AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“They don’t know we sent Rose away. And as soon as we turn on that phone—”
“No way.” Harris sat up straight in her seat, shaking her head back and forth vigorously. “No freaking way.”
“Hear me out.” Cassie waited until Harris sat still. “As soon as we turn on the phone, that guy will know where we are. We tell him Rose is volunteering to trade herself for Bob. She’ll tell him whatever he wants to know as long as she gets to walk out of there in the end. She’ll disappear. She won’t tell anyone anything.”
“There’s no guarantee he’ll agree to that. And even if he does, we won’t know if he’ll keep his word.”
Cassie ignored her and continued. “We trade Bob for Rose. Obviously, I’ll be Rose.” Harris started shaking her head again, but Cassie pushed on. “Once Bob is clear, and this guy thinks he can relax, you’ll storm in and take him out.”
“Take him out?” Harris rolled her eyes. “Are you even listening to yourself right now?”
“It’s gonna work.”
“There are so many ways this could go wrong. We can’t risk it.”
Cassie was barely listening. “Let’s assume he’ll have some sort of trick up his sleeve. I’ll need a GPS tracker. That way, you’ll be able to follow him.”
“What if he takes you to a compound? What if he’s not alone? What if he kills you as soon as he grabs you? It’s too risky.”
“He’s not going to kill me right away. He’ll want to know if I told you anything. You’ll know he took me, so he’ll need to wait for you to arrive anyway. He won’t be happy with you as a loose end. I’ll just need to hold out long enough for you to arrive.”
“Hold out long enough? Cassie, listen to yourself. He’ll torture you.”
“I’ve been through worse.” Her voice came out quiet. Small. “I can handle it.”
Harris was silent for what felt like an eternity. “And if he’s not alone? I can’t take out a whole team of guys by myself.”
“Then go to the cops, show them the GPS, and say I’ve been kidnapped. If this guy works for Aguilar, he won’t spend any time in jail for kidnapping. Might be a different story for murder. He won’t risk it. Trust me.”
“Trust you? This is suicide.”
“It’s going to work.” Cassie infused her voice with as much confidence as she could muster. “I know it is. I have a feeling.”
“A feeling?”
“Yeah.”
“A special feeling?”
Cassie’s stomach twisted away from the lie, but she pushed through the nausea. “Yes. A special feeling.”
Harris sighed. It wasn’t an ideal situation, but what other choice did they have?
“Fine. But you have to do what I say. No going off on your own. You understand?” She looked over at Cassie with piercing eyes. “This is only going to work if we’re smart about it. Don’t play the hero. There’s no point in saving Bob if you end up getting shot.”
“I understand.” The scope of what they were about to do finally hit Cassie, and her stomach roiled again. “Don’t play the hero.”
“Well, you know what we need to do next then, don’t you?”
“What’s that?”
> A sad, weary smirk spread across the detective’s face. “Figure out how to make you pregnant.”
35
Guilt wracked Harris’s body. She’d been too cavalier about this whole situation. Dogged determination was one of her strengths, and one of her weaknesses. Sometimes when she set her sights on a goal, she didn’t care how she got there. And Cassie might end up paying the price.
Inhale. Exhale. Inhale. Exhale.
