The phone rang again. Dave snatched it up and said, “Yeah, hang on.” He put it down and walked to the old man. He grabbed his arm and tried to pull him upright. “Come on, Grandpa,” he said derisively.
The old man struggled and wheezed. “I’m not going. I insist you take my wife.”
Dave got impatient. “Do as you’re fucking told.”
Finn wasn’t sure what happened next. Whether it was an accident or whether it was deliberate, as the old man went to grab at Dave for balance, he caught his ski mask and pulled it off. Dave went nuts. He put his hands to his face, then brought a hand around and cracked the old guy on the side of his head with the gun. Blood burst from the side of his head, and his wife screamed as he went down. Cries went up from everyone. In a second all the guns were raised.
Dave was furious. “You fucking idiot,” he spat.
The old man’s wife sobbed and pulled her husband’s head onto her lap. He seemed unconscious. Finn opened his mouth and was suddenly looking at a gun again.
“Don’t even think about it,” threatened Slim.
Dave pointed the gun at the security guard and hoisted one of the bank tellers to her feet. “Send her out and get the food.”
“Me?” the guard asked hesitantly.
“Yes, you,” Dave ordered, bringing his gun up to the guard.
Finn put his arm around Bobby, who was shaking in fear and trying to get as close to Finn as possible. This was escalating, and he was worried. Finn nearly laughed. Worried? He was scared to death and completely out of his depth. An hour’s lecture on hostage negotiation in no way prepared him for any of this shit. An image of a blond-haired, blue-eyed giant came to mind. What he wouldn’t give….
The guard grabbed the woman Dave had pulled upright and nodded.
“Get the food in first,” Dave instructed, keeping his gun trained on the guard.
The guard clasped the woman in front of him and cautiously opened the big door. He looked outside and pushed at the woman to move her.
Dave stood behind him, out of sight of the cops.
“We’re coming out,” the guard shouted, then pushed the woman as he took a step outside. The security guard cried out, “I surrender, I surrender,” and Finn saw the woman go sprawling onto the sidewalk.
Dave cursed and, as if in slow motion, sighted his gun. The shot took them all by surprise, and Dave stepped back and slammed the door as answering bullets hit it.
One of the tellers started crying quietly. The old woman was still sobbing over the unconscious body of her husband, and Finn’s heart plummeted. Dave had shot someone. Finn was completely convinced he shot the guard because the guy tried to escape. Whatever happened, Dave was now a murderer in a state that still had the death penalty and had little to lose.
Everything had just become a hundred times worse.
THE COPS got off a few rounds before Talon yelled at them. They’d nearly shot the hostage. He put his hands straight up and calmly walked toward where the woman was crying hysterically. He glanced at the security guard who had been shot in the back of the head and was obviously dead. He nearly had to carry the woman back with him, as she couldn’t stand on her feet, and immediately passed her to the paramedics. He heard a noise behind him, and for the first time, noticed what a large crowd had gathered behind the barriers the cops had quickly erected. He could count at least five news vans. Wonderful.
He glanced at his team, and without being asked, they all stepped to one side.
“The stakes just changed,” Talon said. “Sawyer, go see what you can find out, but for fuck’s sake, be careful.”
Sawyer gave a lopsided grin in acknowledgment. “Gael, Vance? You might have to distract the cops while I get behind the dumpsters.”
Talon stared at his team as they all moved to do his bidding. He saw Sawyer surreptitiously hand his gun, keys, and phone to Vance. This was the bit Talon hated. He knew part of being the leader was sometimes sending people in who had a better skill set than he did. Talon remembered the day when Gregory named him their team leader. He’d thought it might be Vance, with his connections, or Gael, maybe, with his levelheadedness, but it was given to him, and he’d made a crap job of it so far. He wasn’t even a good partner, as Gael so ably pointed out.
Talon glanced back at the building and wished for just five minutes to tell Finn that he, Talon, was an ass. That he hadn’t meant a word. That… he liked him.
He grunted. He was fooling himself. Like didn’t begin to describe how he felt about Finn. He wasn’t sure exactly how he did feel, but he suddenly desperately wanted to get the chance to find out.
