by Geonn Cannon
Ares pushed the door open and guided the medics in with the barrel of his gun. "Put your bag down. Now."
The lead medic complied and put his hands up. "Easy. We only want to take care of one gunshot wound here."
"Artemis," Ares said. "Get over here and frisk these fine folks."
Lance crossed the floor and stepped in front of the first EMT. She patted him down, hands clapping loudly against the bulletproof vest under his jacket. His eyes were wide, the corner of one twitching nervously. "It'll be okay," she said. "You're going to be just fine."
"Says you," the medic said.
Lance moved to the next one and reached out to frisk her.
Faye Mallory's eyes sparkled at her under the brim of her cap.
Lance recoiled and nearly tripped over the medic's bag. "What the hell, Artemis?"
"She's FBI," Lance said.
Ares shot to his feet and centered his gun on Mallory's chest. "What the hell are you trying to pull here, bitch?"
"I'm just making sure this nice young man was safe. I'm unarmed. If we wanted to trick you, don't you think they would have sent in a decoy that wouldn't be immediately identified?"
Ares dropped the gun slightly. He kicked the medic's bag over to him and said, "I'm going to watch you like a hawk, lady. Don't try any damn thing or I'll blow your head off. You got me?"
"Yes, sir. You're in charge." She turned her attention back to Lance and smiled brightly. "Nice to see you again, Lance."
"Wish I could say the same." Lance's voice sounded weak, strained. Her chest was tight. She could barely draw a breath as they stepped out of the atrium. Ares pointed them toward the room where Hatcher lay bleeding. He watched them go and then looked at Lance. "What did she call you? Lance?"
"It's my real name. I lied to you."
She walked away from him calmly. She went to the bathroom, took her mask off as she closed the door, and went into one of the stalls. She threw up before her knees hit the ground, clutching the toilet as she went down. Fortunately, she had only eaten a sandwich. She dry heaved a few times and then clutched her stomach, tears burning her eyes as she settled on the floor.
It was over. There was no way out of this. Mallory had the winning hand, and now she was throwing it in Lance's face. Everything had seemed so perfect. Everything was going so well up to that point. And now, in the space of an afternoon, she was going to lose it all. All her years of running, the promises she'd made to Elaine, they were all gone. Wasted.
No, not wasted. The trail of the past three years had led her to Jodie. She had found happiness again, even if it was going to be snatched away from her. She realized she'd done what she set out to do. The bank robbery went south, and Jodie would have been caught in the thick of it. Her life would have been over. Lance gave a sound that was half-laugh, half-sob, and rubbed her face. Mission accomplished. "Better me than her," she said.
She pushed herself up, flushed the toilet, and left the bathroom. She pulled her mask back on as she rejoined the others at the office door.
The medic was taking care of Hatcher's arm while Mallory stood to one side and watched. She looked up as Lance returned, the cold smile appearing on her lips again. Lance ignored it and said, "Is he going to be okay?"
"He'll be fine. He probably won't be robbing any banks any time soon, but..."
"Save the jokes," Ares said.
The medic swallowed hard and focused on his work. Hatcher's shirt and jacket were off, folded on the floor. His eyes were focused past Lance's shoulder out the door, staring off into space. He had come so far to get his prize, only to have it snatched away. He'd been used and he knew it, and he hated himself for it. The book was all that stood between him and self destructing, and Ares was going to use it to pad his pocketbook.
"That should do it," the medic said. He looked at the masked people standing around him and said, "So...so we can go, right?"
"Yeah, you can go," Ares said.
"We want a hostage," Mallory said, and everyone looked at her.
"I let you in here to take care of Hatcher," Ares said, "You want a hostage? What have you done to earn a hostage?"
"I'm standing here asking for one," Mallory said. "Are you going to give me one?"
"No," Ares said. There was a trace of a laugh in his voice, and he started to walk away. "Enjoy the rain."
Mallory said, "Well, if you won't give us one, how about a trade?"
Lance closed her eyes behind her mask. She should have seen this coming.
"Trade?"
