Third Hour

by Lisa Phillips

  His eyebrow rose. “You transferred it back, right?”

  Like it would be that hard to take it again? She rolled her eyes. They probably looked ridiculous, crouched on the floor in the hallway having a whispered argument. “Just go already. Before something bad happens.”

  He shot her a look like she was the one holding him up. Mason crawled through the doorway. Talia followed him, juggling her purse against her hip with her tablet and the stun gun in her arms. She shuffled across the tile floor to the spot where he’d gone.

  “Down,” a male voice boomed, loud like it was an order and he was mad. “I said heads down.”

  She couldn’t hold back the flinch. Mason crouched behind the counter. He tugged on her hand and slid her across the floor, like it was no big deal, so that she stopped right next to him. Close to him. He’d pulled her all the way. Like she didn’t weigh more than she should—although less than she had a few weeks ago—near enough she was now propped against his hip. Talia wanted to be strong on her own. She wanted to feel safe even when she wasn’t sheltered against the body of a strong man.

  But life hadn’t done that. Life had destroyed her sense of safety.

  Talia rounded Mason’s back and crawled to the far end of the counter, where there was a break between two desks. Beyond them was a half door, which she huddled behind. She set down the stun gun and lifted the tablet so only the camera peeked out. She used it like a scope until she saw him, and then took a burst of shots so she got a good one of his face. All the while, notifications dropped down on the screen. Victoria. Haley. Victoria again. Then the others, as they found out what was happening. Dakota. Josh. Alvarez. Niall.

  Talia ignored them all and lowered the tablet.

  “Good,” the bank robber yelled. “Now, we all just stay calm and no one will get hurt.”

  She figured they always said that, right before they shot someone.

  There was no time to read the messages the team had sent her. Talia replied with the best photo she had of the robber, and then sent a bunch more in a string. She followed it up with a message.

  Run this. Get his ID.

  However this turned out, they would know who he was. If Mason needed to talk to him, then it would help to have information he could use to build a rapport with the guy. If they got out of this.

  She looked down at the pictures then and saw something in the corner. Talia used two fingers to enlarge the image. Swallowing down the gasp, she slid back to Mason and tapped his shoulder. When he looked over, she showed him.

  He glanced up, a dark look in his eyes.

  She mouthed, “He killed the security guard.”

  Mason nodded. She could see in his eyes that he felt the loss like a blow. Any life lost was a precious thing gone from this world. Didn’t matter who it was. One person’s life was not more or less valuable than another’s. They were all God’s creation.

  She saw him shove aside the emotion and move to look around the counter. From what she’d read about hostage situations, he wasn’t supposed to jump in fast. That got people hurt. He had to go slow and be methodical. But given the line of his jaw and the flex in the muscle, she figured he didn’t like that. This man of decisive action wanted to lift up, shoot the gunman, and have the whole thing be over.

  Who robbed a bank alone?

  Her tablet buzzed on the floor where she’d set it down. Talia looked at the screen.

  Two minutes to armed response.

  She showed Mason.

  They’d better get here before anyone else got hurt. Then again, Talia and Mason needed a plan to take this guy down before the breach, where armed response showed up, guns blazing. Could Mason and Talia do it in a way that was quiet and meant the lowest risk of people getting hurt or killed?

  She tapped Mason on the shoulder. When he looked over, she mouthed, “What do we do?”

  . . .

  Mason stowed his gun back in its holster. He could pull it out quickly. It was a risk, but he couldn’t persuade this guy he wasn’t a threat if he came out gun first.

  He had to do this himself. Yes, he’d insisted Talia come in here with him, but he would rather she stayed behind the counter. The stun gun she had meant she would have to be within arm’s reach of the guy. That wasn’t going to happen if he could help it.

  Mason wasn’t the kind of man who let a woman swing out there by herself, her life in danger. Had she been a full-fledged, law-enforcement-type federal agent who actually carried a gun, he’d have worked it differently. But she was right. Her strongest weapon was her tablet. That was where her strengths lay.

  He cleared his throat as he stepped out from behind the counter. Pretty non-aggressive as far as noises went. He straightened as the man whipped around, gun pointed straight at Mason’s chest. Mason flinched and lifted both hands a little higher, palms out to the guy.

  “I said everyone down on the floor.” Breathy. Louder than necessary. The man’s neck flushed. Pale eyebrows. Mouse brown hair. Clammy skin, and a two-day growth of patchy stubble.

  Mason saw the man catch sight of his badge. “Easy.” He’d get shot before he could say anything else, just for being a federal agent. “Put the gun down.”

  The guy looked around, maybe to see if there were any other feds here.

  “It’s just me.” Mason kept his hands raised.

  The man was probably in his twenties, maybe early thirties. T-shirt and brown jacket. Did he have more weapons hidden under there? His eyes weren’t crazed or bloodshot, so he was probably not amped up on a substance that would lower his inhibitions. The sweating could just be nerves.

  It was a wonder he hadn’t shot Mason yet. “What do you want?”

  “I want you to get down on your face, like everyone else.”

  He shook his head. “I’m not going to cower.”

  “I’ll shoot you.”

