phone rang for a third time.
“Shut the fuck up!”
Bree moaned again, but this time it was louder. Scarier. More insistent.
“Sidney! I think I’m going into labor.”
Isaac stood in the detectives pit staring at the case board. His meltdown yesterday was still fresh in his mind, but so was the miraculous way his woman had swooped in and pulled him from the depths of despair. He had no clue how he would’ve faced himself today if he’d spent the night in a Tennessee whiskey stupor.
He didn’t have to imagine the feeling of self-loathing and disgust because he’d lived it all before. He knew only too well how much he would’ve hated even the sight of himself in a mirror today if he’d taken that drink.
But he hadn’t. Thanks to Sidney.
Sidney.
A slow smile creeped over his face at the very thought of her.
Had she really said yes last night?
Hell, had he really asked the question? The question?
Isaac’s private little smile quietly morphed into a soft personal chuckle, and he folded his arms and looked down. He’d never felt as light and optimistic as he did today, and he had no doubt what had brought that odd sensation on.
Sidney said yes.
“Yeah, well you’re going to be sorry. Mark my words. You can’t find happiness with the dragon lady.”
The words caught him by surprise, and Isaac turned to see Gerri Miller and Curt Dorn take their seats at their desks. He knew he shouldn’t, but he had to ask.
“Dragon lady?”
Gerri turned to him with a smirk.
“Yeah. He went on a date with her.”
“I’m not sure if you could call what we did dating.” Curt’s grin was disgustingly lewd.
Isaac raised an eyebrow, and Gerri made a face.
“Natalie Bains. Curt tries to claim there’s some deep meaningful connection going on between them, like I don’t know what’s what.” She turned back to her partner. “But that woman is a man eater, Curt. She’ll suck your very soul right out of your dick and leave you for dead.”
Curt flashed them all a very salacious grin.
“Maybe. But what a way to go. Am I right, fellas?”
Pete snorted and rolled his eyes.
Isaac said nothing, but he stored the information away. Curt was seeing Natalie Bains. Now wasn’t that an interesting bit of news? He was about to comment on it when his cellphone chirped, indicating he had a new text. He pulled it out of his pocket and read:
* * *
911 Need help @HopeHouse
* * *
He frowned and wondered what was going on. When no explanation came, he dialed Sidney back.
It rang and rang, then went to voicemail.
What the hell?
“Is something wrong, Ike?”
He glanced at Pete and then back at his phone. “Not sure,” he said as he dialed Sidney a second time.
Again it rang and went straight to voicemail.
Dread crawled along his spine like a big, hairy spider.
Something was wrong. He could feel it.
Already heading for the stairs, he called over his shoulder, “I have to run out for a bit. Call my cell if you need me.”
He was down four flights of stairs and out the door to his car in no time flat. He started it up, slightly startled when Pete jumped into the passenger seat. He hadn’t realized his partner had been right behind him.
“What’s going on, Ike? You look like something’s wrong.”
Isaac threw the car into gear and sped off down the street.
“Not sure. Got a cryptic text from Sid that there’s some kind of trouble at the Hope House.”
“That’s the women’s shelter she’s working at now, right?”
“That’s the place.”
He turned on his police light to help him zip through the traffic. When they pulled up in front of the shelter less than ten minutes later, he tried one last time to call Sidney. Still no answer.
“Everything looks quiet,” Pete said, looking out at the property.
“Looks can be deceiving,” Isaac mumbled as he got out of the car.
They walked up the steps to the porch and Isaac knocked on the front door.
There was no response. Nothing.
“Sidney?” he called out. “It’s Isaac. Anybody home?”
He didn’t want to identify himself as a cop. Not just yet. Not when he had no clue what was going on inside.
There was no movement, no sound from inside. He motioned for Pete to try the knob.
Pete reached out and tried to open the door, but it was locked. He silently shook his head.
Isaac moved over to the nearest window and peered in. Through the lace curtains he could see Sidney with a group of women huddled together on, and next to, the couch. He also saw a pair of legs on the floor and knew someone was hurt.
