Note: I don't own anything recognizable. Just my own character. I did use some phrases right from the episode 'Bank' but don't sue me over it. Enjoy!
I watched as a tall, striking woman entered the Dover bank. Her clothes were impeccable, a light tan suit with a pink shirt underneath. I slowly made my way to stand in line behind her when she realized the tall brunette man in front of her was speaking to her. He was eye to eye with her since she was wearing heels but even without those, Miss Parker was taller than most women. The man, Jarod, has classical Greek god features and I could only imagine the type of body he was hiding under those clothes and that leather jacket.
They were talking but my attention soon turned to the 2 men who entered the bank and seemed to be on edge. The shorter one looked as if he would jump out of his skin at any moment but the taller one, dressed in a jacket much like Jarod's, seemed right at home. I shook my head knowing exactly what they were going to do. I glanced back at Jarod and Miss Parker and saw that their focus was on an elderly man standing at the teller window. I smiled and turned back to the two men.
The relaxed one pulled out a gun and shot at the ceiling. Shouts and surprised screams rose from the workers and bank customers. Aside from myself, Jarod and Miss Parker were the only ones who didn't flinch or react to the gunshots. Only difference was that I grabbed at my stomach slightly.
"Everyone down. You move, you die," he said loudly so all could hear.
I stood my ground as the others got onto the floor. I knew the two people behind me had also gotten down but I was almost expecting Miss Parker to pull out her 9mm. The skittish man looked at my defiance and then noticed the reason why I wasn't getting down. The other man, his brother by the resemblance, also noticed that I was still standing.
"Get down on the floor."
"Duh, I'm a bit pregnant. If I go down, I'm not getting back up. Would I be any less of a hostage if I sat in a chair? Besides worry less about us and get what you came here for. I'd rather deliver my baby in a hospital than here at the bank under the care of gunmen."
"What the hell are you talking about, lady?"
"My contractions started when I got here. I was gonna head to the hospital after depositing my cheque."
"Fuck. Move over there and Jude will get a chair. And I don't want to be hearing any belly aching coming from you."
"Obviously you have no clue what it takes to push a baby out something that's as small as a drinking straw. This isn't a silent film but I'll try to keep as quiet as I can," I retorted as I made my way over behind the manager's desk.
A teenaged girl was cowering next to the assistant manager, his arm around her shoulders. I sat in the chair that Jude, the skittish man, brought over and waited. He handed over a bag to his brother and scanned the crowd as money as demanded. The assistant manager's hand was inched to the alarm button hidden under his desk and I heard the girl cry out.
The alarm rang and the men swung their guns at the man.
"Bad move. Frank Isaac, Assistant Manager. Hmm."
The security guard chose that moment to pull his gun and demanded that they lower theirs. Jude and his brother turned to stand off with the guard.
"Two against one. It should be you who puts down his gun. You have until the count of three before I shoot you. One. Two."
The guard hesitated for a brief second before lowering his guard. A small smile crept onto the robber's face and he nodded to his brother to grab the gun. Near me, the middle aged man in a bunny costume decided that it was the best time to drop his basket of eggs. The noise caught the gunmen's attention and the guard almost brought up his gun in time to shoot but was a millisecond too late.
"Clave, what did you do?" Jude cried as the guard staggered from the bullet wound.
Jarod got up quickly and tried to hurry over to help but Clave pointed his gun at him.
"Get back now," he ordered.
"I can help him. It's not too late."
"Get back now. Jude, check the front doors."
Jarod laid down on the floor beside Miss Parker while Clave kept watch.
"Something you want to say, sister?"
"Nothing you want to hear," Miss Parker hissed.
Clave smiled and walked away. He had a quick exchange of words with his younger brother before ordering everyone behind the manager's desk. I shifted the chair over to make room for the dozen or so people. Jarod and Miss Parker sat in the corner but their attention was on the old man. I knew each had their own reasons for wanting to speak to him and I hoped they would be able to do so.
"Valuables. Give them up. Your jewellery, phones, watches, everything."
Jude held a black bag in front of everyone as they removed their items. My meagre jewellery seemed cheap so they weren't interested but if only they knew the truth. Plus I knew that my leather collar and wrist cuff wasn't quite their cup of tea. I smoothed down the black ribbed tank top before I wrapped my arms around my pregnant belly and let out a small groan.
