THE PERFECT TEN (Boxed Set)

gave him. If this does not turn out well, I will hunt you down and feed your own liver to you. Are we understood?”
    “Okay, okay! I’ll help you.”
    “Your boss is still conscious?”
    “Yes. Jesus. H. Christ, he’s looking at me! He knows I’m talking to you.”
    “Don’t worry about it. I promise you, he can’t hurt you. By all means, shoot him if you feel you need to, or in defense of Mrs. Michaels, but I really don’t think you’ll need to. Even as we speak, his body is killing off red blood cells in a wholesale slaughter that he can’t possibly survive. Is he having trouble catching his breath?”
    “Yes.”
    “That fits. His heart will be racing, too, and his blood pressure will have plummeted. In short order, he’ll go into shock and die.”
    “Jesus,” came the pilot’s reply.
    “Now, I’m going to send some men out onto the roof. What I want you to do is find a way to get Ms. Michaels out of the helo. You, too. I’ll give you total amnesty. You’ll be free to walk away, or fly away, as you please, when this is over. But I want that woman, and I want her unharmed. Are we understood?”
    The pilot swore.
    “Seems like a better deal than dying for your boss, especially considering he’s going to predecease you and won’t be around to appreciate your sacrifice.”
    “Okay, dammit, I’ll do it. Oh, fuck it ! I have to go.”
    The line went dead.
    “The radio,” Ainsley cried. “Find out what’s happening up there!”
    “One second.” Delano raised the radio to his mouth again and depressed the transmitter button. “B Team, do you read?”
    “Loud and clear, Dr. Bowen.”
    “Janecek is critically ill. We spiked his meal, so to speak, and he’s failing fast.”
    A cheer rose from the men, reverberating in the concrete stairwell. “Well done, sir!”
    “We’ve also talked to the pilot, who has agreed to get himself and Ms. Michaels out of the helicopter at the first opportunity. I want your team on the roof to grab them up and hustle them inside when they make the break.”
    “Roger that. We’re headed for the roof. Over.”
    Ainsley caught his arm. “What’s happening inside the helicopter?”
    He slid his arm around her shoulders and depressed the radio’s button again. “A Team, what have you got on the roof cam?”
    “Nothing much right now. For a moment, it looked like the two men might come to blows, but one of them collapsed. Just kinda folded up, you know? No idea why.”
    Ainsley dug her fingers into his forearm and he squeezed her shoulder again. “Which one?” he asked. “Janecek or the pilot?”
    “Couldn’t tell. But it’s been quiet in there since.”
    “Presuming it was Janecek who went down, we can look for the pilot to make a break. Are we ready up there?”
    “Absolutely. B Team’s in position.”
    “Excellent. Apprise me of any changes. Over.”
    Ainsley’s anxious gaze caught his. “If that was Janecek who went down, what are they waiting for?”
    He handed her the radio he’d been using and picked up the spare. “I don’t know, but I’m going to find out.”
     
     

 
    Chapter 24
     
    “NO!” AINSLEY’S heart leapt. Though she knew better, she felt like it had lodged itself somewhere around the base of her throat. “There’s no need for you to go up there.”
    “There is,” he asserted quietly. “As you so correctly pointed out, I put Mrs. Michaels at increased risk by telling Janecek what I told him. I thought if I could impress on him the seriousness of his condition, I could persuade him to come out and seek medical attention.”
    She’d been about to apologize for jumping on him earlier, but that last bit distracted her. “You would save him? After all he’s done, you would spare his life?”
    “I doubt he could be saved in the most sophisticated of hospitals, even if he could survive the transfer, which is highly improbable. And even if he could survive a transfer, how would they begin to treat him? He’s caught half way between vampire and non-vampire. An intervention would be as likely to kill him as save him. But that’s neither here nor there. I merely hoped to expedite an end to the hostage situation by offering the prospect of medical salvation.”
    Of course. Regret scored her with merciless talons. She should have known he had a plan. And it would have worked if Janecek had listened instead of throwing the phone down. “I’m sorry about what I said, Delano. It was a good plan. But the way it worked