Chapter Fifteen

"It won't work," Jaime said defiantly. "The OSI doesn't negotiate with terrorists."

"Maybe not, but your husband will," Barney snapped. "Pretty convenient, the way that worked out, huh?" He leaned in close to her again, amazed that she was showing so little fear. "You know, we could end this right now – and I'll let you go – all you have to do is tell me where to find Goldman."

"Bite. Me."

Barney swung his arm back, this time with a closed fist...and stopped himself. She wasn't flinching. "You're not afraid of me, are you?" he asked. Jaime merely glared. "Well, you should be. I've been holding back, you know. One real punch would crush you like a pretty little bug. And don't get any cute ideas about fighting your way out. You might have a bionic arm, but I've got two. Did they tell you that? Well, did they?"

"Yes."

"Good. Then you know how stupid it would be for you to move out of that chair. I'll just call your husband back and then we'll be on our way." When he reached Steve again, Barney tersely relayed the rest of his demands: a civilian pilot, unaffiliated with Intelligence or law enforcement, an airstrip cleared of all Air Force personnel and the plane was to be ready for take-off as soon as he was aboard. Before Steve could respond or ask to speak with Jaime, Hiller closed the conversation. "You now have 45 minutes. Non-negotiable. Screw this up...and she dies."

----

Steve scarcely dared to breathe as he and Hansen waited in a cleaned-out garbage dumpster that sat just beyond the now-deserted airstrip. There were 15 minutes left. "If we're lucky," Hansen told him, "Hiller will board the plane and leave Jaime on the tarmac. He could also take her aboard to ensure he gets on safely – and then let her go. Or...."

'Or' was too awful to contemplate...but they had no choice. "Or he could take her with him on the plane and fly off with her," Steve concluded. Neither man mentioned the last possibility, but they both knew it existed: Hansen could board the plane and then (having gotten what he wanted) kill his hostage.

----

The ride to the air base was tense, with Barney white-knuckling the steering wheel and Jaime scrambling for some way to get through to him, to try and stop what was happening. The cool night air had helped to revive her and while she still didn't dare try and fight him, her awareness and her reasoning had (thankfully) returned.

"How old is your son?" she asked very quietly.

"He just turned two," Hiller answered without looking at her.

"What's his name?"

"Benjamin."

Jaime could hear the rift of pain in his voice. The loss of his son had obviously cut him deeply.

"Did Gregory tell you I have two little girls?" Jaime noticed that this earned her a quick glance of surprise. "They're babies – twins – just five weeks old." She struggled to keep from bursting into tears as she thought of them. If she didn't pull this off, it was likely she'd never see them again. "They were born too early, so one is still in the hospital. I haven't even gotten to put her in her own crib yet...."

"That's a shame," Hiller said, the hard edge softening....just a little.

It gave Jaime encouragement and she kept on talking. "Their names are Ann and Rose. Rosie came home this week, but Annie was a little sicker. Hopefully in a few more days..."

They'd reached the base. Jaime could only pray that she'd been able to reach him and that it was enough.

As Hiller had instructed, the rear gate leading onto the airstrip was wide open, the guards gone. He stopped the car just a few feet behind the plane and as he walked around to the passenger door...a shot rang out, blasting him in the arm. Another shot peppered into his leg, and he furiously yanked Jaime from the car – his gun directly to her head.

Still hidden, but watching through a small peephole in the dumpster, Hansen pulled out his datacom. "Hold your fire!" he ordered the carefully-placed snipers concealed on the roof on the hanger.

Hiller forced Jaime up the stairs to the door of the plane. "Nice move, Colonel!" he called out toward the hanger. "You just lost your wife!" With one violent motion, he shoved Jaime down the steps and onto the tarmac, then stepped down himself and stood over her, ready to fire.

Jaime looked up at him with a calm, steady gaze. "My babies need me," she pleaded softly. "And Benjamin needs you."

Hiller stared at her for one long, agonizing moment....then slowly lowered his gun.

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