by Jove Belle
“Hello?” Tor whispered so quietly, Sera could barely hear her. “Yes, that’s right, America First Bank downtown.” A pause. “Torrence Jewel. I’m the manager.” Another pause. “She gave me the phone. She’s okay. For now.”
The added “for now” made Sera feel more in danger from Tor than Marcus and his poorly contained temper. Not that she could blame Tor. Everything about this was screwed up.
“About twenty,” Tor said, then paused again. “Six. Seven, including Sera.” Pause. “Okay. Okay. Yes. Okay. I understand.”
Sera risked a glance at Tor. The phone rested on the floor, the screen black. The call had been disconnected.
“Did she tell you to hang up?” Sera arched her eyebrow.
Tor looked startled. “What? No. Shit.”
“It’s okay. Leave it.” Sera couldn’t help but smile. It’d been far too long since she’d seen Tor flustered, and she much preferred it to the icy facade she’d gotten so far today. Watching Tor scramble with the phone made Sera happy in a way she’d all but forgotten.
*
Fifteen Years Earlier
“She said yes.” Sera smiled like an idiot and Remmy punched her in the shoulder. She didn’t care at all. She hadn’t stopped smiling since Tor had agreed to go to the movies with her. She picked up a pile of clothes, possibly clean, and dumped them on Remmy’s bed. She hoped her roommate would take the hint and put her own shit away.
Remmy pushed the pile out of the way and flopped down. “What’s that got to do with me?”
“I’m happy to report, very little.” Sera started on her laundry. She couldn’t really complain about Remmy’s mess, because she was no better. Her studies and any number of other things were infinitely more interesting than cleaning. Keeping their room in order landed at the bottom of both their priority lists. “Fold your clothes, would you? I don’t want her to think I live in a dump.”
Remmy rolled over and pretended to snore. At least Sera hoped it was pretend. Remmy fell asleep easier than any other person she knew. Sera smacked her in the back of the head and said, “Don’t be a dick. I’m trying to clean up.”
Yes, Tor had agreed to a movie, but that didn’t mean Sera shouldn’t be prepared for the possibility that, maybe, if she was lucky, their date would end up here.
Remmy sat up. “Oh, you don’t just have a date. You’re trying to get laid. When?”
“Tonight.” Sera ignored the first part of Remmy’s comment. Of course she was trying to get laid. She was eighteen and a freshman in college. Who, in her situation, wasn’t trying to have sex?
“Fuck. That means I have to clear out, doesn’t it?”
Normally that wasn’t a problem. Remmy was dating a sophomore who lived off campus. More often than not, she slept at his place. Sera thought he was a dickhead, but she wasn’t the keeper of Remmy’s vagina. Her roommate could date whoever she wanted.
“Is that okay?”
“Derick and I had a fight today. He’s being a jerk.” Remmy started stuffing her clothes into drawers without benefit of sorting or folding. She was going to be one wrinkled bitch later.
“Oh. Are you okay?” As much as Sera wanted the place to herself, just in case, that didn’t mean she wasn’t worried about her friend.
“Yeah, whatever. Sometimes he just has the sensitivity of a root vegetable.”
“I thought that’s what you liked about him?”
Remmy’s previous boyfriend had been in a band. That sounded cool in theory, but apparently he was an emotional poet and wanted to explore his feelings more than he wanted to explore Remmy’s body. How they’d lasted for two years in high school was a complete mystery to Sera.
“Normally. But the answer to all life’s questions can’t be beer and pizza, followed by a quick fuck. I don’t want to spend all my time talking, but some conversation is nice.”
“You dumped him, didn’t you?” Sera threw down her laundry. She didn’t see any point in continuing if she wouldn’t be able to bring Tor back later.
Remmy winced. “That sounds so harsh when you say it like that.”
“But that’s what happened, right?”
“Yes.”
“Damn. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t worry about it.” Remmy shrugged like it was no big deal, but she looked like someone had kicked her in the gut.
