“Deb.”

Nic smiled. “It’s very nice to meet you, Deb. I’m Nic. Now, I’m going to check out this vest you’re wearing. Don’t worry about a thing. I used to eat bombs for breakfast in the war. I can disarm a bomb easier than a teenager taking off a bra on prom night.”

Her teeth chattered, and her eyes darted about wildly. If he didn’t keep her calm, she would be the biggest hindrance to saving her own life and possibly his own.

“Deb, look in my eyes.” He gently took her chin and guided it to where their gazes met. “Do I look scared, Deb?”

“No.”

“I’m not scared because I know that these guys aren’t planning on killing us right here and now. If they did that, my team would blow those doors and take them down in nothing flat. They don’t want that. So they’re not going to kill us. Do you believe me?”

“I guess.”

“Good, because I need you to stay calm and do exactly as I say. Can you do that?”

She nodded.

With Deb calmed down a bit, the first thing Nic did was reach into one of his pouches and pop a butterscotch candy in his mouth. Then he reached into another pouch to retrieve his wire cutters. Examining the vest, he traced the wires back to their source and carefully checked the contents of the pouches on the vest. He found the pouches loaded with two bricks of C-4.

He rolled the candy around his mouth faster, transferring all of his fear and anxiety and worry into the candy, so that his mind could focus solely on the problem at hand. He traced the wires, careful not to disturb any kind of anti-tamper mechanisms.

But the more he searched, the more he realized that there were no detonators or ignition systems of any kind. It had all been to make a point. The hostage takers wanted to make sure that no one started to doubt the kind of firepower and resolve they possessed.

Nic said, “I’m going to slip this vest off you know, Deb. Then you’re going to go with my friends, and they’ll take you to a safe place. Okay?”

She nodded vigorously.

He doubled-checked for any kind of trap and then slid the zipper down and pushed the vest back from her shoulders. When the vest was clear, he helped Deb up from the cruiser’s seat and gave her over to the waiting ERT team.

Nic picked up the vest and laid it across the hood of the cruiser. Removing a latex glove from one of the many pouches on his tactical gear, he pulled off the note.

Not realizing that Ortiz was behind him, he jumped when Taz spoke.

“What does the note say?”

Nic read the message aloud: “This is our show of good faith and proof that the hostages are all still alive. As you can see, we have the equipment to turn this building into rubble. Don’t test our resolve. When the FBI SSA arrives, send him up to the door unarmed with his arms held out at his sides and hands open.”