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John. I’m going to get some things together for you, and I’ll call you back.” Nathan disconnected the phone and disappeared behind cover.
    “I’ve got his psychiatrist on the phone.” A uniformed deputy handed him another cell.
    “Hello, this is Nathan Long. I’m a negotiator with the FBI. With whom am I speaking?”
    “Dr. Lucy Freeman.”
    “I understand John Samuals was under your care recently.”
    “Yes, he was.”
    “Can you tell me, specifically, what for?”
    “That would be a breach of his patient confidentiality. If you’d like to present me with a warrant, I’d be happy to release his records to you and have a conversation with you then.”
    Nathan slapped his hand on the top of the car. The searing heat fueled his frustration.
    “Dr. Freeman, I understand your need to wrap this all up in a nice little package. I also understand patient confidentiality issues and HIPAA violations and such. But let me explain to you that John Samuals is currently holding his entire family hostage. Yes, that would be his wife and six children, and he’s armed with a shotgun at this very moment. Oh, and there seems to be a man named Lucent involved. So if your conscience is fine with him killing these individuals, which he is currently threatening to do, without aiding me in any way, then I guess we can end this conversation until I get you that warrant you requested.”
    “He says Lucent is there?”
    “Yes, and that Lucent is telling him to kill his family.”
    “That’s a problem.”
    “No kidding.”
    He heard a heavy sigh on the line. Nathan kept quiet, hopefully allowing the silence to give her mind time to make a favorable decision.
    “Can I get some kind of documentation after this is all over, no matter what the outcome, detailing these exigent circumstances which are forcing my cooperation with you due to a life-and-death situation?”
    “Yes, ma’am. I will get you an FBI letterhead memorandum that will most certainly protect you.”
    “Lucent is not real. He’s a hallucination. He’s the one that prompted John’s suicide attempt.”
    “How did he try to kill himself?”
    “He stabbed himself in the abdomen. Knives are a fascination for him. We started him on some antipsychotics. Under the medication, the hallucinations were kept at bay, and we discharged him home. Obviously, he’s not taking them anymore.”
    “It may not be his fault. The family has run into significant financial difficulty.”
    “You’re right. These medications do tend to be expensive.”
    “Do you have any advice on how to handle him?”
    “He takes Lucent’s advice very seriously. If Lucent is telling him to kill his family, I’d be very worried about that. You’re not going to be able to control the hallucination unless you medicate him.”
    “All right, we’d appreciate you keeping close to the phone. Please give this deputy a number where we can reach you at all times if we need more help.”
    “Certainly.”
    Nathan handed the phone back. A tall man with bright blue eyes and military-cut blond hair in full SWAT dress approached him, extending his hand.
    “Lee Watson, TAC team leader.”
    “Nice to have you here. Do you know Sheriff George Benson?” Lee nodded, and they shook hands. “I’m Nathan Long, FBI negotiator. I’ve got a handful of agents with me spread out in a loose perimeter right now. The sheriff’s got himself and a couple of deputies, one of whom is injured. He caught the edge of a shotgun blast and needs to be evacuated.”
    “Okay. We’ll make that our number-one priority right now. We passed a staged ambulance on the road in. We’ll get the wounded officer to them. The situation is too active for them to come up here. Sheriff Benson,” Watson said, “if it’s all right with you, I’d like to start deploying my guys in a perimeter around the house and have my snipers start scouting out some good observation posts. I’ll have my entry team grab a couple of shields, and