Suddenly, he heard another sound from outside the cabin: the squealing of tires, followed by a loud bang, and the sound of a car crashing over repeatedly. More importantly, the hissing noise under the door stopped, hinting to Jesse that the impact outside had knocked the hose away from its position under the door. But who or what...?
He then heard the cabin door swing open. "You guys in here, you all right!?" came a very worried and very familiar voice-one he had no idea why he was hearing now, but was glad to be hearing...
"Mr. Banks!" he called out for the teacher, still coughing hard; there was still too little oxygen in the closet despite the deadly hose now being gone. They needed to get out of there quickly. And fortunately, he now heard Mr. Banks shoving the blockading object aside. "Stand back!" he advised the children. His footsteps rushed the door, which shuddered hard from the impact, but stayed intact. "OOOOOOWWWWW!" Mr. Banks yelped in agony, "That hurt more than I thought...!"
"Mr. Banks, hurry!" Judy called to him, still coughing hard herself and audibly struggling to breathe.
"OK, OK, this one should do it!" their teacher mused out loud. Jesse squirmed back away from the door, pulling Judy and Jake back with him. Which proved a wise decision, as Mr. Banks' impact with the door this time smashed it off its hinges into the closet. "You all right!?" he asked his students worriedly.
"We are now," Jesse crawled rapidly out of the closet and eagerly breathed in the fresh air now pouring in through the open front door, "What are you doing here!? And how did you find us!?"
"Well, short version: I was having a midnight snack at the McDonald's downtown, trying to fight back the continued grief over what we all saw in the cove last week. I heard yelling outside, and saw it was you and your friends here arguing with that guy. I saw you all hitch a ride on that car and wondered what was going on, so I jumped in my car and followed you as best I could, knowing that something was up. I lost him for a while after I entered the park, and was about to give up and call the police when I heard you guys all yelling like there was no tomorrow on the ridge above where I was. I followed the taillights of the cars up there to here-and clearly it's a good thing I did, or that would have been the end of you three," Mr. Banks glanced out the door, where Jesse could see the front end of his teacher's station wagon heavily smashed up, hinting he'd rammed Wade's car to stop the deadly carbon dioxide stream. "Thanks, you saved us," he told Mr. Banks gratefully.
"Glad to. But what's going on here?" his teacher inquired.
"We found where they're holding Willy and the rest of his pod," Jake explained, taking deep gasping breaths of fresh air, "Mr. Dial paid the whalers to do it; they're being held at the old water treatment plant here in the park..."
"They're splitting them up; they're going to sell Willy and his family to different parks and private collections all over the world!" Jesse jumped back in, "They'll be moving them real soon; we've got to get them out of there!"
"I see," Mr. Banks mused softly, "Well, I guess you kids're going to go ahead and try and free them, and if so, count me in: I owe those whales still."
"We'll need more help, though. There's at least a dozen guys in the compound, and they're all heavily armed," Judy pointed out to the teacher, "And we have no idea how we're going to get the whales out of there."
"How many whales are we talking about here?"
"Fifteen. And I could make out about ten dolphins and eighteen seals and sea lions before we were dragged off to here," Jesse told him.
"Well we can't leave any of them behind either. But yeah, we need more help, and we need a plan," Mr. Banks' brow furled, "Think, Jack, think; how do we signal for...?"
"The radio!" Jesse now noticed a ranger radio on the desk by the window, "If it's still hooked up, I know who we can call...!"
"Open the damn door, Greenwood! I know you're in there! I said open up right now!"
Glen groaned and jerked up out of bed at the sound of the loud banging outside. "What's the story here!?" he grumbled, staring at the snow falling outside, then to the clock on the nightstand, which read one ten in the morning.
"What's going on!?" Annie had also been awakened now.
"No clue, Annie..."
"Open the door, Greenwood, or I'm breaking it down!" came the furious roar outside, followed by more pounding.
"All right, I'm coming, I'm coming!" Glen muttered, stumbling out of the master bedroom and down the stairs. "OK, what's the problem...!?" he thrust the front door open.