Talon raised his eyes at a movement from Gael. Gael nodded at Talon, and Talon watched them walk away.
“NOW WHAT do we do?” Slim asked nervously as Dave pulled the box into the middle of the room.
Finn kept quiet. He wasn’t sure bringing attention to himself or Bobby at that moment was such a good idea.
Dave looked up and glanced over at the quiet guy. “You keep an eye on them two,” he ordered to him and then looked at Slim. “Get over here.”
Slim went eagerly to the box, pulled out a bottle of water, and unscrewed the cap. Dave did the same, except he pulled out a sandwich also. They both dragged the box over to the corner and sat where they could see all the people huddled together.
Bobby shivered slightly and then turned his face up to Finn. “I need to pee,” he whispered. Finn wrenched his gaze away from the old man and looked up at the quiet guy, convinced he had heard Bobby speak.
“Dave,” the quiet guy shouted over. “The kid needs a piss. I’m going to take them both in there so I can keep an eye on the fed.” He looked over his shoulder to where the restrooms were.
Dave looked up from ramming a sandwich down his throat. He got up, marched to the restrooms, and peered in. “You’ve got five minutes. Go in with him to make sure the kid isn’t up to anything.”
Finn stood shakily, his head swimming a little, the pain making him nauseous, and felt a small hand slide into his bigger one. The quiet guy gestured with his gun for Finn to walk in front of him.
Finn stumbled a little, and the guy grabbed his arm to steady him. Finn stared in shock, wishing the guy would take the mask off. They walked into the restroom, and he let go of Bobby so he could use the toilet. Finn walked up to the mirror above the sink and winced at his white face and the blood that had run down into his collar.
The quiet guy came up behind him and seemed to stare at Finn through the mirror. Finn stared back. There was something about him. He had a gun, but he hadn’t been a dick with it at all. Finn decided to take a chance.
“You know things will go better for you if we get the old man and the kid out of here. You didn’t shoot the guard, and something tells me you don’t want to be here.”
The man shrugged. “Be here? In a bank with SWAT outside waiting to put a bullet in my brain? Whatever gave you that idea?” he asked mildly.
Finn registered the faint sarcasm. “This isn’t gonna to go well for anyone. I can help you before this gets any worse and before more lives are lost.”
The guy stared at Finn quietly. “You can’t help me. I lost my life a long time ago.”
Finn’s lips parted at the bitterness in the whispered words. “We need to get the old guy out of here. You know where I work,” he added desperately, trying another argument. “My partner is enhanced.”
The guy reared back a little in surprise.
Slim opened the door. “Out. Whatch’ya doing in there? Feeling each other’s dicks?” He sneered and waved his gun threateningly.
Finn didn’t dare say anything more and quietly walked back with Bobby, concentrating on putting one foot in front of the other and trying to ignore the dizziness and the pounding in his head.
Dave was throwing a few bottles of water to the rest of the hostages. The old man’s wife never glanced at anyone except her unconscious husband. The middle-aged guy stared at Finn pointedly as he came out. A few of the bank staf
f also looked at him. Finn felt expectation settle on his shoulders. What would they all say if they knew he’d been a trainee for a week?
Finn, Bobby, and the quiet guy all walked back into the room. Finn hesitated. “Can I look at the old guy? See how he is?”
Dave glanced at the old man, who was still unconscious, and nodded briefly. “Knock yourself out.” He smirked at his choice of words.
Finn knelt next to the man’s wife, who looked up at him, tears rolling silently down her cheeks. Finn had done plenty of basic first aid. He’d taken classes at school, and he’d even managed to get a few free courses while he was at college. The man wasn’t having any breathing difficulties. Finn raised his eyelids, and the man turned away from the light slightly and tried to shut his eyes against it. His wife gasped a little, and Finn covered her hand with his. He turned to Dave. “He needs a doctor. They are more likely to negotiate if they think you will cooperate.”
Dave sneered. “You mean come in with guns blazing?”
Slim glanced at Dave with a frightened look on his face. “Dave?”
