by Julia Bright
“Your name isn’t Lorie, is it?”
She shook her head. “No, why do you say that?”
He gulped in air, trying to force the words out that matched his thoughts. “You’re too unique for a Lorie.”
Her lips curved up a little, but the smile didn’t reach her eyes. He placed his hand on hers and she looked down at the place where he touched her, then her gaze rose and met his. Her clear, brown eyes drew him in.
“My mom named me Lorelei Lang. I think it sounds silly.”
He blinked once and then it all made sense. “Lorelei like the siren who lured fishermen to the rocks?”
She smirked as she rolled her eyes. “Yes. I was teased so much in school I go by Lorie now.”
“Your name isn’t silly, it’s beautiful, well, actually you’re very beautiful.”
She laughed, the sound like silver bells washed over his senses. “I think I’m average.”
“You’re so not average.”
“So, can I call you Liam—I mean when I’m not at the bank.”
His throat dried out, and he had to take a drink of his tea before he spoke again. “Y-you mean you’d like to see me outside of the bank again?”
Her eyes crinkled in the corners as she smiled. He rubbed his thumb over the back of her hand, reveling in how soft she felt.
“It would be nice to get to know you a little better.”
He wasn’t sure if he’d dreamed her saying those words. A feeling of euphoria washed over him. “You really mean it?”
Her lips were wide in a beautiful smile as she nodded. “Yes, I do.”
“You can call me Liam.”
“Liam, I like your name.”
“Can I—can I call you Lorelei?”
She hesitated then gave a quick nod. “Only you. Anyone else, I’ll punch them.”
He chuckled and took another sip of his tea. “I believe you would, too.”
Her phone squawked at her and she rolled her eyes. “Sorry, break time is over.”
He stood and held out his hand. At first, she just stared at his outstretched arm then she took his hand and slowly stood as her gaze traveled up his body. She was tall for a woman, but still not his height. He felt like they fit together, her being only a few inches shorter than he was. He wanted to lean in and sniff her hair to see what it smelled like, but he didn’t dare, not yet. They weren’t on that familiar of terms and he’d only said a few words to her. Maybe he could get closer after a few dates if it went well and see what her hair smelled like. Then he wanted to taste her lips and maybe lick over her collarbone, seeing how his tongue felt on her. She was tempting as ripe fruit.
They stepped out into the blinding sun and both of them groaned a little. “It’s going to be a hot summer,” Lorelei said.
He grunted before he tucked her hand into the crook of his arm. She stepped closer, and they walked side by side to the bank. When they were at the door, she stiffened and though she still looked pleasant, she seemed more distant. He missed her closeness almost immediately.
“Um, I’m…um.” He met her gaze and calmness flowed over him. “I suck at this. I want to see you again.”
“How about you give me your phone number and I’ll send you a text. Then we can arrange something for this weekend.”
“That sounds great.” He rattled off the numbers to his personal cell and watched as she entered them. They stepped into the bank lobby and he stared after her as she walked away. She gave him a little wave before she entered the door to the left of the teller windows.
He sighed, thrilled that he’d actually asked out a woman who was sexy and smart. He bit his lower lip as he watched her disappear into the back.
It took him a few seconds to figure out what he was still doing at the bank. He reached into his pocket and retrieved the deposit slip and began writing the totals down from the checks he’d received for doing handy work. His phone buzzed, and he pulled it out, seeing a text from an unknown number. His head snapped up, and he saw Lorelei standing at the back of the teller area. She caught his gaze, her smile growing wider, her eyes warming. The little crinkle beside her eyes was endearing, and he wished he was closer to get the full effect. He wanted to kiss her. Maybe this weekend he’d work up the courage. Someone approached Lorelei and her focus shifted. He went back to filling out his deposit slip, happy he’d come here today.
Three men stepped in, then two women entered along with a rash of toddlers. It was close to noon and he guessed the half-day schools or camps were out and people were on break for an early lunch.
