Chapter 5

David wandered over to the table where they were handing out coffee and sandwiches. The police auxiliary had arrived an hour ago and started feeding all the officers around the bank. At first David hadn't wanted anything: just the thought of trying to eat something while his friends were being held hostage was nauseating. Captain Harris insisted he take a break anyway, so he figured he'd at least get a cup of coffee. It was almost dusk, and the sun was beginning to set, casting long shadows on the sidewalk. Things were quiet. Many of the spectators had gone home once they realized nothing exciting was going to happen. The reporters were still around hoping to get an exclusive. David just thought they were ghouls. As he was walking he heard someone calling his name; looking around, he noticed Don and Charlie's father behind the barriers. David rushed over and showed the police officer his ID.

"That gentleman's with me." The officer nodded and let Alan through. "Mr. Eppes."

"Alan, please, "

"What are you doing here?" David asked.

"Charlie and Don were supposed to be home an hour ago," Alan explained. "We were going to dinner. When they didn't show I just figured they were working late and I drove over to get them. Then I saw all the commotion, so I walked down."

"So you don't know what's going on?'

"No, I don't."

"There's no easy way to say this," David said, shaking his head. "Don and Charlie are being held hostage in the bank."

"They're what?"

"They just happened to be in the wrong place at the wrong time," David sighed. "We were going to lunch and Don needed some money. Terry and Charlie went with him."

"Terry's in there too?"

"Afraid so."

"Have the bank robbers made any demands?"

"No," David said, frustrated. "They just warned us not to turn off the power."

"That seems to be an odd request," Alan said, surprised.

"My guess is they need the power for the computers," David explained. "Charlie taught us that not only money is of value in the bank."

"Financial records," Alan nodded.

"Exactly," David said. "Let me introduce you to the man who's in charge of the operation."

David led Alan over to the SWAT van. Captain Harris was going over some blueprints of the bank with one of the snipers.

"Captain Harris, this is Alan Eppes," David said as they got closer.

"The father of your partners?" Captain Harris asked.

"Yes," Alan said holding out his hand.

"Sorry, but we don't need civilian's in the area," Harris said.

"Those are my sons in there," Alan said, angrily. "I'm staying. I won't be in your way."

"As soon as you are you are I'll have you removed."

"I'll vouch for him, Captain," David said.

"Alright," Harris agreed.

"So what's being done to get the hostages out?" Alan asked.

"Normally we would cut the power to the building," Harris reluctantly explained. "Make it uncomfortable for them."

"No lights and no air conditioner," Alan said nodding.

"But we were warned not to cut the power to the building."

"Yes, David told me," Alan said. "But you could still cut off their AC."

"He has a point," David said. "We aren't cutting off the power, so he still has the computers."

"You're still convinced they need the power to run the computers?" Harris asked.

"Yes, sir, I am," David nodded. "If they get Charlie to help them he can pretty much crack any code and get into any number of bank accounts."

"He's done it before," Alan added.

"Oh?" Captain Harris said genuinely surprised.

"Kidnapping case," David explained. "Charlie cracked the codes to Cayman Island accounts worth just a little under a billion dollars."

"Alright, we'll try it," Captain Harris said as he walked over to the building manager.

"Now all we can do is wait," David said.

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Charlie was roughly picked up and dragged over to the computers. He could hear Don protesting and Terry trying to calm him. The thought of being separated from his brother was frightening. Charlie knew there wasn't much his older brother could do, but having him close was reassuring. As he was being dragged away Charlie felt something warm run down the side of his face. He put his hand up and felt blood. When Sergie had punched him Charlie had dropped to the floor never realizing he'd hit his head again. He felt lightheaded and a bit nauseous but knew he couldn't show this weakness to Sergie. A grisly scene greeted Charlie as they came in view of the computers. Mikey was slumped over one of the computers. The back of his head was blown away and large puddle of blood spread across the workstation.

Don watched helplessly as Sergie dragged Charlie away. When he had tried to go to him Fritz had knocked his feet out from under him. Terry was next to him in an instant, telling him to keep calm; that getting himself killed wouldn't help Charlie. Don didn't care. He knew Charlie would be overwhelmed by what he was about to see. Charlie had never seen anyone who'd been shot in the head and Don knew from experience it wasn't pretty. Don watched as Sergie dragged Charlie closer to the computers. He knew the instant Charlie saw the dead body: Charlie's faced drained of all color and he tried to back away. Sergie wouldn't let him and pushed Charlie closer. Don knew he had to do something.

"Sergie!"

Sergie looked up as he shouted. "What?"

"Let us come over there with Charlie."

"Why?" Sergie asked suspiciously.

"Look at him," Don said. Sergie looked at Charlie and knew he was going to panic. "I can keep him calm so he can work on the program."

"Frtiz, bring them over here."

Don scrambled to his feet followed by Terry. They moved to where Charlie was standing and Don stepped into Charlie's line of sight.

Sergie grabbed Don's arm. "Don't do anything stupid," he warned, and Don nodded.

"Hey Buddy," Don said, grabbing his brother's face in his hands. "Look at me."

"Don," Charlie said dazed. "I can't…"

"I know," Don said as he turned Charlie away from the body. Terry moved to Charlie's other side. "We're just going to use another computer, okay?"

Charlie nodded, and let Don walk him over to another computer. Sergie sent Fritz to watch the other hostages, then turned back to his hostages and saw Don hovering over his brother.

"Very touching," Sergie sneered. "Baby brother can't take the sight of blood."

"Scaring Charlie isn't the way to get him to do something," Terry warned.

"Really," Sergie said. "Well, I don't give a damn. Either he does what I want or one of you are the first to be killed."

"I'll do it," Charlie said timidly. "Just don't hurt anyone."

"Of course, Professor," Sergie laughed. "I won't hurt them, much."

"What do you want him to do?" Don demanded.

Sergie pulled a CD out of his pocket and handed it to Don. "Everything he needs to know is on there."

Sergie handed over the disc and took a seat on the desk behind Charlie. He motioned for Terry to take a seat and she did. Don watched as Charlie loaded the disc into the computer. There wasn't much Don could do to help Charlie but offer moral support. When the disc was loaded, complex equations appeared on the screen. Don watched as his brother leaned in closer and started to scroll down through the equations. When he was finished reading them Charlie's fingers started flying over the keyboard.

"This is going to work out very well," Sergie smiled.

Just as he said that the hum of the air conditioning stopped. Sergie jumped up figuring the cops had been stupid enough to call his bluff. When he saw the computer wasn't affected, however, he relaxed. So the cops were going to make things rough for them; so be it.

"Looks like they turned off the AC," Terry commented.

"Guess they figured it would get them to negotiate again," Don said.

"Well, they're wrong," Sergie said. "If Charlie is as good as I think he is it won't take him long to do what I want."

"Then you'll just let us go?" Terry asked.

"Something like that," Sergie smiled.

Terry could not get a handle on this guy. He was extremely sure of himself and wasn't going to let anything stop him. She knew he would have no qualms about killing them, but would consider it a waste of his time. The profiler in her tried to place him in a category but he didn't fit. She'd just have to wait and see what Sergie did next.