“No, they won’t,” Finn urged. “Not if they think they’re getting somewhere. They’ll only risk coming in if you start shooting people.”
Dave glanced at Slim as if he were suddenly unsure. The telephone abruptly started ringing again. Dave swiped it up. “Yeah.” His face changed. “I want the fucking car,” he shouted. Finn pointed to the old guy, and Dave seemed to think about it. Then Dave laughed at something the negotiator said. “Are you fucking kidding me?” he shouted again and slammed the phone down. He shook his head in disbelief. “Dicking us around with the car, and then they said they’d send in a doctor to check everyone out.”
“A doctor?” Finn repeated, puzzled. They wouldn’t send a civilian into a hostage situation.
“Yeah, some guy called Sawyer. As if I care what his fucking name is,” Dave spat and got up. “I’m going for a piss,” he said to Slim. “Watch them.”
Sawyer? Finn sat back with Bobby. He was sure that was a message for him, but he didn’t know what it meant unless they hoped to get Sawyer in here so he could do his thing with the guns. That must be it. He glanced back at the quiet guy, who had tucked his gun in his waistband and was making no attempt to aim it at anyone.
Slim went to the front of the room and started counting stacks of bills even as he had his gun trained on the rest of them.
The middle-aged guy looked over as Dave came out of the restroom. “I think I might be able to help you get what you want,” he said cautiously.
Dave ignored him.
“I have plenty of money, and I’m a personal friend of Governor Jackson. Alan Swann. I’m CEO of Swann Industries.”
Finn wanted to tell the guy to shut up. He was painting a target on his back.
“It’s interesting you show no fear that the child may use his abilities against you,” Alan continued.
Finn was trying to get his sluggish brain to think. He’d heard of Swann industries.
“Is it perhaps that you have some protection in place that makes you unafraid?” Alan mused, glancing at the quiet gunman.
Dave shot Swann an irritated look, and Finn stiffened in alarm. Did Swann suspect the third gunman was enhanced? No one had seen what he did in the vault except Finn. Dave lifted his gun, and Swann shut up immediately. Finn was relieved. He thought he might have guessed correctly.
Bobby moaned a little and slumped against his side; unbelievably, he was dozing. Not an unsurprising reaction to shock. Finn put his arm cautiously around him. The bank had been on lockdown for over two hours now, and they weren’t getting anywhere. He stared aimlessly at the pile of wallets and cell phones on the counter to his side. None of them were any good to him, though.
He spied his own cell phone on the pile and narrowed his gaze slightly as it vibrated while he was watching it, and Finn glanced around to make sure no one else noticed. It was the phone Agent Gregory had given him, and no one else had the number. That was ridiculous. He couldn’t exactly answer it. Surely they would know that.
Finn surreptitiously glanced back and saw it vibrate, and then, unbelievably, it just disintegrated. He blinked at the small pile of metal shavings and the empty plastic case sitting on top of them.
Sawyer. It had to be. The name of the doctor, but…. Finn looked to his side carefully as Dave paced restlessly. He didn’t know Sawyer could do that sort of thing remotely…. Sawyer’s words from the intros came back to him: It only works at around six feet so far. It couldn’t possibly be Sawyer. There was nowhere he could hide by the counter, and he wouldn’t be able to get behind it without being seen. Finn was behind it when they went to the safe. He knew there was no one there.
Every hair suddenly stood up on Finn’s neck as, behind the counter, a framed aerial photograph of the building’s grand opening suddenly titled an inch. What? No. That was ridiculous. There was no way Sawyer…. Finn stared at the ground carefully, his mind working furiously.
Was it really beyond the realm of possibility that he could make himself invisible?
It sounded like something out of a movie, but then, so was Vance’s strength, Gael’s language skills, and Talon’s freaky thing he did with Finn’s body. And he hadn’t even started with what exactly Eli could do. Finn glanced at the phones again, but saw the quiet guy move a little and follow Finn’s stare, so he quickly looked away.
