by Dylan Keefer
“Listen, I didn't fly all the way here from Hawaii just to be ganged up on. Pete, help me out here.”
Pete sat back in his chair with a smile. “No, I'm curious, too. Who is she? Who is the girl that has you nervous to talk about her?”
For the record, this was why Micah kept his personal life secret—or at least tried to. He knew that once these three knew, the whole family would know. Soon, his mother would be posting a picture and update in the next family newsletter.
“Fine,” he mumbled. “Her name is Raine.”
“Raine, that's pretty,” Rachel said. “How did you meet?”
“We met on a case.”
“So, she works with you?” Kyle said. Micah shook his head.
“No. I mean, kinda. There's a complicated thing going on here.” It was apparent that Micah wasn't going to escape the evening without telling them what was going on, so, he gave in and told them about everything that had happened.
“You weren't lying about complicated,” Pete said. Micah nodded to his cousin.
“It's not complicated,” Kyle snorted. They all looked at him. “What? Micah, you are in love with this girl. Somehow, this guy—this Eli Samuels—is winning. You said that he says he is doing this because these girls aren't worthy of the love these faithful guys give. Right now, he's convinced her that he's right. You've got to convince her that he's not.”
Rachel got out of her seat and kissed Kyle on the lips. “My genius husband.”
"Genius? No. All this time reading books on psych and philosophy have just gotten to my head. My students never have any idea of what the hell they walk into each semester."
It was truly amazing what Kyle had made of himself after the accident that ended his dreams of becoming a cop. Micah was sure that he couldn't do it. Kyle had studied psychology and philosophy, become a professor, and married a wonderful girl who adored him and was faithful to him even in his condition.
“So, do I need to come down to Hawaii and help you catch this guy—and catch this girl?” Kyle joked as Pete and Rachel cleaned dishes in the kitchen. Micah snorted a laugh.
“I think I've got it,” he said. Kyle nodded.
“Yeah, you do. Just go with your heart on it. Win her back from wherever she is trapped from.”
That whole conversation had been playing in a loop in Micah's mind since he had been back in Hawaii. Things had been very casual lately between the two of them. That partly had to do with their jobs, and partly had to do with what Kyle had so aptly deduced when he had been up there. She was keeping the search for Eli away from him, and though he wanted to help, he understood why she was dangling it at arm's length.
"Next in line." He sighed. The bank was unusually busy for a Tuesday morning. He thought that getting an early start might be the smart thing, and it looked like it wasn't an original thought. Pulling out his phone, he texted Tai that he would be late getting into work. Sliding the device back in his pocket, Micah glanced around the building. His eyes fixed on the man a few people ahead of him. Something about him seemed unnatural. His appearance seemed normal, but the way he carried himself didn't seem like it fit him. Sheesh. He had been spending too much time around Raine. She would look at this guy and try to analyze why he might feel awkward in his own skin. He looked like he worked out, but was it for pleasure or duty? He wore glasses. Could he not wear contacts or did he think the glasses were more stylish?
"Next." Micah stepped forward, but his attention shifted again to the door as three individuals walked in one right after the other. If slow motion were actually a valid option, he would have noted everything before it happened. The security guard pulling out his gun. The identical, dark clothing and masks. The look on the one man's eyes that showed desperation and determination. But it happened a lot faster, and before he could react, the first gunshot had dropped the security guard, and the crowd in the bank dropped with startled screams. He started to reach for his own weapon but stopped. It was too dangerous to escalate this even further with innocent civilians around. Better to play nice for now. He got down on the floor, too. "Everybody against the far wall near those offices! Anyone in offices, get out here now!" One of the robbers. "Tellers! You, too!"
Micah moved with the rest of them and kept his head low. Sliding down into a seated position, he noticed that he was right beside the man he was looking at earlier. The two of them locked eyes, and Micah felt his heart beat go even faster than it was already going. As if this situation couldn't get any worse. He would have never recognized him if he hadn't been close enough to look into his eyes.
“ Lieutenant Micah Duscane,” the man whispered with a slight annoyance. Micah mimicked it.
“Eli Samuels.”
Chapter Two
Tai dropped the deceptively heavy bag into the trunk of the car and slammed it with authority. A layer of sweat came off of his face with one swipe, and he muttered something under his breath.
"What was that Tai," Raine smiled with a gleam in her eye. "I said no one needs dat much stuff fo one trip," he waved her off. "Malanie act like she gonna go away fo eva."
Raine slapped him on the back and then cringed as she removed a sweaty hand and wiped it off on a dry spot on his shirt. “Hate to break it to you big guy, but this is just for one summer. Wait until she leaves for college.”
Tai shook his head. “Malanie gonna go to da Unaversidy uh Hawaii. She'll be right here.”
Raine gave a slight nod but turned quickly to the teenager rushing out of the front door of the Ulafala's house. She stood by as Tai gave the girl some last minute instructions and then gave her a hug before walking away.
“Super sentimental, Tai,” Raine called out as the big man flipped her off on his way to the front door.
“You know Tai,” Malanie laughed. “He doesn't like emotion that he can't make fun of.”