“I’ll probably be back early, and we can cry about it together over a pint of ice cream.” Sera still needed to get ready for her date. She was a low-maintenance girl, but she couldn’t just walk out the door without doing something. She changed into a long-sleeved top with a V-neck and a pair of black jeans that she’d been told made her ass look spectacular. She didn’t have a whole lot going on in terms of boobs, but she knew how to make the best of it. A little bit of eye makeup and she was ready to go. She didn’t bother with her hair because it just didn’t matter. She could spend two hours or no time at all and it would forever do exactly what it wanted. Her streaks were fading, though, and she didn’t like that. She should have spent the time on touch-ups instead of cleaning. Or maybe it was time to change the color completely. It’d been a while since she’d had red hair.
“I’m sorry. I wish you’d asked her out last week.” Remmy slumped against the wall with her knees pulled up to her chest. Her eyes were suspiciously shiny.
Sera slipped on her jacket, then tossed Remmy hers. “Come on. You haven’t seen this movie yet, either.”
As much as she hated to spring Remmy on Tor at the last minute, she hated to leave her there, miserable and alone. She liked Tor, to the point that it made her stomach giddy just to think about her. She couldn’t say the girl’s name out loud without smiling reflexively. But no matter how bad she had it for Tor, Sera didn’t want to pursue a relationship if she was the kind of person who would abandon a friend in need just to find her own good time. Sera could never be that person, and no way could she be with someone who wanted her to be. Either Tor would roll with the change, or she’d let Sera know it wasn’t going to work out. That thought made Sera’s jaw clench, but it was better to find out now than later.
“Sera, I can’t—”
“Sure you can.” Sera pushed Remmy out of the door ahead of her. “I’ll have other dates with this girl. I’m sure of it.”
“That special, huh?”
Sera shrugged and gently punched Remmy in the shoulder. She didn’t want to talk about the start of a relationship when Remmy had just ended one. And maybe it was an asshole move to take Remmy along to watch them instead of just canceling altogether. But she really, really wanted to see Tor. She’d been looking forward to it since the night before when she’d finally worked up the nerve to approach Tor in the library.
“Let’s just go, already.”
They sprinted across the open quad to the dorm building that Tor lived in. Tor was waiting for them in the common area. It saved Sera a trip up the stairs, but it also made the introduction with Remmy standing right there just a little more awkward. She’d planned to leave Remmy in the lobby while she went to Tor’s room, giving her time alone with Tor to explain the situation.
Sera patted Remmy’s shoulder. “Give me a second, okay?”
Remmy waited by the door, looking about as uncomfortable as Sera felt. Rather than letting her uncertainty ruin her flow, Sera smiled and kissed Tor on the cheek. She said “Hello” softly before pulling away. It was a move she’d seen her cousin pull more than once, and every single time the girl would melt. Hopefully Tor didn’t prove immune to that particular brand of charm.
“Hi.” Tor smiled at Sera, then looked briefly in Remmy’s direction, then back again. She looked more confused than seduced, like Sera had hoped for. “What’s going on?”
Sera leaned closer and spoke in a low voice. She wasn’t trying to be seductive anymore, just discreet. She didn’t want Remmy to overhear. “Remmy is my roommate. I just found out she broke up with her boyfriend today, and I couldn’t leave her alone. I thought maybe she could come to the
movie with us. If it’s okay with you?”
Tor watched Sera closely, staring hard enough to make her uncomfortable. She shifted in place as she waited for Tor’s answer. It was obviously a bad idea to bring Remmy along, but what else could she have done?
When several moments had passed and Tor still hadn’t responded, Sera gave up. “Okay, listen, clearly this was a bad idea. I’ll just go.” She turned to leave.
“Wait.” Tor didn’t sound like she wanted the date to be over. Quite the opposite, actually.
Sera turned back with a small smile. “Yes?”
“I just need to make sure I understand what we’re doing. This is a date, right? I didn’t misunderstand that.”
“Definitely.” The thrill of hope and excitement returned to Sera’s chest, covering the disappointment that had started to set in.
“And Remmy is straight?”
Sera mimed crossing her heart. “I promise.”