“Fuck,” he whispered, fear grinding his gut.
He motioned for Pete to follow him back to the street.
“Call Hayes. Tell him we’ve got a hostage situation at the women’s shelter on Portsbridge.”
22
“They’re going away!”
Tom’s voice was a victorious whisper, but Sidney knew better.
“No, they’re not.” How she managed to keep her voice calm and confident, she’d never know.
Tom whipped around and pointed the gun at her. The residents quietly shrieked.
“What did you say?”
Sidney lifted her chin. She wouldn’t cower to this overgrown bully. Her heart may be racing in terror, but she would die before she let him know that. She looked him in the eyes with defiance.
“He’s not going away. He’s a cop, and he loves me. And because I didn’t answer him, he’s going to know that something is wrong. He is not going away.”
Tom’s face turned as red as a radish.
“Fuck!” he screamed. “All I wanted was to talk to my fucking wife! But you people wouldn’t let me do that. You had to make me come in here with a gun to get your attention. And now the cops are here?”
He looked at Sidney once more, aiming the gun at her.
“I should kill you right now. You called them, didn’t you?”
“No!”
The scream came from the woman he was still holding tight to. His wife, Diane.
“No, she didn’t. I called them. I called them when I was upstairs. They must’ve sent him because she works here.”
Sidney glared at her, stunned.
“You stupid bitch!”
Tom turned and punched Diane in the face. Diane landed on the floor, next to where Zoe was still unconscious.
Sidney moved to help her.
“Sit the fuck down!”
She resumed her seat next to Bree on the sofa.
“It’s all right, Sidney. I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere until you’re safe.”
Isaac’s voice whispered softly inside her mind, just like the last time she’d been in danger. She took Bree’s hand and tried to take comfort in Ike’s psychic superpowers.
Outside, Isaac stared up at the house from the street. Without even trying, his mind reached out, probing. Searching. Seeking a familiar connection.
“It’s all right, Sidney,” he whispered. “I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere until you’re safe.”
He wasn’t trained in hostage negotiation. And he knew that when the calvary finally arrived, he would most likely be ripped a new one for inserting himself into the middle of this situation without authorization, but at the moment he could not give half a shit. Sidney — his future wife — was in danger, and he would go to hell and back to save her.
He pulled out his phone and dialed her again. This time when it went to voicemail, he disconnected immediately and dialed right back. He did it again, and again, again. Finally on the fifth try, a man’s angry voice answered.
“What!”
Isaac didn’t hesitate. He jumped right in.
“My name’s Isaac. I’m outside, and I just want to talk to the owner of this phone.”
“Well, my name is Tom, and I don’t care what you want!”
SWAT pulled up, along with multiple cruisers that proceeded to block off the street at both ends. Isaac glanced around and spotted Lieutenant Hayes getting out of a car, and he motioned for Pete to fill them in.
“Is everything okay in there, Tom?” Isaac asked, keeping his voice steady even though his heart was anything but.
“I know who you are!” Tom practically screamed. “You’re a cop, and I’m not talking to you.”
“Okay, don’t,” Isaac said quickly, trying to catch him before he hung up. “Don’t talk to me. Let me talk to Sidney. Let me talk to anyone else inside the house.”
He had no clue if that was the right way to go, and he fully expected Tom to simply hang up on him. But to his surprise he heard him ask, “Are you Sidney?”
There were a lot of shuffling sounds.
“Isaac?”
A rush of relief ran through his system like a waterfall at the sound of her voice.
“Sid? What’s going on in there, baby? Everybody okay?”
“No. Zoe’s been hurt. She’s out cold, but it’s been a long time so I think she might need real medical attention.”
“Okay. What else?”
“Bree. She’s having contractions, Ike. I think she’s in labor!”
“Shit,” he mumbled. “What the hell is Bree doing in there, Sidney?”