Two of the women had asked to use the restroom, so Slim was standing guard outside. Dave was getting more and more agitated. Finn watched him for a second, then threw a worried glance at the quiet guy. He seemed to sigh, then walked over to where the old guy was still on the floor, even though he was blinking every now and then.
“Dave, I think we should let the old man go,” the quiet guy said. “He’s not doing us any favors staying here, and I think Finn’s right. We’ll have more chance of getting what we want if—”
Finn managed to control the gasp, but the guy stopped abruptly as soon as he realized what he’d said.
Dave paused in his pacing and looked incredulously at the guy.
Finn. He’d called him Finn. It said Finlay on his ID, and as far as he knew, no one had said his name, and the guy never looked at the wallets. He knew him. He had to know him.
Dave marched up to the guy in fury, grabbed the ski mask that covered his face, and yanked it off even as the guy tried to duck and stop him. “There, ya little fucker, seein’ as how you two know each other.” He spun the guy around so Finn could see his face, and Finn stared in complete shock.
Adam.
Dave yanked the gun out of Adam’s waistband and pulled him back against his body with one arm while he pointed the gun at his temple with the other. “You’re an undercover cop,” he screamed.
Finn looked at Dave quickly, realizing things were getting even worse. “We were at school together. He was a neighbor.” He tried not to sound as panicky as he felt.
Adam looked completely defeated. “We haven’t seen each other since we were eleven.”
“I don’t give a fuck,” Dave shouted, and Finn stopped breathing as Dave’s finger moved to the trigger. “What the fuck?” Dave yelped as the gun dropped to the floor in pieces at the same time as the door burst open.
Slim raised his weapon at Finn, and Adam leaped to shield him, except the cops bursting into the room didn’t know that. To Finn’s team it looked like Adam was attacking Finn, and the bullets hit Adam before he knew what had happened.
“No!” Finn screamed, lunging as he caught Adam’s body. He looked at Talon, who was lowering the gun he had just fired.
People screamed, and suddenly the room was very full. Paramedics swarmed all over Adam and the rest of the hostages. Swann lurched to his feet clumsily and stumbled against Finn in the panic. He tried to steady himself, knocking Finn out of the way, and the jolt to Finn’s head was one more than his body seemed to be able to cope with.
“Finn.” Talon choked out his name and held out his hand, but Finn wa
sn’t listening.
Adam. Talon shot Adam, thinking he was going to shoot Finn. Adam was dead, and it was all Finn’s fault.
Everything blurred. Finn put up a hand to his pounding head and struggled to stand.
“Finn,” someone shouted again, but it seemed like Finn was falling down a tunnel. People were shouting, and he couldn’t hear them. He wavered, and the last things he remembered were the strong arms that caught him and the smell that he knew.
FINN BLINKED, trying unsuccessfully to open his eyes, but the ten-inch spikes currently hammering at his skull made him wish he hadn’t bothered. He whimpered slightly and felt a strong hand cover his own. He swallowed to stave off the nausea and work out where he was before he had another go.
“Hey,” the quiet voice he recognized said. “Just lie still. Are you in pain? I’ll get a nurse.”
“No.” Finn’s voice cracked, and he winced. “What happened?”
“All the hostages are okay. The gunman I took out is in ICU. Stable. They operated.” Talon paused as Finn valiantly tried to open his eyes without wanting to vomit.
“Sure?” he managed to croak.
“Of course,” Talon replied. “The other two went for their guns and were killed by the cops.”
Finn gave up attempting to move, the relief overwhelming. He heard the door open and either a nurse or doctor talking cheerfully. He was okay until someone tried to force his eyelids open and shine a light in them. He jackknifed up in bed and promptly vomited everywhere.
He must have passed out again, because the next time he woke, he was convinced he was having a nightmare. He could hear his mother’s strident voice telling someone to get the hell out of her baby’s room.
Finn opened his eyes again groggily, and his mom was all over him. He could have quite cheerfully vomited once more. Talon was nowhere to be seen. He breathed slowly through his nose for a few seconds while he worked out that the top of his head wasn’t going to explode. It still felt like evil elves were in there with ice picks, but it was better than before.
Five Minutes Longer Page 16