“You’re a good friend.” Tor took Sera’s hand in hers and kissed Sera on the cheek, a mirror of the move Sera had made a few minutes earlier. Sera’s skin tingled where Tor’s lips touched her, and she suddenly understood why something as simple as a kiss on the cheek worked on girls. She totally swooned.
“This isn’t exactly what I’d planned for our first date, but I didn’t know what else to do. I hope I didn’t just blow it with you.”
“You didn’t blow it.”
Then Tor did that cute-girl thing where she tilted her head down yet looked up at Sera through her lashes, and Sera fell apart. Complete puddly mess right there on the floor. She was pretty sure she drooled, but her brain checked out completely, so she had no way of knowing for sure.
Sera didn’t let go of Tor’s hand when she introduced her to Remmy. If she had her way, she wouldn’t let go for a very long time.
Chapter Nine
As Tor was about to hit the redial button, Sera stopped her by gently placing her hand over the phone. The familiar feeling of Sera’s fingers brushing against hers stole her breath, and it took several seconds for her to do anything but stare at Sera dumbfounded and hoping she wouldn’t move her hand away.
Sera smiled and tightened her hold briefly before letting go completely. “Save the battery.”
Tor shoved the phone into Sera’s pocket. She wasn’t gentle or subtle about it either. How was it, after all these years of separation and growing up, Sera was still able to dismantle her with a simple look, a smile, an eyebrow raised in question? It was maddening how little had changed when it came to her reactions to Sera.
Before she could dwell on it further, several things happened at once. The three absent gunmen returned to the lobby, the police pulled up in front of the building, and Sera left her to return to the group of robbers.
“What took the cops so long to get here?” Edmund asked.
“I don’t know. Probably tied up with the bombing.”
Minnie chimed in. “Isn’t that who you talked to?” Tor hated being double-teamed.
The truth was, she had no idea who she was talking to. The woman had identified herself as Beth and said she worked for the FBI, but Tor was naturally skeptical. She could have been anyone. “I don’t know. Maybe.”
“Maybe?” Astrid sounded disappointed.
Tor didn’t answer. Instead she watched the men. And Sera. She wanted to believe Sera was as much a victim as they were, but that assumption just didn’t match with what she saw. If Sera was there against her will, why did she have a gun and why was she allowed to walk around freely? The gunmen, even the one who held obvious contempt for Sera, listened closely when she spoke. Tor and the others weren’t technically allowed to talk. Not that it stopped them, but it did force them to keep their voices down.
“You guys were lovers, right?”
Tor shook her head. Had Edmund really just asked her that? She looked at him, disbelieving.
“What? I know you talked to Maureen. I’m allowed to be inappropriate.”
He had her there. “Yes, Sera was my girlfriend. A very long time ago.”
“What about Maureen?” Minnie asked.
One of the phone lines started to ring. One of the men picked it up and set it back down without speaking. It started ringing again almost immediately.
“You need to talk to them. They won’t stop calling.” Sera stepped toward the phone. The man picked it up and dropped it again. Tor overheard everything Sera said quite clearly and that worried her. She’d been talking in hushed tones, but if she was able to hear Sera and the other men so clearly, then perhaps they could hear her as well. Then again, when the two men had been talking quietly earlier, she hadn’t been able to hear what they were saying, so maybe it was okay.
“Let them call.”
“They’re not going to just sit out there and wait if you don’t answer. You have to talk to them,” Sera said.
He shrugged. “If you want to talk, be my guest.” His tone was derisive, filled with judgment and disdain.
“One of them needs to talk,” Edmund murmured.
Tor agreed. Her experience at being a hostage was limited to big-budget Hollywood movies and today, but she was certain she wouldn’t be released without some sort of negotiation process. That being said, she wasn’t willing to volunteer to do it herself.
The phone rang again. Sera pushed the man’s hand away and answered.
“Hello?”
“Yes.”
“No.”
“I don’t know.”
“Yes.”
Sera looked at the group of hostages. “About twenty. Two children.”
“I don’t know.”
