imagination."
"The bullets they fired at us were quite real."
"Perhaps they were only trying to do their job. I'm sure they had no intention of hitting either of you. They were probably afraid that they wouldn't get paid if you took my niece away from them. They're quite right. I'm certainly not paying full price for a job only half-done."
She sounded as if she was talking about having her carpets cleaned.
"Those bullets could have hit your niece as easily as myself."
"You must be mistaken. The instructions were quite clear. They were to hold her for two or three weeks until they were informed that it was safe to release her." As far as Dodie Davis was concerned, that closed the subject. Sam rubbed his fingers over his forehead, trying to piece together some logic in all this insanity.
"Why did you want to keep her away?"
"That's not your concern. Quite frankly, Mr. Delanian, I'm more than a little annoyed with your interference but it can't be helped now. It will mean a great deal of money to you if you simply finish the job you interfered with. Keep my niece away from home for a few more days and we'll pay you ten thousand dollars."
"But if I return her right away, the reward is fifty thousand." The silky anger in his voice was lost on Do-die.
"Greed is a most unattractive attribute, Mr. Delanian."
"Kidnapping isn't the most appealing habit around, Mrs. Davis." He let that sink in before speaking again. "I'd like to speak to Emmet Malone. Maybe he can make some sense of this idiocy."
"Are you acquainted with Emmet?" Sam savored the hint of uneasiness in her overbearing tone.
"Intimately." He let her digest that exaggeration for a moment. "Is he there?"
"I'm afraid not. We tried to reach him but he was out of the country. I realize that this may seem unreasonable to you, Mr. Delanian, but the family really had no choice." Her tone was as placating as it was likely to get. Clearly, this was not a woman accustomed to explaining herself. That she was attempting to do so now was an indication of how important this whole mess must be.
"I'm sure, even in your short acquaintance with my niece, that you must have some idea of how difficult she can be. We could negotiate your fee. But it's very important that Babette be kept away for a few more days."
"I'll be in touch." Sam hung up the phone without waiting for a response. If Babs had grown up with that pedantic voice droning at her, it was no wonder she'd gone a little overboard in the defiance department.
He closed his eyes, willing away the headache that throbbed in his temples. It was lack of sleep. That was why none of this made any sense. Or maybe some strange Idaho bug had bitten him and none of this was really happening. He was actually still lying in the middle of the rosebushes delirious with fever.
That explanation was surprisingly appealing. This had started out to be a simple rescue mission. Simple, straightforward, with minimal danger. Instead, he'd been attacked by the victim he'd come to rescue, shot at, jumped in the woods and he'd lost a perfectly good rope and the back window in his truck. After all that, he should have been able to just sit back and relax and collect his fifty thousand dollars. Nothing was working out the way it was supposed to.
The bathroom door opened and Sam sat up. "How is the shower?"
"Fine." She was still toweling her hair but she'd put on her own clothes again. "Does the phone work? I ought to call my family."
"I just called." Sam hoped he didn't sound as uneasy as he felt. "There.. .ah.. .there was no one home."
Emotion flashed into her eyes and, for just an instant, she looked young and vulnerable and hurt. Then she shrugged and glanced away. "I thought they might have had someone there to answer the phone at least but I suppose that was pretty stupid. There's no love lost between us anyway."
Sam didn't say anything. He knew, maybe better than she did, just how little love lost there was. But he wasn't going to say
"The bullets they fired at us were quite real."
"Perhaps they were only trying to do their job. I'm sure they had no intention of hitting either of you. They were probably afraid that they wouldn't get paid if you took my niece away from them. They're quite right. I'm certainly not paying full price for a job only half-done."
She sounded as if she was talking about having her carpets cleaned.
"Those bullets could have hit your niece as easily as myself."
"You must be mistaken. The instructions were quite clear. They were to hold her for two or three weeks until they were informed that it was safe to release her." As far as Dodie Davis was concerned, that closed the subject. Sam rubbed his fingers over his forehead, trying to piece together some logic in all this insanity.
"Why did you want to keep her away?"
"That's not your concern. Quite frankly, Mr. Delanian, I'm more than a little annoyed with your interference but it can't be helped now. It will mean a great deal of money to you if you simply finish the job you interfered with. Keep my niece away from home for a few more days and we'll pay you ten thousand dollars."
"But if I return her right away, the reward is fifty thousand." The silky anger in his voice was lost on Do-die.
"Greed is a most unattractive attribute, Mr. Delanian."
"Kidnapping isn't the most appealing habit around, Mrs. Davis." He let that sink in before speaking again. "I'd like to speak to Emmet Malone. Maybe he can make some sense of this idiocy."
"Are you acquainted with Emmet?" Sam savored the hint of uneasiness in her overbearing tone.
"Intimately." He let her digest that exaggeration for a moment. "Is he there?"
"I'm afraid not. We tried to reach him but he was out of the country. I realize that this may seem unreasonable to you, Mr. Delanian, but the family really had no choice." Her tone was as placating as it was likely to get. Clearly, this was not a woman accustomed to explaining herself. That she was attempting to do so now was an indication of how important this whole mess must be.
"I'm sure, even in your short acquaintance with my niece, that you must have some idea of how difficult she can be. We could negotiate your fee. But it's very important that Babette be kept away for a few more days."
"I'll be in touch." Sam hung up the phone without waiting for a response. If Babs had grown up with that pedantic voice droning at her, it was no wonder she'd gone a little overboard in the defiance department.
He closed his eyes, willing away the headache that throbbed in his temples. It was lack of sleep. That was why none of this made any sense. Or maybe some strange Idaho bug had bitten him and none of this was really happening. He was actually still lying in the middle of the rosebushes delirious with fever.
That explanation was surprisingly appealing. This had started out to be a simple rescue mission. Simple, straightforward, with minimal danger. Instead, he'd been attacked by the victim he'd come to rescue, shot at, jumped in the woods and he'd lost a perfectly good rope and the back window in his truck. After all that, he should have been able to just sit back and relax and collect his fifty thousand dollars. Nothing was working out the way it was supposed to.
The bathroom door opened and Sam sat up. "How is the shower?"
"Fine." She was still toweling her hair but she'd put on her own clothes again. "Does the phone work? I ought to call my family."
"I just called." Sam hoped he didn't sound as uneasy as he felt. "There.. .ah.. .there was no one home."
Emotion flashed into her eyes and, for just an instant, she looked young and vulnerable and hurt. Then she shrugged and glanced away. "I thought they might have had someone there to answer the phone at least but I suppose that was pretty stupid. There's no love lost between us anyway."
Sam didn't say anything. He knew, maybe better than she did, just how little love lost there was. But he wasn't going to say
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