Negotiating Point Read Free Page B

account. By 5:00 p.m. tomorrow, we want Jackson Spelling released from prison.”
    Gavin rolled his hand for Mike to keep talking. Any new info would help.
    “Look,” Mike said, but the line went dead.
    He squeezed the phone, his fingers straining against it before he ran his thumb over the screen. Along with the connection, his link to Roxann had been severed and it left Gavin with a gut-burn that might tear a hole in him.
    Just get her back.
    “She’s okay,” Gavin said. “And we’ve already got a lead on her location. They’ll call again when the email is sent. They’re gonna want to make sure you got it.”
    “Right.” Mike set the phone on the desk with precision care, his gaze not leaving it.
    Horrible fucking pressure.
    “Got it!” Janet yelled and they both swiveled to see her face lit with her never-ending energy. “It’s the same location as before. That’s where they have her.”
    Mike bent over, straddled his hands over his thighs and stared at the floor. He glanced back to Janet. “Whatever I’m paying you, you’re getting a raise.”
    Then he marched out of the room.
    * * *
    Feeling the electric whoosh of her success, Janet jumped from the chair, reached across the desk and high-fived Gavin. Their hands connected and he wrapped his fingers around hers, sending her filthy mind back to the blazing kiss they’d shared three weeks earlier after working a kidnap and ransom case.
    At thirty-two she remained the lone woman on the team and, as such, worked hard to ensure the burly, manly men saw her as an essential asset rather than a woman who happened to be there for their amusement. At least until Mr. Sexy Galore Gavin Sheppard came aboard. James Bond may have had Pussy Galore, but Janet Fink had Sexy Galore. This man, with his Mediterranean looks—dark hair and eyes and smooth olive skin—could make a smart girl turn stupid.
    Fast.
    Be a smart girl.
    Maybe that hand squeeze was just a friendly thing. Sort of an I-don’t-want-to-do-you-but-you-did-good squeeze. Yes, that was it. She’d done her job well. Something she always strived for.
    But then he pinned those sultry brown eyes on her and she started to rethink the idea that maybe he did want to do her. Touching him had been an epic mistake. According to her brain anyway. Her body had differing opinions. After another paralyzing second of heat pouring from his hand, he let go.
    Double darn. Heaven help her, she didn’t know what she wanted. Touch me, don’t touch me. Touch me, don’t touch me. This was what she should have experienced in high school when everyone’s hormones but hers bugged out. Back then she found solace hiding behind her computer because the short, bean-pole geek would rather talk code than boys. The girls thought her weird and the boys found little appreciation for her A-cup breasts. Pretty much, everyone ignored her.
    “Thank you,” he said.
    She rubbed her hands together to replace the warmth that had abandoned her. “We’ll get her back. I know we will.”
    I just have to keep my hands off you until we do.

Chapter Two
    In the abandoned barn Vic had located adjacent to the kidnapper’s location, Janet plugged the last cord into a video screen and pressed the button. The cameras being placed in various locations would feed images of the house to them.
    The screen blinked and the front of the kidnappers’ house appeared.
    She moved to the next task of powering up the other monitors while scanning the remaining available space. The barn sat on twelve acres of bank-owned farmland for sale. A shame for the owners, but for today, Taylor Security appreciated the use of the open two-story structure. She drew a breath of hot, stale air.
    They’d have to leave the barn door cracked to air the place out.
    Not wanting to risk any police officers checking up on them, they’d made sure to park their cars behind the barn and out of sight from the road. All they needed was a sheriff traipsing in and seeing a full command