Laura's Wolf (Werewolf Marines) (13 page)

I said, “I might be able to get you into the vault.”

Everyone stared at me. Especially the other employees. They knew that once you hit that button, no one in the bank could get into the vault. I didn’t look at them, though, and I mentally crossed my fingers that they wouldn’t say anything.

None of them did. Some of them were lower-level employees who probably figured I knew something they didn’t, and some of them were probably too scared to speak, and some of them… some of them must have trusted me. I wish they hadn’t.

Gregor said, “Go on.”

I said, “The office manager, Lily, is out sick today.” That part was true. “She knows the emergency override code. She’s supposed to memorize it—it changes every week—but sometimes she writes it down on a slip of paper and sticks it in her desk drawer. I could go look.”

Gregor stared at me with those creepy pale eyes of his. “If you’re lying to me…”

“I’m not!” I said. “I’m not, I swear. I can’t guarantee it’ll be there, and even if it is there, I can’t guarantee that it’ll be this week’s code. It could be last week’s. But it
might
work.”

Lily did have a code on a slip of paper in her desk drawer. It was her computer password. She’s awfully careless about things like that. If I wanted, I could have gotten into her files and transferred all her money into my account.

The room that leads to the vault has a touch pad that opens and closes the door—and it closes pretty fast. My plan was to get Gregor inside the room, tell him I was going to open the vault with the touch pad, and lock him in. I thought that if he was out of the picture, the cops could deal with Jesse.

If he didn’t fall for it and stood outside to use the touchpad, he’d enter Lily’s password, which wouldn’t do anything. Then I’d say it must have been last week’s code. But it seemed like it was worth a try.

The other thing I was wanted to do was lure Gregor off with me, so if the police did break in, he wouldn’t be with the other hostages.

He told Jesse to guard everyone and had me take him into Lily’s office. Once we were inside, he shut the door. There were no windows and the door was thick. Whatever happened inside her office, no one outside would know about.

I started to open her desk drawer, but he stopped me and opened it himself. Maybe he thought there was a weapon in there. Instead, he found the post-it with her password.

He leaned back against the desk and looked me over. I knew that look. He was trying to get a read on me, like I’d been trying to get a read on him.

“I’m curious, Laura,” he said. (We wore name tags.) “Why would you give me the password for the vault?”

“I just want everyone to be safe,” I said. “I’d do anything to make sure no one else gets hurt.”

“Really,
anything
?” he asked.

I thought he was talking about sex. But I was willing to give him that, if it would save innocent people’s lives. One of the customers had two little kids with her. Besides, he was hardly going to be setting off any bombs if he was busy having sex in the office. It would be gross, but it would be worth it.

“
Anything
,” I said. “Whatever you want. Right here, right now.”

I could tell that he was tempted. But he shook his head. “I hardly have time for that. But I’m intrigued that you’d make such an offer. You’re an interesting woman. So buttoned-down on the outside, so bold on the inside. I like that.”

I saw my opening, and I went for it.

“Do you? Do you really? Would you—” I broke off, like I didn’t quite have the nerve to say it.

“Would I what?” he asked.

I said, “It was a stupid idea. Never mind.”

“No, tell me,” he said.

“If—listen, I honestly don’t know if the code will even work, but if it does work—if you can get into the vault—would you…”

I’d hooked him. He leaned forward, impatient and curious. “Would I
what?
”

“Would you take me with you?” I blurted out, then put on a look like I was shocked that I’d actually said that.

He stared at me, but before he could ask any questions, I took a step toward him and lowered my voice. “I’ve been embezzling money. Just a little at a time, but it adds up. But I just found out that the bank is going to be audited. I can’t return it—I’ve already spent most of it. They’d track it back to me, and I’d go to jail. I was going to take more, then run away and change my name. So I thought—I’m going to end up a fugitive anyway. I thought maybe if I could get you in, you’d give me a share in return. Just a little cut. Say, ten percent. And a seat on your plane.”

Gregor seemed fascinated by this. Then suspicion took over. “How exactly did you embezzle the money?”

I wasn’t actually embezzling, but I do know how. I started giving him a detailed explanation, until he cut me off. “That’s enough.”

