Standoff (Random House Large Print) - Hardcover

Brown, Sandra

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0375430547 ISBN 13: 9780375430541

Verlag: Random House Large Print, 2000

Inhaltsangabe

Ambitious TV reporter Tiel McCoy is driving through New Mexico when she hears over the radio that Sabra Dendy, the 17 year-old daughter of Fort Worth multimillionaire Russell Dendy, has been kidnapped.  Tiel calls her editor and learns that Sara was "kidnapped" by her boyfriend Ronnie and is pregnant.  Tiel is at a gas station store when an armed couple robs the cashier and orders all the customers to the floor.  The girl goes into labor and Tiel realizes that she has a huge story on her hands.

A tense standoff begins as the FBI and Russell Dendy wait outside.  Tiel learns that Sabra and Ronnie are more afraid of her father-who plans to put the baby up for adoption-than of the FBI and would rather die together than surrender and be kept apart.  Now it is more than just a story to Tiel as she fights to prevent these two kids from becoming a tragedy.

Über diesen Titel

Über die Autorin bzw. den Autor

Former TV personality and model Sandra Brown is as beloved an author as she is prolific.  Sandra is married to her college sweetheart, Michael, who is a video producer.  They have two children and live in Arlington, Texas.

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Standoff

By Sandra Brown

Random House Large Print Publishing

Copyright ©2000 Sandra Brown
All right reserved.
ISBN: 0375430547

Chapter One

"I just heard the news bulletin on my car radio."

Tiel McCoy didn't begin this telephone conversation with anysuperfluous chitchat. That was her opening statement the instantGully said hello. No preamble was necessary. Truth be known, he hadprobably been expecting her call.

But he played dumb anyway. "That you, Tiel? Enjoying your vacationso far?"

Her vacation had officially begun that morning when she left Dallasand headed west on Interstate 20. She had driven as far as Abilene,where she stopped to visit her uncle, who'd lived in a nursing homethere for the past five years. She remembered Uncle Pete as a tall,robust man with an irreverent sense of humor, who could barbecue amean brisket and knock a softball out of the park.

Today they had shared a lunch of soggy fish sticks and cannedEnglish peas and watched an episode of Guiding Light. She'd asked ifthere was anything she could do for him while she was there, likewrite a letter or buy a magazine. He had smiled at her sadly andthanked her for coming, then gave himself over to an attendant who'dtucked him in for his nap like a child.

Outside the nursing home, Tiel had gratefully inhaled the scorching,gritty West Texas air in the hope of eradicating the smell of ageand resignation which had permeated the facility. She had beenrelieved the family obligation was behind her, but felt guilty forthe relief. By an act of will she shook off her despair and remindedherself that she was on vacation.

It wasn't even officially summer yet, but it was unseasonably warmfor May. There'd been no shade in which to park at the nursing home;consequently her car's interior had been so hot she could have bakedcookies on the dashboard. She flipped on the AC full-blast and founda radio station that played something other than Garth, George, andWillie.

"I'm going to have a wonderful time. The time away will be good forme. I'll feel a lot better for having done it." She repeated thisinternal dialogue like a catechism, trying to convince herself ofthe truth of it. She had approached the vacation as though it wereequivalent to taking a bad-tasting laxative.

Heat waves made the highway appear to ripple, and the undulatingmovement was hypnotic. The driving became mindless. Her minddrifted. The radio provided background noise of which Tiel wasbarely aware.

But hearing the news bulletin was like getting goosed by thedriver's seat. With a lurch, everything accelerated-the car, Tiel'sheart rate, her mind.

Immediately she fished her cell phone from her large leather satcheland placed the call to Gully's direct line. Again declining anyunnecessary conversation, she said to him now, "Give me the skinny."

"What's the radio putting out?"

"That earlier today a high school student in Fort Worth kidnapedRussell Dendy's daughter."

"That's about the gist of it," Gully confirmed.

"The gist, but I want details."

"You're on vacation, Tiel."

"I'm coming back. Next exit, I'll make a U-turn." She consulted herdashboard clock. "I'll be at the station by-"

"Hold on, hold on. Where're you at, exactly?"

"About fifty miles west of Abilene."

"Hmm."

"What, Gully?" Her palms had become damp. She experienced thefamiliar tickle in her belly that only happened when she wasfollowing a hot lead to a super story. That unique adrenaline rushcouldn't be mistaken.