“She was just visiting. She wanted to volunteer some meals so the residents with kids had one less thing to worry about. I told her it would be okay, but now…”
“Okay, all right.” Isaac cut her off. They had enough to worry about right now without adding her guilt into the mix. “How many are inside?”
“Um, five residents, plus Bree, Zoe, and me. Thankfully, the kids are in school.”
“Do you know who Tom is or what he wants?”
“He’s the husband of one of the residents. He came by the other day demanding to talk to Diane. We called the police and he left, but…”
“All right, that’s enough!” Tom’s voice was gruff, and Isaac heard Sidney grunt as the phone was yanked from her hand. “Bye, cop.”
“No, wait! Tom, listen to me…”
The line went dead.
“Fuck!”
“Hey there! Give me that.”
Sidney greeted Bree at the front door of Hope House and took the large basket containing the casserole and dinner rolls from her hands.
“Bree! You shouldn’t be carrying something this heavy.”
“Oh, stop it. You sound like Adam. I’m pregnant, not helpless.”
“Yeah, I admit I’m a little surprised that he even allows you to drive right now,” Sidney teased. Everyone close to them had witnessed Adam’s overbearing paternal instincts growing as Bree’s pregnancy progressed.
“Don’t say that around him. You’ll put the idea in his overprotective head.”
Sidney laughed and led her down the hall to the kitchen.
“It was really nice of you to do this,” Sidney placed the huge basket on the counter.
“Do what?”
They turned to see Zoe enter the kitchen.
“Bring over a delicious and healthy meal for the residents.” Sidney gestured to the basket, which she noticed also contained a plate of brownies for dessert.
“It was nothing,” Bree said with a wave of her hand. “I just wanted to do something to help.”
“Well, we certainly appreciate any kindness,” Zoe smiled at her.
“Bree, this is my new boss, Zoe Ridley, founder and director of Hope House.”
“Oh, hello. It’s nice to meet you.” Bree reached out a hand, which Zoe shook.
“Zoe, this is my good friend, Bree Taylor, one of the best cooks I’ve ever met in my entire life. And also my future sister-in-law.”
Bree turned big round eyes on her, and Sidney couldn’t help herself. She burst into excited giggles. She hadn’t told anyone yet, not even her brother, Simon, and she couldn’t contain it any longer.
“No. Way!”
“Yes!”
“Really?”
Sidney nodded frantically.
“Yep! It happened last night.”
As if on cue, they squealed together like preteens at a boyband concert, and Zoe stood by laughing. Two of the residents rushed into the kitchen, equal parts of fear and curiosity on their faces. One of them was Carla, Kevin’s mom.
“Congratulations!” Zoe called out.
“Thank you!” Sidney said, still unable to control the grin on her face.
“Adam didn’t say a word. Let me see the ring!” Bree demanded.
Sidney shook her head. “Nope, no. There’s no ring yet. Adam didn’t say anything because he probably didn’t know. Ike’s proposal was completely spontaneous, and very sweet and romantic.”
“Oh, my God. Sid. I’m so excited and happy for you! For both of you. Isaac is so great, and he’s deserved this kind of happiness for a long time.”
“Thank you. And I agree. About Isaac, I mean.”
They were silent for a few seconds. And then Bree grinned.
“Sisters!” she squealed.
“Sisters!”
Sidney’s answering squeal was met with more laughter from Zoe and the other ladies while Sidney and Bree embraced.
Once the excitement died down, and Bree had given them the reheating instructions for the casserole, Sidney took her on a little tour of the first floor of the facility.
“When is your baby due?”
Tina, one of the residents, looked up at Bree from her spot on the couch. She was curled up with her feet beneath her, looking somewhat like an abandoned kitten.
“Three more weeks.” Bree made a face, and Sidney smiled at the exchange.
“Is it your first?” Tina asked.
“It is. My husband and I are really excited.”
“It’s my first too.” Tina said, caressing her small baby bump. “I’m really happy about it, but nervous too. I just never thought I’d be doing this alone, you know?”