"I said no belly aching."
Clave's gun was not even a foot away from my chest but I straightened up in the chair. I was ready to give him a piece of my mind when a cell phone rang. It was coming from the corner and Jarod was looking at Miss Parker. Clave and Jude went over demanding the phone. It had been flipped open and a voice on the other end could be heard.
"Miss Parker? Miss Parker, are you there?"
"Give it here."
As she turned the phone around in her hand, I noticed that she was able to push a button on the side. It would keep the call connected and I figured the man on the other end would be able to hear something to tell him where she was. Clave snatched the phone from her hand and threw it into the bag. He headed over to the other side of room to check on something.
Miss Parker was staring at the elderly man, Fenigor, who was seated beside me. He noticed and wouldn't keep eye contact with her. He was haunted at her perfect resemblance to an old friend. Jarod's eyes were roaming over the hostages and when I caught his eye, I nodded my head at the woman beside him. Her arm was reaching around behind her. Jarod nearly stopped her but she stood up first.
"Jude!"
Miss Parker had her gun trained on the guy but so was Clave's gun on her. Her chance of getting a shot off before Clave was slim so she didn't fight when the gun was taken from her hand. He used his gun to motion down to the floor.
"You were going to shoot my brother."
"I'll leave the executions up to you."
I smiled and nodded my head in agreement. Clave ordered Jude to cover up the dead body but there wasn't anything useable. Miss Parker made another comment to him and he became angrier. Her job had her using guns regularly but I doubted she had a gun pointed at her this often.
"Leave her alone," Jarod said, coming to her defense.
The brown eyes of Clave flickered back between Jarod and Miss Parker and I bit back a chuckle at the thought he must have made. He pulled Jarod to his feet and ushered him out of the little area. The two men walked towards the front doors. Clave used the Pretender as cover while they exited the bank. Jude stood guard over us in case we tried to do something.
"I want a helicopter to take us to the airport and a plane on the runway. You have one hour before I start shooting the hostages," Clave yelled at the police.
I thought my trip to the bank would be quick and I would be able to talk to Jarod. What I hadn't planned on was Miss Parker showing up and then the robbery. Jarod came alone the last 2weeks to make sure the information I had slipped him was true. As soon as he saw Fenigor arrive, he made note of the time and left the bank. Getting the information to Jarod had been a bit tricky but I pulled out all of the stops.
Because of their connection, I knew Miss Parker would be the best way to track Jarod down. Last month, I had pick pocketed her phone off of her and uploaded a tracking program. It was so sophisticated I knew that not even the techno-geeks at the Centre would be able to find it on her phone. When Jarod had called, I used the program to backtrack all the rerouting to pinpoint his spot. It also conveniently gave me Jarod's phone number. A quick call to let him know of Fenigor's weekly trip to the bank was all it took.
"There's no smoking in here," Frank, the assistant manager commented while Miss Parker lit up a cigarette.
She made a flippant remark while Jarod shook his head. Clave demanded the key to the outer vault door and Frank's daughter told him to give it. When Clave found out that the girl, Kaley, was his daughter, another smile appeared. It wasn't the same kind of smile as before, this one was creepier. After calling her a peach, Clave headed into the back. I swivelled my chair a bit more, angling it towards Jarod.
I tapped my combat boots on the carpet and wiggled my fingers before the guy noticed. Jude was near the front doors so I used the chance to sign to Jarod.
Do you know sign? prompted a small nod from the genius.
You must speak to Fenigor before this is over. He will disappear. They will make him disappear.
You know about Fenigor? About the Centre?
I was the one to call you.
"Jude, get the hell away from the windows. They've probably got snipers out there. Give me the combination to the vault cage."
"Only the senior manager has it and he's not in today."
Clave must have thought Frank was lying so he ran a finger down Kaley's cheek.
"Maybe I can convince you not to lie to me."
"Pick on someone your own size," Miss Parker butted in.
"Why don't I put a bullet through your brain?" he replied.
Wanting to get the attention off the woman, I groaned and clutched the armrests. My jaw was clenched but I was breathing through the pain. The gun was back pointed at me so Jarod stepped in.
"I can open the vault."
Clave dragged Jarod through the door to the vault and I reached down to grab at the water bottle sticking out of my bag. I took a quick sip and offered the bottle to the others.
