by Geonn Cannon
Lance knew that her survival depended on what happened in the next five minutes. She didn't give any of Ares' team time to take control. She started down the stairs. "I'm in charge now. Ares was out of control. If you really wanted to follow someone who would take a risk like that in the middle of a siege, then by all means, defend him. But if you want someone who might get you out of here alive, then you let me take over." She looked at the blank, masked faces for signs they were going to turn on her. "Well?"
"The king is dead," Nemesis said in a quiet voice. "Long live the queen." She turned, ran her hand down Aphrodite's arm, and focused on the Go Fish game.
Morpheus stood up and stared at her. He took a deep breath, rolled his shoulders, and turned to walk away from her.
Lance looked toward the hostages and saw Mallory standing with Wendy. Wendy was trembling, her mouth moving as she explained what had happened. Mallory watched Wendy, turned to look at Ares, and then focused on Lance. Lance met her gaze evenly, without emotion. Mallory held the stare for a long moment, shifted her head slightly, and turned away.
Lance knelt down next to Ares. The ledger Hatcher had worked so hard to find was tucked into the back of his belt. She tugged it free and flipped quickly through it. She saw a multitude of names she didn't know, a few names she recognized from her few months in the area. She was walking across the lobby to give it back to Hatcher when the phone began to ring. Lance sighed and changed course.
#
"Hello, Detective."
Camden leaned back and looked at Weaver. "Who the hell is this? What's going on in there?"
"This is Artemis," the woman on the other end of the phone said. "Ares is gone. We had another difference of opinion."
"There was another change of power? I'm starting to think you people are going to blow the goddamn bank up before this is all over. I want reassurances that—"
"I'm going to send out four hostages."
Camden frowned. "What?"
"To let you know everything is fine. To keep you from breaking down the door. I'm going to give you four hostages."
Camden ran a hand down his face and said, "Okay. Okay, I like that plan. What do you want in return?"
"Nothing. How are we doing on the roads?"
"Still blocked by that accident. I'll let you know the second it's—"
The phone disconnected.
Weaver said, "I think Artemis is the one Agent Mallory identified as Claire Lance. How the hell did she get in charge?"
"Don't know. Don't care. Four hostages, free of charge. How many does that leave inside?"
"I think six, plus Mallory and Zeus. Down to about half the original number."
Camden nodded. He picked up his coat and led the way out of the MCU. He went out into the rain and looked into one of the cafés across the street. Chelsea Collins-Stark and her son, the first hostage released, were sitting at a window table. Chelsea was chewing on her thumbnail, watching her son play some sort of handheld game. She was talking on the phone to someone, most likely Joan/Joe, and Camden said, "Are they being taken care of?"
"Yeah. Everything's on our tab."
Camden nodded and went to the barricade. The front door of the bank was already opening and the first hostage stepped out.
#
Lance said, "Scott, Isaac. Stand up." The couple stood, hands still clasped. Lance motioned for Torri and Wendy to stand as well.
"What's going on?" Scott said.
"You four are going home."
"What about me?" Bryden said.
"You're going into the next room. Zeus, can you move?"
Hatcher grunted the affirmative. Lance stepped out of the doorway and said, "Dr. Bryden, help Mr. Zeus into the room with the other hostages." He grudgingly did as she asked, helping the man who had originally taken him hostage get to his feet. Lance stopped them at the door and pressed the ledger against Hatcher's chest. He took it from her and looked at her with weak, grateful eyes. "Use it well," she said.
"I will. Thank you."
Once they were out of the room, Lance motioned to the four she had chosen. "Let's go, folks. You four get to leave."
Scott and Isaac led the way, followed by Torri and Wendy. Wendy stopped before she left the room, her hand wrapped tightly around Torri's. "Thank you. For stopping him."
Lance nodded quickly and said, "Single file to the door." She followed them and stepped to the front of the line to open the locks.
Torri hesitated and said, "I feel like I should stay. It's my bank."
