B00CCYP714 EBOK by R. E. Bradshaw Read Free Book Online

She asked, while taking his pulse. It was rapid, his skin cool and clammy. She needed to get him out of there fast.
    He answered, through ragged breaths, “Broke—ribs.”
    “I don’t suppose you can walk. It’s going to take some big guys to put you on a gurney.”
    Mackie attempted to sit up. “I—crawled out—of the—jungle—with your—daddy—”
    Rainey put her hands on his shoulders and gently pushed him back to the floor. “I know, I know. Stop talking. You’re going on a stretcher, no argument.”
    Maybelline sat up on the edge of her chair, baby on one knee, pistol on the other. “You are one crazy white girl. Come in here without a gun, just gonna take charge.”
    Rainey smiled at the colossal woman, large enough to snap her like a twig. “And you, my friend, are one crazy dope-dealing grandma, but I got to hand it to you—you wanted attention, you got it. Jacqueline Upshaw is now the most famous missing person in the Triangle.”
    Maybelline smiled back. “Go on, get him out of here, then you and me gonna talk.”
    Rainey stood up. “Okay, we’ll do that. May I have permission to ask those two SWAT guys outside the door to come help put Mackie on a stretcher? I’ll ask them to leave their weapons out there.”
    Angeline switched from helping to hindering. “Momma, don’t let them come in here. It could be a trick.”
    This request worried Maybelline, causing Rainey to intervene quickly. “Look, why don’t you and I go back there and sit at the kitchen table? Let Mackie and Angeline leave with the children.”
    Angeline continued to warn her mother. “What’s going to stop them from coming in here and shooting you, if we all leave?”
    Maybelline smiled at her daughter and held out the baby for her to take. “That’s al’right, Angeline. Go on. Take Jacquie’s baby and little Tara and go on outside. I got me a FBI agent for a hostage now. Ain’t nobody gonna come in here guns a-blazin’.”
    Rainey nodded her head. “She’s right, all except I’m not an agent anymore, but I’m still worth a good couple of hours of hostage negotiation before they finally figure out who they’ll blame if they get me killed.”
    Wiley’s voice came through the earbud. “Tell her you’ll send paramedics.”
    Rainey chuckled. “You better send big ones.”
    “What?” Angeline asked.
    Rainey pointed at her ear. “They are talking to me from outside. They can hear us too. They want to know if paramedics would be more acceptable than the SWAT guys? Really, no one wants this to go any further. Let’s get you all outside and let me talk to your mother. I promise no harm will come to her.”
    Maybelline moved toward the kitchen, dangling the gun at her side. Rainey took that as a sign her suggested course of action had been approved.
    She spoke clearly so everyone, including Wiley, could hear and understand. “Stand down. Send in only the paramedics. A woman, a baby, and a toddler are exiting the house. I’m going to stay here with Maybelline for a bit. I’ll let you know when we’re coming out. Did you get all that, Wiley?”
    “Yeah, I got it. Sending in the paramedics now. I’m sending four, if that’s okay?”
    Rainey looked down at Mackie and then toward the kitchen, watching as Maybelline placed the gun on the table and sat down, defeated, and at the same time victorious.
    “Send them on in,” she said into the lapel microphone under the edge of her vest. She leaned down and patted Mackie’s shoulder. “They’re coming to get you now. Don’t give them too much shit, all right?” She reached to squeeze his hand. “I love you, you know. Named a kid after you. So, you hang in there. I’ll be at the hospital as soon as I can.”
    He tried to smile, but it looked more like a grimace. “Tell Thelma—”
    “She’s already on her way to the hospital,” Rainey said, answering what she thought was his request.
    Mackie shook his head a little from side to side, and with difficulty