"Mr. Fenigor, would you like some water? You're looking a bit pale," I whispered.
The fact I knew his name didn't escape Miss Parker's attention. The man shook his head and glanced down once he saw she was staring at him again. I put back the water and pulled out a package of gum. A few others took a piece when I offered it, the entire time Jude watching me.
"Would you like a piece, Jude? We might be stuck here for awhile so you never know when you'll get to eat next."
"Clave, tell the cops to get us something. I'm starving."
"You're always starving, little brother," the man said as he came back with Jarod.
Rather than going back to sit beside Miss Parker, Jarod sat down near Fenigor and started talking to him. He was asking for help in finding out who his parents are and to find out who he was. The man refused to even acknowledge that he knew who Jarod was. This was coming from the man who personally took Jarod from his parents.
"Honor Catherine Parker's memory. Please help me find out who I am," Jarod pleaded in whispered tones.
"I can't. I can't. I'm sorry but I can't."
Fenigor jumped up and was out of our holding area before the brothers got back. As Clave raised his gun, I stood up crying out at him.
"NO!" Jared cried.
A gunshot rang out in the cavernous room, the hit pitching Fenigor's body forward onto the floor. Miss Parker and Jarod shared a quick look between them before he stood up and made his way over. Clave was ignoring the hostages but Jude was watching out. He was keeping Jarod back from offering help.
"It's one thing to defend yourself against an armed guard. It's another thing to shoot an innocent man in the back. If he dies, so do you; in the electric chair with 2,000volts going through you."
Jude motioned towards Miss Parker who ran over to help Jarod. I collapsed back into the chair, running my hands over my belly. The two of them were talking before Jarod asked for a couple of things. As a teller helped them, I closed my eyes and tried to replay what happened. I had seen that Fenigor was getting agitated by Jarod's questioning but rather than stopping him, I let it continue. I allowed Fenigor to get up and rush away. By not stepping in, I had in a way allowed for the man to be shot. A tear rolled down my cheek as my mind kept punishing me for my inaction.
"Everyone in the vault," Clave yelled bringing me out of the haze.
I waited until most of the other hostages had left the area before I heaved myself up off the chair.
"Hurry up and get in there."
"Unless you want to pick me up and carry me in there, I'm moving as fast as I can. You can threaten me as much as you want but it's not going to help."
He grabbed onto my hair and pulled my head back. My belly arched out, pressing into him as I was bent backwards. His eyes roamed over me, stopping briefly on my chest. Clave ran the barrel of the gun down my cheek, chest, and rested it against my belly.
"Obviously threatening you doesn't have you holding your tongue."
"It's hard to hold your tongue. The organ is slippery and fingers can't get a good grip," I cheekily said.
Everyone had gone into the vault already and Jude was standing watch so it was only the two of us standing in the doorway. He leaned in and breathed on my neck. He pulled my head to the side and sniffed up my neck. His mouth stopped at my ear and I soon felt his tongue tracing over my earlobe.
"If they weren't thinking of attacking the bank, I'd follow through on another kind of threat. For now, get in there."
Clave pushed me into the room and I shuffled into the vault. They had placed Fenigor along one wall and both Jarod and Miss Parker were crouching around him. Most of the hostages had seen what Clave had done. Jarod's eyes were narrowed and he watched as I made my way over to the wall near Fenigor's feet. Clave slammed the vault gate door shut and locked us in. Jarod stood up and came over to me.
"Let me help you sit down. You can't stand the entire time we'll be locked in here."
"If you told them about the vent to the sewer, we should be out shortly. Ah, hear that. They're trying to get into the vent now."
"How do you know so much?" Jarod asked as he carefully helped me down.
I stretched my legs out straight and laid my hands on my stomach. Jarod sat beside me, waiting for me to tell him.
"My name is Katie. That way your inner mind doesn't have to refer to me as the pregnant girl. How I know is you just gotta know where to look and how to hack into the Centre's archives. A job here, a job there all within the Centre gave me much needed access. I was able to get a bit more than just the connection between Fenigor and Mrs. Parker."
"How? The Centre archives are monitored and encrypted. Broots keeps going on about how tight our mainframe is," the former Cleaner hissed at me after moving closer to join in on our conversation.
