The Hostage

Chapter eight

Deaq squeezed Van's shoulder then headed over to Gibson who handed him the phone.

"You tell them we want that van now or the cop dies."

Deaq nodded. Gibson, Winston, and Clark all walked a short distance away and huddled together discussing their plans.

"Yeah." Deaq said into the phone.

Billie, keeping her eyes on the monitor could see that the men could not hear her.

"Deaq…………how's Van?"

"Not good Billie, he's still bleeding and he has a high fever. He needs to get out of here, so if you have anything planned it better happen soon."

"We have a sharp shooter in the air conditioning duct above the clock. He won't make a move without orders from Hadley, you, or me. We want this to end peacefully; our main concern is that the hostages aren't injured."

"Billie if this doesn't end soon, Van's going to die."

"I know Deaq……." Billie was worried for Van but also knew there was nothing they could do with so many lives in danger. "How are the hostages holding up?

"Pretty good, a few of them seem upset but so far they're holding it together."

Gibson looked over at Deaq.

"Hey, ask them where my van is?"

"They want to know where the van is." Deaq said to Billie.

"Tell them we need them to release more of the hostages and then we'll deal."

"They want more hostages released." Deaq shouted over to Gibson.

"No way! You tell them we want that van now!"

"They said no………they want the van now."

"See if you can get them to release the women. Tell them that if they agree they'll get the van."

"They'd like the women released, then………."

"That does it!" Gibson interrupted him. "I'm tired of them fucking us around! Winston take the cop over to the window. I'm going to show them I'm not fooling around!"

"No!" Deaq yelled holding the phone down. "You move him, you'll kill him!"

"That's too bad! Tell them the cop dies unless the van is here in ten minutes!"

"They want the van here now or the cop dies!" Deaq watched helpless as Winston walked over to Van and pulled him off the floor. "Get that van here now!" Deaq yelled into the phone.

Van's legs felt like rubber when he was pulled up. The shot had lessened the severity of the pain but it was still there. He started to collapse but Winston grabbed him under his arms and drug him over to the window. Van gave a little grunt of pain as he was pressed against the window, his blood smearing it.

"You're going to kill him!" Deaq threw the phone down and started toward Winston and Van.

Billie held her breath as she watched the screen, fearing that Deaq was going to get himself killed along side his partner.

"Stay back!" Gibson ordered.

"He's my patient!" Deaq spun around glaring at Gibson.

"Not anymore." Gibson walked over to Deaq. "Right now he's my ticket out of here."

Deaq glanced over at Van who hung like a ragdoll in front of Winston.

"Look." Deaq looked back at Gibson. "He's a cop, he expendable, they won't deal for him. Use me, I'm not a cop. You'd have better luck getting your demands met."

"Very noble of you." Gibson said sarcastically. "But no, the cop dies unless that van's here in ten minutes."

Deaq fought back the panic he was feeling as he looked at his partner. Van looked like he had completely bled out, his skin deathly pale. The only thing holding him up was Winston's body pressing him against the window, his gun at Van's throat. Deaq swallowed the lump in his throat, grateful that Van didn't seem to be in any pain. If he was going to die at least he wouldn't know what hit him.

"Move back away from him." Gibson ordered as Deaq instinctively kept heading toward his partner. "I said move away from him or one of the hostages will take his place." Gibson turned and pointed his gun at the hostages who all shifted nervously around, some of the woman starting to cry.

Deaq stopped. There was no way he could let one of the hostages die in place of Van. He and Van were cops, they knew the risks.He was torn about what to do. He couldn't let a hostage die, but he couldn't just sit there and watch them blow his partner away either. He glanced at the air conditioning duct and couldn't see any movement, the screen in front of the opening making it near impossible to see inside. He only hoped that Billie was right and that a man was in the unit ready to fire as soon as the order was given. But in the small enclosed area more then likely he could only take out one man without having to maneuver around inside to get a position on another one. And more then likely the man he would take out would be Gibson since he posed the most threat to the hostages. Winston would still have plenty of time to shoot Van before he or the sharp shooter could get to him.

Gibson looked at the clock.

