Hostage (2001) (36 page)

'If she gets it into her head to call someone, tell her that this is the guy back there who called you. She can talk to him until she's blue.'

Talley put the card in his pocket, wondering if the name on the card was a real agent, and thought that he probably was. Thinking that scared him. It was like a warning, this is how much power we have.

Talley glanced at the men. They were geared up now. A man in the second van was passing out MP5s, CAR-15s, and loaded magazines.

'What are you people going to do?'

'You and I are going to straighten this out with the Sheriffs. Two of my people are going to reconnoiter the house, see what we have. After that, we'll deploy in a secure position and wait for the man to call. You've got your phone, I have mine. When he gives the word, we move. If something happens in the house that provokes a launch beforehand, we'll do it. But we will control the scene until we've recovered our target. After that, the house is yours.'

Talley thought about the man's words, thought he might have done this in the military, for the Rangers or Special Forces.

'I won't be able to keep the others out. You know that. The Sheriffs will come in, and I'm going, too.'

Jones met Talley's eyes and shook his head.

'Listen, man, if it helps you get through this, we don't want to kill anyone, not even the three dicks who started this mess. We just want the stuff in the house. But we know what's required when we breach that house. We'll have to secure the scene before we can recover what we want. We'll do that, Talley. We're professionals.'

The phone in Talley's pocket chirped. He had a phone in his left pocket and a phone in his right, and didn't remember which was which. Talley pulled out the phone in his left pocket. It was the Nokia. It chirped again.

'Answer it, Chief.'

Talley pressed the button to answer the call.

'Talley.'

'Is Mr. Jones with you?'

'Yes, he's here.'

'Put him on.'

Talley passed the Nokia to Jones without a word. Jones put it to his ear, saying his name to let the caller know he was on. Talley watched Jones. His eyes were pale blue or gray, Talley couldn't tell which in the dim light. A man in his mid-forties, maybe, who kept himself in good shape and could be hard when he had to be. As Jones spoke, his eyes flicked nervously to the Sheriffs in the distance. Talley thought that he was probably scared. Any sane man would be scared, doing what he was doing. Talley wondered what the Watchman had on this man, or if Jones was doing it for money.

Jones ended the call and passed the phone back to Talley.

'Let's go, Chief. Time to get it done.'

'What does he have on you?'

Jones stared at him, then looked away without answering.

'I know why I'm doing this. What does he have on you?'

Jones cinched down his vest, tighter than necessary, so tight the straps cut.

'You don't know shit.'

Jones started up the street.

Talley followed him.

The stink of gasoline was so thick in the closed space of the entry hall that it burned Kevin's eyes and filled his throat with the taste of metal. He gagged, acid washing the back of his throat, then he couldn't hold back and vomited, puke splashing the wall. Dennis, in the den with his vodka, was too far gone to have heard.

They were going to die.

Kevin remembered a story from elementary school that explained how coastal Africans caught the tiny monkeys that lived at the edge of the water. The Africans would bore a hole in a coconut just big enough so that the monkey could squeeze its hand inside. They would put a peanut touched with honey into the coconut. The monkey would reach inside to grab the peanut, only with the peanut in its hand and its hand balled into a fist, the monkey's hand would no longer fit through the hole. As long as it held onto the peanut, the monkey couldn't take its hand out of the coconut. These monkeys wanted the honey-coated peanuts so badly that they would not let go even as the monkey-hunters walked up to cover them with nets. Dennis was the monkey in this house, surrounded by police but unwilling to let go of his peanut.

Kevin stumbled into the little bathroom off the entry and splashed his face with water. His lip and eye were swelling from the beating Dennis had given him. He washed out his mouth, then washed his face, rubbing the water through his hair and around his neck. After the shootings, the fear, the running, the nightmare terror of the day, he finally knew what he had to do, and why: He was not willing to die with his brother; no matter their childhood, no matter Dennis taking the old man's belt for him, no matter the horrors they had endured. Dennis was willing to die for money he couldn't have, and Kevin refused to die with him. He would take the girl and her brother, and the three of them would get the hell out of here. Let Dennis and Mars do what they want.

Kevin dried his face, then went back to the den to see if Dennis was still there. Kevin expected that Dennis and Mars would try to stop him from leaving. He knew that they could, so he wanted to get the kids out of the house without being seen. Dennis's feet sprouted up over the end of the couch, still flat on his back. Kevin peeked into the office, checking for Mars, but Mars wasn't there. Kevin thought that he might be back in the family room by the French doors, but suddenly he had the prickly feeling that Mars was watching him on the monitors. Kevin slipped past the den back along the hall to the master bedroom. If Mars was in the security room, he was going to tell Mars that Dennis wanted him to watch the front of the house again, but the master bedroom was empty and so were the closets and security room. Kevin stared at the monitors, seeing the police outside, seeing his brother in the den and the girl in her room, but he didn't see Mars. He thought maybe he should break the monitors or figure out a way to turn off the security system, but if he moved quickly enough it wouldn't matter; once he had the kids, they would be out of the house in seconds or they wouldn't be out at all.

Kevin hurried back through the house to the entry, and then up the stairs. He knocked twice softly on the girl's door, pulled the nail from the door, and let himself inside. The girl was curled into a ball on her bed, her eyes open, the lights full on. She swung her feet out and stood as the door opened.

'What do you want?'

'Shh. Keep your voice down.'

Kevin was scared. Here he was a grown man, and he felt like a child whenever he crossed wills with his brother. Sometimes he felt such a strong mix of fear and a desperate need to please Dennis that he couldn't move.

