Chapter Three
Eleven hours earlier, 6pm
The police commissioner approached two officers kneeling behind a police car, guns aimed at the building. He copied their positions, giving them orders while keeping his eyes on the building. "I'm sending you in. Gain access through the rear entry. The priority is to get as many hostages out as possible before the situation escalates."
"You got it, commissioner," one of the officers accepted.
The commissioner looked at them. "Be careful in there." The officer nodded and then got up, making his way to the rear entrance like he was told. The other one followed soon after.
---
Three kneeled next to the briefcase, his gloved hand laying protectively on it. He looked up at CeeCee, who was standing above him. "You don't even know what's in the briefcase, so why did you try to take?"
"Because you wanted it," CeeCee told him, "And so did 'five'. Not that it would matter, when those doors open we're going to be toast." She crossed her arms over her belly as Three put a hand to his head, glancing down at the briefcase.
He picked his head up. "And you're going to be standing right in front of me," his eyes didn't waver from her face.
CeeCee stopped pacing, "Not for long." She was silent for minute until her eyes landing on the flashing light on the briefcase. "Why is the light on the briefcase flashing?"
"Because it's an equinox model," Three sighed, "It's set to self-destruct if anyone tries to open it."
CeeCee stared at him, not quite believing what he said.
---
Douglas put his arms around Tasha, who was lying on the arm of the couch clutching her stomach. He pulled her gently down so that she was laying across the length of the couch. Ruth, who was the closest one to them, helped him. Douglas took off his jacket and pressed it to Tasha's wound. Another man tried to approach them to help, but armed men pointed their guns at him, halting his movements. The leader moved over to him.
"Hello. Still trying to be a hero," the leader said, pointing his gun at the man.
Dr. Krantz spoke up. "You want to shoot somebody?" One turned around to face him. "I'm right here, shoot me." One put his gun up and pointed it at Dr Krantz's chest. He took the safety off, all he had to do was pull the trigger.
One then smiled and moved the gun over. "Ladies first," he pointed the gun at Jess.
---
Three continued staring at the briefcase. CeeCee slid down the wall near him, also staring at the briefcase. "When you say self-destructs, you mean, like, explodes?"
"That would be the general idea," he stared at her.
"Okay...how big of an explosion are you talking about it?" she asked, looking at him.
"It depends on what model. Some equinoxes only destroy the contents, others explode with enough force to take off a hand if you're the one punching in the wrong code. In a space this small, it might be strong enough to kill us."
---
Tasha stared up at the ceiling, taking short, shaky breaths and trying to stay calm and ignore the pain. "She's bleeding and I don't know how to stop it!" Ruth cried as she and Douglas kept the jacket in place on the gunshot wound.
One kept his gun positioned on Jess as he turned to face Ruth.
The man who tried to help before spoke up, "I'm a doctor, please let me help her."
One of the men moved over to him with his gun. "Nobody moves unless we tell you to move! Got that?" One still watched. He nodded to his men, and the man moved, allowing the doctor to help them. He kneeled down next to Douglas.
"This is crazy, standing around doing nothing while my wife is bleeding to death on this couch!" Douglas exclaimed.
"Tasha's going to get the help she needs and we're all make it out of this okay," Mike told his brother. One turned around to them.
"Did I say you could talk? Did I? Mmm?" One questioned them. He continued walking over to the couch area until he was within touching distance of everybody around Tasha. "If anybody wants, feel free to stretch your legs," he licked his lips, "Please, nothing challenges me more than a moving target." One stretched out his arm, the one holding the gun, "You care for me to demonstrate?" He swung his arm around the room. He pointed the gun at Lena, the girl at the desk, "Eenie." Then at Mike, "Meenie." He swung it down to Douglas, "Mynie." Then, finally, the barrel of the gun touched Ruth's back, "Moe." Ruth took in a deep, shaky, and frightened breath.
"You made your point!" Dr Krantz replied, "I think I can speak for everyone here, we know you mean business, but knowingly murdering innocent people while you're pulling off a heist ups the stakes." Cyrus took a few steps forward. "You guys get caught, you're going to face the death penalty. All of you, every single one of you." He looked at One, "So, why don't you save your backs and let the medical personnel save the injured woman's life."
One looked at him. He came out from behind the couch area, and walked in front of Cyrus. He let a loud sigh, and, after a long pause, brought up his gun. "Will he?" One pulled the trigger three times.