"Rule number one of being a hostage," Isaac said. "Don't argue with the hostage takers when they're letting you go."
Torri closed her eyes and smiled.
"It'll be all right, Ms. Hodge," Lance said. She thought for a moment and then said, "May I have your keys?"
"What?"
"Your keys."
Torri reached into the pocket of her blazer and withdrew a key ring. "Isn't unlocking things kind of going against form for you guys?"
Lance smiled. "I'm new at this. Thank you." She unlocked the front door and said, "Just go out and across the street to the police officers."
Torri stopped at the threshold, the wind whipping the rain into the open door and soaking her blouse. "I meant what I said. About telling the police you were different. Kind. You may not think it matters—"
"It won't," Lance said. "But thank you. Now please, go. Now."
The group slowly filed out into the bitterly cold rain. They immediately hunched their backs to the cold and ran across the street to the police officers waiting for them. Lance saw a tall, blond man in plainclothes standing between two of the barricades. He lifted his hand to her and Lance nodded. Detective Camden.
She waited until the group was safely across the street and gathered into the protective embrace of dark-suited policemen before she closed the door. She turned the lock and returned to the main room.
All of the hostages were now together. Except one. She stood in the doorway of the dark office and looked at Mallory. Mallory stood up and returned the stare. She smiled coldly, but her voice was tired. "Well, this is it. After all this time, you and me, back in a room together. No escape. No tenderhearted judge to say you were brutalized. No bail to jump. You're not slipping away this time, Claire."
Lance ignored the obviously prepared speech. "Why did you come in here?"
"So I could keep an eye on you. It's been a long two years. I couldn't risk letting you slip out through the back way."
Lance brought the gun up and aimed it at Mallory's head.
"That would be poetic, wouldn't it? Both Mallory girls would have their blood on your hands."
Lance lowered the gun. "I didn't kill your sister. The last time I said those words to you, I was strung out. We'd both suffered a devastating loss, but I was too far gone to realize what it meant yet. The last time you and I were in a room together, you wanted to kill me. And I wanted you to do it. I'm not that person any more. I'll fight you if you try to kill me, Faye. I will not allow you to take me to prison, to punish me for Elaine's death. I will not let you do that."
"You'll pay for it."
"I am," Lance said. "I pay for it every goddamn day. In pain and heartache. Knowing Elaine died because of what I did. Knowing that if she had never met me, she'd still be alive today. I didn't kill Elaine, but I am responsible for her death. And I've been punishing myself far worse than you or any prison ever could."
Lance stepped out of the office and pulled the door closed. "Have a nice day." She closed the office door and used Torri's keys to lock it. She tested the knob, reinserted the key, and hit it with the back end of her hand.
She heard Mallory on the other side trying the knob and then pounding against the wood. "You bitch!"
Lance walked away from the door. Morpheus had draped his jacket over the top of Ares' body, covering his head and part of the blood pool. Nemesis and Aphrodite blocked the door with the hostages. Lance looked at her gun and dropped heavily into a nearb
y chair.
"Well," Aphrodite said. "You're the boss. What are we going to do next?"
Lance looked past her at the remaining hostages. She looked at her watch and then tugged the shirt sleeve down over it. She rubbed her face and said, "Now we finally end this fucking thing."
#
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Lance allowed herself a few moments sitting in the chair, actually relaxing for the first time that day, before she stood up and walked back to the office. The hostages looked up at her, perhaps feeling that the standoff was nearing an end but unsure what that meant for them. Lance stood in the doorway and said, "Zeus. Stand up." Archie helped Hatcher get to his feet and Hatcher walked to the door. Lance handed him her gun. "Your team. You're in charge."
Hatcher took the gun and stared at her. "I'm going to end it."
"I know."
"I know what that will cost you."
Lance nodded. "Just give me a little time. Five minutes."
Hatcher nodded and turned to the remaining members of the team. "This is it. We've put up a good fight. It's time to go."
Aphrodite said, "Ares never once walked away from a job."
