Afraid to look at the woman next to her, Tara kept her eyes on Carter, drawing strength from him. Tremors moved through her body, and she locked her knees in place to keep from falling. Swallowing, she tried to steady her breathing as images of Colleen drifted in front of her.
“You two,” Carter said, gaining Bethany and Michael’s attention. “Step back into your offices and stay there. Make a call to reception that no one is to come down this hall.” They immediately jumped to follow his orders, disappearing inside their offices.
Directing his attention back to Beth, he said, “Ms. Washington, there’s nowhere for you to go. Nothing you can do to make this any better other than give yourself up.”
Tara could feel the woman’s hand shaking on her arm. Or maybe it was her own body shaking. At this point, she couldn’t tell.
“I’m the one with the gun, Detective. Me. I think that means I’m in charge, not you.”
Someone came up behind Robert and whispered to him, and Tara watched as Robert gave a quick nod. He moved slowly back into the clinic and Tara recognized Evan who replaced him at the door. She wanted Carter to give her some kind of sign, tell her what to do, but his gaze stayed centered on the woman with the gun.
Afraid to speak, and yet afraid to stay silent, Tara finally whispered, “Beth?”
Her arm jerked in Beth’s grip. “Shut up. I need to think.”
“Put the gun down, Beth,” Carter’s voice rang out again. “You’re only making this worse for yourself.”
Snorting, Beth said, “Worse? How much worse can this get?”
“We know that you’re only part of the pipeline. You put the gun down and talk to us, and the DA will take that into consideration.”
“Oh, really? So, I’ll just get ten years instead of twenty!”
“Right now, every minute that ticks by that you’ve got that gun on an innocent woman, you’re coming under the Federal Hostage Taking Act. That can carry a death sentence.”
Beth gasped, and Tara felt the jerk on her arm again.
Keeping up the pressure, Carter said, “You can put down that gun. You can let Ms. Wilson go and come with me. We’ll talk. We’ll find out what you know. You’ll help us. Ms. Washington, that’s the only way this is going to end successfully. Anything else is not going to go well for you.”
Tara, keeping her voice low and soft, said, “Beth, please listen to him. This is all bad enough. Please don’t make this worse on yourself.”
“They took Doug. He’s the one who killed Kate. He’s the one you want.”
It took a second for Tara to register that Doug was Dr. Tiller, having always addressed him formally. Uncertain what had taken place in the clinic before Beth ran through to the shelter, she could only imagine that Beth had witnessed Dr. Tiller’s arrest.
“That’s right, Beth,” Carter interjected. “I have no doubt he’s going to start talking. He’s going to fill us in on the pharmaceutical pipeline. If we get everything we need from him, no one’s going to want to make a deal with you. It’ll be too late.”
Beth suddenly jumped, twisting around so that she was in the doorway of Tara’s office, giving Tara a visual in the other direction of the hall toward reception. There was Kyle, his face ravaged as he stood with his gun in his hand. His clothes, hands, and face were dirty. She recognized the tic in his jaw and prayed he maintained his cool. A flash of her childhood rushed to her mind. Sean, so calm. Rory, so funny. And Kyle, so intense.
Afraid to move her head, she shifted only her eyes so that she could gaze at the other end of the hall, focusing once more on Carter. While Beth had looked at Kyle, Carter had moved closer. Tara could now see how clear his blue eyes were. It was one of the first things she ever noticed about him, even though their meeting was not the friendliest.
His gaze had settled on her, and she mouthed I love you, wanting him to know that no matter what happened. His blue eyes flashed and then his jaw tightened just like Kyle’s.
“Beth, I wasn’t kidding when I told you that time is running out. You keep this up, you’re fucked. You lower that gun and let Ms. Wilson go, we’ve got a chance of working some kind of deal.”
“I had everything,” Beth whispered, her voice now sounding defeated. “Money, a penthouse, clothes, jewelry… I had everything.”
Tara racked her brain for something to say but came up empty. Her mouth opened, but with her eyes still on Carter, she saw him give a slight shake of his head. Interpreting that to mean he wanted her to remain quiet, she sucked in her lips, attempting to cease the quivering.
“This is it, Beth,” Carter stated. “This is our last offer.”
As though in anguish, she tightened her grip on Tara’s arm before suddenly letting it go and dropping her arm with the gun. The next few seconds were a blur as Kyle rushed forward, grabbing Beth and pressing her up against the wall, snapping handcuffs on her wrists while Carter scooped up Tara, whose legs were no longer supporting her.
Evan rushed past, aiding Kyle while belting out orders to more policemen who came from the clinic and through the front door of the shelter.
Carter stood with Tara in his arms and pushed his way into the workroom down the hall. Michael popped his head in and asked how he could help. “Get some water and a coat.”
Tara kept her arms around Carter, pressed tightly, holding on as though she was afraid he might disappear. She felt his arms band just as tightly around her and wondered if he had the same fear. “I’m okay, I’m okay,” she
