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“Please, sir. If you free her, maybe we can forgive this.”
The main police officer shoots me a nasty look, but I’m desperate.
The gunman’s gaze snaps to mine, and something in his eyes is different. “Fine.”
“No!” Ellie cries out. She sobs uncontrollably.
“Come closer,” he says.
I do as he says, stepping forward until I’m right in front of him. When I’m close enough, he grabs my arm and immediately points the gun at me, pushing Ellie away with his free hand. She stumbles away, nearly falling over.
A nearby police officer grabs her, but she shakes him off, turning around to look at me. She shakes her head back and forth, her hand covering her mouth.
“Take care of her,” I tell the police officer.
The gun presses into my head, reminding me of the danger I’ve gotten myself into. It barely registers with me, because only one thing matters. Ellie’s safe now.
28
CEDRICK
If I die, at least I’ll leave this planet knowing that I did the right thing. That I saved the girl I love. And I’ll only leave with two regrets… the fact that she’ll never know how much I love her, and the fact that I won’t get to see our baby being born.
Those are also two reasons I have to make damn well sure I stay alive. Ellie needs to know that from the first moment I saw her with my father, I knew.
The man keeps the gun pressed against my head, and I’m doing everything I can to keep my cool. Panicking right now won’t do me any good.
“Listen, if it’s money you want, my father will pay any ransom.”
I hate showing my cards like this, giving this horrible person exactly what he wants, but if it’s between that and dying? I’ll choose the former.
“What am I going to do with money if I’m in prison for life?”
I speak firmly.
“He could potentially help you stay out of prison, if you can reform. He can do pretty much anything he wants. I’m sure that would be within his power.”
“Why would he do that?”
He presses the gun into me even harder and I close my eyes for a second, trying to muster all the compassion that I can for this brute. I try not to think of what he might have done to Ellie.
“Because I’m his son. And maybe what you really need is help, not punishment. And if help is what you do need, he has the power to monitor you if you’re beyond help. But that’s up to you.”
“What, send me to one of those hospitals where they just drug me up for the rest of my life? That’d be worse than prison.”
“No, not a hospital. Something else. Something we can agree on.”
“Why would you even want to help me? I could’ve killed your wife.”
Truth be told, I don’t want to help him. He’s assaulted multiple women and murdered a man.
He obviously isn’t sorry for any of that, considering he came straight here, hurt an elderly woman, and attacked a pregnant girl, then accepted her husband’s offer to be a hostage instead, when he could have just let both of us go.
This man doesn’t want to be helped, nor does he really deserve it. But I’m acting as a hostage negotiator, not His Royal Highness Prince Cedrick. I have a part to play, and I’m going to do my best to make it convincing.
“I’m a doctor. Helping people is all I do. And I know that things aren’t always what they seem. Maybe you coming into this market today was what needed to happen so you could get the help you need.”
“How do I know that you’re not going to turn around and do the exact opposite?”