"And look where it got him," Nemesis said. Everyone turned to look at her; it was the first lucid thing Lance had heard the woman say.
Hatcher said, "All the responsibility for this job falls on my shoulders. I'll take whatever they throw at me and keep the four of you safe." He looked at Lance and added, "As much as I can, anyway. But that relies on the money staying here."
Morpheus tensed.
"It's the only way we're all getting out of here in one piece. And it's your only chance to get out of a federal prison sentence. It's up to you. Take the money and let them take you to prison or gun you down in the street, or take it back into the vault and walk out of here behind me with your hands up."
Aphrodite looked down at her gun and bent to lay it on the ground. She looked at Morpheus and said, "Do it, Oliver."
Morpheus wiped off his mask and turned, his small beady eyes moving from one face to another. He opened his mouth to speak, and then pounded his fist against his thigh. "This is bullshit!" he said.
"No matter what happens, we end up with nothing," Aphrodite said. "Might as well go the route that offers a little hope of freedom."
Hatcher said, "Aphrodite, Nemesis, help him get the money back in the vault." He nodded to Lance. "You have your five minutes."
Lance nodded her thanks and crossed the main room of the bank. They had only been inside about five hours, but the storm and the adrenaline made it feel like days. The hostage's cell phones were gathered in a pile at one of the teller's stations, and Lance picked one up at random. She checked the battery to make sure it was fully charged, flipped the phone open, and went behind the counter. She slid to the floor, back to the wall, and stretched her legs out in front of her. The phone rang in her ear.
"This is Jodie Curran."
"Hi," Lance said.
There was a long pause, and then Jodie said, "Claire."
Lance's heart broke and she closed her eyes. A tear rolled down her cheek and she said, "Hey, babe. Long time no see."
"Yeah," Jodie said. "So what have you been up to all day?"
Lance laughed. She wiped her face and said, "I had to talk to you. Everything went so bad, Jodie. The FBI agent who's been following me is here."
"I know. They showed your picture on the news and then they started talking about the charges against you in Chicago. It's like you're the second coming of D.B. Cooper or something. Half the channels are treating you like some kind of folk hero, the other half are calling you a menace to society."
"What is Daphne saying?"
"Telling me I must be straight because I definitely don't have good taste in women."
Lance smiled sadly. They sat in silence for a while before she spoke again. She didn't mind the silence, as long as she was connected to Jodie. "I don't know what's going to happen, Jodie. Prison, most likely. They'll probably let Mallory take me back to Chicago. I don't know if I'll ever see you again. So I wanted to talk to you again. I wanted to say good bye."
"I'll come see you. In prison."
"No, Jodie—"
"I love you, Claire. I believe you when you say you didn't do what you're accused of."
"One murder. Elaine's murder," Lance said. "Everything else—"
"Everything else was out of your control. Self defense. Or in defense of someone you loved. And even if you do feel somehow responsible for what happened to Elaine, you've paid your dues. You decided before you came to Shepherd that it was time to stop running. To create a life for yourself. You did that, Claire. You found me and we fell in love. Maybe it's time you laid down arms and took the blows that are coming."
"Jail," Lance said.
"It won't be the worst thing in the world. You'll get out one day. And I'll still be young and beautiful, because you're so much older than me."
Lance laughed and twin tears rolled down her face.
"I'll be waiting. Don't tell me not to. I'm going to be waiting for you when you get out, Claire. I love you."
"I love you, too." She looked at her watch. "I should probably let you go."
"Okay. Whatever happens, know that I'm here for you. I'm thinking about you. And for the first time since I was thirteen, I'm praying. That you make it out of this unscathed."
Lance said, "Thank you, Jodie." Hatcher stepped around the edge of the counter. Lance looked up at him and wiped her face. "I have to go. Good bye, Jodie."
"Good bye, Claire."
Lance hung up and dropped the phone on the counter. Hatcher watched her and said, "That was Jodie Curran?" Lance nodded. "You put yourself into extraordinary danger to keep her safe. That FBI agent locked in the office is going to try and put you in prison for the rest of your life. You knew that was a risk, and you took it anyway. Why?"
