Page 68 of Nowhere to Hide
“Yes. When is it going to happen?”
“Soon.”
“I want you to talk me through it. If you’re on the line with me, you won’t let them shoot me.”
“I can be with you the entire time.” It was the only thing she could promise out of all he said.
“Thank you.”
Donny glanced over at Sandra. If he was thinking what she was, Ryan’s mental state ping-ponged all over the place.
“You’re welcome, Ryan. You did the right thing letting Edward go. Before I get the reporter and her cameraman in position at the gate, would you be willing to peacefully surrender now? You’re in an excellent position to do so.”
“Not until I’ve said what I need to say to the world, and I want to find out more about those NDAs.”
“I’ll follow up on the ETA for the reporter, but it shouldn’t be long.” She wasn’t rushing ahead to get them out there this minute. Not with Kramer still on the scene.
“Make it within the hour.”
“I’ll do my best.”
She waited for Ryan to hang up, and then set a timer on her phone for sixty minutes. Next, Sandra texted Kreiger to get the undercover officers up front within the hour. She took off her headset and left the vehicle. “I’ve got to talk with Kramer.” She also had to talk to Neal about the NDAs in Timothy’s home office. Accessing them would require jumping through some legal hoops. That’s provided they were given approval. They didn’t exactly have indisputable evidence against Timothy Hanson.
Sandra left and found Neal and Officer Moore with Dale Kramer right where she expected. “Just a minute, Lieutenant,” she said, waving for Neal to follow her around the front of the vehicle. Once there, she filled him in on Ryan’s latest request about the NDAs.
“I’ll see what I can do. But if you can get you-know-who to incriminate his late boss, the warrant to access Timothy’s estate would go smoother.”
How could I guess he’d say that?“I’ll do my best.”
The ambulance pulled away with lights and sirens, and Gibson was walking toward them.
“Not right now, Gibson,” Neal told him. “In a minute.”
“Whatever you wish.” Gibson entered the vehicle.
Neal motioned to Officer Moore that she was dismissed. She headed toward a police cruiser, and Neal stood at the command vehicle’s door. Sandra tucked around the backside to talk with Kramer.
“Mr. Kramer, I’m Special Agent Sandra Vos with the FBI.” She held out her hand as she introduced herself.
He left her hand to hang there. “Yes, I remember from when I first got here.”
She drew back her arm while offering him a gentle smile. It was a challenge as she kept picturing Kramer behind the wheel of the cargo van running Susan Crawford off the road. “Sorry to have to talk with you out here. Inside the vehicle is quite a busy place.”
“I’d really prefer to catch up with Mr. Hanson at the hospital.”
“I can understand that, but he’s receiving urgent medical care. If you could just give me a few minutes of your time.”
“Yeah, sure, whatever I can do to help.”
Sandra couldn’t take his statement at face value when she suspected he was the reason Susan was dead. He was selfishlymotivated. “That’s kind of you. We all want the rest of the Hanson family to come out of this uninjured.” She desired the same for Ryan but didn’t mention him as that wouldn’t be Kramer’s concern. “To start, I’m very sorry for your loss. I understand that you and Timothy Hanson were close. You worked together for many years.”
“All my adult life. He was family to me.”
There was some small tell in his voice when he said the last sentence that had Sandra questioning its integrity. It felt like he said what she’d expected him to say. “It must have been challenging working for such a powerful man sometimes.”
Kramer met her eye. “It had its moments.”
“Such as?” she flipped back.
