THE PERFECT TEN (Boxed Set)

wall, overturn the table, smash the stupid speakerphone that refused to ring.
    She glanced at Delano, and felt some of the desperate edge come off. Poor Del. He didn’t look to be in much better shape than she was. Not that he looked bad; she’d come to believe he was incapable of that. But he looked … what? More vulnerable, maybe. Suddenly, she wanted to circle the table and put her arms around him right where he sat, holding him as tightly as he’d asked her to do last night.
    He looked up and caught her eye.
    Tell me again that it’s going to be all right.
    Instead of replying to her silent plea, he reached across the table and covered her hand with his, giving it a reassuring squeeze.
    Of course. He wanted her to conserve her psychic energy. He’d been right about that. Her mental exhaustion in the wee small hours before dawn had been profound. When Delano sent her a sleep suggestion, it had been lights out. She couldn’t remember the last time she slept so soundly, even with the help of a sleep aid.
    The speakerphone rang, jolting everyone visibly.
    Delano stabbed a button. “Bowen.”
    “So curt.” Janecek’s voice filled the dining room, but there was a great deal of background noise, a rhythmic whup-whupping . “And after I’ve come all this way to see you.”
    Eli muted the phone. “Chopper,” he said, then depressed the mute button again.
    “I’m touched,” Delano drawled.
    “It doesn’t look like it from up here,” shouted Janecek over the beating of the helicopter’s blades. “It looks like you’ve got a SWAT team up here ready to take us out on your command.”
    Ainsley’s stomach churned. He was here, in a helicopter, hovering close enough to see the guard posted on the roof!
    On cue, Eli’s radio erupted with a report from the roof of an incoming aircraft, potentially hostile. He stabbed the mute button on the phone, then depressed the transmit button on his radio. “Roger that, B-Team. Hold your fire. Repeat, hold your fire. There are hostages on board that helo. Over.”
    When Eli’s radio had crackled a “Roger that”, Delano took the mute off again.
    “You expected us to roll out the red carpet, perhaps?”
    “What I expect,” he said, “is a little respect for my cargo.”
    Unable to stand it a moment longer, Ainsley jumped up. “Goddamn you, you monster, they better be all right!”
    “Ah, Ms. Crawford. Good of you to confirm your presence. Because without you, this delightful duo would be of no use to me, save perhaps as an appetizer. They’re neither one of them very big.”
    Ainsley gasped, but Delano pushed into her mind with a faint but firm command not to rise to the bait. Digging her nails into her palms, she forced herself to sink back into her chair. His eyes thanked her, and he turned his attention back to the phone.
    “Come on, Radak. Skip the theatrics and get straight to the point.”
    “Okay, Delano. Here’s my point.”
    Screams erupted, and the rotor blades became suddenly louder.
    Eli’s radio burst to life again with the voice of a team member Ainsley had met a handful of times. “Jesus, he’s dangling someone out of the chopper! And not over the roof, either. Over the street. Jesus, fuck! It’s a kid. Just a kid.”
    Ainsley leapt to her feet again, wanting to crawl through the telephone to get at the bastard. “You hurt that child and I’ll kill you!”
    “Tell Delano to withdraw his forces from the roof, Ms. Crawford, and nothing will happen to the child. Then you and me and Daddy Dearest can sit down and talk trade.”
    Eli stabbed the mute button. “We can call ’em down, but have them arrayed just inside the doors to the roof. If it starts to go sideways up there, they can be back out on the roof in seconds.”
    Delano released the mute. “We’ll meet your demand. Just haul that kid back in.”
    The noise of the rotors dipped again, making the sobs of mother and child all the more audible. Oh, Devon, Lucy, I’m so sorry.
    “Okay, she’s safely inside again,” came Janecek’s voice. “Your turn.”
    Eli gave the order for his men to retreat, this time not bothering with the mute button. However, he did mute the phone to relay the order for them to hang just inside the stairwell, close to the roof’s door.
    “Better?” Delano asked.
    “Infinitely. But before I land, I want you to tell Mr. Grayson that this handsome craft is equipped with an M60D machine gun. He’ll be familiar with it. It’s standard NATO fare,