“I’m afraid that’s not possible.”
Miles’s heart stopped. No... “What?”
Dugan laughed coyly. “The kid is sleeping, but guess who I have right beside me?”
“Miles,” Jordan yelled. “He killed Haddock—”
Her voice was cut off as a loud smack echoed over the line. Miles’s blood ran cold as he realized Dugan had hit Jordan.
What else had he done to her? What else would he do?
His stomach knotted.
“You son of a bitch,” Miles growled. “Let Jordan and the kids go. It’s me you want, not them.”
“Aah, but I have you now,” Dugan said smugly.
The sadistic bastard. “Come on, Dugan. You don’t hurt kids, that’s not what you enjoy.”
“I’m enjoying myself now.”
Miles silently cursed. Yeah, Dugan was having fun. He wanted him squirming. Worrying. Terrified.
And he was right—the best way to accomplish that was to threaten Timmy.
“You won’t get off this ranch alive,” Miles said. “I promise you that.”
“Tsk, tsk, tsk, Detective. Don’t make promises you can’t keep.”
“I will keep this one,” Miles said through gritted teeth.
“I’m sure you promised your son’s mama you’d take care of her, too. And little Timmy here, I bet you told him the same thing.” He paused, his voice almost singsongy as if he was playing a game. “And look how that worked out.”
Miles opened his mouth to try to reason with the bastard, but the phone clicked dead. He cursed and slammed it against his leg.
“What did he say?” Mason asked.
“He killed Haddock, and he has Jordan and Timmy.”
“Hell.”
Miles called Brody to fill him in. “Dugan’s on the ranch,” he told Brody. “He killed Haddock, and he has Jordan and Timmy’s group.”
Brody released a string of expletives. “What about Wes Lee? I sent him out to check on them.”
“I don’t know,” Miles said, although his gut told him Lee was probably dead as well. Dugan was definitely demented. He didn’t care who knew he was guilty. His focus was to torture Miles, and he was killing anyone who got in his way.
Timmy’s sweet little face flashed in his mind. No...he couldn’t lose him.
Maybe Jordan could save him...keep Dugan occupied until they could corner him.
But terror and doubt still nagged at him. But what if he killed her first?
She had done nothing wrong. Nothing except help Timmy.
And now she might end up dead like Marie because of it.
* * *
JORDAN BREATHED THROUGH the panic eating at her. She had to stay calm. Climb into Dugan’s head.
He stowed the knife but waved his gun at her. “Get the kids up. We need to move.”
“What are you talking about?” Jordan asked. “They’re sleeping.”
His eyes turned wild. “We’re too out in the open here.” He shoved the gun at her side. “Now move it.”
Jordan winced as he gripped her arm, forced her to stand and shoved her forward. She staggered and stumbled over a rock, and he cursed.
“Don’t even think about running.” The barrel of his weapon dug into her side. “If you do, I’ll kill one of the boys.”
Jordan bit her tongue to suppress a gasp, then faced him with her chin held high. “I’m not running, but I can’t walk straight with you shoving me around. If you want me to move the boys, let me do it my way or you’ll have some hysterical, angry kids on your hands, and that could mean trouble for all of us.”
His sinister gaze met hers, and she could have sworn she saw admiration flicker in his eyes. “All right, but I’m warning you. I will punish you if you disobey me.”
“Is that what your mother did to you?” Jordan asked.
His lips thinned, all charm fading from his fake smiles. “Don’t talk to me about my mother.”
A small sense of victory niggled at her. Maybe she’d hit on the crux of Dugan’s problem. If so, she could use that information to reach him.
“Listen to me,” Jordan said. “I want to see everyone leave this situation safely. Especially these innocent children.” She released a pent-up breath. “So if you stay calm and don’t hurt them, I’ll help you figure out a way to escape before the cops come.” She looked him square in the eye. “Because you know they will eventually catch up with you, and then you’re going to wind up back in jail or...dead yourself.”
He gripped her arm so tightly pain shot up her arm. “Don’t threaten me—”
“I’m not,” Jordan said quietly. “But I don’t believe you want to hurt these boys. You may not like women, but think about it. These kids are just like you were when you were little. They’re young and they’ve already had a boatload of trouble and bad people in their lives. You don’t want to add to that.”