Sam hoped her legs would hold up under her as she got out of the car and moved to the back door. Out of the corner of her eye, she watched her colleagues move into position. If she could somehow give them enough room, if they could get off a shot…

But Reese had thought of that. When she opened the back door, he grabbed her and brought her down close to him. Hooking his arm around her neck and pressing the gun to her temple, he whispered, “Get out. Slowly.”

Sam took her time standing up.

He half walked, half dragged her into the diner. “Listen up,” Reese yelled, keeping the gun pressed to her head. “I want everyone out of here in one minute or this bitch cop is dead and so is anyone left.”

Eyeing the gun, customers scrambled for the doors.

“You.” Reese nodded to a paunchy middle-aged man who appeared to be in charge of the diner. “Over here.”

The man’s eyes almost popped out of his doughy face.

Now that they were out of the car, Sam waited for her opportunity to call upon her years of training to immobilize Reese. But not while there were still civilians in the diner.

One of the waitresses escorted the last elderly customer to the door, casting a panic-stricken glance at her boss on her way out.

“Go out there and tell them I want my money.” Reese pointed the gun at the petrified manager. “I want every cent of the ten grand they took from my house. They got one hour. She’s got one hour. Go.”

The manager didn’t have to be told twice.

Sam checked the clock on the wall. Eight twenty, only thirty-five minutes since Reese grabbed her. It felt like hours. Maybe if he kept her long enough, she’d get out of appearing at Lieutenant Stahl’s internal affairs hearing this afternoon. That thought almost made her giggle. As if. Stahl would probably write her up for missing the hearing. Would he care that she’d been taken hostage by a man who’d killed his entire family and had nothing to lose by killing her, too? Probably not.

“Sit,” Reese said, ordering her into a booth at the far end of the diner.

Pissed that she’d missed her chance to overtake him, she did as she was told and watched him move from one end of the long, narrow restaurant to the other, closing the blinds as he went.

Sam felt claustrophobic as she imagined what was no doubt happening outside. Her cell phone rang.

Reese groped for it in his pocket.

“They’ll want to establish contact with you,” she said.

He handed her the phone. “Answer it. Put it on speaker.”

She kept her eyes fixed on Reese. “Holland.”

“Lieutenant,” Malone said. “You’re all right?”

“I’m fine.”

“Mr. Reese, this is Detective Captain Malone. We want to help you.”