"Five more minutes and that van better be here or the cop dies." He said to Deaq who quickly ran over to the phone.

"Where's that van!"

"There is one on the way. Tell him the traffic is backed up with sightseers, we can't get through. It's going to take at least ten more minutes to get to the bank."

"Look, I need that van here now! He's going to kill the cop if one doesn't get here soon!"

"We're trying Deaq. Tell him just ten more minutes." Billie tried her best to stay calm. All she needed was for Deaq to pick up on her own panic.

"They said ten more minutes. The van is held up in traffic."

"Yeah right." Gibson kept his gun on the hostages but glanced over at Winston. "Five minutes and the cop dies."

Billie could hear Deaq's breathing over the phone and could tell he was starting to lose it. She knew there was no way he'd just stand there and let them kill his partner.

"Deaq, the man in the duct work has been told to take out the man holding the gun on the hostages. He has informed us that it will take him a few seconds to reposition himself and get a bead on the man holding Van. He also informed us he can't see the third man at all. You're going to have to get as close to Van as you can in order to stop the man that has him from shooting him. All you can do is go for the gun and try to take him and the third man out before either one has a chance to fire. Deaq it's going to be close. Anything can go wrong. If you think it's too risky………."

"Billie, I'm not going to stand here and let them kill my partner in front of me. I'm going to go for it." Deaq kept his eyes on Gibson who suddenly turned his head and looked at him.

"What the hell are they saying?"

"They're telling me the van will be here in about six minutes. You don't have to do this."

"Yes I do. They're not making a fool out of me." Gibson glanced up at the clock. "One minute and the cop dies."

Deaq put the phone down and slowly started inching his way toward Winston and Van. He could feel his heart pounding. He knew he was only going to get one chance at it. Winston held the gun under Van's chin pushing his head back. There was no movement at all from Van whose arms hung limp at his side. He had either passed out again or…………. Deaq didn't want to think of the alternative. He had to be ready to make his move. He glanced at the air-conditioning duct and could now see a very slight movement as the sharp shooter took aim at his target.

Gibson once more glanced at the clock then nodded at Winston.

"Do him. Let's see how the hero dies."

It was then that all hell broke loose. The SWAT officer took Gibson out with one clean shot to his head which caused panic among the hostages. They screamed in terror and began running for cover in all directions. Deaq dived for Winston knocking Van to the ground. He wrestled for the gun and managed to keep Winston's body between him and Clark.

"Get down! Get down!" Deaq shouted to the hostages worried if Clark fired or Winston got control of the gun they would be in the line of fire.

Just then the door to the bank flew open and the bank was flooded with the SWAT team including Billie. Clark immediately tossed down his gun and threw his hands in the air and was taken into custody.

"Drop it!" The officers yelled as they surrounded Deaq and Winston who were still fighting for control of the gun. Winston, knowing he was a dead man if he didn't surrender, threw his hands up in the air and was pulled away. Deaq dropped to his knees beside Van as Billie ran over.

Once the situation was under control paramedics were allowed in the bank and they began checking on the hostages. Chris was among them and he immediately hurried over to Van. Billie and Deaq had rolled him onto his back and he laid there, his eyes slightly opened, glassy, staring at nothing.

"Let me take a look at him." Chris said. He first checked his pulse which was very weak. He then checked his breathing which was barely detectable. He immediately took an oxygen mask out of his bag and put it on Van's face. He looked at Deaq then at Billie and shook his head slightly. "I can't promise anything, he's lost so much blood and………" He didn't finish but began to run an IV drip. "What happened after I left?"

"He was in a lot of pain and when they weren't paying attention I gave him the morphine shot." Deaq said.

"The entire shot?"

"Yeah, it helped him relax. I couldn't let him suffer like that anymore."

Chris frantically searched his medical bag, then injected a drug into the IV tube.
"What's wrong!" Deaq asked his face filled with worry as he watched Chris.

"The shot was too strong in his weakened condition. It's causing his body to shut down."

Deaq looked at Billie, a stunned look on his face. Instead of helping his partner he might have just killed him.

TBC