---
The police heard the gunfire inside the lobby. They snapped into position, their guns aimed at the building. Rob ducked and made his way over to the police commissioner. "When are you going to diffuse this situation?" he questioned, "You just going to wait until they start throwing dead bodies out?"
"Don't give me grief," the commissioner told him, "We're following procedure. You don't like it, too bad." The commissioner then realized that this young man was obviously worried about loved ones inside. He went easy on him. "Cell phone reception is dodging at best, so we're flying blind. But I've got two officers evacuating the building, starting at the restaurant level. There's a safe stairway at the rear of the building."
"So, everything is happening in the lobby?" Rob asked.
"It appears that way," the commissioner answered.
"You have a list of hostages?" Rob asked again.
"No."
"You don't even know if any of them are still alive," Rob replied. The commissioner didn't say anything. "You're in way over your head."
"You better hope you're wrong," the commissioner told him, "Because I'm all you've got."
---
"Well, we can't just wait for this thing to blow up," CeeCee said hugging her knees to her the best that she could, "How much time to you think we have?"
He stared at her.
"You couldn't at least tell me your name?" CeeCee tried again.
"Three."
"That's ridicules," CeeCee replied.
"That's all you need to know," he told her as he continued to stare at her.
"Okay, fine," She stood up and began pacing, "It's nice to meet you. My name is CeeCee McTavish. As you can see, I'm pregnant. Six months with twins, a boy and a girl. We haven't really decided on—"
"Nice try, but save your breath. TV hostage tricks won't work," Three interrupted.
"I don't know what you're talking about," CeeCee said crossing her arms.
He stood up. "You're trying to tell me about you family and your life, trying to get me to see you as a real person. I'm not interested," he explained to her.
CeeCee dropped her arms, "Okay, okay, we...you have to be interested in getting out of here. I mean, you broke into this hotel to get that briefcase. You must know how to diffuse it."
"Not without the code."
"Wait, so what's your plan?" CeeCee crossed her arms again, narrowing her eyes in curiosity, "You want to sit here and...and passively just wait for that thing to self-destruct and kill you."
Three took a few steps closer to her, and leaned down to whisper to her, "Actually, I'm going to make sure that you're between me and the blast."
---
One looked at the six bullet holes in the wall, and then walked away from it. "Will you look at that trajectory? It's always drifting to the left," he said walking back to Dr Krantz. "But I applaud you though, Cyrus, you didn't even flinch when I fired the gun past your head. Very impressive, so to award your extraordinary courage the doctor has my permission to tend to the lady with the gunshot wound. See how nice I can be." One smiled.
"You pompous bastard," Jess whispered.
"Excuse me," One spoke to her and stepped toward her, "Did you say something?"
"She didn't say anything," Dr Krantz replied. One looked at him. Dr Krantz continued, "Doctor, can you help Tasha, please?" The doctor moved down to the couch, and took Ruth's place. Ruth stood up and walked around the couch, still shaken up from the experience. Jess went over to comfort her best friend.
One pointed his gun at them. "You step..away..from..her."
Suze looked around the room from her spot. She had to do something to get out of here. "I can't be here," just as she hoped, One turned to her, "I can't be here," she put her hands to her head, "I feel like my head's going to explode. Somebody please...you got to let me out."
"Could somebody, please, shut her up," One said a little agitated.
"I got it," Adam offered. He walked over to Suze, and pulled her into a comforting embrace. "Suze, you have to calm down, alright," he whispered to her, "You're just making him mad. We are going to get out of this."
"You have to help me out of here, so that we can get out of this," Suze whispered back.
Nicholas Mercer, the doctor, sighed and looked at the leader. "I cannot treat this woman here. She's bleeding and going into shock. We need equipment," Nicholas told him.
"Awww. Sorry," One replied.
Douglas stood up, angry and having had enough with the games, "You son of a bitch! You have to let someone take her out!"
"Eight," One nodded to one of the men behind Douglas. Eight took his automatic gun and slammed it into the back of Douglas' head. Jess gasped and tried to go to her brother as they watched him fall to the floor. Dr Krantz held her back.
"So, everyone's clear. I don't have to do anything."
---
"Boss," the woman, Two, called to One. He turned. "We took the young man and put him in an office and locked it."
"Good," One said.