“You're telling me? When I left Hawaii to go home after the case with you, he wouldn't say a nice word to me the whole time after I told him I was going. He takes it rough.”
Malanie sighed. “Rough. He still thinks I'm going to attend the University of Hawaii after I graduate.”
Raine laughed. The pride she had for Malanie couldn't be described. The Ulafala's may have adopted her, but Raine claimed her as her own. After she had testified against her mother, Malanie had grown closer to Raine. She had become a study partner, gossip girl, confident, and big sister; and it has been a struggle for Raine to balance their time together. She needed to make sure that Malanie had friends her own age and didn't just connect with her. Her undefined relationship with Micah wasn't going to work, and as much as she loved Tai, she couldn't be besties with him and stay sane.
“You wanna go get drinks?”
The question had come right out of the blue. Raine dropped the towel from her face and looked into the deep brown eyes of the woman standing in front of her.
“You're talking to me?”
“Yeah,” the woman laughed as she popped her hip out and took a drink of water.
“Drinks?”
“I've been watching you since you joined this spin class, and well, you're different than everyone else here. You aren't here for exercise. I know, because no one else zones out the entire class and only checks back in when it's over. We're all struggling to survive, and you make it look easy.”
Raine smirked and crossed her arms. Okay, smart stuff, let's see how observant you are. “And just what have you concluded about me since you have been watching me the entire time?”
“Oh, you make me sound like a stalker,” the woman laughed.
“Okay, well, I believe that you work at a very stressful job, you don't have a lot of friends, the friends you do have are probably centered around a complicated relationship. Going out on a limb, but I also believe that you live alone in an apartment with a fish.”
“A fish,” Raine frowned. “Why a fish?”
“If you had a dog or cat, you'd be with them right now instead of at a spin class after work. You
don't want something that you have to really take time to care for because you are pre-occupied with something else.”
The fish thing was on point. Raine had bought one a little over three weeks ago. However, Skittles had died two days ago, and she felt that she had failed him. Of course, when Tai had heard, he made some joke about how Skittles was now really tasting the rainbow.
“I'm was a theater and dance major in college, and currently not doing anything related to either. So, I have no room to judge; only to drink.”
That had been the start of Raine finding a friend. Malanie looked at her now with some concern.
“You're not going to get all emotional on me, are you? I'm just going to teach swimming at a camp; not going off to war.”
“Yeah, well,” Raine sighed. “Just remember that if anything happens to you, Tai is going to be a mess, and no one has time for that.”
The two embraced, and Raine watched as Malanie pulled off. As the car was disappearing in the distance, her phone rang in the pocket of her shorts. She reached to get it and caught it on the last ring.
“Ailani? What's going on?”
“Raine, I need you downtown. We've got a bank robbery with hostages?”
“You! Get up!”
Shaky legs started to straighten as she used the wall to stand. Her hand whitened as she exerted pressure against the wall due to the fear of what the man pointing the gun at her was going to say next.
“Leave her alone,” the woman next to her started to rise. “She's just a girl. She's...”
The gun pointed to the woman, and the gunman took a few steps towards them. “I didn't ask you to talk! Shut up and sit back down!”
“Mom, it's okay,” the girl said. She pushed herself away from the wall and stepped over Micah's feet. He tensed up. She was just a kid. He desperately wanted to reach for the gun that was between his hip and the wall. The girl stood in front of the gunman trembling. His eyes peered at her through black stocking face mask. He held out a bag gripped in his free hand.
“Go around and gather anything electronic that any of these people have. Anything.” She started to take the bag, but he didn't loosen his grip. “You miss anyone, and I will shoot them.”
She nodded vigorously, and he released his grip on the bag. She quickly began to walk around the group of people huddled along the wall of the bank. Micah counted about twenty-six people including bank workers, and not including the dead security guard. There were three more robbers. All of them were armed.
“They haven't made any attempts to get money.” Micah turned swiftly to see Eli Samuels adjusting his position with his back against the wall. His anger grew tenfold.
“What is this, Eli?” He growled. “What are you planning?”
Eli snorted. “You think I'm involved in a bank robbery? You act like I'm a criminal.”
“You are a criminal. You've abducted, tortured, poisoned, and murdered people. Robbery isn't beneath you.”
“As I just pointed out,” Eli sighed. “This isn't a robbery. They haven't asked to see the vault, haven't asked for the tellers to empty bank bags, and they didn't question whether a silent alarm was hit.”
Micah had to admit that he was right. Two of the bigger ones had carried the security guards body into one of the personal banker offices while the third stood peering out of the front of the bank.
"Don't just stand there," said the fourth who had initiated the young girl to grab their electronics. The third glanced back. "Pull down the shades along the windows. Make sure the cops won't be able to see inside. Check to make sure there are no surprise entrances."
The third set his gun down awkwardly on a chair and did what he was told. Micah looked up at the girl who now stood in front of him. She held open the bag; pleading with her eyes for him not to do anything that would cause the gunman to be angry with her.
“Don't worry, little girl,” Eli whispered softly next to him. “This man is a cop.”
