Jack Kursed (7 page)

"I'm Nikki," she said, shaking his
hand. "What can I do for you today?"

Jack sat across from her. He could
feel her eyes studying him, his demeanor, his custom made
three-piece suit.

"I'll be in the area for a
while. I just wanted to get a checking and savings account
started."

"We can certainly do that."

She flashed another smile
as she typed at her computer. Jack stored away details, a habit he
finely tuned over the years. Nikki was left-handed, and obviously
liked to exercise. Blond, but dyed. Her original hair color was
brown. Blue eyes. She needed glasses, judging by her squinting at
her monitor. There were pictures scattered across her desk. Two
cats and a dog, but no men. No ring. Single. She knew her way
around a computer. There was something about her right side that
bothered her, as her hair covered that side and she made sure to
keep it turned from him. Most likely a pimple or other
blemish.

"So, do you live in Chicago?" she
asked.

"No. Just outside the
city. I usually only make it to town on business."

"What do you do?"

"Oh, a little of this, a little of
that."

John left it at that. He
hid the fact he was a multi-millionaire from everyone he met. No
rest gave him plenty of time to earn more than he could spend over
the decades.

He handed Nikki his
driver's license and a second form of identification as she worked
at her computer. She constantly glanced at him. Jack acted like he
didn't notice most of the time, but finally met her gaze. Her face
turned red.

He was a second away from
stepping up to the plate when he heard a commotion behind him.
Nikki's eyes widened as she looked over his shoulder, her jaw
dropping. Jack turned to see three masked men standing at the
entrance to the bank. One man pushed a taser to the security
guard's neck. The guard shook for a moment, and then fell to the
ground. Two men dragged the guard to the center of the bank while
the third pulled out a gun.

"Everybody get on the
ground!"

"Holy shit," Jack said. "People still
rob banks like that?"

Two of them handled the
customers while a third went from teller to teller. Jack tried not
to laugh as Nikki and he were led away from her desk and forced to
lay on the ground on their stomachs. He decided to play along, as
this was the most interesting thing that happened to him in months.
Few things could compete with a night on the couch watching classic
movies on AMC, but a robbery certainly was one of them.

Jack looked to his left and right.
Nikki was on one side, the cute woman with the McDonald's bag the
other. He breathed a sigh of relief. The last place he wanted to be
was anywhere near Grandma and Dennis.

He glanced around the
room, searching for Grandma. Grandma, Ralph, and Dennis were near
the last teller. Ralph lay on his stomach, but Grandma sat up,
leaning against the counter. She held Dennis close to
her.

"Look, old woman. I told you to lay
down."

"Please, I can't. My
grandson, I have to hold him."

The second man approached his friend
wielding the gun.

"Tom, come on. She's ninety years
old."

"Don't say my name!"

Jack searched the faces of
the people around him. All the color left Nikki's cheeks. She
looked like she'd be sick any second. He reached out and touched
her hand, giving her a friendly nod. If he was careful, there was
still a chance he could make it to the plate and take a swing.
McDonald's woman next to him was crying. The men still argued over
how to handle Grandma. Jack rolled his eyes. They obviously weren't
professionals.

A smell caught his nose. A sausage and
egg biscuit and hash browns.

His stomach growled. He'd skipped
breakfast, thinking the trip to the bank would be a short
one.

He looked at McDonald's
woman next to him.

"Psst," he said. "Hey, lady. What's
your name?"

She said nothing at first. Her mouth
opened, but no words came out. She looked up to make sure the
robbers didn't notice her.

"J-Jasmine," she whispered.

"Hi, Jasmine. Hell of a
name," Jack said, flashing his brightest smile. He pointed at her
bag. "Are you gonna eat that?"

Jasmine was quiet. Jack reached out
and grabbed the bag, but didn't take it from her. When she didn't
resist or say anything, he took her answer as a no.

"Thanks," he said. "I
didn't eat anything this morning."

He took a bite of his sandwich as he
watched the bungling burglars in action.

"Move your ass, man! You got the
money?"

"Yeah. Let's go."

"Hurry up!"

The thief named Tom made it to the
door first. He immediately backed away, grabbing his friends by the
arms.

"Shit! The cops are out
there!"

"Are you kidding me?"

"Dammit. I told you guys we needed to
move faster."

Jack laughed, drawing the attention of
everyone at the bank.

"Well, what did you
expect?"

He was sitting up now,
leaning against the counter, eating his hash browns. Nikki was
gesturing with her hands, trying to tell him to be quiet. Jasmine
covered her mouth with her palm so she wouldn't scream.

"Seriously," Jack
continued. "You three come rolling in here like the Three Stooges.
Taking out the guard, making as much noise as you can. Do you not
know what year this is? As soon as you walked in, I bet cameras
were going off, taking pictures, doing all that FBI crap. I bet
Grandma down there has a camera in her bra. You gotta love
technology."

Tom locked the door to the
bank and grabbed his mask in frustration. His accomplices stood and
watched Jack in awe. Tom waved his gun around.

"Everyone, scoot up against the
counter. Get moving."

One of the robbers with a long scar on
his arm ran up to Tom.

"Hostages? Are you
serious?"

"We don't have a choice."

Jack simply shook his head
as the hostages lined up along the counter next to him. The tellers
climbed over the counter and joined them. Tom forcibly threw one of
them to the floor. Dennis was crying and screaming, with Grandma
trying to soothe him.