"You let one of the hostages leave, I stay. Having an FBI agent as a hostage, how can you pass that up? Huh? Do it. Let one of these poor ladies go home."
Ares considered it. He tapped his gun against his leg and then nodded. He turned and said, "Manager lady."
"I'm not leaving Carey and Wendy," she said. "Send Carey out. She's in shock, she's frightened to death. She needs someone to take care of her."
Carey clutched Torri's blouse, but Torri gently uncurled her fingers and looked into her eyes. "Go. It'll be much better for you out there."
"Torri..."
"I'll be right behind you. I'll be fine."
Carey stood up and reluctantly went to the medic's side. Ares put up a hand to keep them from leaving the room and turned to Mallory. "FBI lady. What's your name?"
"Faye Mallory."
"Aphrodite. Take Agent Mallory into the bathroom, please, and make sure she doesn't have any more weapons on her."
Aphrodite said, "Mm. Gladly. Right this way, Agent Faye."
Lance watched them walk away and turned to face Ares. "It's a bad idea. You do not want her in here."
"Why don't you let me worry about what I want, all right? I'd hate for us to have a disagreement like the one I had with Zeus." He stepped forward, his mask nearly brushing against Lance's. "We going to have a problem, Artemis?"
"Nope. We're absolutely fine."
She could see him smile under his mask. "Excellent. Glad to hear it." He motioned for the EMT and Carey to follow him and they left the office. Lance watched them go, and turned to see Nemesis staring at her. The white face of her mask was completely blank, and Lance found the effect disconcerting.
"What?"
"You and that woman. You hate each other, but you were brought together by love. Strong love."
Lance looked away.
"It's so sad."
"Yeah," Lance said. "Ain't it a kick in the teeth."
"She's going to kill you."
Lance looked at her. "What?"
But Nemesis wasn't interested in elaborating. She walked into the office to watch the hostages. Lance stared at the back of her head and felt a chill run down her spine. So what if Nemesis was a little spooky, a little ephemeral? That didn't mean she was psychic. Lance shook her head and walked away from the office and put the disturbing prophecy out of her mind.
#
Camden watched with dismay, but no real surprise, as the EMT exited the building with a civilian. "Well, take a look at the bright side," Weaver said. "At least she managed to get a hostage out."
Weaver and Camden were both wearing windbreakers, but they didn't do much to combat the cold and rain. The streets were beginning to ice over, and the few onlookers who'd been gathered at the barricades had drifted back inside where it was warm. Camden crushed a hand warmer in his pocket and squeezed it hard. The EMT led the woman over and said, "One of the other hostages said she was suffering from shock. She was shaking even before we left the bank."
"Get her taken care of. We can get her statement later." Camden rubbed her arm and said, "It's okay. You're going to be fine. You're safe now."
She nodded, but didn't seem to comprehend what he was saying. The medic led her to the ambulance.
"Three down," Camden said. "If Cassie's estimate can be believed, that leaves ten. Plus the former leader of the robbers."
"Plus Agent Mallory."
"The hostages are our top priority. Zeus and Mallory put themselves i
nto this situation, they can damn well wait to get out." He spotted Roland approaching from the north and said, "Give me a second." Camden left Weaver and ran to intercept Roland. The rain had plastered Roland's hair to his forehead, and he blinked the rain from his eyelashes, and Camden tried to ignore the appeal as he approached. "Tell me you have something that looks like good news."
"Second floor," Roland said. "The bank shares a wall with their neighbor to the north, but the walls were fortified to add security to the bank. I had one of my men take a look, just so we could safely eliminate it as an entrance point, and we found a storage closet, upstairs, that backs up against the bank manager's office. The wall is thin. I think we could get through with a modicum of silence."
"Get some people in place, but don't make a move until you have my say so."
"Yes, sir."
Camden jogged back to Weaver and said, "Lieutenant Roland may have found us a secondary access point. When we're ready to go in, it should confuse the robbers enough that they'll think about us rather than the hostages."
"Carey Drake, the last hostage out, said all the hostages are gathered in offices at the front of the bank. Coming in from the front door, focusing your fire on the north, it should minimize the risk of hitting any of the hostages. Are you prepared to go in?"
