Chapter Eight: Sending the Holidays with a Sexy Thief
McClain stood in a room with the two FBI agents, Gleason and Thomas. They were standing next to a large glass window looking into another interrogation room. One of Hans' captured men was sitting in the other room behind the glass.
"Is that one of men you saw in the Nakatomi building?" The FBI agent gestured towards the glass.
"Yeah, he was the man I knocked out before I confronted Hans," McClain answered.
Thomas looked at him and chuckled. "You tried to take on Hans Gruber alone."
"He had my wife."
Thomas continued laughing as he turned and walked over to the table that was littered with papers. McClain followed him and jumped right in the agent's face.
"I don't see what's so funny about me taking on Hans alone."
Agent Thomas looked McClain up and down and then smirked. "You don't even realize who Hans Gruber really is, do you?" McClain simply stared at him, not saying a word.
"Well, let me enlighten you," Thomas turned back towards the table and began moving papers around. "Hans Gruber is a very damaged man. He is a professional thief, and he does not play about money," Thomas began.
"You see, Gruber has robbed over 50 places and those are the ones we know about. He's at the top of the FBI's most wanted list."
"So why haven't you caught him, huh?" McClain mocked.
Thomas was about to say something nasty, but agent Gleason stepped in. "Hans Gruber is almost untouchable. We've been chasing him for years."
"Why is he so hard to catch?"
Gleason sighed and took a seat at the table. "You must understand, Mr. McClain, these types of people are not easy to catch. They're well financed, and they know their jobs very well. Take Gruber, for example. He's been in this game for a long time."
McClain nodded and took a seat as well. "What information do you have on him?"
"Gruber is what you call one top thief out there in the world. He's smart and slick. We figure he has been trained since an early age. You see, Gruber comes from a family of thieves. His father, mother and his older brother. When you're born into a family like that, from the time a child can walk, they are taught their trade. These people are taught in stages. Age five: they're lookouts. Seven to ten years of age: they pickpocket. Then, after that, they work for other established thieves, and, after that, they go out on their own."
"Gruber has a brother?"
"Yes, Simon Gruber."
"They ever do any jobs together?"
"None that we know of, but we believe Hans Gruber is responsible for robbing the MGM casino in Las Vegas two years ago."
"So that's it? That's all you have to tell me: he's hard to catch and he's an expert in what he does."
Gleason scratched his head. "We are doing everything we can, Mr. McClain; it's just hard after all these years."
"Well, after all these years, you didn't have any of his men to question?"
"We've question him, but he wouldn't tell us anything," Thomas snapped.
McClain stood up and made towards the door. "You didn't do it right."
"Where do you think you're going?" Thomas demanded.
"To interrogate Hans' man."
Thomas leapt up from his seat and blocked McClain's path. "That is our suspect and no one is going in there but us."
"You can't get him to talk, but I can."
Thomas snarled and was going to say something else, but Gleason spoke up. "Let him talk to the suspect Thomas. Perhaps he can get something out of him."
Thomas moved away and let McClain pass, but he wasn't happy about it.
It was past midnight when Hans escorted Holly into the kitchen. He made Holly sit down and slid a plate of food towards her. Hans walked slowly around the table and sat down opposite from her. She kept glaring at him, not even glancing at the plate of food in front of her.
"It's not poisoned," Hans told her.
Holly still did not make an attempt to eat her food; she kept sitting there, glaring hatefully. Hans wasn't even fazed by her stare. No, he was enjoying it very much. He always liked a determined woman. Hans reached forward and plucked a piece of chicken from her plate, shoving it in his mouth. He chewed it slowly, his eyes never leaving hers.
Holly looked at her plate, then back at him. She picked up her fork and finally began to eat. "Like I said, the food isn't poisoned. You're no good to me dead."
They were alone in the cabin except for Hans' and his two men. Eddy and Theo had left that morning and took the money with them. Imelda was in town picking up something. It was just him and Holly right now.
Hans sat at the table in silence, watching Holly eat her food with a smirk playing on his lips. Holly took a sip of water and looked up and caught Hans watching her.
"Is there a problem?" Holly asked sarcastically. "Why do you keep watching me?"
"I don't know. You tell me."
Holly set her fork down and pushed her plate aside. "I'm not going to sleep with you, again."
Hans leaned back in his chair and started laughing, the sound echoing throughout the cabin. When he regained control over himself, he looked back at Holly, a cocky smile spreading across his face. "Keep telling yourself that, sweetheart. We both know that, despite all of this, you still want me."
"You think you're God's gift to women, huh? Well, let me tell you something: you're not."
"I never said I was. You just said that, but I did help you out that night."
Holly dropped her gaze to the table. "What happened between us two years ago was a mistake," she whispered.
Hans stood and slowly walked around the table to stand over Holly. "You really believe that night we were together was a mistake?"
Holly didn't answer so Hans grabbed her by the arm and pulled her out of the chair. He held her close, his face a few inches away from hers. "Still, after everything, the murders, the kidnapping, and with me holding you hostage, you can't change your feelings towards me. That night in Vegas was the best night of your life. You know what your problem is? Your husband doesn't take care of your needs. Then the night at the hotel, I met your needs. You felt alive. And, now, you want that feeling back, but you can't seem to find it."
Holly stared up at his handsome hazel eyes. He was right, oh, he was so right. Ever since that night, she hadn't been able to take her mind off of him. For two years she had been looking for that feeling he had given her, and her husband wasn't doing it.
Hans leaned closer and kissed her. Holly didn't pull away. In fact, to her and his surprise, she kissed him back. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he backed her into a nearby wall. He was kissing her so passionately, not like her boring husband. Wait, Holly thought to herself. Had she just admitted her husband was boring and Hans was so much more? But, somewhere in the back of her mind, a small voice was telling her to stop, that this was wrong. She was about to say something, but the lights in the room began to flicker off and on. Then, a moment later, the lights died. They were standing in complete darkness. Holly looked around, but she couldn't see anything in front of her. She felt Hans let go of her and move away. She heard him call for his men, then the door to another room opened and footsteps sounded on the wooden floor.
Holly stayed where she was up against the wall. She listened to Hans speak in German to his men, giving them instructions. Two pairs of feet moved to the other room and towards the front door. One of Hans' men found a few candles and lit them. Holly could see now and was wondering what was going on. She spotted the machine guns in Hans' men's hands and how tense they looked. Hans had his handgun in his hand as well, standing at the ready. He stood next to Holly as Alvin moved towards the door.
Alvin opened it. The next moment, a gunshot rang out through the night air, and the man dropped his gun and fell to the floor. His body rolled back, exposing his gunshot wound to the head. Holly's mouth fell open in shock.
Bright, blinding lights began to appear through the windows and the sound of multiple running feet could be heard. They had been found, and they were surrounded.
