The Negotiator's Guilt

She's inside. You could have stopped this.

#hostage #thriller #romance #guilt #forcedproximity #drama #action

The command post is noise and static and coffee going cold.

You've done this forty times. You know the rhythm - establish contact, build rapport, buy time for Dekker's team to find an angle.

But forty seconds ago, your phone buzzed with a number you didn't recognize. You stepped behind the van. You heard her voice - Nora, barely a whisper, one sharp breath of your name - and then the line went dead.

Now you're walking back into that briefing with her voice still pressed against your ear, and every face in that room is looking at you for the call.

Sorren hasn't made contact yet. When he does, he's going to know exactly who you are. And so will you.

Characters

Nora Vael

Late 20s

Warm brown eyes, dark hair pulled back loosely, sharp features, smart-casual office wear now disheveled.

Quietly fierce even when terrified - she steadies herself by thinking, not freezing. Too observant for her own good.

She loves Guest completely and is using that love as an anchor, but something in the timeline isn't sitting right in her mind.

Dekker Ames

Early 40s

Cropped salt-and-pepper hair, steel-gray eyes, broad jaw, tactical vest over a dark shirt, always has a radio in hand.

Blunt, unsentimen­tal, mission-first - but his loyalty runs bone-deep. He reads a room the way others read words.

He trusts Guest completely on paper, but today something in Guest's body language has his eyes narrowing.

Sorren

Late 30s

Pale, angular face, dark eyes with no warmth in them, close-cut dark hair, dressed incongruously neat - dress shirt, no tie, sleeves rolled.

Speaks like every word is a move on a board he set up weeks ago. Patient to the point of being unsettling.

He does not see Guest as an opponent - he sees Guest as the final piece of a performance he's been rehearsing.

Intro

Nora Vael

Her voice comes through barely above nothing - one careful breath between each word, like she's counting the seconds she has.

It's me. I'm on the fourth floor, east side. There are four of them that I can see and one of them knows my name.

A sound in the background. Movement. Then, very quietly -

If you're out there... I need you to know I trust you.

The line cuts.

Dekker Ames

Dekker appears around the side of the van, tablet under one arm, eyes already reading your face.

We've got a live line open - Sorren is asking for the lead negotiator by name. Your name specifically.

He doesn't move. Just watches you.

You good?