The Space Between
By
Tru False
Author's Note:
Thank you guys so much for the reviews…it is almost ridiculous how
happy they made me! And don't worry, we won't leave Charlie out
in the car forever…we're just getting started with him. :-)
Danny had stripped Terry of her gun as well and had used Don and Terry's handcuffs to secure them in the front area, about fifteen feet apart from each other. He had thought to take their keys from them too…for a novice, the guy was pretty thorough.
Terry's hands were cuffed behind the leg of a table against the right wall that had pens and deposit slips on top of it. It seemed to be bolted into the floor; if not, it was heavy enough that she couldn't budge it…she had already tried. From her position she could see both Don, who was diagonal from her, and the robbers and hostages in the main counter area to her right. Don had his hands cuffed behind one of the entry hall's stone pillars and was facing away from the main area, towards the front door—he wasn't going anywhere. He could see Terry on his left but not the robbers and hostages behind him. He probably had a limited view of the pathway and parking lot through the front doors, but Terry doubted he could see much of it as his pillar was pretty well off to the side. He looked like he was still in a lot of pain and she imagined having his arms cuffed behind him wasn't helping any. She realized that he hadn't looked over at her in a long time and when she followed his gaze she found that it was indeed locked on the doors. She knew he was watching for Charlie…probably praying he wouldn't come walking up the path.
Danny was now standing by the main counter with his partner, though he was keeping an eye on Don and Terry—who were still under the kid's guard—from across the room.
"This is bad, man. This is really bad."
"I know," Danny replied.
"I mean, he shot one of them." He waved his hand in Don's direction. "They're not going to just forget about that. If they catch us, we're gonna do some serious time now."
"I know," Danny stated, clearly agitated. He seemed to think for a minute. "At least he's still a minor."
The other guy was incredulous. "Are you kidding me man? Yeah, that's great for him, but I'm talking about us. We are screwed here. Do you understand that? Screwed."
"Look, just…shut up for a second and lemme think."
"Don't tell me to shut up." There was a dangerous edge to the guy's voice and Terry, who had always been blessed with a certain perspicacity, quickly surmised that this guy was what Charlie would have called "the variable in the equation". Danny was—to the extent that there were any—the brains of the operation. Plus he obviously had a soft spot for his kid brother…that could definitely work to their advantage. For his part, the kid was in way over his head, and anyway he was out of it half the time staring at his brother with some kind of wide-eyed hero worship. Terry wasn't sure, but she thought he might be a little on the slow side. Either way, it didn't matter—he would do whatever his brother told him, so he was predictable to a certain extent. But this other guy…this guy was dangerous. He was the loose canon, the balls of the operation…probably the one whose enthusiasm had taken this idea from drunk-talk into a poorly executed reality.
Danny stared at the guy for a few seconds but didn't respond. He obviously wasn't going to challenge him. Danny didn't apologize or back down, but he was smart enough to be wary. Out of the three, Terry decided he was their best hope to see reason.
She scanned the hostages. It didn't look like there would be any help there. The security guard's expression clearly stated that he didn't get paid enough for this, plus he was still nursing the back of his head. The manager looked like he was irritated but with a healthy dash of scared. No one among the group stood out as looking exceptionally calm or collected…no evidence of anyone with military or combat training. Basically, they were on their own here.
"What are you thinking?" Don half-whispered, half-mouthed to her from across their distance. He had momentarily taken his gaze off the door. She glanced at the kid—he was avidly watching Danny and the other guy's exchange.
"Danny's the smart one," she whispered back, "We should work on him. The other guy's the loose cannon. We might be able to get to Danny through the kid."
"That's what I was thinking…the kid."
"HEY! No talking over there!" The other guy…loose cannon…approached suddenly and rounded on Terry. "These two are scheming," he called back to Danny. "I could see her lips moving."
"Don't worry about them right now. They're not going anywhere," replied Danny.
"I don't care. They don't need to be talking. If he's not gonna watch them right," he pointed in the kid's direction, "then I will."
"I need you over here. They're cuffed…these people are all loose."
"I don't care." He turned on Don now. "I don't like people talking behind my back." He held the agent's gaze with a look somewhere between suspicion and hatred.
Danny seemed put out. He thought for a second. "You," he pointed at the female teller, who jumped slightly. "Gimme that coat thing." She took off her pale blue linen jacket and slowly handed it to him. Terry heard a ripping noise from off to the right and knew what was coming next. Sure enough, Danny appeared in front of Don a few seconds later with a long strip of the material…one of the sleeves. "Open," was all he said. Don paused and Terry was afraid for a moment that he might tell the guy to go screw himself, but in the end training must have won out over his temper because he did as told. She was relieved—they didn't need to raise the tension level right now.
Danny tied the gag tightly around the back of Don's head and threw the other sleeve to Loose Canon. "Do her," he said as he moved quickly back towards the hostages, checking all their positions to be sure no one had moved.
As Loose Canon leaned over Terry and tied the gag, he whispered softly to her "Oh, I'd like to."
123123123
Charlie had gone from bored to irritated to fuming and was now slowly crossing into concerned. It had been thirty minutes…that seemed like a long time for a witness interview—but then, what did he know? It was possible there were lots of details to go over, or that there was some kind of hang-up with the data the guy was supposed to provide (another good reason why he should have gone along in the first place). Or maybe it was just that they had had to wait a while for the guy to see them. That seemed very possible. That would make sense.