Suze tapped Paul. "If you can get someone to create a diversion, I can sneak out the service door," she whispered.
"Do not even think about it," Paul whispered back, without looking at her. Suze looked at him.
"She still alive?" One questioned the ones helping Tasha.
"We need to get the bullet out," Nicholas explained, "She needs suction, sutures. We also need some towels and a first-aid kit."
"So, you like to play games, huh? Well, I say we make it much more interesting," Dr Krantz replied, "I can arrange for you to get what you came for and you can all walk away with your lives."
One walked over to him.
"I can see you're starting to feel the pressure. You're not thinking clearly," Dr Krantz continued, "So what are you going to do? You're going to wait until the vault opens. This place is going to be filled with cops, swat teams. You got the manager's knowledge of the layout of the hotel and my resources, you can make a clean break. I know you wanted this to go off fast, in, out, five minutes. You are cornered." One continued holding his gun on Dr Krantz. "Your plan was shot to hell, so I'm giving you a chance to escape but what you have to give me, though, you got to let Tasha get away."
One stared at him. He removed his gun. "I appreciate your offer, but I'm not as trapped as you think I am."
---
CeeCee paced around the interior of the vault while Three sat against the wall, watching her. "Do you ever stay still?"
She spun around, "I can't help it. I pace when I'm terrified. You can at least tell me what I'm dying for."
"You know as much as I do," he simply stated.
"Why would anyone ever take a job they don't know anything about?" CeeCee asked him, her eyes narrowing.
"Try for a cool million in cash."
"Oh, okay," CeeCee slid to the floor opposite him, "So, for money, you're willing to kill a bunch of innocent people who never did anything to you. Put your life on the line and get stuck in some vault, waiting for some briefcase to explode."
"That was the plan."
CeeCee looked at him. "That has to be the dumbest reason to die I have ever heard."
---
Two pointed her gun at Jess. "Lightening girl Jessica. What's your last name?"
Jess looked at her with disgust on her face. "You come in here, hitting and shooting at us, and you expect me to help you compile your little list. You can shove it."
"You're starting to get on my nerves," Two warned her.
"Jess, it's time for you to cooperate," Dr Krantz told her.
Jess looked at the woman. "Mastriani," she snapped.
Two put her gun away, and walked over to One. "The girl says her name is Jessica Mastriani. I don't know if I believe anything out of that fat mouth."
"You're a professional. Don't let a kid barely out of puberty get under your skin," One told her. "What about the woman I shot?"
"Tasha Mastriani."
"There's a door near the office where they put that young man. It's clear," Adam whispered to Suze.
"That door leads outside," Suze whispered back, "That could be our way out."
Suddenly, the phone at the front desk rang. Everybody turned to look at it and then at the leader, wondering what was going to happen. One walked over to the phone, "I knew we needed the lobby phone." The phone rang again, and he answered it. "Good evening. Who am I speaking to?"
"This is Commissioner Williams," the commissioner answered, "We have you surrounded."
"Yes, I heard you the first time...when you yelled it through that dreadful bullhorn," One responded, "You think that surrounding the building with your men will give you an advantage, but I don't think so."
One hung up with a click before the commissioner could say anything.
---
CeeCee stood up against the wall, her hands laying protectively on her belly. Three stood across from her, looking at his phone. "It's the vault," she advised him, "This high-tech security system can interfere with cell phone service," she glanced to the side, "I'm really surprised you guys didn't plan for that."
He stared at her.
"So, is this your first time?" CeeCee questioned.
Three continued to stare at her. "Are you deliberately trying to insult me?"
She recognized the tone in his voice. She looked down, "I'm just going to keep quiet." CeeCee gently rubbed her belly, not sure if she was trying to soothe the babies or herself.
"I've pulled off a few heists, just not high profile like this one," he decided to answer her, "This was supposed to be a no brainer."
"What went wrong?" CeeCee asked.
"You did. You kicked me, remember?"
---
Commissioner Williams ran up to the two officers he had sent in to evacuate the rest of the building. "Okay, tell me everything we know about the hostages," he told them.
"We got several hotel staff, the assistant manager, a security head, two bellhops, two clerks, and some hotel tenants," one of the officers explained.
---
Suze walked quietly up to Jess. "There's an unblocked door at the end of the hall where they put your brother. And I know it leads outside," Dr Krantz listened to their conversation, "If you can create a diversion, I can slip out, and get the cops in here." Jess looked at her, thinking that it could work.
