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Jess glanced toward Cooper. One child was safe. But his own son’s life was still in peril. She wanted to put her arms around him and tell him everything would be all right. But that reassurance could be as false as the lies she was telling Ed. The situation was highly charged and growing more dangerous by the minute.
McCoy was back on the phone. “Okay, I gave you something you wanted. Now get my wife, damn it.”
Jess gave Buck a questioning look. He shook his head. There was no sign of Ruth McCoy.
“She’s on her way. But the traffic’s heavy on the highway at this hour. All we can do is wait.”
“She’d damn well better be here soon, or all hell’s gonna break loose. I’m gonna hang up now because I got to use the can. Call me soon as she shows.”
* * *
As the bathroom door closed, Skip raised his head, instantly alert. “I saw how Maggie tied you,” he said to Trevor. “If you can get loose, do it. Do it and run! Hurry!”
For an instant, Trevor was tempted. He could feel the slight give in the cord that held him to the chair. Yes, he could probably get loose. But what would happen to Skip if he left? Alone, with no witnesses, what might a crazed Ed McCoy do to his stepson?
“Can I untie you, too?” he asked.
“No. There isn’t time! Hurry, blast it!”
“I’m not leaving you alone with him, Skip.”
Skip’s curses purpled the air. “You’re out of your freakin’ mind, Trevor Chapman.”
“My choice,” Trevor said. “You’re my best friend, and I’m not going without you.”
Skip turned his face away, as if to hide his emotions. Just then the bathroom door opened. Ed McCoy strode out. Scowling, he walked behind Trevor, bent, and tightened Maggie’s loose knots, ending any chance of escape.
* * *
Time crawled at a leaden pace, ten minutes, then fifteen and twenty, without a word from Ruth. As Cooper watched the woman he loved battle for his son’s life, every second was agony. If she were to fail, as she had the last time, she would be shattered. Not only would he lose Trevor—he would lose her as well.
With the phone on speaker, he could hear Ed McCoy becoming more agitated, and more erratic. The threat ofkaboomwas spoken more and more often. Was it a bluff, or did he really have dynamite in the house, ready to be lit and detonated?
Mindful of the need to let the professionals do their job, Cooper had stayed out of the way, even taking a moment to calm Glory and give her water from a bottle in the Jeep. But as the tension mounted, he moved closer to the house, as if driven by the need to be near his son.
More minutes ticked past. Then, suddenly, everything seemed to happen at once.
An old brown Chevy came tearing down the lane, swung into the yard, and screeched to a halt. The door flew open, and Ruth leaped out. But it was a different-looking Ruth than Cooper had seen before—her hair freshly coiffed and tinted, flattering makeup and a becoming pantsuit. She’d done what almost any woman might have done when turning a corner in her life: She’d gone to the mall and gotten a makeover. No wonder no one had been able to reach her.
It was Buck who got to her first. He steadied her as she stumbled forward in her new high-heeled boots. “I didn’t know,” she gasped. “I didn’t know Ed was out of jail until I called my sister. What’s happening? Where’s my son?”
“Take it easy, Ruth.” Buck gave her a rapid-fire update on what had happened. “Jess has been stalling, hoping you’d get here. Ed wants to talk to you on the phone. Can you do that?”
“Certainly. But what do I say?”
“You’ll need to stay calm. Tell him you’re coming back. Tell him you love him. Tell him anything he wants to hear—anything that will help us get those boys out.”
Ruth nodded. Jess motioned her over to the table and spoke into the phone. “Ed, your wife is here. She wants to talk to you.”
“Well, it’s about time,” Ed growled. “Put her on.”
Jess seated Ruth in the chair and handed her the receiver. Ruth looked shaken, but she was a tough woman, Cooper reminded himself. And, like him, she would do anything to save her son.
“Hello, Ed, honey.” She spoke into the phone. “I’m here. I’ve come home. Now our family can be together again.”
A blind slat moved. “You sure have. I can see you out there, gussied up like you just won the lottery. You’re probably gettin’ ready to troll for a new husband. But that’s fine. I’ve been plannin’ a little show to welcome you home. Now that you’re here, we can start. Just sit back and watch.”
The line went dead. Ruth glanced around with startled eyes. At a nod from Sam, the SWAT team, weapons at the ready, began closing around the house.
