I could see things ending badly here, very badly.
I sprinted toward them.
“He took my daughter!” she cried. “He told me he’d kill her unless I did as he said. Please, he took my Allie!”
“Just calm down, ma’am,” Beck said.
The baby she was holding was wailing. I recognized the pink hat. Tryphena.
To my left, Ralph was shouldering his way through the crowd of people who’d gathered outside, crossing the parking lot toward us.
“Debra,” I called, “give Ralph back his daughter. Allie is going to be okay.”
“Where’s Mason?”
“It’s over.” Ralph shouted. “He’s gone. He’s dead.”
“No!” A terrible look shadowed her face and I was afraid she might do something desperate.
“Debra,” I said, “your daughter is going to be alright.”
She shook her head. “You don’t understand.”
“No, I do. You love Allie. You’d do anything for her. Mason just asked you for the location of the camera and the work schedules. You didn’t know anything about the explosives, did you?”
“No, I . . .” She trembled. “I had no idea it would . . . I mean . . . And he said he wouldn’t just kill her, but that he would . . . She’s only nine.”
She began reaching for her weapon.
Debra paused. She was weeping, repeating the name of her daughter over and over. “Allie, Allie, I’m sorry.”
She was losing it.
Things were spiraling off sideways fast.
“Take it easy, Debra,” I said. “It’s—”
She cut me off: “But Mason is the only one who knows where she is. He’s the only one. He said he would lock her up and leave her to die.”
Beck still had his gun trained on her. He hadn’t even flinched when the car was speeding toward him. Still hadn’t.
On the one hand, with Tryphena there, I wanted him to lower his weapon, but I knew Debra was armed. She was despairing and maybe suicidal and I didn’t know where things were going to go from here. He needed to keep that weapon out.
“Check your phone,” I said to her.
“What?”
“Check your phone for a message.”
Slowly, Ralph approached Debra. “I’m coming for Tryphena. Don’t do anything to hurt her. I’m—”
“Stop!” she screeched.
He did.
My heart was still pounding hard and harsh from chasing Basque, from fighting him, and I tried unsuccessfully to calm myself, to catch my breath.
“Check your phone,” I repeated. “Please. Before anyone gets hurt.”
Did the text go through? Was there enough time?
I hoped so. Prayed there was.
Holding Tryphena to one side, Debra drew her cell phone out of her pocket and checked her messages. “How did . . . ?” she said disbelievingly. “Is this a trick?”
Oh, thank God.
“No. It’s not a trick.”
She stared at me. “So Allie’s okay?”
I anticipated what the text message had been. “She’s with the police now.”
“But how did you—?”
“It was an address: 669 Pine Street. I called dispatch on the way to the hospital. I gave them your number.”
Ralph held out his hands and Debra was trembling as she handed over his daughter.
“Get down,” Beck commanded. Debra knelt and held her hands out. I promptly relieved her of her weapon and Beck cuffed her. He was on top of things. Professional. He impressed me and I was glad he’d been here watching Tessa this week.
Until we could get a police cruiser here, Beck kept an eye on Debra, although moments later when the dispatcher put Allie on the line, he held the phone to Debra’s ear so she could talk to her daughter.
I took a breath.
So, the girl was okay.
Tryphena was safe.
I thought that Ralph being out here was a good sign. “So, what do we know about Brineesha?”
“They’re treating her, giving her something called D50. She’s gonna be alright. Mason gave her an overdose of insulin.”
“How did you get him to tell you that?”
“I found a couple syringes in the lab coat he was wearing. They were empty, but I used to be an Army Ranger.”
“You used to . . . ? Oh. You know how to get people to talk.”
“When necessary. Yes. Let’s just say I got him to open up.”
I didn’t ask him to elaborate. I wasn’t quite sure I wanted to know the details.
An officer from the hospital arrived, and as we handed Debra over into his custody, Tessa found her way to Beck’s side. “Not bad work there, Agent Danner. You ran right in front of that car. You didn’t even hesitate.”
“I’m not paid to hesitate, ma’am.”
“Did you just come up with that line or have you been waiting to use it?”
“It just came to me.”
Then he took her in his arms and kissed her.
And she kissed him back.
Hmm.
Well.
How about that.
This was a night full of surprises.
Ralph was staring across the street at Basque’s body. “So, he’s dead?”
“Yes.”
He watched one of the guys move the hose away from Basque and he pieced things together: “I guess you could say the pressure got to him.”
I looked at him. “Did you really just say that?”
A slight smirk.
“You’ve been watching too many Bruce Willis movies, my friend.”
“You can never watch too many of those.”
I glanced down. I was a mess—drenched from the water, splattered with blood. I patted my side. “Can you believe it? I think my stitches ripped out again.”
“Imagine that.”
Then he wrapped his mammoth arms around his tiny daughter to hold her. To love her. To protect her from the world.