Hostage

Talley thought about the man's words, thought he might have done this in the military, for the Rangers or Special Forces.

'I won't be able to keep the others out. You know that. The Sheriffs will come in, and I'm going, too.'

Jones met Talley's eyes and shook his head.

'Listen, man, if it helps you get through this, we don't want to kill anyone, not even the three dicks who started this mess. We just want the stuff in the house. But we know what's required when we breach that house. We'll have to secure the scene before we can recover what we want. We'll do that, Talley. We're professionals.'

The phone in Talley's pocket chirped. He had a phone in his left pocket and a phone in his right, and didn't remember which was which. Talley pulled out the phone in his left pocket. It was the Nokia. It chirped again.

'Answer it, Chief.'

Talley pressed the button to answer the call.

'Talley.'

'Is Mr. Jones with you?'

'Yes, he's here.'

'Put him on.'

Talley passed the Nokia to Jones without a word. Jones put it to his ear, saying his name to let the caller know he was on. Talley watched Jones. His eyes were pale blue or gray, Talley couldn't tell which in the dim light. A man in his mid-forties, maybe, who kept himself in good shape and could be hard when he had to be. As Jones spoke, his eyes flicked nervously to the Sheriffs in the distance. Talley thought that he was probably scared. Any sane man would be scared, doing what he was doing. Talley wondered what the Watchman had on this man, or if Jones was doing it for money.

Jones ended the call and passed the phone back to Talley.

'Let's go, Chief. Time to get it done.'

'What does he have on you?'

Jones stared at him, then looked away without answering.

'I know why I'm doing this. What does he have on you?'

Jones cinched down his vest, tighter than necessary, so tight the straps cut.

'You don't know shit.'

Jones started up the street.

Talley followed him.

The stink of gasoline was so thick in the closed space of the entry hall that it burned Kevin's eyes and filled his throat with the taste of metal. He gagged, acid washing the back of his throat, then he couldn't hold back and vomited, puke splashing the wall. De

They were going to die.

Kevin remembered a story from elementary school that explained how coastal Africans caught the tiny monkeys that lived at the edge of the water. The Africans would bore a hole in a coconut just big enough so that the monkey could squeeze its hand inside. They would put a peanut touched with honey into the coconut. The monkey would reach inside to grab the peanut, only with the peanut in its hand and its hand balled into a fist, the monkey's hand would no longer fit through the hole. As long as it held onto the peanut, the monkey couldn't take its hand out of the coconut. These monkeys wanted the honey-coated peanuts so badly that they would not let go even as the monkey-hunters walked up to cover them with nets. De

Kevin stumbled into the little bathroom off the entry and splashed his face with water. His lip and eye were swelling from the beating De

Kevin dried his face, then went back to the den to see if De

Kevin hurried back through the house to the entry, and then up the stairs. He knocked twice softly on the girl's door, pulled the nail from the door, and let himself inside. The girl was curled into a ball on her bed, her eyes open, the lights full on. She swung her feet out and stood as the door opened.

'What do you want?'

'Shh. Keep your voice down.'

Kevin was scared. Here he was a grown man, and he felt like a child whenever he crossed wills with his brother. Sometimes he felt such a strong mix of fear and a desperate need to please De

'We're going to get out of here.'

She seemed confused, her eyes flicking to the door, then back to him.

'Where are you taking me?'

'Not with them. I don't mean with De

The marks on his face registered with her for the first time, and Kevin felt himself flush.

'What happened to you?'

'Don't worry about it. De

'They're letting us leave?'

'Mars and De

Uncertainty played across her face. She glanced at the door again.

Kevin said, 'Do you want to go or not? I'm offering you a way out of here.'

'I can't go without Thomas.'

'I know that. All three of us will go, but we have to be careful and move fast. Now do you want to go or not?'

'I want to go!'

'Stay here and pretend like nothing's happening. I'll get Thomas and come back for you. When the three of us are together, we'll go straight downstairs and out the front door. Do you have a white pillowcase?'

'We're going to walk out the door? Just like that?'

'Yes! We need a white flag or something so the cops don't shoot us.'

He could tell she was scared, but excited, too, anxious to get out of the house.

'All right, okay. I have a pillowcase.'

'Get it while I'm getting your brother. When I get back, don't say a word. Just follow me and try to be quiet, but be ready to move. We're going to walk fast.'

She nodded, her head bouncing.

'I will.'

Kevin eased the door open and peered into the hall. Dim light glowed at the stairwell, coming from below. The hall seemed darker than before, masked in a blackness that made him wish for a flashlight. He heard voices and grew even more worried. If Mars and De