Page 121 of Protected By Duval
The phone rang again and again.
In his ear, Duval heard West’s voice.
“If he doesn’t re-establish contact, we’ll have to push the schedule up to breach.”
In order, each member of the team responded in barely a whisper that they’d all heard West’s words.
The phone kept ringing.
* * *
NOELLE
Besides the manager who lay dead a couple of feet away, the silence surrounding the garden center drew her attention for another reason.
S.W.A.T. was outside.
That meant McCrae was outside.
She didn’t see them, but she knew that they were there.
The phone call had to be Fox on the other end of the line.
Just knowing that the team was close gave her hope that had been flagging earlier.
Knowing that Tony stood there while his manager died, bleeding out on the floor, didn’t give her a lot of confidence that he could be talked into letting them go or putting down his gun.
She’d never come face to face with a man like Tony. If he could stand by and let a man die, whether he liked him or not, she could easily see that he could have killed Aracely.
She couldn’t imagine being so cold.
Noelle knew that she wasn’t a people person.
She liked her solitary time probably more than most people, but she wasn’t someone who could easily take a life like Tony had done.
She just had to focus on keeping things as calm as she could.
She had no idea what S.W.A.T. was planning, but she knew they had a plan.
They would just have to wait for it to happen.
* * *
DUVAL
West’s voice was suddenly in his ear again.
“We’re not going to be able to talk him down.”
Duval swore he heard his own teeth grinding in the back of his mouth.
He barely held back a snarl, but he did it so he could hear West’s plans and orders.
“If he doesn’t get back on the phone we need to take action. He’s already killed one.”
Duval felt his heart stutter in his chest.
He was well aware of this fact.