Micah drove his elbow back, but Eli moved enough to where his elbow hit the wall causing a sharp stab of pain to erupt in that area. The girl's eyes grew wide as she glanced down at Micah's hip. She saw the gun.
“Hey! What's going on over there!” The girl turned and gripped his bag tightly.
“The man hit his elbow on the wall reaching for his cell phone.” There was a normal tremble in her voice as Micah quickly reached for his phone and dropped it in the bag. Eli did the same thing. The gunman stared at them, and Micah felt the girl shift her foot next to his leg blocking any line sight to the gun.
“Hurry up, girl,” the man growled. She nodded quickly and continued on.
“What the hell were you thinking?” Micah hissed.
Eli smirked. “I just wondered how you would react now knowing that this girl knows you are supposed to be the one to protect everyone. She is counting on you to be able to save her in this situation. You're now supposed to be the hero of this story. What happens if you aren't?”
The scene in front of the bank was organized chaos. Traffic had been a nightmare to get through, and Raine hung on tight as Tai pushed his massive truck through any hole that even looked like it would accommodate him. The streets surrounding the bank were blocked off, and they made it as far as they could in the vehicle before making the last few hundred yards on foot.
Ailani was directing officers on what to do, and she could see the stress of protocol pouring out in frustration.
“You two finally got here.” He pointed to Tai. “You took his truck, didn't you? That thing is not what you take when you want to get into downtown fast.”
“Hey, brudda,” Tai said with his head up. “My truck can do anything your little cop cars can.”
“What's the situation, Ailani,” Raine turned their attention back to the robbery.
“We don't know,” Ailani said. “Windows are blocked. There is no way to tell how many hostages are in there; or robbers. It's quiet. A few pedestrians walking back said they heard a gunshot, and the silent alarm was pushed a minute after that.”
“You call inside yet?”
Ailani nodded to her. “You're the best person for that, Raine. We've got all possible exits covered. We've got officers running license plates of all the cars in the lot.”
Raine nodded. Ailani handed her a phone, and she sighed. Looking at the building, she gathered her wits about her before hitting the 'send' button. Her feet voluntarily tapped the concrete as she listened to the ringing. C'mon. Pick up. She almost hung up herself before she heard a click on the other end.
“Hello!” She said placing the phone up to her ear. “Hello, are you there?”
“Who is this?”The gruff voice sounded raspy. It wasn't a smoker's rasp. The man's voice was wither going, or he was somewhat older in age.
“I'm outside of the bank right now,” Raine said. “My name is Dr. Raine Michelson. What's your name?”
“That's not important right now.” There was a deep breath over the phone. This guy isn't a robber; at least not one who has done this before.
“There are a lot of people in there that are probably scared,” Raine said. “You wanna tell me what I can help you with so we can get them and you out of there safely?”
“You're not in control of this situation, darlin'. You need to listen to me. You understand?”
“I do,” Raine said. She looked at the bank. None of the blinds had moved. He wasn't worried about the cops outside.
“I need three vials of a serum delivered to me within the next sixty minutes.” Raine frowned. She wasn't expecting that. Ailani and Tai were staring at her with anxious looks. She turned her back to them as the man continued. “I know that it's being stored under guard at Tripler Army Medical Center by order of a Commander Walt Painter. It's called R33PM.”
“A serum? That's what you want? That's all you want?” Raine shook her head. “Why take a bank filled with hostages for something like that?”
“You asked what I wanted, and that's what I want.” The pho
ne line disconnected, and Raine handed it back to Ailani.
"All of this is for a serum?" Ailani asked. Raine nodded. So this wasn't a robbery. It was the best way to get the police here quickly and where they could get easy hostages.
"Yeah," she said. "The guy sounds like he is from the mainland; which means that they traveled to get here. He said this thing is called R33PM, and it's being held at Tripler. He wants three vials in an hour."
“So, if they aren't dangerous, then we can make a move,” a nearby officer spoke up. Ailani shot him a look.
"No, that is the worst thing. The problem with people who jumped into something like this is that they are unpredictable," he turned to Raine. "I'm going to get them looking at any rentals in the area."
"Probably should look into any taxi, uber, or lyft drop-offs around the area within a five minute time period." Raine looked at Tai. "Wanna help me find out what R33PM is?"
“I got you,” Tai placed his fist on his chest. Ailani stepped away from them as Raine and Tai started to find an area away from the noise.
Raine glanced at the bank, and one of the cars parked close to it caught her eye. Micah and Tai argued about their cars enough that the Charger Micah drove was easy to spot from anywhere. Silver. Sunroof. Black car seats and steering wheel cover. Minnesota Vikings bumper sticker.
"Tai," Raine said quickly pulling out her cell phone. She heard the phone ringing but knew just by seeing the plates.
“Wat?” Tai stopped. He followed her finger as she pointed to the Dodge sitting in front of the bank.
“Micah is in there.”
So, Eli was right. The phone was slammed back on the receiver as robber number one joined his partners. Micah watches intently as the four of them came together and tried his best to make out the words being spoken softly.
“Are we good? Are they gonna get it?” said number four who now had the bag of cell phones from the girl.