“Okay.”
“Okay.”
“I said okay.”
Sera hung up. The man looked at her, but she remained silent.
He gave up and asked. “Well?”
“Well, what?”
Tor recognized the tone. Sera was purposefully trying to piss him off, pushing her boundaries. She didn’t like it. The last time he lost his temper, Sera had ended up with a nasty bruise on her cheek.
“What did they say?” The man didn’t yell but obviously wanted to.
“Oh, I thought you didn’t want to talk to them. Sorry.”
The man pulled a gun from his waist and pointed it at Sera’s head. Tor gasped, but Sera simply turned slowly until she was looking directly at him. The gun pressed into Sera’s forehead and Tor fought to stay still. She might be angry at Sera, hurt, confused, or any number of other emotions, but she wasn’t ready to watch her die.
“What. Did. They. Say?” The man bit off every word.
Sera stood there for a moment, always cool and calm, then finally responded. “If you shoot me, I guess you’ll never know.”
“Just tell him.” Tor muttered the answer under her breath, certainly not loud enough for Sera to hear. Nonetheless, Sera glanced briefly in her direction, then answered.
“They wanted to know how many hostages are in the building and what our demands are. You heard my answers.”
The man dropped the gun and turned away from Sera. Even through his mask, Tor could see his face was contorted with anger and suspicion. Tor only cared that he holstered his gun. He could be angry, so long as he didn’t shoot anyone. By the time he finished and turned his attention back to Sera, his mouth was fixed in a warped smile. Tor had no idea what Sera was up to, or how she knew these men, but she was certain this one would kill Sera without hesitating.
Throughout Sera’s conversation with Marcus, one of the gunmen selected a cookie from the plate Minnie had brought in earlier that morning, the same plate Tor had eaten from when she arrived. Crumbs clung to the fabric of his mask and he brushed them away casually. She’d been trained for bank robberies. She knew the protocols, knew to let them take the money. In an unusual situation, it was the expected normal. But for him to take a cookie baked with love for her employees? That filled her with outrage. Worse, the way he looked almost normal eating a cookie while holding a deadly wea
pon chilled her.
The man eating the cookie, plus one other guy, had smaller guns than the others, with long clips hanging out of them. Tor knew very little about guns but had seen enough movies to realize they must shoot very fast to need that much ammo readily available. Tor had a sick ball in her stomach. The men had finished clearing the vault several minutes ago yet waited long enough for the police to arrive. Their weapons indicated this was more than a simple bank robbery, but what did that make it?
The memory of smoke rising on the horizon and the news about Beckford popped to the front of Tor’s mind, but she pushed it back. She wasn’t willing to make even the briefest correlation between that and what was happening here. She just couldn’t.
*
Sera focused on Marcus and his men and tried to block out the reflection of blue and red lights against the interior walls of the bank. Her head throbbed from where Marcus had hit her, and if she stared at them too long, she’d get sick to her stomach. Head injuries were cool like that. Tor was behind her somewhere, huddled on the floor with her coworkers, and Sera couldn’t afford to think about that, either. Her goal was simple. Stop Marcus from doing whatever he was doing and get the hostages out safely. Too bad she had no idea what Marcus was actually doing or how to ensure the safety of a room full of frightened people. Right now, it seemed a rather daunting, if not impossible, task. Failing her objectives, she’d settle for keeping Tor safe.
“They didn’t say anything else?” Marcus sounded as frustrated as she felt. If he really wanted to know what the police had to say, he should have answered the phone. Instead, he’d left it for Sera to do, giving her the opportunity to confirm some vital information. Even though the negotiator identified himself as a local police sergeant, he’d obviously been in contact with Beth because he already knew how many hostages there were, as well as how many gunmen and how they were armed.
The fatal blow had come when he asked her if she was an undercover FBI agent. Her cover was clearly blown, and no amount of maneuvering through the events of the morning would keep her under. She’d hated to confirm that fact, but what else could she have done? Denied it, information that Beth clearly wanted him to have, only to have them shoot her in the chest along with the others when they breached the building?
