Midnight Hero - By Diana Duncan Page 0,66
frightened woman’s arm. “I need the walkie-talkie.”
“Why?” Nan handed over the unit.
“I have to run it out to Con.”
Nan grabbed Bailey’s hands. “Don’t leave me!”
“We have to communicate with the bad guys so they don’t hurt Letty and Mike.” She gently extricated herself. Now she knew what Con had experienced earlier in the siege when she’d clung fearfully to him while he focused on survival. “Thirty seconds.”
She strode to the front entrance as fast as she could without ramming into anything.
Con slid out of the shadows. “I’ll head toward the bank and plant the walkie-talkie in the bathroom. The bad guys will search there first. I’ll divert anyone who tries to follow you.”
“Where will we take her?”
“Third floor. No way can we keep a woman in labor or—God forbid—a baby, quiet. We’ll stash them upstairs, as far away as possible.” Con squeezed her hand one last time. “If I don’t show, get her upstairs and then call in SWAT. We’re out of options.” He turned and prowled up the mall.
Bailey ran back inside the dark store. Uneasiness roiled in her stomach. If the robbers had noticed Nan missing, they’d be out in full force. And none too happy. Con was rushing headlong into the jaws of evil. Again. She thrust the nagging worry from her mind. She had a job to do, as did he. He was much better trained for his mission. She couldn’t afford to worry about him. She needed to concentrate every resource on the task at hand. If either of them failed, Nan and the baby would pay dearly.
Nan was waiting in front of the bookcase. She awkwardly heaved her burdened body out of an office chair. “If we’re caught, they’ll kill us.” Her eyes widened in terror. “And now that I’ve escaped, Tony will be livid. He might kill Letty and Mike.”
“Surely, he won’t be that stupid.” Please. “Then he wouldn’t have any bargaining power.”
Nan clutched her stomach. “Ooouch. The contractions are really close together. What a wonky sense of timing this son of mine has, huh?”
Yikes! Bailey squelched a sharp burst of panic. She’d hoped Nan was in the early stages of labor, and would be securely tucked away in the hospital long before the baby arrived. Didn’t most labors last hours? She forced herself to remain calm. Panicking was not only useless, it could be fatal. “For sure. Let’s get you out of here. We need to hurry.”
“I doubt I can walk very far in my condition, much less run.”
Bailey mentally inventoried the surroundings. “You won’t have to.” She pointed at the wheeled office chair Nan had vacated. “Have a seat.”
Nan clutched the chair’s arms as Bailey rolled her friend to the front of the store. Bailey poked her head out and cased both ends of the mall. So far, so good. Though she would have liked to see Con heading their way, the absence of gun-toting maniacs was somewhat encouraging. “All clear. Let’s move.”
She ran through the cold, spooky corridor as fast as possible while pushing Nan in the chair. The wheels clacked along the floor, and she cringed. Any robbers hanging around couldn’t fail to hear the racket. Hopefully, Con would keep the bad guys away.
She bulldozed Nan past Harry’s Fine Cigars, Toys Galore and the Bedroom Furniture Emporium. Her nine months pregnant friend was no flyweight, and Bailey’s boots slipped on the wet floor. Her arms and legs screamed in protest. Ignoring her wailing muscles, she forged ahead. The sooner she and Con hustled Nan upstairs, the sooner mom and baby would be safe. Well, safer. Until the bank robbers were behind bars, no place was a hundred percent secure.
Almost there. Just when she thought she couldn’t run another step, they arrived at the escalators. Puffing like a landlocked blowfish, Bailey tucked Nan into a hidden alcove behind one of the massive wooden Nutcracker soldiers. “We’re supposed to wait here for Con.” She studied Nan’s pale face and tried to catch her second wind. “How are you holding up?”
“Ouch!” Nan grimaced. “Another contraction.”
“Remember your breathing exercises.” Bailey had sat in on one prenatal class when Nan’s husband Brad had been out of town. Too bad the instructor hadn’t covered emergency childbirth procedure.
Nan huffed through the contraction. “I guess I’m…okay. Considering I’m having a baby in a deserted mall, while hiding from homicidal thieves. At least I’m out of that bank. I felt awful about leaving Letty and Mike behind.”
Bailey crouched and clasped her friend’s cold, trembling hands. “Your life and