Jacobs raised his eyebrows. “Well, someone’s a little excited to do this.”
“You know it, man.”
Jacobs grabbed Lee’s phone and was about to dial Mallette’s number when Thrower suddenly put his hand out.
“Wait.”
“What?” Jacobs asked.
“Oh, man, don’t say it,” Franks said.
“Say what?” Thrower replied.
“I dunno. Whatever you’re about to say, don’t say it. Let’s just give it to him, man. Let’s do it!”
Thrower smiled, appreciating the enthusiasm. “Before you dial that number, let’s have a plan here.”
“What kind of plan?”
Thrower shrugged. “Just a general plan. I mean, we can use this to our advantage. Let’s not just use this opportunity to gloat or egg him on. Let’s use this to advance our endgame.”
“Which is?”
“Getting rid of him once and for all. We’ve got his number, we’ve got a direct line of communication with him, let’s not throw that away for something stupid like bragging.”
Jacobs nodded in agreement. “Nate’s right. It’s not about gloating. And once we call this number, it’s a cinch he’ll put it out of service, so we won’t be able to call it again.”
“What about using that number to track him?” Thrower asked. “Don’t even bother calling. We’ll get Hack, track that number, then find him.”
Franks snapped his fingers and pointed at him. “I like your thinking. Uh, the only problem there is, that might be a special number, or a different phone, and one that he don’t carry with him all the time. Might be something he only checks once a week, or every few days or something.” He tapped Jacobs on the shoulder. “You check the call log on that?”
Jacobs looked at the phone. “Yeah, there’s no history, so there’s no way of knowing.”
“Unless we get Hack to check out those phone records,” Thrower said.
Jacobs rubbed around his mouth. “That’s gonna take more time.”
“Better to take time and do it right than do something stupid that throws everything off kilter.”
They debated the options for the next several minutes. Tiffany stayed silent, listening to all their suggestions, thinking they were missing the biggest option of all. Her. She still believed she was the key to getting all this done faster. If they played it right, she thought they could wrap this up sooner. But she knew that wouldn’t go over well right now. So she remained quiet a few more minutes.
The others kept discussing it, while Tiffany stayed in the background, letting them have their say. After a few more minutes, she couldn’t stay silent any longer. She put her hand up as if she were in school. The others noticed her motion and looked at her.
“We’re not in class, you know,” Jacobs said. “You don’t have to put your hand up. Just say what you wanna say.”
“Promise me you’ll let me finish?”
Jacobs sighed and slumped his shoulders. He automatically knew by her tone that it wasn’t going to be something he wanted to hear. “Do we have to?”
“Go ahead, Tiffmeister,” Franks said. “Whatcha got on your mind?”
“I have an idea.”
“No,” Jacobs replied.
“You didn’t even hear it.”
“I don’t want to hear it. I just know I’m not going to like it.”
“Brett, just let her say what’s on her mind,” Thrower said. “It might be the best thing we’ve heard yet.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of.”
20
Jacobs and Tiffany continued talking, debating, with her desperately trying to get her point across.
“Are you willing to listen?” Tiffany asked.
“I guess if I have to.”
“Well, you don’t have to do anything.”
Jacobs sighed again. He honestly feared what was about to come out of her mouth. He figured it would be something along the lines of putting herself in a risky situation. “No, just go ahead and say what you’re thinking.”
“Use me as bait.”
Jacobs threw his hands up. “There it is. I knew it was coming.”
“No, listen to me.”
“We’ve done this already.”
“Would you just listen? Please?”
Jacobs lowered his head, then nodded. “OK.”
“We can use this to our advantage if you can get him into such a rage that he can’t control himself.”
“In what way?” Thrower asked.
Tiffany shrugged. “Just get him so mad that all he wants to do right now is strike back. Like immediately.”
“But he can’t. He doesn’t know where we are.”
“Except for me. I’m the only one he can come after right now.”
Jacobs took a deep breath and cleared his throat. “And he could kill you.”
Tiffany shook her head. “I don’t think so. He’ll use me to get to you. That’s his biggest option right now.”
“And what do you plan on doing, just stand in the middle of the street and say, ‘come take me’? That won’t work.”
“What exactly are you thinking?” Franks asked.
“Make it appear that I’m going to work by myself tomorrow. Make him act upon that.”
Jacobs instantly shook his head. “Won’t work. He’ll know it’s some sort of trap. He’s not an idiot.”
“Not if you make him think it’s true.”
“How’s that?”
“You’ve said before, he’s not going to shoot the school. So his only option would be to take me, right? Use me in order to lure you in.”
“Not if he lets you drive a while, then takes you out on the road,” Jacobs said.
“But then he’d still be no closer to finding you. And that’s what he needs right now. To find you. I’m the closest bet to that. Then, after he grabs me, he’ll take me somewhere, and if you guys know where I am, you can get there at the same time. I won’t be in any real danger.”
“Except when the shooting starts.”
“Brett makes a good point,” Thrower said. “He’s not gonna believe you’re going to school by yourself after all this time of having a guard. He’ll know something’s up.”
“Not if he makes Mallette believe I’ll be unprotected.”
“But how would that happen?”
“I got it!” Franks said. “Let me take her to school. That would cause them to move in quickly, thinking this is their chance to grab her.”
Jacobs shook his head. “Nope. Won’t work.”
“Why not?”
“Because they’ll definitely shoot you.”
“What? Why?”
“Because they won’t need two hostages. Even if they decide