“Oh. I’m sorry.” Bree sat down next to her, and Sidney could see the compassion all over her friend’s face.
“No, don’t be,” Tina said. “I did what I had to do for my baby. Leaving was the best thing. I know that. It’s just hard.”
Bree reached out and squeezed the girl’s hand, and Sidney took a seat in a nearby chair and settled in, listening to them talk about babies and about Tina’s plans to head back home to Phoenix just as soon as her mother wired the bus fair for her.
As they discussed Tina’s future, a large figure appeared in the wide doorway of living room, and Sidney glanced up to see a man, angry and glowering, looming above them.
He was familiar somehow. She’d seen him before. But where?
“I’m here for my wife,” he growled, and Sidney’s stomach fell.
The man from yesterday afternoon. The man who’d tried to yank his wife out the front door and only left when they’d called the police.
Tom. That was his name.
“Diane!”
The man bellowed, and turned down the hall.
Sidney got to her feet.
She had zero idea of what to do, but she knew they needed to do something. How did he get inside the house? He hadn’t come through the front door, they would’ve heard him. Not to mention the front door was kept locked to prevent these things from happening.
“Diane!”
At the sound of an angry man’s voice in the house, the tension spiked like heat during a desert summer. Sidney could feel it.
Carla and another resident came in from the kitchen and they froze at the sight of him.
Zoe came running from the office.
“You again! How did you get in here?”
“I want Diane! Where is she?”
While Zoe tried to reason with him, Sidney pulled out her cellphone and shot a text to Isaac.
* * *
911 Need help @HopeHouse
* * *
“Sir, you are trespassing, and I will call the police again,” Zoe glared at him.
To a chorus of screams, Tom suddenly whipped out a gun.
“You’re not calling anybody, bitch!”
He swung the gun like a club, ramming the butt of it into Zoe’s head.
She fell to the floor, unconscious.
He turned to face Sidney and the others.
“Throw your cellphones over here right now. Nobody’s calling anyone until I get to talk to my wife!”
Sidney and Bree tossed their cellphones over to him, where he kicked them into a corner near where Zoe lay.
“You too!” he shouted at Tina.
“I-I don’t have a cellphone. I don’t have one.”
At that moment, Sidney’s cellphone began to ring. Or rather, sing. The chorus of Whitney Houston’s “Love That Man.” Her special ringtone for Isaac.
“Diane! You better get your ass out here now, or you’ll be sorry!”
Two women came slowly down the stairs, clutching each other and crying.
“Oh, my God!”
Diane let go of the other woman and ran down the rest of the stairs, rushing over to Zoe.
“What did you do, Tom? What did you do to her?”
Sidney’s phone began to sing again.
Tom grabbed Diane by the arm and pulled her to him. Then he brandished the gun at the other woman.
“Get over there with the others!”
All the women huddled together, and Sidney’s mind raced frantically. The children. If Tom had broken in just an hour earlier the three children who were in residence would’ve still been here. Thank God they were at school right now.
“We’re leaving,” Tom said, tightening his grip on Diane’s arm. “You’re coming with me.”
“Oooh.”
Bree let out a low agonizing moan and doubled over.
“Bree!”
Sidney reached out and took her hand.
“Are you okay?”
Tom waved his gun at them just as Sidney’s phone rang for a third time.
“Shut the fuck up!”
Bree moaned again, but this time it was louder. Scarier. More insistent.
“Sidney! I think I’m going into labor.”
Isaac stood in the detectives pit staring at the case board. His meltdown yesterday was still fresh in his mind, but so was the miraculous way his woman had swooped in and pulled him from the depths of despair. He had no clue how he would’ve faced himself today if he’d spent the night in a Tennessee whiskey stupor.
He didn’t have to imagine the feeling of self-loathing and disgust because he’d lived it all before. He knew only too well how much he would’ve hated even the sight of himself in a mirror today if he’d taken that drink.
But he hadn’t. Thanks to Sidney.
Sidney.
