Then she sucked in a long breath,opened her eyes and glared at him. "Let go of me, asshole."
He laughed. "Oooh, scary. Iknew you were a real ball-breaker."
"What do you think you're goingto do now, Sheldon?" She fought to keep her voice steady. "You'retrapped in here. Trey will come looking for me. He'll call the police." Please,Trey, please.
What if she never saw Trey again?She loved him, the big, stupid jerk. What if she never got to tell him what aspecial man he was...never got the chance to say goodbye? What if her lastwords to him were "I have to go to the bathroom"?
He turned his head away from her andnodded. "Yeah." He thought for a moment. "We have to get out ofhere. Come on."
He unlocked the door, poked his headinto the hallway, then reached back and fastened his fingers around her wrist.
He pulled her out into the hall. Hergaze flew to the front of the store, where Trey was sliding his wallet into hisback pocket. She tried again to scream and this time a louder noise came out.She kicked out and managed to hit Sheldon in the shin with her booted foot,causing him to curse loudly.
"Shit! You bitch!"
Trey looked up and the way his facechanged so quickly to a look of shock and horror amazed Marli in some deeprecess of her mind. She tried again to wrestle Sheldon's arm away from her,figuring if she was going to die anyway, she might as well go out fighting.
"Stop!" Sheldon commandedher harshly. He put the barrel of the gun against her temple and dragged herdown the hall toward Trey. "Back off!" he shouted to Trey.
She'd seen Trey instinctively reachfor his own gun, but he stopped himself, seeing the gun at Marli's head. He'dlost all color in his face and his eyes glittered darkly, his mouth pressedinto a straight, grim line.
"Let her go," he toldSheldon. "You're done, Sheldon."
"Who the hell areyou?" Sheldon asked. "You've been in my way for days now. I said, backoff."
"I'm a cop," Trey saidsoftly. "Don't shoot me, Sheldon. You'll be in even bigger trouble thanyou already are."
"I don't care anymore. You'reright--I'm done."
Oh, shit. Shit, shit, shit, was allMarli could think. She stopped struggling, the hard gun against her temple moreterrifying than anything she'd ever experienced.
Chapter19
Shit, shit, shit.
Marli's huge, terrified eyes pleadedwith Trey, an arm wrapped around her throat, and a gun held to her head. It hadto be Barnes, but he did look different. Wait. Suddenly, it clicked intoplace. Shit. What a fucking idiot he was.
After stopping completely when hefirst saw Marli, Trey's heart was now about to pound its way out of his mouth,galvanizing tension gripping him. He was acutely aware of everything aroundhim--the frightened eyes of the young kid, the little grey-haired lady standingthere holding a quart of milk, the cool draft from the fan in the ceiling abovehim. He heard the thin, scratchy music playing on the radio behind the counter.Then reflexes kicked in. His heart rate slowed. His senses, eyes and brainbegan to work in synchronicity as he called on every bit of training and everyprofessional skill he'd ever learned.
A guy who didn't care if he lived ordied was not going to negotiate. Sheldon had nothing to lose by killing.
Trey glanced at the kid behind thecounter, who also looked wide-eyed and terrified. "Get down," Treyordered him.
The kid dropped to the floor. Oneother customer stood in the small store.
"Sheldon, I'm telling this ladyup here to leave. She doesn't need to be here. Okay?"
"No!" he shouted."Nobody leaves!"
"Okay," Trey said calmly."She's just going to go behind the counter here." He grabbed thesmall lady with grey hair and pushed her down with the kid. "Now let go ofMarli, and you and I can talk."
"Fuck off! There's nothing totalk about."
"Sure there is." Trey kepthis voice low and calm. "You don't want to die, do you?"
He watched Sheldon's face as hestruggled to think, decide what to do.
"You just found your sons,Sheldon," Trey reminded him softly, taking his eyes off Sheldon only longenough to glance at Marli. She was shaking like a poplar in a windstorm, butshe was holding herself together. "You don't want to die now. Just tell mewhat you want. I'm a cop. I can help you."
"Yeah, right. You're not goingto help me."
"I can help get you what youwant," Trey said patiently. "Just tell me what you want."
Sheldon said nothing, his breathingshallow and noisy.
"Do you want to run?"
"I'm done running."
"Yeah," Trey said. "Iguess you're tired of running."
Again, Sheldon said nothing, butTrey knew he was listening, thinking. He'd planted the possibility of escape inSheldon's mind and taken his mind off killing Marli.
"Let her go," Trey said."And I'll let you walk out of here."
"I said, I'm tired ofrunning!"
"But you have two boys to livefor," Trey reminded him. "Don't you want to see your sons?"
"They don't even know me,"Sheldon said. His hand with the gun in it was shaking a bit, making Treynervous, but feeling like he was making progress. A trickle of sweat ran downhis back. It would be okay. It had to be okay. If he fucked this up... God.
"That's hard, eh?" Treysaid sympathetically. "But they'll be out of school in a few hours and youcan finally see them. I bet you'll be proud of them."
"That whore Teresa should'vetold me she was pregnant," Sheldon snarled.
"Yeah, she should've."Trey paused. "I talked to your mom earlier. She's worried about you."
"I saw her on TV last night,telling me to turn myself in."
Trey was surprised. Maybe his visithad had some impact. "Are you thinking about doing that? It's what yourmom wants."
Sheldon was silent, obviouslystruggling with his thoughts.
Confidence seeped into Trey. Hecould do this. Sheldon was losing his focus, and Trey just needed theopportunity and a distraction. He glanced around the store, then found Marli'seyes.
