Colin said. “Are you there, buddy?”
“I’m here,” the boy answered.
God, he sounded so little.
And scared.
Colin’s pen snapped under the pressure of his grip, and he grabbed another so he’d be ready to write. “Luke, are you okay?”
“I guess. But I wanta see my daddy and my mom. Please.”
Danielle pressed her fingertips to her lips, and Colin saw her blink back tears. He’d never seen her break on the job. Never. But the little boy’s plea would have gotten to anyone.
Well, anyone except Boyd.
There were more muffled sounds, and Boyd returned to the line. “He’s still whimpering,” Boyd complained.
“I’ll talk to him,” Colin insisted. “I’ll calm him down.”
“No. You’re done talking to him. I want somebody else. Somebody that knows how to handle kids, and I don’t mean his parents. Don’t want to talk to them. Put Dr. Danielle Connolly on the phone.”
Colin’s heart went to his knees. Apparently so did Danielle’s. She froze, and her eyes widened.
“Dr. Connolly,” Colin repeated. “What makes you think she’s here?”
But Boyd ignored that. “Dr. Connolly?” Boyd said in a much louder voice. “I know you’re in that white van. Get on the phone now.”
Danielle stared at Colin. Waiting. Her eyes pleaded with him to do something. And since he had no choice, he gave her the nod to go ahead.
“I’m here, Boyd,” Danielle immediately said. “How can I help?”
“You can calm down this kid for me, that’s what you can do. You can make him understand that his whining is making me crazy.”
“Of course, I’ll talk to him. Please put him on the line.” Danielle swallowed hard, and the waiting began again.
Colin mentally groaned and cursed a blue streak.
This shouldn’t be happening. They were in a blind spot. Boyd shouldn’t be able to see them or monitor what they were doing, though Tom had said barely.
His gaze fired toward Tom. “How did he know she was here?” Colin mouthed.
Tom shook his head, grabbed a pair of binoculars and aimed them at the estate. After several moments, he shook his head again. “Boyd hasn’t reangled the security camera.”
“What about the police scanner?” Colin whispered. “Did anyone say a thing about her coming here?”
Another shake of his head. “She drove straight up without going into town. No one other than those of us on the scene should have known that she’d arrived.”
Oh, hell.
Not good. Because either Boyd had found a way around the blind spot, or they had a leak, and someone was a traitor.
Chapter Two
Danielle was aware of the possible security breach, also aware that a leak could compromise everything, but all of those concerns faded when she heard Luke’s voice.
“I don’t like doctors,” he told her. It wasn’t said in a bossy way. The boy was frightened.
“Don’t worry. I’m not that kind of doctor. I don’t give shots.”
“Good. ‘Cause I don’t like shots, neither.”
Colin was whispering something to Tom, but Danielle shut that out. “What do you like, Luke? Do you like to watch TV?”
“Yeah. I like Spider-Man, too.”
Danielle smiled in spite of the situation. “Why is he your favorite?”
“He kinda gets to fly. That’d be fun. I could fly up high with the birds and not fall.”
Danielle was relieved that he seemed to be relaxing a bit. “I’ll bet it would be fun. Do you play video games, too?”
“Sure. I got lots of ‘em, but the funnest is Safari Explorer. I play with my daddy.” He paused. “Can my daddy come and get me?”
“Soon,” she assured him. She heard the tremble in his voice and knew she had to pull him away from that reaction. Judging from Boyd’s comments, the tone could set him off. Danielle wanted them both calm. “Luke, have you found the lost baby giraffe in Safari Explorer?”
“Not yet. The purple hippos knock my boat over.”
She mentally went through the levels of the game. “Ah, there’s a trick to that. Want me to tell you what it is?” Danielle glanced out of the corner of her eye. Colin was staring at her now.
“Yes, please,” Luke said. She’d found her connection, and now she had to make the most of it.
“How about I just give you a hint about how to get to the baby giraffe? That way, it’ll still be your game, and I won’t really be helping you too much.”
“Okay.”
The hopeful little voice cut her to the bone. She wanted to get him out of there. But she couldn’t. Creating a distraction and keeping the situation calm was the only thing she could do right now. “Here’s the hint, Luke. When you cross the river, don’t go in a straight line. Do you know what that means, not to go in a straight line?”
“Sure, I do. I’m smart, and I can do it. This time, I bet I get away from those hippos.”
“I’ll bet you do, too. You’ll get to the other side, and you’ll be one step closer to finding the baby giraffe.” She took a moment and thought out her next move. “Luke, why don’t you put Mr. Perkins back on the phone?”
That earned her a raised eyebrow from Colin. “What are you doing?” he mouthed.
“What I need to do,” she mouthed back.
Oh, yes. There it was. The inevitable tension. When Callie had called her and asked her to come to the Vaughn estate, Danielle hadn’t known that Colin would be there. But if she had, it still wouldn’t have stopped her. She wanted to help this child, even if she had to go through the emotional roadblock that Colin would create.
Besides, she needed to talk to Colin.
At least Danielle thought she did. She was in her element talking to Luke, but her soon-to-be ex was a different story. Communication had never been their strong suit. Ironic, considering their jobs both hinged on excellent verbal interaction.
“Yeah?” Boyd snapped when he came back on the line.
“I need a favor,” Danielle calmly explained. “This
