Friends and Lovers
Chapter 5
Disclaimers: the usual
A/N: Thank you for the lovely reviews.
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Outside the bank
Jack was frustrated. There was no negotiating with the bank robbers. In fact, they weren't even acknowledging his calls. At the same time, Bobby and members of both bomb squads quietly went about their business alerting the tenants of the building and directing them down the backstairs. Starting from the top, they fanned out to search each floor as efficiently as possible for anything out of the ordinary.
"Fifth floor all clear."
"Fourth floor all clear."
"Third floor all clear."
Each time Tara signed to Sue to let her know the status of each floor as the information filtered through to her. Only two more floors to go.
"This side clear," announced one of the members.
"Clear," announced another.
"Frank 42, I think I see something," declared another member. Holding the protective shield in front, he used the tip of his rifle to delicately lift a leaf in a large floor planter. "Found one." At his discovery, another squad member came to inspect the bomb.
"What's it look like?" barked Bobby.
"Dynamite attached to a detonator. Nothing fancy, looks pretty basic."
"Can you dismantle it?"
The two men looked at each other and nodded. "Roger on that."
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Sue rapidly walked over to the cluster of men who were conferring with the building manager. The men looked up at her approach.
"They found one bomb on the second floor," she informed them. "The bomb squad is checking the rest of that floor and still has the first floor to go."
"Okay, we can't let them know we found that one bomb until the squad finishes checking out the rest of the building," said D. "If there are more, the robbers might decide to blow one up to show us they mean business."
"Are they responding at all?"
"No, but I think they're getting nervous," answered Jack, "or at least one of them is. Myles noticed the African-American suspect keeps talking to his partner."
Suddenly, the cell phone went off. "Hudson," Jack answered promptly. He listened for a minute. "Good move. We'll be waiting for her."
He snapped the phone shut with a grimace. "We may be getting a break. One of the tellers went into labor and they're willing to let her go." Just as he finished speaking, the door opened to reveal a very pregnant woman clutching her stomach in obvious pain. As she walked slowly forward, an officer ran to assist the woman to safety while another covered their retreat.
"Myles and Sue, see if you can get any information from her that could help us with the negotiations. The longer this goes on, the more dangerous it can get. People get tired...jumpy. Who knows what can happen."
Within a few minutes, Myles and Sue returned. "She thinks one of the men may be mentally challenged--the African-American one. Something about the way he talked and how he's behaving. He pleaded with the other guy to let her go saying she needed to go to the hospital . The other man finally agreed."
"Okay, what about the other man?" asked D. "Anything helpful there?"
"Nothing good," commented Myles. "She said he kept muttering something about his life was ruined and he's doing the only thing left to take care of his problems and take care of his friend."
"Better let Bobby know he was right on the money about the bank robbers," instructed Jack. "We may be dealing with a guy who has nothing to lose."
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The squad found another bomb on the second floor and started searching the first floor. Two more were found and dismantled.
"The rest of the building is secured," announced Bobby. "Have you been able to find out if any of thesuspects are wired?"
"Negative," answered Tara. "They still have their jackets zipped up."
"All right, we're coming in."
Tara signed Bobby's message to Sue. A sigh of relief followed.
"You okay?" asked Tara.
"I will be, once this is over and Bo...and everyone is safe," Sue responded quietly.
As Tara nodded in understanding, a voice came through. "Tara? The robbers have finally unzipped their jackets. Suspect #1, the African-Americanappears to be clean. Suspect #2may be wired. There seems to be something around his waist. D and Myles are trying to get a better look."
"Sam 32, one man appears to be clean while the other may be wired with explosives," reported Tara.
Inside the building, Bobby pulled up short at the news. "Repeat, Tara." He shook his head. His job just became that much more difficult.
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