Camden put his hands on his hips and looked at the front door of the bank. In the premature twilight, shadows cut across the front doors and gave the building an ominous visage. "Not yet," he said. "As long as Ares is still showing a semblance of sanity and letting hostages go—even if it's just one at a time—I say we wait him out."
Weaver nodded. "He won't take our stalling much longer. If we keep telling him the road is blocked, he may take drastic measures."
"We get any hint he's planning to jump ship, or that he's going to hurt a hostage, then we move in guns blazing. We take down all the robbers and let God sort them out."
#
Chapter Twenty-Eight
When Mallory returned from the bathroom, she'd been stripped down to a tank top and her jeans. Aphrodite deposited her in the office with Hatcher and Torri and reported to Ares, "She's not wired, she doesn't have any other weapons on her, and she must work out. A lot of tension in her shoulders, though. I could definitely help her work out those kinks."
"Don't make me set off the sprinklers," Ares said. He was leaning against one of the pillars, staring at the front door. "She and Artemis know each other."
"Artemis is a criminal. Mallory is the agent who's been chasing her across the country." Ares looked at her and Aphrodite shrugged. "I was there when Artemis found out Mallory was here. She told me and Hatcher what was going on."
"Anything else you're keeping from me, Gerard?"
"No real names," Aphrodite snapped. "And no. It wasn't pertinent information at the time, so I didn't tell you. Don't tell me all of a sudden you don't trust me. How long have we worked together?"
Ares shook his head and pushed away from the pillar. "I'm going to go make sure they're staying away from the door."
Lance was sitting on the floor with her back to the brick wall, eavesdropping on their conversation. But the person she was really interested in was sitting next to Torri in Carey's vacated seat, leaning forward with her elbows on her knees. Mallory looked wired, ready to pounce any second. Her eyes swept over the hostages and then found Lance sitting out in the main room. Mallory grinned and winked.
Lance looked away and closed her eyes. The sleet tapped against the windows and made her feel like she was tucked away somewhere safe, someplace warm. She pictured Atlas Garage, the doors standing open so they could watch the rain. And Jodie. The lights inside would be on, an island in the darkness, and Jodie's eyes would be turned toward the clouds. Hugging herself against the cold, no customers because of the weather, and...
Someone kicked her foot and Lance's eyes snapped open. She pushed herself up, having fallen asleep and slipped almost all the way to the floor. Ares towered over her, his shirt unbuttoned at the collar. "What the fuck are you doing?"
Lance stood up and straightened her jacket. She refused to apologize to him and looked toward the hostages. "Has Camden called back?"
"No. Is having that FBI bitch in here gonna be a problem?"
"No," Lance said. "She won't be a problem."
"Good. I'm going to leave you in charge in case Camden calls back. I'm going to go have a look around upstairs."
Lance nodded and Ares headed up the stairs. Lance walked to the offices and took a quick look at the hostages to make sure everyone was comfortable. In the first room, Lindsay and her camerawoman were slumped against each other. Lindsay seemed to be in a state of shock, but the camerawoman turned fearful eyes to Lance. Tania, James, Russell and Archie had a deck of cards and were playing what looked like a sloppy game of Go Fish. Nemesis and Aphrodite seemed to be keeping score. Lance said, "Everyone keeping amused?"
"Oh, yeah," James said. "I'm having a fucking ball." He tossed two cards onto the pile in the middle.
Lance moved to the next room and saw Scott and Isaac were holding hands, Scott turned to whisper something in Isaac's ear. Hatcher was on the floor, curled in a ball but not unconscious. Bryden was also on the floor, fists balled against his forehead, staring at nothing. Torri was on the couch next to Mallory, hunched forward so that her hair covered her face. Mallory said, "Hi, Claire. Still bothering with the mask? Kind of a moot point now, don't you think? Claire?"
Lance ignored her and started to turn away. Something nudged at her, though, and she turned back to look over the room again. She brought the gun up and said, "Where's Wendy?"
