"All right mister, I want some answers and I want them now," said Tony in the interrogation room. It was mid-morning, and he was getting tired of the same runaround the man was giving him. Bill received permission to join them, just to keep Tony in check. He was told that since he was retired from active duty, he couldn't interrogate the gunman. But, that didn't mean he couldn't pick up some intel to tell Ralph at the school when he went to lunch.
"Look, buster, I don't care what you try, I ain't saying a word until I get something back," said Drew.
"Well... you have the chance to get a bloody nose if you don't answer now," said Tony. "We know that you and the other guy tried to take over the school. You're already facing federal charges, but if you talk, I'll see what I can do."
"Why don't you ask your friend in the fancy underwear," the other man said. "Or better still, why don't I tell everyone about her?"
"You could," said Bill. "But I wouldn't suggest it as all you'll get is a white tux that ties in the back and a nice padded room. I've seen it happen to people who are better than you, so why don't you just tell us what's going on?"
Noticing the gleam in the agents' eyes, Drew realized he was fighting a losing battle. "All right, we were hired by Drake Rutile to take the school hostage. He wants to keep some dame hostage to keep a judge from making a decision."
"Did he say who it was?" said Tony, leaning to face the man eye to eye.
"No, didn't want us to screw up after that Hinkley dame survived being shot. Ned's one of the best shooters in the gang, the wounds he inflicts with a gun are 98 percent fatal."
Bill and Tony cringed inwardly, thankful that not only did Aidan distract the guy and make him slip, but that the green guys saved her. "Well, seems she's a lucky gal," said Tony. "Now, where's the hideout?"
"Won't find him there anyway," said the man. "He's got a contingency plan ready in case he failed the first time."
"What is it and when..." threatened Tony.
"They'll attack again today, and no one will know when. I don't even know. Now, I want an attorney before I say anything else."
Tony nodded to Bill and turned to the man. "All right, thank you for your time. I'll see what I can get for ya," he said, mumbling under his breath, "At least 30 to life."
As the two exited, Tony turned to Bill. "OK, right now I need to get to the school and tell Mr. H what happened."
"Yeah Villacana, and you'd better do it soon. I'll head over there shortly too. He didn't specify a judge's name, and since the Counselor's now one, we've got to be prepared that it's Aidan they're after."
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Pam was riffling through her court docket for the day when she received a phone call. "Pam Hinkley."
"Pam, hi it's Blaine Serpentine. Listen, I need your help."
"Sure, how may I help you?"
"Do you have the files on the Citrine gun ring," he said. "We're going to hear his parole case today, and I wanted to be sure that I got all the information to be sure I was making the right decision."
"All right, I'll have my secretary fax the files over to you," said Pam.
"Yeah, shame they didn't get Rutile that first time," he said. "Then we'd be listening to both cases. I want to get done with this early so I can take my daughter Melissa to the show tonight. Anyway, thanks for your help."
"You're welcome, goodbye." Pam hung up the phone, and started thinking. 'Serpentine, that name sounds familiar... Aidan has a student by that name and... oh no.' She quickly dialed the phone and called Ralph, hoping that everything was all right.
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At the school, Ralph was taking a short break after a long teacher's meeting and a pile of paperwork afterward. He had kept a close eye on Aidan during it just incase she had another holograph and dizzy spell. She seemed to be all right throughout the meeting, though she kept pulling at the collar of the suit and cape. He had just picked up his cup of coffee when the phone rang.
"Ralph Hinkley," he said answering it.
"Ralph, hi hun, it's Pam. Listen, is Melissa Serpentine in class today? I know I'm bending rules a bit, but it's important."
Knowing Pam was a bit of a stickler for rules, Ralph realized this was important and rummaged through his papers to find the attendance folder for the first period class Melissa took. "Yeah, she was in history today and will be in Aidan's class later this afternoon."
Pam held her breath, putting the final connection together. Ralph frowned, not hearing Pam say anything. "Pamela, you all right? What is it?"
"Ralph, you need to get her out of there as soon as possible. Remember Aidan said something about Rutile?"
"Yeah, why?"
"I did some checking through some case files when I was asked to send them to a judge. His boss is Uri Citrine, who is up for parole today... and Judge Serpentine is the judge."
"And MK is a friend of Melissa's... that's the second connection. Thanks hun, I'll call Tony and Bill and put the school in lockdown shortly. 'Bye." he hung up the phone just as there was a knock on the door. He opened it, and it was Tony. "Mr. H, ya got to lock the school down..."
"Tony, Pam just called and found the connection as to why the school was almost taken hostage. Judge Serpentine's daughter attends here."
"Serpentine, doesn't he usually hear parole cases?" When Ralph nodded, Tony continued. "We gotta get her outta here, Mr. H, before they come and ... "
Just then they heard a scream come from the main office, and Tony drew his gun. The two men turned around only to see two men enter with guns drawn. "Well, well, Mr. Hinkley, welcome to hostage school," said Rutile with a wicked grin. "Pretty simple rules, listen to what I say, or you and the students will die. Now, you, throw down your gun or I will shoot the principal here."
Tony did what he was told and was dragged away. The gunman threw Tony into a small storage closet full of bottles and locked the door. The young FBI agent looked around for anything that he could use as a weapon and get out of the room.