"Like I said, working from within the Centre helps a lot but there's always ways through the security programs."
Especially if I uploaded a backdoor while I was there, I thought.
"How did you get away from the Centre? Once you work there, it seems only death is the way out."
"Exactly. Kate Reid, a techno-analyst for the Centre, died two months ago. Before that, it was Katherine Jamieson and Kate Simpson. I've held 3 different jobs within the Centre in a two year period but if they had really known about me, I would have had a job completely like Jarod's."
"What are you saying?" Miss Parker asked.
"A certain anomaly in my genetic makeup. Until I ran into a woman who recognized what I am, I just thought I was a genius. She dropped some hints and I sequenced my DNA to find this anomaly. That's when I decided to get right under the nose of the Centre and play with them. Besides it's not often that a female is born with this anomaly."
"You're a Pretender."
"What woman helped you?" Jarod asked.
I grabbed his hand and smiled. "Your mother. She found me a few years ago when I was working on another Master's. She was surprised that the Centre hadn't taken notice of a 17year old girl studying for her 4th Master's degree."
Fenigor started gasping and Jarod left my side to check on him. His breathing was raspy but after adjusting his bandage, it evened out. Jarod sat back down beside me and was about to ask me another question when Kaley spoke up.
"Dad, I have to use the washroom."
"Hold it. I'm not risking getting us killed for that. Those men are crazy."
The way Frank was handling his daughter was getting on Miss Parker's nerves. I hadn't known her long but the way her eye twitched ever so slightly was a dead giveaway. I smirked at Jarod and he nodded back. Miss Parker got up and strode over to Kaley.
"What are you doing? Get away from her."
"No. I'm doing your job. Hey."
Clave entered the room and glared at Miss Parker.
"The girl has to go to the bathroom and so do I," she said, holding up her red stained hands.
"Hold it."
"Come on, give us a break."
Clave eventually nodded and let them out. Miss Parker ushered Kaley down the hallway to the bathroom. Jarod turned back to me and noticed my hands rubbing my stomach.
"How far along are the contractions?"
"Whenever I want them to be. I'm not in labor but I thought that maybe the scare would have them running out of the bank. Hell, I'm not even pregnant," I whispered in his ear.
Jarod gazed down at my belly and then smiled at me. I took his hand and placed it firmly against the roundness.
"There's a small mechanical device built into the belly that acts as the baby kicking. Any pressure harder than a light touch will start it. This way when those old women who want to feel my baby press onto the belly, they'll feel a few kicks. Only downside is that it's hot wearing it."
"Is that how you were able to work for the Centre without anyone knowing? Using disguises?"
"All the changes were real with some specially applied makeup. When I was Jamieson, I gained like 50lbs and for Reid, I dressed in clothes befitting of Japanese manga."
"Manga?"
"Japanese comics. Typically I was in a short uniform skirt, a tight white dress shirt and heels. Kinda like a naughty school girl but when Broots said manga, it stuck. Before he started to work more closely with Miss Parker, I had caught him staring at me a few times."
"When we get out of here, you'll be on the run. They'll want to take you in and try you at a simulation to see if you can actually do it."
"Trust me. On paper, it was my 4th Master's but I could have done at least another half a dozen simply from reading and becoming that person. Before going to work at the Centre, I tried my hand at a few real life sims. Sure I had to lie about my age or use makeup to make me seem older but I've had a couple amazing jobs. The longest I've stayed at one place was 3months and that was when I was an orthopaedic surgeon."
Miss Parker and Kaley were escorted back into the vault when Fenigor called out to Jarod. The man hurried over and Miss Parker knelt beside him.
"You saved my life."
"I did what was needed to be done."
"I'm sorry. I took you from your family. I do want to let you know how sorry I am."
"Tell me who my parents are."
Fenigor reached into his pocket and pulled out a key. Jarod took it as Miss Parker leaned in.
"I want the truth. Who killed my mother? Who is paying you to keep quiet?"
The old man started rasping and his eyes closed. Jarod checked his breathing and mentioned that his chest cavity was filling up with blood. It was putting pressure on his lungs.
"I need a sort of tube to drain it."
"I have a sports bottle. It's on Daddy's desk," Kaley offered.
"Jude. Jude," Miss Parker called out.