Scott and Isaac both turned to look at her, but Bryden only moved his eyes. No one answered her, so Lance said, "Torri, where is—"
"Your fucking boss took her," Torri said. She sat up and revealed that her lip was split.
Lance had a sudden mental image of Ares punching Torri in the face when she tried to stop him from taking Wendy. Hatcher wasn't just curled on the floor; he was cradling the arm Ares shot. She pictured Ares punching him in the wound, taking him out of the fight immediately. She looked at Mallory and said, "You just let him take her?"
Mallory's brow furrowed. "I thought he was just moving her to—"
"Aphrodite, Nemesis, watch this group," she shouted. She turned and ran across the lobby, taking the stairs two at a time. The door to Torri's office was closed, and Lance knew she'd left it open that morning. She tried the knob, found it was locked, rammed her shoulder into the door. "You bastard," she shouted through the wood. "If you touch her..."
The door fell in after two blows and Lance charged into the room. Wendy was on the couch, her dress with the yellow flowers pushed up to her thighs. Ares was perched on top of her, but he had only taken off his jacket and his mask. He brought his gun up, and Lance did the same. Neither fired and no one moved.
"Just back out of the room, Artemis," Ares said. "Perks of the hostage situation. She's earning her way out of the bank."
"Get up off the couch, Wendy," Lance said.
"Stay where you are, Wendy."
Wendy brought her knee up into Ares' crotch. He howled and she rolled onto the floor. Lance dropped to her knees, grabbed Wendy's hand, and yanked her forward. Wendy stumbled through the door. Lance said, "Run, and stay low." She launched herself over the low coffee table and slammed into Ares' midsection. They hit the back wall with a hollow thud, and Lance grabbed Ares' wrist. She pulled him toward her and lost her balance, pulling them both down onto the coffee table. It shattered under their weight and Ares ended up on top, straddling her. He swung his gun around, pressed the barrel against the dip in her mask that covered her eye.
"Always work with people you know," Ares said. He was hoarse, out of breath, and sweat beaded his forehead. "New people are nothing but problems."
Lance's hand slipped into the pocket of her jacket. "Ares...wait..." She swallowed hard. Her fingers fumbled with the lid on the box of razors she had taken from the
bathroom. "We can work something out."
"We're past that, bitch."
"I tried," Lance said. She brought her hand up and ran the razor across his throat. Ares howled and dropped his gun, slapping a hand over his neck.
"You fucking slit my throat!" he screamed.
Lance shoved him off of her, not interesting in pointing out it was barely more than a scrape. Ares fell back, blood already staining the collar of his shirt. She picked up his gun and said, "You'll be fine. You just—"
Ares howled and sprang off the balls of his feet. He slammed into her with all of his weight, forcing her through the office door and onto the second floor landing. She slammed into the wall hard enough to crack the sheetrock, her shoulder ringing around a spot of numbness. She ignored the pain and punched Ares in the face. He rolled with the punch, turned to face forward again, and bit her arm. She was protected by the sleeve of her shirt and jacket, but Ares refused to let go.
Lance spun them around put her free hand in the middle of his forehead, and slammed it into the sheetrock. Ares' teeth went slack and his eyes crossed for a moment. Lance repeated the move and Ares slumped against the wall. She backed up and he shook his head to clear away the stars and birds he was probably seeing. "You're going to die, bitch."
"Not today," Lance said. She put her hand on his shoulder and shoved him. Ares stumbled, turned, and fell face forward down the stairs. He tumbled like a rag doll, limbs flailing until he landed head first on the marble floor and lay still.
Lance stared down at him, panting, sore everywhere. She managed to drop onto the top step and pulled her mask off. Her face was hot. Another murder, another mark on her record, and this time it was personally witnessed by Mallory herself. Lance covered her eyes with one hand and refused to cry. It was all hopeless.
She finally pushed herself to her feet and stared down at Ares' body on the floor. The adrenaline was wearing off and she took a deep breath as she turned her eyes to the rest of the room. Nemesis and Aphrodite were at the doors of the hostage rooms, while Morpheus stood next to the bags of money. He knelt next to the body of his former boss and touched the top of his head. Then he looked up at Lance.