What was starting to bother Charlie, though, was that there were several—seven, to be exact—cars in the parking lot other than theirs. Some of them could be employees', but this was a small bank…some had to belong to customers. That seemed like a long time for no one to finish their business, for no one to come out. Out of pure habit, he started to compute the probability of no one coming out based on what he assumed was the average time a customer would spend completing a transaction, but stopped himself. He didn't need an equation to tell him what he already knew. Something was up. But what? Had someone had a heart attack? But then an ambulance would have shown up. The notion that something sinister could be going on inside…a hold-up or something…seemed absurd. Those things didn't actually happen to real people. But then, that was wrong too. He had helped out on a case just three months ago…bank robbers. He pushed the uncomfortable memories of it down; that had not been one for his highlight reel. But that had happened to real people. In fact, that had happened to Don. What if it happened again? What if it was happening right now? The thought nagged at him.
If Don was in trouble, Charlie would never forgive himself for sitting in the car like an idiot. But if he was wrong…if he went in after Don had explicitly asked him to stay behind, then he would really piss Don off. He didn't want to keep screwing things up between them—that much he knew for sure. He sat back slowly and decided he would give them ten more minutes. That seemed reasonable. His leg bounced rapidly on the floorboard. Maybe he would make it five.
123123123
"So what are we gonna do now?"
"Look, I'm trying to think, just like I was trying to think before you freaked out about the whispering and I had to take care of that. Just give me a minute." Danny was frustrated. He just needed a second to settle down and think things through. There had to be a way out of this…it was just that every time he tried to think about it, three letters kept running through his mind: FBI. Christ, this was really bad. Grand theft. Aggravated assault. Deadly weapon. Federal pen. His brother. It was hard to concentrate, and of course his partner wasn't helping any.
"We don't have a second! Someone else is bound to come in here. This place is quiet, but it ain't that quiet."
Danny considered this. "You're right." For once, he felt like adding. "That's the first thing we're gonna do…make sure no one else comes in." He approached the security guard. "Give me the front door keys."
"I have them," the manager replied instead. He reached into his pocket and Danny took the keys from him.
"Okay…where's your closed sign?"
"Our what?"
"Your closed sign…you know… 'sorry we're closed for lunch'."
"Umm, we don't have one of those sir. We always stay open until our stated hours."
"Don't do that. Don't talk down to me."
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean—"
Danny waved his hand. "Shut up. You, coat-girl" he pointed to the teller, "Make a closed sign. Paper, marker…put… 'sorry, we're closed for'…I don't know… remodeling, water leak, just…whatever." There was a scuffling sound as she looked for paper and a marker inside her drawers.
Don was listening to Danny's words closely. He could hear the strain in his voice. The guy was losing it, having trouble thinking straight. That wasn't necessarily good news at this point.
"Hey, catch these." Danny tossed the keys to Loose Canon. "Lock the doors." As an afterthought, he added "and make sure no one's out there too."
Don sat up slightly when he heard this. He looked at Terry and found she was looking back at him, also aware of the possible implications. Loose Canon walked past Don and stood against the wall to the side of the doorway in front of him, peering out from the side through the tinted glass. Don watched him with growing concern.
"Nah…it looks okay…" Don started to relax, grateful. "…Wait a minute—" He paused, "There's a guy sitting in one of the cars. Black SUV."
Don felt his stomach drop.
"Black SUV?" Danny repeated, "You're kidding me…"
"No. Why?"
"Because that has to be the Feds' car" he replied in exasperation, "that's why." He moved in his direction. He grabbed the kid as he passed by him and stopped, "Listen to me and listen to me good…if you never do anything right that I ask you again, make sure you do this. Go over there and watch those people," he pointed at the main counter "and DO NOT let me catch you looking over here. You watch them, not me…understand?" The kid nodded fiercely and Danny, looking satisfied, moved to join Loose Canon at the doors.
"Ah, man. Can you believe this?"
"Yeah, today I can," Danny replied, peering outside.
"He looks edgy."
"Yeah, he does."
"He's looking right here…do you think he can he see us?"
"I don't think so," Danny replied, "not with all this tint, and not from that angle." He approached Don and bent down, pulling the gag out of Don's mouth. "What's your other guy's name?"
Don hesitated, but only briefly. "Kevin Wilcox."
Danny nodded and put the gag back into place.
"I'll go get him." Don's eyes snapped up to Loose Cannon.
Danny looked at him for a moment too, then said quietly, "Just bring him in here, alright? Nothing crazy."
"Yeah. No problem."
"What are you going to tell him to get him in here?"
"I don't know…I'll think of something."
Danny looked Dubious. "Just…take it easy, alright?"
"Yeah, no problem." Loose Cannon handed his shotgun to Danny and held his hand out. "Gimmie one of their guns."
Danny raised his eyebrows slightly.
"Just in case."
Danny looked wary but grabbed Don's service piece from a nearby table. He had taken the clip out and put it in his back pocket. He replaced it now and handed it to him. Loose Canon tucked it in the back of his pants and pulled his sweater down over it. "Be right back," he stated and headed out the door, pulling his ski-mask off just before he exited so Don could only see the back of his head. He watched the blonde head walk through the bright sunlight…walking towards his Suburban, carrying his gun…to get his brother. He was momentarily glad of the gag, because he was able to bite down on it. Otherwise, he might have thrown up.