Cindy rapidly scribbled that down. The negotiation team needed to know this immediately. “You said he’s been different in the last few weeks in other ways. How, aside from not being into his work as much and drinking?”
“He rambled on about the truth and how it was time the world knew what that was. When I asked him what he meant by that, he’d make an excuse to leave or avoid responding. But now I’m wondering… He went on about how he was prepared to do whatever was necessary for the truth to come out. And honestly,he got this unsettling glint in his eye when he’d talk about it. He added all liars should pay for their crimes.”
“Did he ever say who these liars were?”
Curtis shook his head. “I suspect it’s probably who he has with him right now.”
Cindy tucked her pen and notepad away and stood. “Thank you for your time, Curtis. I might return with more questions.”
“Ah, sure.”
“And here’s my card.” She took one from her pocket and handed it over to him before leaving the pub. “If you think of another conversation you had with Ryan that might help, call me.”
“You bet. I hope he and everyone else gets out of this all right.”
“Me too.” She turned and left then. Stepping out into the fresh air, she hustled to her cruiser.
NINETEEN
1:50 PM
Sandra had tried reaching Ryan several times, but he wasn’t picking up. At the sound of gunfire and screaming, Sandra’s mind flashed to the past and how her twin brother, Sam, had died in a hostage negotiation from a gunshot wound. The negotiator had failed to talk the hostage taker down in time for Sam to get the medical attention he needed. It was that nightmare that set her career course and made her determined to use this job to save lives. She pinched the St. Michael pendant hanging from the silver chain around her neck. It had been her father’s, then her brother’s… She wore it all the time to be closer to them, even to her birth mother.
“What the hell is going on, Vos?” Kreiger exclaimed. “Did this guy give you any indication he was a hair’s breadth from pulling the trigger?”
Sandra resented the implication this development was somehow her fault. “He was in an agitated state during the last call, that’s all I can say. He’s threatened before, but?—”
“He’s taken it further now. We should move in before it’s too late. If it isn’t already. I’m sure I don’t need to remind you about the X scratched over Edward Hanson’s face. I’m not just goingto stand around and continue to do nothing.” Kreiger lunged for the door.
“Just a minute,” she said.
He ignored her and pushed through to outside. Sandra set her headset on the hook at her workstation and followed him.
“Hold up,” she called out.
Kreiger spun, leveling a glare at her. “I’m not listening, Vos. Whatever you have to say?—”
“I know about that family,” she blurted out. “The ones that lost their lives in a crisis incident years ago that was under your command.”
Kreiger’s face hardened, and he said nothing.
“We all have cases that haunt us. It comes with the job, though that’s little help when facing the reality of the aftermath. For you, it was a family of four being shot by a gunman before taking his own life.”
“I know what happened.”
“There was nothing you could have done differently to change the result. The gunman had a suicide letter in his pocket.” Sandra spoke slowly and with consideration. She’d learned the basics from Brice, who had heard them from Neal during the standoff at Founders. The additional details of the story were filled in when she looked up the case in the days following.
Kreiger clenched his jaw and stared in the distance. “We should have moved in. The signs were there.”
She could point out he was only human or that there was no point in dwelling on the past when it couldn’t be changed. Both would be patronizing. Instead, she went with, “I thought the letter wasn’t found until after it was all over.”
“The point is I trusted the negotiator to read the situation. I knew in my gut that I needed to send ERT in, but I didn’t.” Kreiger thumped a fist against his chest. “That’s on me.”
Sandra held the ensuing silence for a bit of time before speaking. “I’m not saying don’t trust your gut, but even if ERT had rushed in there, it could have turned out the same way. There’s no way to know.”
“Give me one good reason to stand down now, here today.” His eyes met hers, challenging her.
She didn’t miss the irony in how she’d just been coaching Kreiger about the past haunting the present, and she found herself in the same position. Someone inside could be bleeding out, like her brother had. Sandra’s decision to keep talking might kill a person. But she couldn’t let herself be at the mercy of the past. She had to keep focus on the here and now. “At least let me find out what happened in there.”