He gave me a long look again, but not a suspicious one. Like he was ready to start playing me. That’s the expression you want to see, when the mark thinks
they’re
going to con
you
.

He smiled at me. “This isn’t just about the money, is it?”

I pulled back. “I don’t know what you mean.”

Now he went in for the kill. “I think you like the danger. I think you
want
to be on the run. You can dress in those prim clothes and work your boring job, but it’s nothing but a disguise. Look at you, standing there so cool, bargaining with me for ten percent of the take! You’re actually enjoying yourself. In your heart… I think you’re just like me.”

To sell your lie, you have to believe your lie. I found the part of me that
was
enjoying myself, and I looked him straight in the eyes. “You got me. I guess I am. So… are we on for ten percent?”

I felt like those cold eyes of his were burning into my skin. “We’re on. With one condition. We still don’t know if this code will work. I might have to kill another hostage to give the cops a sense of urgency. I want you to pick which one.”

I felt like my heart turned into a block of ice.

“I can’t,” I said. “I don’t mind stealing, but I’ve never hurt anyone.”

Gregor raised an eyebrow. “I’m not saying you have to personally take a gun and shoot them. But if you’re coming with us, I have to know for sure that you’re really one of us. Choose a hostage or the deal’s off.”

I didn’t know what to do. I could tell that if I chose someone, it would seal the deal. If I didn’t, he’d go back to being suspicious of me. He might be so suspicious that he’d figure out that the password was a trick and kill me for it. But if I gave him what he wanted, I’d have a much better shot of getting him into that room, and then no one would be killed at all.

I said, “The customer with red hair, wearing a tan raincoat. The big guy.”

I don’t know why I chose him, except that he wasn’t someone I knew and he wasn’t the mom with kids. I’d just happened to remember him, out of all the customers.

Gregor’s eyes lit up. I’d expected him to be pleased, but… not
that
pleased. I had a bad feeling, but I stomped on it. I had to seem confident.

“Very good!” he said. “I knew I could count on you. You’re the one.”

I didn’t ask him what that meant. I just smiled back. “Let’s try the vault.”

We went back in. I tried not to meet anyone’s eyes while Gregor told Jesse, “Laura’s with us now. Keep on guarding them.”

Gregor followed me to the vault room. I went to the key pad and opened the door, then held out my hand for the post it. I punched in Lily’s password. Nothing happened, of course.

“You have to manually open the vault,” I said. “It doesn’t just swing open.”

He took a step forward. I almost had him. Then he stopped.

“You open it,” he said.

“It’s too heavy for me,” I told him. “We always get a man to do it.”

Gregor shouted, “I want the man with red hair!”

My stomach flipped over. I thought Gregor was on to me and was going to kill the guy. Then I realized that he’d just picked him because he looked strong.

The guy came up, looking scared. I told him how to get into the vault. Of course, it didn’t open.

“Damn!” I said. “It must have been last week’s code after all. Now what?”

Gregor didn’t seem too concerned. “We get the real code from the cops.”

We went back to the rest of the hostages.

Jesse said, “The cops called and gave me their number.”

He handed Gregor a post-it. Gregor went to the phone, and I stepped out of his way and stood beside Jesse.

Gregor got on the phone with the cops. There was a lot of back-and-forth. They were obviously stalling him. He repeated his threats to kill everyone in the building if they stormed it. I had a feeling they were close to the point where they were going to storm it anyway.

Finally, he said, “Fine. I’m going to shoot a hostage every fifteen minutes, until you give me the code to the vault. Starting now.”

He looked straight at me, and he smiled. Then he drew his handgun and leveled it at the red-headed guy.

“Stop!” I shouted.

I had a gun held to Jesse’s head.

I’d taken it out of his holster while I was standing next to him. Another thing I’d learned from Dad was pickpocketing. Not to steal money—to steal information. I could look through a mark’s wallet, get whatever I needed, and put it back, without him ever noticing.

Everyone froze where they stood, Jesse included.

I jerked my head at Ana, who was nearest to me. “Ana, take his weapons.”

I knew she could handle them safely; she and her husband went on hunting trips every winter. She took Jesse’s weapons, then put them in Lily’s office and shut the door on them.

