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knowing that he was letting Janine down. Knowing that the gun was right under his seat and, if he’d been willing, he could’ve tried to pull off the robbery himself right then.
    Ross picked up the phone and tapped in his brother’s phone number.
    Greg answered guardedly, presumably ready for the kidnapper.
    “It’s me,” Ross said.
    “Where are you?” Greg was clearly excited. “We just got through to Geiler and have an appointment in thirty minutes.”
    Ross sagged back into his seat. “That’s great news. Better than you can believe.”
    “Take down these directions, and Allie and I’ll meet you there.”
    Ross smiled as the armored car driver came out with a bag in one hand and two coffees balanced in the other. He laughed at something the other guard said.
    Alone in his truck, Ross said, “Great news for both of us.”
     
     

 
    Chapter 7
     
     
    Greg felt that he might well be going insane.
    Hope and despair battled inside his head, and both seemed to be equally strong. Both delivered solid blows that made Greg’s knees weak one moment and filled him with a rage that he could barely contain the next.
    Like seeing Ross waiting for them in the lobby, his face drawn and worried. Greg knew Ross had been out trying to sell the place to the shylock, knew that Ross would stand behind him all the way. He knew that Ross would do whatever was necessary to get Janine back.
    Yet it infuriated Greg that Ross wasn’t wearing a tie, that his beard was untrimmed, that he’d left the business years ago and was out of practice with negotiating. Geiler’s office was in a recently renovated waterfront building. The view of the harbor was spectacular, with millions of dollars on display in the form of a few beautiful sailboats bobbing gently at the dock. The very bricks of the old building had been sandblasted to a rosy glow. All of it said money, and Ross, Greg, and Allie needed to work together to pry it free.
    Greg found himself thinking that if Ross hadn’t left the business years ago, maybe it wouldn’t be on the brink of bankruptcy now. Maybe Greg would’ve been able to pay this kind of ransom without trying to convince someone to hand him a million and a half dollars within two hours, didn’t that fucking bastard who held his daughter have the slightest idea how the world turned? That it was crazy, goddamn crazy, you could be a millionaire ten times over and not have that kind of cash sitting around… .
    Greg closed his eyes briefly as they stepped into the elevator. He told himself to calm down. He told himself that none of this was Ross’s fault. “How’d it go with Datano?” he heard himself ask.
    “Datano?” Allie looked at him sharply. “You let him go to Tommy Datano on this? Are you crazy?”
    “Yes, Allie, I am.”
    “Five hundred,” Ross said. “If Geiler doesn’t work out, we should take the offer and give the kidnappers that. Five-hundred thousand is a lot of money to a guy who robs milk stores.” Ross’s tone was reassuring, but his eyes didn’t meet Greg’s.
    “Geiler’s got to work out,” Greg said, as the elevator reached the floor. “He’s got to.”
     
    Geiler’s secretary escorted them into his office right away. Greg had met Geiler just a few times before, first at a party at the Watersons’ beach house and again when Geiler made the offers back in May and June. Three million-five had been the last offer for the entire property.
    That had been tempting back then, especially the way the business had been going. But Greg and Ross had both agreed they didn’t want to sell more than the four parcels, and those alone were worth three million by their estimate—five for the total property. It had pained Greg to even to sell the four parcels and he knew Ross felt the same way. Greg would think of their father, draining the inheritance to feed his habit. It was easy to think they were being just as irresponsible, that they were cutting the land in pieces because they