  “You don’t wanna do that,” Mason told him. “It won’t go well after you’re arrested.”

  Beyond the gunman, a heavyset man lay on the floor. He lifted up enough that Mason caught his face. He made a series of hand motions Mason figured meant he was going to try something. He also mouthed a bunch of words Mason couldn’t decipher. Really? If you were going to do that in a high-stress situation, you’d better know what you’re doing. The fact none of it resembled any law enforcement or military signals didn’t give Mason confidence.

  He shook his head, eyes hard. A message this bystander would not mistake.

  Before the gunman could turn and see who he communicated with, Mason motioned to the security guard, who he was glad to see still breathing.

  Maybe the gunman had hit him on the head with his gun, instead of shooting him. That was something. “You haven’t killed anyone yet. Now isn’t the time to start.”

  “Says you.” He almost seemed like he wasn’t bothered either way. Would he shoot Mason just to say he’d killed a fed?

  Mason didn’t work bank robberies or hostage situations. His investigations were all white-collar, financial crimes—things like Talia’s penetration test on the bank’s system. Usually this stuff was the purview of the FBI. He didn’t know what was normal in this situation, and what wasn’t. What he did know was that he had the power to direct where it went. And he fully intended to do everything he could to make sure no one else got hurt.

  “I’m the one in charge,” the man yelled again.

  “Yes, you are.” Mason still had his hands up. He needed to shift the balance further in this guy’s direction. “I have to tell you, I’m not really sure what to do now.” He let out a laugh he hoped sounded nervous. “This isn’t really my field of law enforcement. But that’s why I’m at the bank. Too bad for me it’s on the day all the money I’m supposed to safeguard gets stolen.”

  A test. To see if this guy knew about the transfer to Talia.

  The robber reacted, just a tiny flex of the muscles around his eyes. Mason wasn’t sure what the man was planning on doing, if this wasn’t about money. “You’re S
ecret Service.”

  “I am.” Mason shifted and touched a hand to his chest.

  The other hostages were going to think he was an idiot, but he had to get the gunman to think Mason was someone he could control. It was the only way he could turn the tables. Surprise the guy enough to get the jump on him. Would he have enough time to pull it off?

  Mason let out a short laugh. “Wow, my heart is racing. This is crazy. A real bank robbery.”

  The gunman made a face, like he just realized Mason was an idiot. Good.

  Mason said, “I signed up for the detail to protect the president, but they didn’t accept my application. I heard it’s all just like standing around anyway. Looking cool in those glasses.” Yeah, he was laying it on thick, but he had to sell the story. “They sent me here instead.”

  “I wonder why.”

  Mason made a face. Like he was mad about it and didn’t know the guy had been completely sarcastic. “They relegated me to Seattle.” He paused. “Does it ever quit raining?”

  “You’re stalling,” the man said. “Buying time for all your cop friends to get here.”

  “I thought you were the one waiting for something.” Mason looked around. “Don’t you have a friend in the vault, grabbing the money?”

  “You just want to know if I’m alone or not.” He lifted a phone with his other hand and waved it. “Maybe I’m stealing all the money right now.”

  Mason heard a muffled exclamation from behind the counter. He wanted to smirk, but that wouldn’t play with the persona he was creating here. He figured if he looked over at Talia right now, he would see her furiously swipe on her tablet. Did she know how to stop that kind of hack?

  The trust he needed to have in her had to supersede his own tendency toward distrust. Despite what he’d learned through experience, she could very well be honest. People deserved the benefit of the doubt, didn’t they? Innocent until proven guilty.

  Mason tipped his head to the side. “You couldn’t do that from your car on the street?”

  This persona he was making up on the spot could be knowledgeable about data security and at the same time not a good fit for the president’s detail. Most people didn’t know the Secret Service duties stretched to more than protection of key government officials and their families.

  The bank robber’s lips twisted. “It requires proximity.”

  “As in, inside the walls of the bank?” Some hacks needed to be within Bluetooth range of a network. Not everything could be accessed via an online connection—such as an internal bank network like what Talia had been testing. They purposely safeguarded people’s money and information. In this day and age there couldn’t be too much caution taken.

  Proximity.

  He’d been hearing a lot of this type of talk today. First from the bank manager, then their top cyber security officer who he’d met with before they headed down to the lobby. To hear it from this guy now couldn’t be a coincidence. There was no way it was random.

  Even considering the likelihood of a connection, the fact that there had been two incidents couldn’t be ignored. First, there was the stolen money Talia had put back and now a guy trying to steal money. They were two very different things, but had to be connected. He didn’t think the statistical probability of the two being unrelated would hold water.

  Mason had no idea where their backup was, or how long they would be. “So that’s what we’re waiting for?”

  “That, and one other thing.” The man’s face took on a slightly smug look. He shifted his gaze over Mason’s shoulder. “Talia?”

  The tap on her tablet, the pad of fingers to the screen, and the occasional click of a varnish-tipped nail…ceased.

  “Time to go, Talia. We need to leave.”

  Chapter 4

  Talia didn’t move. There were probably words worth saying, but she couldn’t think what they would be. She was totally speechless.