Gregor didn’t move. I think he and Jesse couldn’t believe what was happening.

“If you shoot anyone, I shoot Jesse,” I said. “Put down your weapons.”

“You’re bluffing,” Gregor said. “You were telling the truth when you said you’d never hurt anyone in your life.
You
put
your
weapon down.”

I said, “It’s true that I’ve never hurt anyone before. But there’s always a first time!”

I didn’t know if I could really pull the trigger. But I figured I’d do whatever I had to do to save as many lives as I could.

Gregor smiled. It gave me the creeps. He said, “I’m liking you better and better, Laura. I’m so glad I picked this bank to rob, or I’d never have met you. But Jesse’s nothing to me. Go ahead and kill him.”

Just like that, he shot the red-headed guy. I didn’t even think. I swung the gun around and fired at Gregor.

I thought I hit him. I was sure of it. But a second after I fired, there was this huge explosion. The room filled up with smoke and the cops came charging in. Everyone hit the floor.

I dropped the gun and crawled over to the red-headed man. His blood was soaking into the carpet. I tried to stop the bleeding, but I just got it all over my hands.

That’s it.

Mike was dead.

The red-headed guy died in the hospital. His name was Andrew McAllister. I read it in the papers. He had a fiancée and a two-year-old son.

The cops killed Jesse. He turned out to be some student with no criminal record.

No one ever figured out who Gregor was. I don’t how he did it, but he got away. Just disappeared in all the commotion.

I never told anyone that I’d chosen a man to die. I told them everything but that. The cops said I was crazy and brave, and a couple of them tried to recruit me. The mayor gave me a medal. But I didn’t save anyone. Three people died, and the police saved everyone who was left.

All I did was kill a completely innocent man whose name I didn’t even know.

Chapter Ten: Laura

Easy, Gentle, Slow

“Whoa, whoa,” Roy broke in. “Laura, you didn’t kill anyone.”

Laura blinked at Roy, dazed. Lost in her memories, re-living them more than recounting them, she’d almost forgotten that he was there. “Yes, I did. I told Gregor who to kill. And Gregor killed him.”

The angles of Roy’s face looked harsh in the moonlight, all white planes and black shadows. But his voice was gentle. “What do you think you should have done?”

“Nothing!” Her voice rose shrilly, piercing the silent night. “I’m not a soldier. I’m not a cop. But I just had to be clever and play one more con game. I should have sat tight and let the police do their thing.”

“What do you think would have happened then?”

“No one would have died,” Laura began. “It was all my—”

Roy interrupted before she could get out the word
fault.
“What had you done when Gregor shot your co-worker, Mike?”

“Nothing,” she admitted. “But—”

Roy’s voice was less gentle now, cool and analytical. “So you tried doing nothing, and Mike got killed anyway.”

“Well—” She didn’t know why she wanted to argue with him. It wasn’t that she wanted to be at fault. It was just a fact that she was. “I guess.”

“What do you think would have happened if you’d gone on doing nothing?”

“The police would have broken in, just like they did. But Andrew wouldn’t have died.”

“Hmm.” Roy tilted his head, like a teacher considering a student’s work. “Why was it that you did everything, again? What were you worried that Gregor was going to do?”

Laura chewed on her lip. “I know what you’re getting at, Roy. I thought he’d kill everyone in the bank. But the police did break in, and he didn’t!”

She expected him to argue. Instead, he asked, “
Was
there a bomb in the duffel bag?”

“No.”

“So he was relying on the guns he and Jesse had. You disarmed his accomplice and you shot at him. Had you ever fired a gun before, by the way?”

She shook her head. “But he wasn’t that far away.”

“So maybe you hit him, maybe not. But you definitely distracted him.”

“I should have taken the gun out of Gregor’s holster instead.”

“Why didn’t you?”

Laura sighed. “I thought he’d notice. He seemed extremely aware of everything around him.”

“Then he probably would have noticed. I don’t care how good a pickpocket you are, you wouldn’t be able to get a weapon away from me. You might be able to take my wallet, but not my gun. You used good observation and clear thinking in a highly stressful situation.”