Tiel knelt down beside her. "Sabra, suicide isn't a viable way to make a point or win an argument. Think of your baby. She would never know you. Or Ronnie."
"She would never know us anyway. Not if my daddy had his way."
Tiel stood up and moved to stand beside Doc, who was making similarly urgent appeals to Ronnie. "To take that many lives, Sabra's life, you'd only be validating Dendy's low opinion of you. You've got to play smarter than him, Ronnie."
"No," the boy said stubbornly.
"Is that the legacy you want to leave your daughter?"
"We've thought about this for a long time," Ronnie said. "We gave Mr. Dendy an opportunity to accept us, and he refused. This is the only way out for us. I meant what I said. Sabra and I would rather die-"
"I don't think they're convinced."
"Huh?" He looked at Tiel, who had interrupted him.
Doc also turned to her, equally surprised by her statement.
"I bet they think you're bluffing."
An idea had first occurred to her earlier, when Ronnie was trying to convince Galloway that all the hostages were safe, including Agent Cain. She'd temporarily shelved the notion while assisting Sabra with the breast-feeding. Now it took another foothold in her mind and was expanding even as she vocalized it.
"For them to feel the impact of your decision, they need to understand how serious you are."
"I've told them," Ronnie said.
"But seeing is believing."
"What are you suggesting?" This from Doc.
"There's media out there. I'm sure a camera crew from my station is among them. Let's get a cameraman in here to record you." The boy was listening. She drove home her point. "We see how earnest you are," she said, indicating the others. "But it's impossible to convey your sincerity over the telephone. If Galloway could see you when you speak, see that Sabra is in total agreement, then I think he, your father, and Mr. Dendy would give more credence to what you're saying."
"You mean I'd be on TV?" Donna asked, sounding pleased at the prospect.
Ronnie's lower lip was getting brutalized by his upper teeth. "Sabra, what do you think?"
"I don't know," she said with uncertainty.
"Another thing," Tiel argued, "if Mr. Dendy could see his granddaughter, he might back down altogether. You claim to be more afraid of him than you are of the FBI."
"We are. He's a lot more ruthless."
"But he's a human being. Video pictures of Katherine would be powerfully persuasive. Up till now she's been just 'the baby,' a symbol of your rebellion against him. A video would make her real to him, cause him to rethink his position. And with your father and Agent Galloway working on him, I believe he would weaken and capitulate."
"Agent Galloway is not going to compromise on the Bureau's policy." Cain might just as well have saved his breath because no one heeded him or his comment.
"What do you say?" Tiel asked. "Isn't it worth a try? You don't want to kill us, Ronnie. And you don't want to kill Sabra and yourself, either. Suicide is a permanent solution to a temporary problem."
"I'm not just blowing smoke!"
Tiel pounced on his emotional outburst. "Good! That's exactly what they need to see and hear. Use the videotape to convince them that you do not intend to back down."
He was struggling with indecision. "Sabra, what do you think?"
"Maybe we should, Ronnie." She glanced down at the child sleeping in her arms. "What Doc said about the legacy we leave Katherine… If there's another way out of this, isn't it worth a try at least?"
Tiel held her breath. She was near enough to Doc to tell that he was as taut as a piano wire.
"Okay," Ronnie said tersely. "One guy can come in. And you'd better tell them not to pull any tricks like they did with him," he said, gesturing toward Cain.
Tiel exhaled shakily. "Even if they tried, I wouldn't let them. If a crew from my station isn't here yet, we'll wait for one. Unless I recognize the videographer, he doesn't come in, okay? I give you my word." She turned to Cain.
"How can I contact Galloway?"
"I don't-"
"Don't give me any bullshit. What's the number?"
CHAPTER 10
Tiel was washing her chest with one of the baby wipes when she sensed movement behind her. She glanced around quickly, and it would be difficult to say who was the most discomfited, her or Doc. His eyes involuntarily dropped to her lilac lace brassiere. Tiel felt a warm blush rise out of it.
"Sorry," he mumbled.
"I was a mess," she explained, bringing her shoulder back around to conceal her front. Her blouse had been stiff with the dried sanguineous fluid it had absorbed when she first held the newborn against her chest. Doc had been conferring with Ronnie, so Tiel had taken advantage of a moment's privacy to remove her blouse and wash. He'd returned before she expected him. "I thought I should clean up before appearing on camera."
She disposed of the towelette and picked up the spare T-shirt she had taken from the rack earlier. After pulling it on, she turned and held her arms out to her sides. On the front of the T-shirt was the Texas state flag with the word home underneath. "Not exactly haute couture," she remarked ruefully.
"It is in these parts." He checked on Sabra, then joined Tiel where she had sat down with her back to the freezer chest. She passed him a bottle of water. He drank after her with no compunction.
"How is she? Any better?"
Doc nodded a hesitant affirmative, but his brow was furrowed with concern. "She's lost a lot of blood. It's coagulated somewhat, but she needs to be sutured."
"There wasn't a suture kit in the doctor's bag?"
He shook his head. "I checked. So, even though the bleeding has slackened, infection is a real concern."
Sabra and the baby were sleeping. After Tiel's telephone conversation with Agent Galloway to arrange the videotaping, Ronnie had resumed his post. He was most wary of the Mexicans and Cain. He watched them vigilantly.
Vern and Gladys were dozing, their heads together.
Donna was thumbing through a tabloid magazine, much as she would do on any other night when business was slow. For the time being, everything was quiet.
"What about the baby?" Tiel asked Doc.
"Holding her own." He had listened to Katherine's chest through the stethoscope included in the doctor's kit. "Heartbeat's strong. Lungs sound okay. But I'll feel a lot better when she's getting neonatal care from experts."
"Maybe it won't be much longer. My friend Gully runs our news operation. For several hours now he's known that I'm among the hostages. I'm almost certain our station has a crew already here. Galloway's checking on that, and promised to get back to me as soon as possible. I have every confidence in the effectiveness of video. It will soon be over."
"I hope so," he said, giving the young mother and baby another worried glance.
"You did a terrific job, Doc." He looked at her suspiciously, as though waiting for the other shoe to drop. "I mean that sincerely. You're very good. Maybe you should have chosen obstetrics or pediatrics over oncology."
"Maybe I should have," he said grimly. "I didn't have a very good success rate combating cancer."
"You had an excellent success rate. Far above the average."
"Yeah, well…"
Yeah, well, I couldn't cure the one that really counted. My own wife. Tiel mentally finished the thought for him. It would be pointless to argue how commendable his efforts to conquer the disease had been when, in his own mind, that single casualty had cost him the war.
"What directed you toward oncology?"
At first it seemed he wasn't going to answer. Finally he said, "My kid brother died of lymphoma when he was nine."
"I'm sorry."
"It was a long time ago."
"How old were you?"