"The police are obviously waiting for a hostage negotiator," One spoke to his men, "It's time for us to buy us some more leverage."He nods to Two, and she turned slightly and pulled a big, black bag to the center of the group. She knelt down and unzipped it, revealing a bunch of explosives.
"Is that what I think it is?" Ruth asked the closest person to her, which happened to be Paul.
"They're either going to try to blow the vault or the lobby," Paul said in a whisper.
Ruth turned, open-mouthed. "Why would they do that? They're in here, too."
Jess and Suze looked at each other. Jess started walking to the leader, "Hey, Fun One. Did it ever occur to you that if Tasha dies, everyone in here is going to freak." One listened to her, interestingly, "That may put a crimp in your crowd control. There's a first aid kit behind the desk, why don't you let me get it for you?"
While Jess was talking, Suze started back away from the lobby. She was halted in her movements, though. "Let Susannah get the kit," Dr Krantz suggested without looking at her. Suze turned around. "Susannah."
"You mean the little one with the bad judgement?" One replied, "Alright, don't try anything, darling." Suze sighed, and went to get the first aid kit.
Jess moved back over to Dr Krantz. "What the hell are you doing? I was trying to create a diversion," she told him.
"No more diversions from now on," Dr Krantz whispered to her, "Do not do anything I don't tell you to do."
---
Unable to stand on her feet anymore, CeeCee sat back down. She stared at the briefcase. "Aren't you at least curious about what's inside?" she asked him.
"I don't care if it's gold bricks or taco chips. As long as I get paid," Three replied.
"See, that's the difference between us, you think you're going to survive this and I'm really worried that I won't. If I'm going to die, I would at least like to know what for. I mean, what is in that briefcase that is worth my life?"
---
"You need to prep for at least one gunshot victim, but there might be more, many more," the commissioner instructed a couple of paramedics.
"Alright, time's up," Rob announced, approaching the commissioner, "I'm not waiting any longer for you to botch my wife and baby's rescue."
The commissioner was losing his patience. "We have a gunshot victim in there! You go in there and make things worse, I will shoot you myself!" he exclaimed. Rob gritted his teeth, and walked away reluctantly.
---
The men were at work setting up explosives on the walls around the room. Suze took the first aid kit out, and walked it over to Nicholas. He took it, opened it, and looked inside. He sighed. "There is nothing in here that I can use to operate. We can slow the blood loss, but she needs surgery now or she's not going to make it." He was ignored.
Suze was over next to Jess. "Do you know anything about explosives?" she asked her.
Jess sighed, running her hands over her face, "Yeah, a little bit too much. There's enough here to blow us all up."
"May I have your attention, please," One called to everyone, "Thank you. You may have noticed the new addition to the lobby decor. If you guessed it's plastique, then you are correct. There are enough explosives here to destroy the lobby and all of you, but not in case you're wondering, any of us." Everybody listened to him, terrified, "There is a sixty second delay on the detonator, that's one minute if you prefer to generalize." He held the detonator, "If you become more trouble than our objective in the vault is worth, we shall push the button, go out the back, and you shall all go boom. The police will be so distracted searching through your shattered bodies, that they won't pay any attention to us. Now if anyone shall feel the urge to become a hero, our team will be rotating possession of the detonator," He passed it to Two, who held it up for all to see, "So, you'll never know which one of us has it. So if you try to seize it and guess wrong, you and the lobby will all be blown to bits. Any questions?" One smiled as he looked around at all of the angry and terrified faces.
Nobody spoke up. "That's very wise," One continued, "So, I suggest you all sit down, relax, and enjoy the experience, because it may well be your last one on earth. Thank you." He smiled at them on last time.
"Did you hear what he just said," Paul leaned forward and whispered to Suze, "From now on you just do what I say, no more plans with lightning girl, just stick with me, close by, and be ready to move."
Suze looked at him. "What are you going to do?"
Paul took a deep breath. "These guys are going to wait for the vault to open, and then they're going to blow this hotel sky high to cover their tracks. They're not going to leave any survivors. There's no way in hell I'm going to let the one person I've ever loved to die, so I'm going to do whatever I have to do to get you out of here alive."
---
What do you think? sorry for the long wait, but hopefully this long chapter made up for it. Please review.