Nikki and Jasmine were
still on either side of him. He supposed it could have been a worse
morning. Nikki had a perfume that was very nice.

He studied the three men.
All of them were in their mid-twenties. Tom was obviously the
leader of their little gang. He was very comfortable with his gun.
Jack had no doubt he’d used it before. Scar, on the other hand,
didn't look comfortable at all. He’d been the one gathering the
money. His hands shook the entire time. The third man—Jack had
nicknamed him Doofus—was so animated he seemed like he’d pass out
any moment. He pulled a knife from under his coat and ran a finger
along the blade nervously.

"We can't do this," Scar said. "We
can't keep these people hostage."

"Maybe you want to go to jail. I
don't. I'll kill everyone here if I have to," Tom said.

"Have you ever done that?"
Jack said. "Have you ever killed a room full of people?"

Tom ran forward and shoved
his gun his Jack's face. Everyone whimpered and held their breath
at the thought of seeing someone murdered. Nikki and Jasmine leaned
away from him.

"If you don't shut your mouth, you'll
be the first to go."

Jack laughed. He couldn't remember the
last time he'd been entertained so much.

"Oh God, if only that were
true."

Scar put his hands over his ears as he
looked at Dennis.

"Will someone shut that
kid up?"

Doofus looked at his friends. "What
are we gonna do?"

"Look," Jack said. "The first thing
you idiots need to do is get everyone's phones. Someone's probably
posting a Facebook update as we speak."

Nikki gripped his arm
tightly.

"What are you doing?" she
hissed.

"Just having some fun."

Doofus gathered all the phones. Jack
pulled him in a few inches when he grabbed his two-month-old
iPhone.

"If you break this
phone, I will break
you
."

Doofus flinched just for a
moment before resuming his tough-guy look. He piled all the phones
on a chair and stood next to Tom. The two men whispered to each
other, not aware that Jack could read lips. Another hobby he
learned to keep his mind occupied.

"That guy in the suit is freakin' me
out."

"Just shut up, and do what
I say. We'll get out of this."

Jack nudged Nikki's
shoulder.

"I'll bet you'll be finding a new job
soon."

"I...I'm going to school to be a
massage therapist."

"No shit. Is there a lot
of money in that? I'll bet there are definitely not as many
assholes running around with guns."

Tom lunged forward again and pressed
the barrel of his gun against Jack's forehead. Jack tried not to
laugh. Tom's finger was nowhere near the trigger.

"If you don't shut it,
I'll kill you. I swear to God. I will blow your brains all over
these nice women here."

Jack said nothing, but his smile
faded. Tom was invading his personal space, and that threatened to
send him over the edge.

He was close to killing Tom when the
gunman pulled away.

"Finally, some quiet," he
said.

One hour passed. Then
another. They finally made contact with the police outside. Jack
enjoyed watching them make mistake after mistake. They even went so
far as to request a helicopter. The hostages continued to whimper
and cry, so desperate not to lose their precious lives.

Jack continued to make small talk with
Nikki. When everything was over they could talk about their
life-changing experience, reaffirm how wonderful life was, go on a
date, and maybe climb into bed.

It was nearly noon when
Jack’s patience disappeared. He wanted to see if he had a chance
with Nikki, but he didn't plan on spending three hours at the bank.
He had a business meeting he had to get to, and Judge Judy came on
later in the afternoon.

Tom was talking with the
police on a hostage's cell phone when Jack stood up behind him and
stretched his arms. Nikki and Jasmine gasped. Before Doofus and
Scar noticed he was already halfway across the bank to the pile of
cell phones.

"What the hell are you
doing?" Scar asked.

Tom spun around and hung up the phone.
He pointed his gun at Jack.

"Get back over there!"

Jack searched through the phones for
his. It seemed every other phone was an iPhone.

"Guys, look. You gave it
your best shot. But you screwed up. You should have killed someone
in the first five minutes, showed the cops you meant business. Now,
the best way this will end is with you in jail. Get a good lawyer.
Make up a story about your Daddy molesting you or something. I've
got shit to do."

Tom motioned at Doofus. "Put him back
with the others."

"I'm not getting near that
asshole."

"You have a knife!"

"Well, you have a gun."

Scar grabbed the knife
from Doofus' hand and hoisted Nikki to her feet. He snaked one arm
around her neck while pressing the blade to her cheek.

"Sit down. Now. Or I kill your friend
here."

Jack stopped his search
long enough to flash Scar a mock look of horror.

"Really? Oh no. You'll kill someone
I've known for three hours? However will I live?"

Tom, Scar, and Doofus traded looks.
None of them knew what to do. The hostages whispered and talked
amongst themselves.

"Listen, hero. I'm
serious."

Jack laughed. "Hero.
That's something I've never been called before."

"If you don't sit down,
I'll-"

"You'll do nothing," Jack
said, staring a hole through Tom. He found his phone and shoved it
in his pocket. "You can kill everyone in this room. I don't care.
But I'm leaving. If you try to stop me, I will kill you. Do you
understand?"

Jack saw Tom shake just slightly. He
may have shot people before, but it certainly wasn't his goal
today. Jack walked toward the front door.

"Stop him!" Doofus called.

Tom fired once, and the
hostages cried out. Jack stopped mid-stride. He felt the sting in
his shoulder, followed by the familiar sound of a bullet hitting
the floor.

He was expecting a shot to the head,
not his clothes.

His worst fears were
confirmed when he touched his shoulder. The bullet ripped a hole in
his three-thousand-dollar suit.