  Her tablet vibrated in her hands. Money wasn’t being stolen from the bank. Whatever device he had, he wasn’t doing anything with it.

  None of this made any sense.

  “Talia.” He yelled her name louder this time.

  She flinched and her tablet dropped to the floor. The screen didn’t shatter. And was worrying about that even the most important thing right now? She should stand up. Ask this guy how on earth he knew her name.

  Did she really want to do it? Not especially.

  Was she going to? Probably.

  Talia bit her lip and stood. It was wobbly getting onto her heels and upright after being on the floor, but she managed to do it with her skirt in place around her legs. Her mother had instilled in her the need to be a lady. In stressful times, what else could a person fall back on but those core things? Maintain grace always, no matter what. She’d tried. God knew she’d tried.

  This time things were going to be different.

  Especially if it was her enemy again. Back to pull her strings. Again. She straightened and looked at him, the stun gun behind her back. “Who are you?”

  “Get over here.” The bank robber waved the phone. “We’re leaving.”

  She wanted to fight it. Then she saw his gun drift, aimed right at Mason. Was the Secret Service agent wearing a bulletproof vest? Did it matter? He could get shot in a bunch of places outside a vest that could be deadly—like his head, for one. She wasn’t about to gamble Mason’s life on a guess of how good a shot this guy was.

  Besides, she had to get close enough to use the stun gun she had tucked behind her back in the tiny belt. “Don’t shoot anyone…else.” She moved around behind Mason and held her hands up.

  “Let’s go.” He waved the gun this time.

  People on the floor were starting to lift their heads, one by one. Wanting to get a look at the accomplice who’d been with the useless Secret Service agent. She knew what he’d been doing, and it had made her wince hearing the lengths he’d been prepared to go. That this man would ruin his standing, even with strangers, just to get the situation resolved. She wasn’t sure the other members of her team would have done the same thing. They’d probably have come up, guns blazing, accepting the consequences.

  Talia couldn’t let anyone else here get hurt. She wasn’t built that way, and she could only be sorry for that fact. She had to try and take him down herself, if she could. But first he’d have to believe that it was working, and that she was willing to go with him.

  Why was he doing this? She’d never met this guy before. Why call her by name and tell her to come with him?

  Did he have some kind of connection with the hacker? That had to be the man who orchestrated the money transfer to her. What about this? It all made no sense.

  “I will kill him,” the gunman assured her.

  “Okay.” The alternative was watching Mason—and any of the other innocent people here—die.

  “Talia.” Mason made an attempt to grab her arm.

  She shook her head and scurried away from him. He would see the stun gun tucked behind her.

  There was no way she’d let anyone get hurt because this guy wanted her. Was it the hacker? Bile swirled in her stomach and threatened to rise up to her throat as she studied his face. She would probably choke. She almost wished she could, just to get out of this situation. If she thought about it anymore she wouldn’t do it. She’d freeze up like she had when…

  Don’t think about that.

  She stared at his face instead. Studied the lines of Mason’s features in case she never saw them again. Why did he have to be that handsome? It was a serious shame she’d met him on a disastrous day like this. Everything had gone wrong, like game pieces falling one by one. Each knocked down the next. Cascading like an avalanche. Like her life.

  Mason mouthed, “Don’t go too far.”

  Then a hand grabbed her wrist. She nearly stumbled. Strong fingers squeezed the bones hard enough she winced. Did Mason think she had control over where this man took her?

  Talia swung out with the stun gun. Finger on th
e trigger thing. It already crackled, even before she touched it to—

  His arm came up between them and slammed against her forearm. She cried out and dropped the stun gun. It clattered to the floor with the sound of breaking plastic.

  “Nice try.” He laughed as he hauled her to the entrance where he pushed her body against the door. His weight against hers gave him the momentum needed to shove the door open. She cried out as the gun pressed into her ribs.

  “You know I like it like that,” he hissed. “Scream a little louder for me.”

  Ice washed over her and she stumbled outside. His grip on her arm pulled her shoulder back so hard she cried out again, even though that was the last thing she wanted to do. She turned to the robber. “Who are you?” The words came out like a whisper.

  He laughed in her face and they moved. Far enough he was away from the people inside, the ones he’d kept hostage. Where was her team? They’d said the Secret Service and local police, and whoever else, were minutes away. She didn’t see anyone. If they were waiting for him to be away from innocents, they should move in now.

  Outside, the bank looked completely normal. Just another weekday morning. He pulled her down the street in an awkward run-walk. She couldn’t keep up on her heels, her feet sending sharp pains up her legs with every step.

  “What are you doing? I don’t know you. We aren’t in on this together.”

  He dragged her along.

  Talia had gone up against someone with superior computer skills. She should have known what her hacker looked like by now, right? Maybe this was him. Maybe not. If he hadn’t had her kidnapped and nearly sold to the highest bidder, she might have managed to figure out his identity.

  She lifted her chin and tried not to break down. “Was it you?”

  “I’d like to take credit for whatever you’re talking about—” He shoved her toward a beater car. “—but I’m sad to say I can’t.”

  “Let me go.”

  He shook his head. “Not gonna happen.” The gun was waved toward her now. “That’s not the plan.”