When he finished with the deposit slip, there were six people in line ahead of him with four teller stations open. He glanced around, taking in the location of every person. It was habit to check out his environment. The Army had helped him develop the skill, and once in Delta Force, he’d perfected it. Only another Delta team member would know he was counting people, assessing their skills, determining who he could count on and who would panic in a crisis.
He moved up two spots as the tellers finished their tasks. Another person finished at the teller window and he stepped forward again. The high from talking to Lorelei still held him and he almost ignored the tingle in his right arm. He stiffened and started to turn just as a guy burst in and fired one shot, taking down the security guard.
People screamed, a man ran for the door but was shot in the leg. Three more people came in, bandanas covering their faces. Whisper froze, his mind churning over the information hitting him at a mile a minute.
“Get down on the ground,” one of the robbers yelled. He was wearing a yellow bandana that covered his face.
Whisper dropped to the floor. He didn’t need to make himself known or stand out to these jerks. Without a weapon, there wasn’t much he could do since all four robbers were too far for him to reach in one step. An older man who had some muscles but didn’t carry himself like military, probably had some training, just not military training, held his hands out to the robbers.
“We don’t need no heroes, pops,” Yellow Robber said.
“I just don’t think you need to keep the women and children in here,” the old guy said.
Bang! A woman shrieked next to the older man, her screams filling the bank. The man who’d confronted the robber stared down at the woman, his mouth open in a wide O. The asshole had shot a woman.
So that’s what type of pricks I’m dealing with.
Whisper took in the robbers who had busted into the bank. They each wore a different color bandana. Black was their color of choice for clothes and shoes. All of them were dressed nearly identical. Red bandana man was larger, maybe a little older. Blue was the smallest. Yellow and Green looked to be about the same in height. All four of them were medium weight. None of the guys had huge muscles as far as he could tell.
The security guard was down, possibly dead. The woman who was still shrieking was injured. She wasn’t in danger of bleeding out yet, but if they didn’t allow her medical attention, she could easily die. There were three kids who were in the under school-age set, and he didn’t trust these jerks to not shoot them. There was a teenage girl who looked very pretty and a teen boy who looked more geek than anything else. There were also three other kids with their parents. Four women, other than the moms, and two men. Then there were the workers. He figured that the alarm had already been hit, alerting the cops there was a robbery in progress.
He didn’t hold out much hope for everyone surviving. If he had his gun, he would have already ended this. The four men were too far away for him to attack. If he rushed any of them, the others would shoot. He weighed his options and didn’t see any that didn’t involve casualties to some of these civilians.
Then there was Lorelei. She was behind the desk in the teller area. He couldn’t do anything to help her at the moment. Right now, he had to focus on what he could do, which was stay alive. He wouldn’t be like the idiot who’d gotten the woman shot. It was obvious these men weren’t going to listen to reason.
> Breathe in and then blow it out slowly. Focus.
He heard a siren and so had the robbers. The one in yellow whipped his head up, his eyes going wide.
“Who the fuck called the cops?” Yellow yelled.
Someone behind the row of high-top desks that separated the lobby from the money had pressed the button. Everyone knew the first thing the tellers did in emergencies was call the cops. Plus, someone had been shot. For all these dickweasles knew, the cops could be watching the video feed. They can do that now, but perhaps these idiots didn’t understand the intricacies of bank safety.
“Who pressed the button?” Yellow screamed.
Heat raced over Whisper as he prayed it wasn’t Lorelei. Someone stood up. Whisper craned his neck, seeing a man dressed in a suit. He looked pale and had sweat dripping down his face. Yellow moved closer to the suit guy and let out a roar before he spoke.
“Did you do that?” Yellow had to be high or something. Though Whisper had seen guys in battle situations get all hyped up like this. It was ridiculous because you missed things when adrenaline was running that hot.