A slow smile creeped over his face at the very thought of her.
Had she really said yes last night?
Hell, had he really asked the question? The question?
Isaac’s private little smile quietly morphed into a soft personal chuckle, and he folded his arms and looked down. He’d never felt as light and optimistic as he did today, and he had no doubt what had brought that odd sensation on.
Sidney said yes.
“Yeah, well you’re going to be sorry. Mark my words. You can’t find happiness with the dragon lady.”
The words caught him by surprise, and Isaac turned to see Gerri Miller and Curt Dorn take their seats at their desks. He knew he shouldn’t, but he had to ask.
“Dragon lady?”
Gerri turned to him with a smirk.
“Yeah. He went on a date with her.”
“I’m not sure if you could call what we did dating.” Curt’s grin was disgustingly lewd.
Isaac raised an eyebrow, and Gerri made a face.
“Natalie Bains. Curt tries to claim there’s some deep meaningful connection going on between them, like I don’t know what’s what.” She turned back to her partner. “But that woman is a man eater, Curt. She’ll suck your very soul right out of your dick and leave you for dead.”
Curt flashed them all a very salacious grin.
“Maybe. But what a way to go. Am I right, fellas?”
Pete snorted and rolled his eyes.
Isaac said nothing, but he stored the information away. Curt was seeing Natalie Bains. Now wasn’t that an interesting bit of news? He was about to comment on it when his cellphone chirped, indicating he had a new text. He pulled it out of his pocket and read:
* * *
911 Need help @HopeHouse
* * *
He frowned and wondered what was going on. When no explanation came, he dialed Sidney back.
It rang and rang, then went to voicemail.
What the hell?
“Is something wrong, Ike?”
He glanced at Pete and then back at his phone. “Not sure,” he said as he dialed Sidney a second time.
Again it rang and went straight to voicemail.
Dread crawled along his spine like a big, hairy spider.
Something was wrong. He could feel it.
Already heading for the stairs, he called over his shoulder, “I have to run out for a bit. Call my cell if you need me.”
He was down four flights of stairs and out the door to his car in no time flat. He started it up, slightly startled when Pete jumped into the passenger seat. He hadn’t realized his partner had been right behind him.
“What’s going on, Ike? You look like something’s wrong.”
Isaac threw the car into gear and sped off down the street.
“Not sure. Got a cryptic text from Sid that there’s some kind of trouble at the Hope House.”
“That’s the women’s shelter she’s working at now, right?”
“That’s the place.”
He turned on his police light to help him zip through the traffic. When they pulled up in front of the shelter less than ten minutes later, he tried one last time to call Sidney. Still no answer.
“Everything looks quiet,” Pete said, looking out at the property.
“Looks can be deceiving,” Isaac mumbled as he got out of the car.
They walked up the steps to the porch and Isaac knocked on the front door.
There was no response. Nothing.
“Sidney?” he called out. “It’s Isaac. Anybody home?”
He didn’t want to identify himself as a cop. Not just yet. Not when he had no clue what was going on inside.
There was no movement, no sound from inside. He motioned for Pete to try the knob.
Pete reached out and tried to open the door, but it was locked. He silently shook his head.
Isaac moved over to the nearest window and peered in. Through the lace curtains he could see Sidney with a group of women huddled together on, and next to, the couch. He also saw a pair of legs on the floor and knew someone was hurt.
“Fuck,” he whispered, fear grinding his gut.
He motioned for Pete to follow him back to the street.
“Call Hayes. Tell him we’ve got a hostage situation at the women’s shelter on Portsbridge.”
22
“They’re going away!”
Tom’s voice was a victorious whisper, but Sidney knew better.
“No, they’re not.” How she managed to keep her voice calm and confident, she’d never know.
Tom whipped around and pointed the gun at her. The residents quietly shrieked.
“What did you say?”
Sidney lifted her chin. She wouldn’t cower to this overgrown bully. Her heart may be racing in terror, but she would die before she let him know that. She looked him in the eyes with defiance.
