Kline slammed on the brakes, but Dylan was already out of the car and running flat out toward the gates. Cursing, Kline put the car in park, jumped out, and chased him.

"Dylan, hold on, hold on," Kline shouted.

Dylan wasn't listening. He was frantically searching for Kate while Kline was frantically trying to get to him before he did anything crazy.

Dylan veered around the bomb squad van. Two policemen stood with Vanessa, who was sobbing and pointing to the house. One of them spotted Dylan coming toward them and ran to intercept him.

"Have you seen Kate MacKenna?" Dylan demanded.

"We just got here, and were the first on the scene. An ambulance followed us in, and a Detective Nate Hallinger pulled in behind us."

Kline caught up, panting for breath.

The policeman continued, "Vanessa MacKenna told us there are people inside. Detective Hallinger just took off, the crazy idiot. He's going to try to get them out before the bomb goes off. I couldn't stop him."

Dylan was already gone. He crossed the drive, vaulting over the hood of a car that was in his way, and sprinted up the hill.

Kate was still inside… if the bomb exploded… something must have gone wrong because the house was still standing. Maybe Vanessa hadn't timed it right… maybe she called it in too soon. What the hell was the plan? His thoughts raced. There had to be a backup plan.

He'd just reached the mansion's entryway when he heard a gunshot.

He pulled his gun, flipped off the safety, and stealthily moved inside the house. There was no one in sight.

Nate stood at the library door at the back of the house. He had jammed the lock in his hurry to get inside and had been forced to shoot it and kick the door to get in. He took the entire room in at once. Ewan was on the floor, face up, eyes closed. Nate searched for Kate, but couldn't find her. He saw the basket of flowers on the desk and rocked back on his heels, knowing that it could go off any second. He opened his mouth to call for Kate, but only a strangled sound escaped. He felt the barrel of a gun against the back of his head.

"Drop the gun or you're dead."

Dylan stood behind him.

Nate flinched. "What are you doing? Are you crazy? Get your gun away from me! I'm trying to get Kate and Ewan out before-"

"Drop the gun, you son of a bitch."

"What the hell's wrong with you?" Nate roared.

"Where's Kate?"

"I don't know. I'm trying to save her," he said.

"Don't you mean 'kill her'? Were you going to use Ewan's gun or your own? Nice and tidy, right? Make it look like Ewan shot her. Then you're the hero if you take him down."

"That's nuts. Why would I-"

Dylan cut him off. "You made a big mistake. You knew about the money, and you hadn't even talked to the attorney yet." Dylan pushed the barrel harder against Nate's skull and shouted, "Where is she?"

"I'm telling you, you've got this all-"

"I'm here." The library door behind them edged forward, and Kate stepped around it, a pair of scissors raised in her right hand. She lowered her arm and in a stunned voice, she said, "I thought Vanessa was coming back, I-"

Nate's gun had been pointed at Ewan, but he inched the barrel up toward the basket on the desk. "I'm not going down for this, Dylan. I pull this trigger, and we all die. Hand over your gun and nobody gets hurt. Kate's gonna be my insurance. She'll walk out with me, and everyone stays alive. I've got nothing to lose. Now hurry up and decide. This bomb could go at any second."

Dylan didn't lower his gun. "Kate, get out of here. Run."

"But Dylan-"

"Go! Now!"

Kate didn't budge. "Dylan-"

The door in the front of the house burst open. Nate's head turned for a split second. Like lightning, Dylan's free hand chopped Nate's arm and sent his gun flying. In one motion, Dylan kicked his feet out and threw him to the floor, holding him with his foot, his gun still pointed at Nate's head.

The bomb squad rushed toward the library in their full protective gear, and Dylan shouted to them as he pulled Nate to his knees. "Get Kate out first. And take Ewan. Hurry!"

Kate was finally able to speak. As the team stepped toward her, she put her hand up. "It's not necessary, I-"

Dylan had Nate on his feet now and gave him a shove toward the door.

"Now, Kate!" Dylan ordered.

"You don't understand-" Kate went to the desk and put the scissors down, then she opened her other hand. A blue wire just a few inches long lay in her palm. "The bomb isn't going to explode."

"But how do you know…?" Dylan began.

She gave a relieved smile and said. "You'll never guess who called me."

Leaning against the side of a squad car, too weary tomove, Kate quietly watched all the commotion.

Dylan was talking to a lieutenant with Savannah PD, but he kept glancing over at her-probably making sure she didn't disappear again.

The paramedics carried Ewan out of the house on a stretcher. He was still unconscious, but she heard one of the policemen say that Ewan was expected to recover. Whenever he did open his eyes, he'd find himself handcuffed to a hospital bed. There were several charges pending against him. Supplying his brother with a stolen gun that had been used in a crime was going to top the list of offenses.

By now, reporters and cameramen from all the television stations that had been monitoring the 911 calls had arrived, but they were being kept outside the gates.

Most of the cameramen focused on the house, expectantly waiting for the suspect to step outside, but Vanessa was getting some attention, too. She was hysterical, and this time it wasn't an act.

"You're making a terrible mistake," she sobbed. "I'm a victim here! I was trying to save lives when I called nine-one-one. I haven't done anything wrong. I'm a victim!" she screamed.

She had just been handcuffed by an agent who was telling her she had the right to remain silent. When he was finished reading her her rights, he asked her if she understood. She pulled herself together long enough to say yes, she understood, but then she started screaming again. Her shrieks were grating and terribly annoying.

"Really, lady, you have the right to remain silent. I strongly urge you to exercise that right."

A detective who had loaned Kate his cell phone came back to retrieve it. Handing it to him, she was thanking him when Dylan joined her.

"Did you get hold of Isabel?" he asked.

She smiled. "Yes, and she's just fine. I knew she would be, but I needed to hear her voice. I also called Kiera, and she's okay, too," she said. "When Nate came running into Smith and Wesson's conference room and told me Reece had taken Isabel and that she'd been hurt, I panicked. I didn't think twice about following him out the back door. The only thing I remember is getting in his car… and then I woke up on the library floor."

"It's good to know they're okay, but what about you? Are you okay?" He put his arm around her and squeezed her.

"Yes," she assured him. She looked up at the house and asked, "Why are they taking so long to bring Nate out?"

"They're doing everything by the book," he said. "And it hasn't been long. You're just anxious to get out of here, aren't you?"

"Could we leave now?"

"No."

Two paramedics hurried across the driveway to Kate. Dylan saw them coming. "They're going to want to check you out," he said.

"I'm fine, really."

One of the paramedics, hearing her protest, said, "We should look you over, take your vitals and all." He flashed a penlight in her eyes. "Not dilated."

"Kate, go with them, make sure. I'll wait here," Dylan said.

Though Kate insisted none of this was necessary, she walked to the ambulance with them and let them take her blood pressure and pulse. She admitted to herself that she wasn't feeling all that great. She was sure that her nausea wasn't caused by the drug she'd been given. Finding out the truth about Nate Hallinger had made her sick. She didn't mention her queasy stomach to the paramedics.