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“What the fuck do you know?” Beresford jerked Brant even closer to him.
Travis let all the coldness that had built inside him over the past fourteen years out, let it gleam in his eyes. “You stupid fuck ... why do you thinkIam here? You know the name Miles Hawkins?”
The man’s face went florid with rage.
“I’m his top man,” Travis said. “You want to be pissed ... be pissed atme.”
The taunt worked. Sort of.
Beresford swung toward Lloyd. “You want your boy back? Shoot that cocksucker ...now! Then you and your kid cango!”
Travis curled his lip in derision at Beresford, then stepped toward Lloyd. It was, after all, a step closer to Beresford. “Figures you can’t handle me on your own. You pussy.” As Beresford’s face went all but purple with rage, Travis looked at Lloyd. “Go on, if you’re going to do it.”
Lloyd swayed on his feet, struggling to keep the gun level.
A little closer ... a little closer.
He spread his feet, trying to regain his balance and failed, ending up lurching to the side and in the process, dropped the weapon. Travis kicked it out of reach, then kicked Lloyd’s ankle out from under him. “Stay down, man.”
Lloyd let out a sound like a broken old bear and covered his face but Travis ignored him as he looked at Beresford, the ugly rage he’d felt all these years pouring out of him.
Something out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. He didn’t dare turn to look. Instead, he shifted position and moved, forcing Beresford to do the same thing.
A low quiet voice came into the earpiece. “A bit more.”
Beresford’s hand trembled on the gun he held and he swung it toward Travis. Better. Much better.
Travis knew the ins and outs of hostage negotiation tactics and he considered his options. This bastard was too far gone to be rational and he was losing control, more and more. He continued to circle and shift, keeping his movements casual.
“You might as well let that kid go,” he said, blocking out the fear he saw in the boy’s eyes. “You can’t shoot him. If you do, you have no shield. And if you do, your situation gets so, so much worse. Let him go, Stephen.”
“Go,” Miles said in a clipped voice.
At the same time, Stephen waved the weapon around, his aim going wide as he screamed, “Shut. The.FUCK—”
The arm around Brant’s neck went slack.