“He’s not going away. He’s a cop, and he loves me. And because I didn’t answer him, he’s going to know that something is wrong. He is not going away.”
Tom’s face turned as red as a radish.
“Fuck!” he screamed. “All I wanted was to talk to my fucking wife! But you people wouldn’t let me do that. You had to make me come in here with a gun to get your attention. And now the cops are here?”
He looked at Sidney once more, aiming the gun at her.
“I should kill you right now. You called them, didn’t you?”
“No!”
The scream came from the woman he was still holding tight to. His wife, Diane.
“No, she didn’t. I called them. I called them when I was upstairs. They must’ve sent him because she works here.”
Sidney glared at her, stunned.
“You stupid bitch!”
Tom turned and punched Diane in the face. Diane landed on the floor, next to where Zoe was still unconscious.
Sidney moved to help her.
“Sit the fuck down!”
She resumed her seat next to Bree on the sofa.
“It’s all right, Sidney. I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere until you’re safe.”
Isaac’s voice whispered softly inside her mind, just like the last time she’d been in danger. She took Bree’s hand and tried to take comfort in Ike’s psychic superpowers.
Outside, Isaac stared up at the house from the street. Without even trying, his mind reached out, probing. Searching. Seeking a familiar connection.
“It’s all right, Sidney,” he whispered. “I’m here, and I’m not going anywhere until you’re safe.”
He wasn’t trained in hostage negotiation. And he knew that when the calvary finally arrived, he would most likely be ripped a new one for inserting himself into the middle of this situation without authorization, but at the moment he could not give half a shit. Sidney — his future wife — was in danger, and he would go to hell and back to save her.
He pulled out his phone and dialed her again. This time when it went to voicemail, he disconnected immediately and dialed right back. He did it again, and again, again. Finally on the fifth try, a man’s angry voice answered.
“What!”
Isaac didn’t hesitate. He jumped right in.
“My name’s Isaac. I’m outside, and I just want to talk to the owner of this phone.”
“Well, my name is Tom, and I don’t care what you want!”
SWAT pulled up, along with multiple cruisers that proceeded to block off the street at both ends. Isaac glanced around and spotted Lieutenant Hayes getting out of a car, and he motioned for Pete to fill them in.
“Is everything okay in there, Tom?” Isaac asked, keeping his voice steady even though his heart was anything but.
“I know who you are!” Tom practically screamed. “You’re a cop, and I’m not talking to you.”
“Okay, don’t,” Isaac said quickly, trying to catch him before he hung up. “Don’t talk to me. Let me talk to Sidney. Let me talk to anyone else inside the house.”
He had no clue if that was the right way to go, and he fully expected Tom to simply hang up on him. But to his surprise he heard him ask, “Are you Sidney?”
There were a lot of shuffling sounds.
“Isaac?”
A rush of relief ran through his system like a waterfall at the sound of her voice.
“Sid? What’s going on in there, baby? Everybody okay?”
“No. Zoe’s been hurt. She’s out cold, but it’s been a long time so I think she might need real medical attention.”
“Okay. What else?”
“Bree. She’s having contractions, Ike. I think she’s in labor!”
“Shit,” he mumbled. “What the hell is Bree doing in there, Sidney?”
“She was just visiting. She wanted to volunteer some meals so the residents with kids had one less thing to worry about. I told her it would be okay, but now…”
“Okay, all right.” Isaac cut her off. They had enough to worry about right now without adding her guilt into the mix. “How many are inside?”
“Um, five residents, plus Bree, Zoe, and me. Thankfully, the kids are in school.”
“Do you know who Tom is or what he wants?”
“He’s the husband of one of the residents. He came by the other day demanding to talk to Diane. We called the police and he left, but…”
“All right, that’s enough!” Tom’s voice was gruff, and Isaac heard Sidney grunt as the phone was yanked from her hand. “Bye, cop.”
“No, wait! Tom, listen to me…”
The line went dead.
“Fuck!”
