Redemption

Chapter Sixty-Nine

Jack took a deep breath as he stared into the eyes of the large man who stood in front of his car, his hands resting upon his steering wheel, gripping the leather so tightly that it began to hurt. He just didn't get it. Usually, he was so calm and collected when it came to hostage situations, but the beads of sweat that were trickling down his toned back told him he wasn't in as much control as he often was. This was the same scenario he'd walked through many times in his career, so why the sudden change? Why was this time suddenly so different?

Because he never played the bait before, he told himself.

The FBI does not negotiate with terrorists—that had been a well-known fact for decades—and that's what it seemed like they were doing. A life from a life was technically still part of a negotiation, but once Danni was out here and he was in there, his plan could go into effect. That way it would be false-leading a terrorist and not actually negotiation.

Taking a deep breath, he prayed this would work and waited for Tara's signal. She and Max were huddled up in the surveillance van, though which one that was, Jack wasn't able to pinpoint through his rearview mirror. Four SUVs sat quietly behind him, one holding the tech-wizards and three holding additional teams.

"Jack, still no word from SAM 5-1, though SAMs 3-1 and 3-3 are in position," Tara's voice spoke quickly through his earpiece and waited for confirmation from him before she continued. He took a moment to decipher the code. DeMarco still hadn't reported back, which was either good or bad—at this point, that could be answered with a flip of a coin. Bobby was stationed on a nearby rooftop, with a sniper team at the ready; they were just a precaution in case things got severely out of hand. Myles was waiting for the trade-off; he would whisk Danni away before joining D's side where they were joined by other SWAT members and would be the first line of defense. Everything was in place; all they needed was to hear from SAM 5-1.

"Jack, something's wrong. The signal from DeMarco's earpiece is gone and I'm not picking up anything on video." Her voice held a hint of anxiety, which it should have. This never should have happened; Dessa should have gone down long ago and now it was down to this. Not only did they have a civilian-cop being held as hostage, but now they'd lost contact with one of their own members. Nothing good could come from this, Jack was sure.

Taking in a deep breath and letting it out slowly, he considered every option available—pulling out and turning tail or giving up without a fight; neither was plausible options and neither would be put into practice. He pushed the button on his COM-link, making sure that the entire team heard him. He was in charge, here and he was giving the orders. "This is SAM 3-6; we go in as planned. Detective Talbot is still our main priority, but SAM 5-1 may still need our assistance if necessary. Be on your guard and confirm that these orders are understood." He closed his eyes, a tremor running through him as fear officially set in. This was actually becoming a reality and a nightmare at the same time. How was he going to get through this, now that their inside man had gone AWOL?

"This is SAM 3-9," D's voice projected over the COM-link. Jack could swear he heard the hint of a sigh fall from the supervising officer's lips, of course, it could have just been the wind, yet that was highly doubtful, "orders confirmed."

"This is SAM 1," said Tara from the surveillance van, the distinct click-click-click coming, no doubt from her keyboard as she verified information via her laptop, "confirmed," she replied, though it certainly seemed reluctant from the strained sound of her voice.

"SAM 3-3," Myles replied, taking a minute to respond, because he had the feeling that all of this was going to go, very, very wrong, "confirmed," he said, his voice crackling slightly from obvious strain.

"SAM 3-1," Bobby replied softly as he glanced down at Jack's vehicle from his bird's-eye view. He closed his eyes for a moment to say a silent pray for the safety of everyone before confirming the orders as well. "Bring her home, Sparky," he said, not hiding the strain of his voice or the sniffling sound he made before releasing the COM-link.

Jack wasn't sure why, but he felt surprisingly comforted by the sounds of his friends' voices as they told him, in their own ways, to be safe. He let out a deep breath and steeled himself for whatever he would face while inside before climbing out of the SUV and taking the few steps forward that could very well mark the end of the world as he knew it.