"Jodie's life is more important to me."
"Than your own?"
"Yes."
Hatcher looked at the counter and then extended his right hand. "It's been an honor to know you, Artemis."
"Claire Lance," she said. She took his hand, squeezed, and let it go. "It's the same reason you did what you did. For your son."
"Best intentions," Hatcher said.
"Who the fuck needs 'em," Lance said. She laughed and shook her head. "Sorry. Something someone said to me recently."
Hatcher nodded. "We're ready to go out. Are you coming with us?"
"No. You can't just walk out." Lance went around the counter and went into the hostage room. "Matthew Bryden."
"What?"
"Your son and ex-wife are out there. They'll recognize you as a hostage, right?"
He frowned. "I guess so."
"Stand up."
#
Roland stepped into the MCU and approached Camden's seat. "Sir, we have a situation forming."
"Good, I was starting to get bored," Camden said. He turned and looked up at Roland. "What is it now?"
"It could be good news. The ice is starting to form on the power lines, pulling some of them down. There are reports of power outages all over town. It gives us plausible deniability if we want to cut the bank's power without repercussions."
"Cut the light and the heat," Camden said, considering the proposition. "When Artemis or whoever happens to be in charge now calls, we say it wasn't us, it was Mother Nature. We tell them we'll try our best to get a generator out to them."
The technician interrupted Camden's brainstorming. "Sir, we've got movement at the front doors."
Camden stood up and looked at the screen. Vague shapes were moving behind the fogged glass. The door started to open and Camden pushed past Roland to get out of the MCU. He didn't bother with his jacket or cap, running into the rain bare-headed. The rain soaked his shirt immediately and plastered his hair to his forehead.
He reached the barricade as the man stepped to the edge of the curb. He also wore a dress shirt and tie, cringing as
the cold rain slammed into him like a wave. Roland came up behind Camden and said, "The robbers were all wearing suits. Could be one of them impersonating a hostage, trying to slip out."
Camden took Roland's radio. "SWAT teams, stand ready."
"That's my Dad!"
Camden and Roland turned to see Martin Collins-Stark rushing out of the café. Chelsea was right behind him, trying in vain to hold him inside.
"Hold your fire," Camden said into his radio. "Repeat, all teams, hold your fire. It's a hostage. Repeat, we have confirmed it's a hostage."
Martin ran into the street, but Chelsea remained on the sidewalk. Bryden spotted his son and dropped to one knee. The two embraced in the middle of the street before Bryden stood and walked to the barricade. He started to embrace his ex-wife, but drew his arms back at the last second. Camden felt the discomfort between them like it was a distinct entity and stepped in to diffuse the situation. "Mr. Bryden, I presume."
"Dr. Bryden," the man said. He looked away from Chelsea and focused on Camden. "They sent me out so that I could give you a message. They're sending out all the hostages."
Camden looked back at Roland. "Why would they do that?"
"I don't know. There was a fight and one of the hostage takers died. The first guy is in charge again."
"Zeus?"
"Yeah, I think so. Anyway, he has some book. He said it was all he came for. They're going to send out all the hostages, and then all the robbers are going to come out and surrender."
Roland said, "Why would they do that?"
Bryden scoffed. "Why the fuck should I care?"
"Nice, Matt," Chelsea muttered.
Bryden looked at his son, pressed his lips together and shook his head at Chelsea. "Look, they're coming out. Isn't that the important thing?"
"Yes, it is," Camden said. "Okay. Thank you. An officer will take your statement, Mr. Bryden." He purposely used the wrong identifier, but turned and walked away before the man could correct him. Roland fell into step next to him. "Five minutes with the guy, I wish the robbers had shot him. I feel bad for that kid."
"I feel bad for the wife. Well, ex-wife. At least dumping him proves she has brains to go with the looks, I guess." Roland looked at Camden's shirt and said, "Speaking of looks. You're going to freeze to death."
