I rubbed my sweaty hands down the folds of my plaid skirt. “Yes,” I said.
“Right,” Ace said. He seemed much surer of himself than I was. I wondered if Ace Rogers ever felt vulnerable, incapable, if he ever doubted his abilities. Confidence radiated from his pores. And in this case, I was glad for it.
“Miss Foster might get emotional and get mouthy. You’ll need to resist the urge to match her tone. Remain calm at all times, and do not show your emotions. If you stay relaxed, she will be too. And if she’s relaxed, she won’t do anything impulsive. Don’t beg, don’t make her feel inferior or guilty. Tell her you understand her, and that you will be able to help her figure all this out once Haley is safe and sound. Be respectful and patient. Show her kindness. And allow her to tell her story. Often, captors just want to be heard, they just need someone to understand them.”
I took it all in, but it wasn’t enough. I’d hoped that they would give us specific questions to ask, but I realized that they’d probably already had asked all the protocol questions, and like Simone had said, our presence was unorthodox, and so would be the questions we’d ask. I looked over at Ace, who shot me a tight smile; a ‘I believe in you, love’ smile. I was so glad he was sitting there, next to me. I could never have gone through this without him.
“You’ll want to focus on the captor, not the hostage. This isn’t about Haley, this is about the HT -- she needs your attention. And no matter what you say, please don’t mention Haley’s parents. That will only aggravate the situation. She needs to not think about them, and only think about herself and Haley, and realize what she’s doing. You want to slowly bring her back to a sane state. It’s often as quick as the flick of a switch.”
As we followed Mr. Watts up the hill, along the hiking trail that led to the lookout point where Natalie and Haley stood, I felt faint and struggled to breathe in the crisp autumn air. I had to cheer myself on, to tell myself that I could do this, and that I wouldn’t pass out, right there on the trail.
We finally emerged from the hiking trail, and despite the circumstances, the view was breathtaking. Two officers quickly scurried to us, and told us in whispers to stay back. We were introduced and followed them carefully up the path.
The cliffs were breathtaking, and the vista truly breathtaking. I wasn’t close enough to see how high the cliff was, but I could only imagine. Natalie’s red hair flew in the wind, and she wore Ugg boots and a thick cream sweater. She held Haley tightly against her chest; the sweet toddler wore a blue sleeper and was wrapped in a heavy pink baby blanket. She sucked on a soother, and it was evident that she’d been crying. Natalie was comforting her. Both Natalie and Haley studied us cautiously.
Oddly, it was a beautiful sight. They looked like mother and daughter. The scene was so innocent, it almost made me cry. How could she even think about hurting that precious child? Anger rose in my chest, and I remembered Detective Watt’s words: Stay calm.
There were two officers standing back, at a safe distance, and the taller one introduced us. “Natalie,” he started, his voice soft and smooth. “The students we mentioned are here now,” he told her. “They both go to RAMS Academy, and they’d like to talk to you. Anna is sixteen and she loves to draw. She has a little sister. Ace is seventeen and loves to paint. They’re both artists, like you.”
I was brought back to her file. She was a hairdresser, and also a stain glass artist in her spare time. And like me, she had a younger sister.
Officer Watts motioned us to come forward slowly, and asked us to introduce ourselves.
My heart was hammering and I loosened my tie a little because I felt like I was choking. Ace raked a hand through his hair -- he seemed just as nervous as I was. “Hi, I’m Ace.”
Thank you, Ace.
“It’s nice to meet you,” he added sweetly.
She barely looked at him, her gaze focused on the top of Haley’s head.
Look at him,I wanted to say.Fall under his spell.
I inched closer, right next to Ace. “I’m Anna,” I said in a tiny shrill voice that wasn’t quite my own. “It’s nice to meet you.”
Her gaze darted over me, from top to bottom, and back up again. She liked me. I couldn’t read her very well, but this, I knew. She saw a younger version of herself in me. This was very encouraging, and my nerves eased a little.
I studied her carefully -- she was definitely in a poor emotional state. A dark blue aura hovered around her -- like Calista’s had been, it was almost black. She was not only heartbroken, she was ruined. Mason Henderson had wrecked her. He had used her, and tossed her when she no longer suited him.
Had she become a threat? Had the relationship become inconvenient? Or had he simply gotten bored? Had the thrill gone?
I realized that she hadn’t been completely innocent either. There were two players in this story -- the professional married man with the world at his feet, and the vulnerable lonely young woman; the temptress.
“You two know Mason?” she asked.
“Yes,” Ace replied. “We met him a few days ago. We chatted with him a bit.”
Her eyes widened. “Did he say anything about me?”
Uh-oh. First mistake. We’d barely begun, and we were already messing up. We couldn’t be talking about Mason Henderson. I spotted the lead detective who seemed very concerned. He thought this was a terrible idea -- I’d felt his reluctance and cynicism when we were first been introduced to him.
We’ll show you. We’re the best of the best, Detective Thurber.
“Unfortunately, we didn’t have a chance to talk to him much. He squirreled himself away in his office -- he had to work,” I told her. One thing I knew about Mason Henderson was that he was a workaholic. I figured Natalie would believe me.
Disappointment traced her features, but not anger. This was a step in the right direction.
“Can we come a little closer,” Ace asked sweetly. I knew exactly what he was doing -- the both of us could only work our magic if we were close enough. It was a tricky situation, because hostage negotiations usually require distance. Ace lifted his hands slowly, and so did I. “We’re both unarmed. We just want to chat. We can barely see you from back here.”