Whisper slowed his heart rate, forcing his brain to focus. He took the opportunity to check out the people around him. If he thought of his body as a clock, his head was noon, the teenage girl with black hair and red shirt was at five, a woman wearing a floral top was at eight, one man in a blue t-shirt was at three, and another woman in a green top with blond short hair was at eleven.
Yellow was still berating the man who’d pressed the panic button. The guy wasn’t visible, probably on his knees by now. Yellow was in full rage mode and wasn’t paying any attention to him. Red, Blue, and Green were focused on what Yellow was saying, but Blue was positioned so he would see if Liam jumped up. Blue was too far away to take down. All of them were. Even if he jumped up to grab one of their guns, he wouldn’t make it before someone shot him.
Whisper pulled out his phone and texted Lorelei. Don’t be obvious. Don’t call attention to yourself. I’m working on a plan.
He didn’t hear a chime, so at least he knew she didn’t have her ringer on. Yellow had ramped up his anger and Whisper worried the male bank worker would end up dead soon.
“Okay, mister smarty pants bank manager, why don’t you tell me how it feels to have a gun in your face?”
Whisper was about to jump up and rush Yellow when the man turned and spread his arms wide. His chance was lost as Blue turned his focus, zeroing in on him.
“Who wants this guy to die?” Yellow asked, his voice even like he was asking a normal question.
No one said anything. A few of the women sniveled and one let out a small shriek when the asshole pointed a gun at her toddler. Yellow paused and stared at the woman with the toddler.
Whisper tightened his muscles, about to jump up as Yellow lifted his gun, pointing it at the group of kids. He could take Yellow, get his gun, maybe get off a few shots and take down at least one of the other three robbers. He’d probably be shot, but he couldn’t allow this douche-cannon to hurt the kids. Maybe a few people would be able to get out alive. But not everyone would make it.
“Hey, King,” Green said. “It’s just a kid. Let’s put them all in a room and negotiate our way out.”
Whisper wondered if he could use Green against Yellow? He hadn’t figured out their dynamic yet, but he saw they weren’t just following Yellow blindly. Green liked kids. He could use that.
Yellow turned to Green and his eyes narrowed. “You think a kid matters in the grand scheme of things?”
Green looked frightened. There went using Green. He was terrified of Yellow. Whisper felt his phone buzz, and he glanced to the screen, seeing a text from Lorelei. Plan? What can you do?
In any other circumstance, he would have chuckled at her question. With the nearly-primary-color gang raging, he was thinking of plans. No attention to yourself. You got it! He sent the text, praying she understood. Green was still talking about putting everyone in a back room even though he’d looked terrified of Yellow. The leader was starting to buy into the plan, but Whisper didn’t like how he was laying out the rest of the plan.
“Good idea, we’ll get them out of our hair. If we tell the cops we’ll kill one each hour if they don’t meet our demands, that will make them work faster,” Yellow said.
Whisper deflated just a little. They didn’t need to kill one an hour. They didn’t need to kill anyone. The cops weren’t going to meet their demands, ever. He’d played hostage negotiator in Paris at one point, but even he hadn’t been serious about giving into the demands of the jerks. They asked, he answered, but those bastards weren’t going to get anything. All negotiations were stalling points the police used to allow snipers to get into place.
“All the women, stand up,” Yellow yelled.
Women started to stand. He glanced around, careful not to draw attention to himself. His phone buzzed but he couldn’t look at it.
“I didn’t say boys, just women,” Yellow said.
He needed to end this soon. Yellow was trying to separate mothers from their little boys. That wasn’t going to work. No matter the location, the race, or religion, mothers and children didn’t separate easily in situations like this.
A couple of kids started crying. One mother tried to explain to a small boy he’d have to stay behind and he began screeching as a man beside her held out his hands to take the boy. Yellow popped off a couple of rounds in the air, hitting the ceiling, making chunks fall to the ground. People yelled and screamed. He was about to rush Yellow when the man turned and aimed his gun right at the woman beside him.