It didn't take much to convince the man to bring us the sports bottle. He told Miss Parker to back up and she did but once that door was open and Jarod had the bottle, she rushed forward and wrestled Jude for the gun. She got it away from him and held it against his neck when Clave appeared. He cocked his gun and held it against Frank's throat.
"Back off. I'll drop little brother."
"I've already shot 2 people. Do you think one more makes a difference?"
"No. Please. Please don't kill my father," the teen cried.
The two people with the guns had a small staring contest before Miss Parker lowered the gun. Jude snatched it away from her and hurried out of the vault. The leggy woman tried to check on Kaley but Frank wasn't allowing any of it. They got into a bit of a spat with Kaley walking away from her dad. Miss Parker came back to Fenigor but he was unconscious again.
"He gave you the key to his safety deposit box. I want to see whatever is in there."
"I've brought you this far. I'm not going to shut you out now."
Jarod and Miss Parker stood and headed over to the man's deposit box. He slipped in the key and turned it. I couldn't see what was inside but Jarod had a small manila envelope in his hand and Miss Parker had a bunch of papers.
"Fenigor's deposit records. All from a Centre account in Bimini. $10,000 a month. Every month for 28 years."
"Recognize the account number, Miss Parker? It's from your father's account," Jarod told her.
"How do you know?"
"You'd be surprised at what I know about him."
The man knelt back at Fenigor's side and asked about the envelope. If it mentioned who he was.
"Prodigy. Where you came from. Get me out of here and I'll tell you everything," he rasped, making a good impression of Mr. Raines from the Centre.
"Jarod," I said, beckoning him over with my finger. "I saw you take a dye pack from out there. Remember Clave saying that Jude is always hungry?"
Jarod caught on to what I was hinting at and he worked his magic at putting the dye pack into a chocolate egg from the bunny man's basket. We didn't have to wait long before Jude came back.
"Lucky day for ya. Because of Jarod's escape plan, no one had to die today," Clave said. "But I'll be taking a moment with her first."
Clave's finger was pointing at me. I shifted to the side and got onto my knees. One of the other hostages helped me up and I glared at the man with my hands on my hips.
"Do you really want to add another charge to your long list of crimes?"
Clave unlocked the vault gate and motioned me out with the gun. I grabbed my bag and stepped forward.
"Katie, no."
"Shut up, Jarod, before I shoot you," the man with the gun said.
"Can I at least grab a chocolate egg first? I've barely eaten all day."
Clave nodded so I took an egg from the basket while Jarod played with his. It caught Jude's attention and he snatched it away.
"Hey."
I stepped out of the vault and back from what was going to happen. Jude unwrapped the egg and pressed on the chocolate to break it. The hidden dye pack exploded and Miss Parker rammed into him. They scrambled for the gun and Clave stepped forward to get involved. Jarod attacked Clave and was able to knock the gun out of his hand.
"Everybody out. Help the old man," Miss Parker said.
A few of the hostages got Fenigor off the floor and helped him out. Miss Parker had Jude incapacitated and Jarod almost had Clave pinned. The man's hand was inching closer to the fallen gun.
"Mind if I cut in," the woman's steely voice said as she stomped her foot down onto his wrist.
"I don't like being locked up in little rooms," Jarod seethed before landing a perfect punch, knocking the man out.
The confiscated 9mm was back in the hands of its owner and the two robbers were now the ones locked within the vault. Jarod even went as far as locking the outer door, knowing the senior manager was the only one who could unlock it.
"Let's get out of here."
Several of the hostages had already escaped the bank and police were rushing in. Several EMTs ran in with a stretcher and they hurried to get Fenigor on it. People were thanking Jarod for getting them out of there but Kaley was thanking Miss Parker. I hurried over to Jarod and wrapped my arms around him quickly.
"You're my hero," I dramatically said as I slipped something into his pocket.
Knowing that someone was bound to mention a pregnant girl in labor to the EMTs, I had to leave quickly. I hurried out before they wheeled the stretcher out to the ambulance. I slipped into the crowd and made my way down the block from the Dover bank. I was nearing the corner when the shot rang out. I chanced a glance back and saw Jarod also slip into the crowd.
"You'll find your family soon, Jarod. Very soon if she hasn't changed her cell phone number," I whispered as I pulled my cell phone out of a pocket in my black cargo pants.