'We're going to get out of here.'

She seemed confused, her eyes flicking to the door, then back to him.

'Where are you taking me?'

'Not with them. I don't mean with Dennis and Mars. I'm taking you and your brother. We're going to leave them here.'

The marks on his face registered with her for the first time, and Kevin felt himself flush.

'What happened to you?'

'Don't worry about it. Dennis isn't going to give up. He's going to stay here no matter what, but we're not.'

'They're letting us leave?'

'Mars and Dennis don't know I'm doing this. They would stop us, so we have to be careful, but we're getting out of here and they can do what they want.'

Uncertainty played across her face. She glanced at the door again.

Kevin said, 'Do you want to go or not? I'm offering you a way out of here.'

'I can't go without Thomas.'

'I know that. All three of us will go, but we have to be careful and move fast. Now do you want to go or not?'

'I want to go!'

'Stay here and pretend like nothing's happening. I'll get Thomas and come back for you. When the three of us are together, we'll go straight downstairs and out the front door. Do you have a white pillowcase?'

'We're going to walk out the door? Just like that?'

'Yes! We need a white flag or something so the cops don't shoot us.'

He could tell she was scared, but excited, too, anxious to get out of the house.

'All right, okay. I have a pillowcase.'

'Get it while I'm getting your brother. When I get back, don't say a word. Just follow me and try to be quiet, but be ready to move. We're going to walk fast.'

She nodded, her head bouncing.

'I will.'

Kevin eased the door open and peered into the hall. Dim light glowed at the stairwell, coming from below. The hall seemed darker than before, masked in a blackness that made him wish for a flashlight. He heard voices and grew even more worried. If Mars and Dennis were in the office, they would see the three of them coming down the stairs.

Kevin pulled the door shut behind him and crept back along the hall to the stairwell, listening. Twice the hall creaked, making Kevin cringe. When he reached the top of the stairs, he listened harder, then felt a well of relief. The voices were coming from the television.

He turned back toward the boy's room, telling himself to hurry, to do this quickly without noise, to do it now or else the moment would pass and he would never do it; he would be trapped in this house with Dennis and Mars, and he would die. Kevin was so frightened that it was difficult to think. The boy, the girl, out. He repeated it to himself like a chant.

Something moved in the darkness ahead of him.

Kevin froze, his senses straining, his heart pounding. The girl must have come out of her room. He whispered.

'Stay in your room.'

A black shadow drifted against the darkness outside her door, but the shadow did not answer. Kevin strained to see into the bottomless grave of the hall, but saw nothing.

The floor creaked behind him. Kevin spun around.

Mars stood inches away, backlit by the light from the stairs. Kevin jerked backwards. They were screwed unless he could keep Mars away from the front door. He thought of the security room, as far from the front door as it was possible to get in this house.

'Jesus, Mars, you scared the shit out of me. I was looking for you. Dennis wants you to watch those monitors back in the bedroom.'

Mars stepped closer, his pale face empty.

'I heard you with the girl, Kevin. You're going to leave.'

Kevin stepped back. Mars followed him, staying uncomfortably close.

'That's bullshit, Mars. I don't know what you're talking about.'

'Don't ruin a good thing, Kevin. You'll regret it later.'

Kevin felt a stab of anger that shook him. Fuck it. Mars had heard; let him hear it all. Kevin stopped backing up.

'Then you can stay! I've had enough of this, Mars. We're trapped. It's over! If we stay, the cops will kill us. Don't you get that?'

Mars stared down at him, his pasty face thoughtful. Then he stepped aside.

'I get it, Kevin. If you want to go, go.'

Kevin waited for more, thinking that Mars was upset or angry, or would drag him downstairs to Dennis, but Mars only raised his hand, offering the way to the stairs. His voice was soft and encouraging.

'Go.'

Kevin glanced toward Thomas's room.

'I'm going to take these kids.'

Mars nodded.

'That's okay. Go.'

Kevin stared up at Mars, then turned and stepped into darkness.

After Talley and Jones had spoken with Martin, Jones moved his two vans to the mouth of the cul-de-sac. Talley returned to his car, where he sat by himself, watching the two vans. Jones and one of his men, a blond guy with a crew cut and wire-rimmed glasses, left the vans to scout the perimeter.

Talley felt like a traitor and a coward. He had returned to his car so that he could avoid the Sheriffs and his own men. When he and Jones were in the command van with Martin, he couldn't bring himself to look at her. He let Jones do the talking.

When Jones and his man disappeared into the cul-de-sac, the street was still.

Martin climbed down from the command van, saw Talley in his car, and walked over. She had taken off the flak vest and all the crap SWAT cops clip to themselves, and was wearing only the black fatigues and a cap. The cap read BOSS. Talley watched her approach, hoping that she would continue into Mrs. Pena's, but she came to his side of the car.

Martin stopped a few feet away, took out a pack of cigarettes, and offered one to Talley.

'Don't smoke.'

Martin lit up without a word. She drew the smoke in deep, then blew a plume that gassed into the night air like a shroud of fog. Talley didn't know many SWAT cops who smoked. Bad for the wind.

When she spoke, her voice was calm and reasonable.

'You gonna tell me what's going on?'

Talley watched the smoke.

'What do you mean?'

'I'm not stupid.'

Talley didn't answer.

'All the phone calls. That scene in the ambulance between you and the doctor, wanting him to wake Smith; I thought you were going to shoot the guy. Whatever you were talking about with that kid, then charging off to the hospital. I had my I.O. call over there, Talley; if someone phoned in a death threat, it's news to everybody else out here, including the people back at your office.'