The tensions were high. He swallowed over his fear and pushed it away. He couldn’t be afraid. Kids were crying and so were a few of the adults. No doubt, Yellow was totally unhinged now. The idiot had issues that much was obvious. Now he had to find a way to get people out without getting any more killed.
Green moved closer to Whisper and Yellow stepped over, pointing his gun at Green.
“Listen, King, just let the kids go with their moms.” Green glanced around, looking nervous. “We’ll get the moms and the kids in the back. You get the manager to start putting money in the bags. Bishop and Knight will lock the doors. I’ll talk to the cops when they call.”
Yellow glanced around, maybe trying to determine if Green had made him look less powerful. Whisper thought maybe the names they were calling themselves were indicative of rank. Knight, Bishop, King? Who was Green?
“Okay, new plan. Women and children, stand. You’re going back.” Yellow turned to the area where the tellers were located and motioned with his gun. “You there, the one in the white shirt and peach coat.”
Whisper froze. That’s what Lorelei had been wearing. He stiffened again, ready to jump up and take down the guy if he thought she was in trouble.
“You take the women to one of those rooms back there. Bishop will go with you.”
The guy with the blue bandana headed to the door that would lead him to the teller area. “Move, now,” Blue yelled.
Whisper shivered as the women and children headed toward the back of the bank. The female teenager was walking with her head down, her hair covering her face. She was trying to hide, but for all her effort, it didn’t work.
“Wait,” Yellow shouted. “You there, the one with the black hair and red shirt. The one in those itty-bitty shorts and long legs. Stop.”
Whisper knew it was the teenager. Guck, he couldn’t allow this girl to get raped. Again, another rundown of what to do, how to disarm then kill the other three came to mind. He raced through the possibilities before Green even had a chance to speak.
“Don’t, King.”
Yellow rounded on Green. “If I want to fuck some bitch, I’m gonna fuck her. Don’t tell me no.”
“Money first. That’s the rule. I’ll get you some little tramp once we leave. Hell, we’ll be rich enough to get whatever girl you want.”
Yellow’s shoulders rose as he huffed out breaths that were harsh and full
of anger. Whisper knew they were operating on a thin thread, barely able to hold it together. King or Yellow, was on something and that made him very, very dangerous.
“Fine,” Yellow bellowed. “But if we’re stuck here until dark, she’s mine.”
Revulsion rolled through Whisper. He had to get them out of this before it grew dark.
The woman who’d been shot wasn’t moving and Yellow moved to her, toeing her with his boot. She didn’t stir.
“Fucking bitch, move!” Yellow screamed.
“She’s in shock,” a man in a faded yellow shirt said.
“Carry her back to the back,” Yellow barked at him.
“I can’t. Bad back.” The guy’s voice shook. He sounded scared.
Whisper lifted his head, knowing he had to step up and take charge of this terrible situation. “I’ll do it.”
Yellow looked at him, assessing his body, maybe thinking he was too in control. But the idiot didn’t see how lethal he really was and nodded his okay.
“Fine, you carry her back there and put her with the rest of those women.”
Whisper stood slowly instead of hopping up like he knew he could. Burpees were his go-to exercise. He could spring from the ground to standing tall in about half a second, maybe less. Showing off would only get him killed, so he used his hands and knees to push himself up. He grunted when he picked the woman up, trying to make like he couldn’t handle carrying her. She wasn’t tiny, but she weighed less than men he’d carried out of danger when they’d been injured.
Yellow didn’t give him any other directions, and Liam decided he wasn’t going to head back into the main room if he was allowed to stay with the women and children. He pretended to struggle as he carried the package, trying to make himself seem less strong. As he passed by Blue, he thought about dropping the woman and grabbing the gun from the asshole and taking out the other three. The women were already in the back, and maybe he could get the jerk’s gun.