"You're on your way to Angel Fire, right?"

"Right."

"Northeastern part of New Mexico ... Yeah, there it is." He musthave been reading a highway map as he spoke. "Naw, never mind. Youdon't want this assignment, Tiel. It would take you out of yourway."

He was baiting her, and she knew he was baiting her, but in thisinstance she didn't mind being baited. She wanted a piece of thisstory. The kidnaping of Russell Dendy's daughter was big news, andit promised to become even bigger news before it was over. "I don'tmind taking a detour. Tell me where to go."

"Well," he hedged, "only if you're sure."

"I'm sure."

"Okay then. Not too far in front of you is a turnoff onto statehighway Two-oh-eight. Take it south to San Angelo. On the south sideof San Angelo you're gonna intersect with-"

"Gully, about how far out of my way is this detour going to takeme?"

"I thought you didn't care."

"I don't. I'd just like to know. Rough estimate."

"Well, let's see. Give or take ... about three hundred miles."

"From Angel Fire?" she asked faintly.

"From where you are now. Doesn't count the rest of the way to AngelFire."

"Three hundred round trip?"

"One way."

She expelled a long sigh, but was careful not to let him hear it."You said highway Two-oh-eight south to San Angelo, then what?"

She steered with her knee, held the phone with her left hand, andtook notes with her right. The car was on cruise control, but herbrain was in overdrive. Journalistic juices were pumping faster thanthe pistons in her engine. Thoughts of long pleasant evenings spentin a porch rocker were swapped for those of sound bites andinterviews.

But she was getting ahead of herself. She lacked pertinent facts.When she asked for them, Gully, damn him, turned mulish on her. "Notnow, Tiel. I'm as busy as a one-armed paperhanger, and you've gotmiles to cover. By the time you get where you're going, I'll have alot more info."

Frustrated and supremely irked with him for being so stingy with thedetails, she asked, "What's the name of the town again?"

"Hera."

The highways were arrow-straight, flanked on both sides by endlessprairie with only an occasional herd of cattle grazing in irrigatedpastures. Oil wells were silhouetted against a cloudless horizon.Frequently a tumbleweed rolled across the roadway in front of her.Once she got beyond San Angelo, she rarely saw another vehicle.

Funny, she thought, the way things turn out.

Ordinarily she would have elected to fly to New Mexico. But days agoshe had decided to drive to Angel Fire, not only so she could visitUncle Pete along the way, but also to get herself into a holidayframe of mind. The long drive would give her time to decompress,work the kinks out, begin the period of rest and relaxation beforeshe ever reached the mountain resort, so that when she did arrive,she would already be in vacation mode.

At home in Dallas, she moved with the speed of light, always in arush, always working under a deadline. This morning, once she hadreached the western fringe of Fort Worth and put the metropolitansprawl behind her, when the vacation became a reality, she had begunto anticipate the idyllic days awaiting her. She had daydreamed ofclear, gurgling streams, hikes along trails lined with aspens, cool,crisp air, and lazy mornings spent with a cup of coffee and afiction best-seller.

There would be no schedule to keep, nothing but hours in which to belazy, which was a virtue unto itself. Tiel McCoy was way past due toengage in some unabashed ennui. She'd already postponed thisvacation three times.

"Use 'em or lose 'em," Gully had told her of the vacation days shehad accumulated.

He had lectured her on how her performance, as well as herdisposition, would greatly improve if she gave herself a breather.This from the man who hadn't taken more than a few vacation days inthe past forty-something years-counting the week required to havehis gallbladder removed.

When she reminded him of this, he had scowled at her. "Precisely.You want to wind up an ugly, shriveled, pathetic relic like me?"Then he'd really hit the nail on the head. "Taking a vacation isn'tgoing to jeopardize your chances. That job'll still be up for grabswhen you get back."

She...

Details zur Ausgabe

• Verlag: Random House Large Print
• Erscheinungsdatum: 2000
• Sprache: Englisch
• ISBN 10: 0375430547
• ISBN 13: 9780375430541
• Einband: Gebundene Ausgabe
• Anzahl der Seiten: 327
• Kontakt zum Hersteller: Nicht verfügbar
• Verantwortliche Person: Purmerul LTD; https://strengholt.nl/en/; ; 22 Liuleburgaz Str., floor 4, app. 9; Plovdiv; Bulgarien