"Is Jake in there, Greenwood!?" a livid Mr. Perkins thrust a finger right in his face, "Because if he is, and I find your kid convinced him to run away...!"
"What are you talking about, Perkins!? I haven't seen Jake since last week!" Glen shouted back, "And do you have any idea what time it is!?"
"Don't try and cover up for that punk brat, Greenwood! I got up to go the bathroom, felt a draft from Jake's room, and found the window wide open and a note on the bed saying he was running away. Your kid must have come by and convinced him to do it...!"
"Hey, didn't I warn you to lay off Jesse!?" Glen snapped at him, "And if Jake ran away...!"
There came a crashing sound as an expensive looking car hit the mailbox near the Greenwoods' house. "All right, where is she!?" an equally furious Mrs. Corwin stormed up to the Greenwoods' porch, "I know you know where Judy is; out with it!"
"You too!?" Glen rolled his eyes, "Look, don't blame me for anything your kids have done...!"
"If you don't tell me exactly where my daughter is now, Mr. Greenwood, I'm calling the police and getting a search warrant, and they are going to tear your house completely apart to find her," Mrs. Corwin threatened him, "And if Judy is in there, I'm having you and your wife prosecuted for...!"
"Stop, OK, just stop!" Glen thundered at her, "All right, so your daughter ran away? So instead of wasting time yelling at me over Jesse and how much you find the fact he's willing to be friends with her disgusting because you think you know what's best for her, why don't...?"
"Glen," Annie came rushing to the front door, concerned, "Jesse's not in his room. He left this behind."
She handed Jesse's note to her husband. Glen read it and nodded grimly. "OK, yeah, they are with Jesse," he told the other parents, "But for your information, he's trying to convince them not to run away. See for yourselves."
He thrust the note at Mrs. Corwin. She snatched it off him and looked it over. "And you think you can fool me with this!?" she snarled at the Greenwoods, "He put Judy and Perkins' son up to it, and this is just your cover to try and protect him. Well I'm still having you both charged with...!"
With a furious roar, Annie slammed the front door shut. "You know what, Glen and I are getting very tired of both you and him!" she roared, gesturing between her and Mr. Perkins, "All either of you do is put Jesse down for where he came from while crushing your own children's lives! If the two of you want to ask why your kids ran away tonight, maybe you both should take a good look inside!"
"How dare you talk to me like that!?" Mrs. Corwin angrily shot back, "You're not the Richter kid's mother, so you have no right to tell me how to raise my child...!"
"No, we're not Jesse's parents. But we are his friends. And we want to be Jake and Judy's friends too. Which means sticking up for them when people like you hurt them!" Glen countered with his own angry scowl, "And it's clear to me you've hurt Judy loads of times by telling her she can't be want she wants to be in life!"
"A marine biologist is wholly unbecoming of a girl of her social status! I have sacrificed a lot to reach my position in life, and for her to take all that for granted and aim low...!"
"Yeah, Glen and I see: it's all about you. And I can guess it's always been all about you," Annie barked at Mrs. Corwin, "You say you've given Judy a good life; well tell me, Anita, have you ever given her any love!? Have you ever told her even once that you love her as her mother!? Or has it really been all about your own career the whole time!?"
"It's not my career; I am doing what I do for women everywhere! We are still being denied leadership positions in the world; by winning in the courtroom, I am showing how strong we are, and for Judy to turn her back on what I am trying to pave for her...!"
"What you're so intent on paving for yourself, that your daughter's feelings mean nothing to you. Yeah, you're a real upstanding woman," Annie was unmoved, "If I were Judy, I'd get away from you as fast as I could too. And you're hardly any better," she pivoted to Mr. Perkins.
"There you go again, you and your husband both trying to tell me how to raise my son! I didn't train Jake to attack a guy like he did at the whale place, lady! I had every right to ground him good; I'm still his father, and I demand respect from my kid...!"
"How's a kid supposed to respect someone who won't trust them at all!?" Glen cut him off, "Since it's clear to me you never gave him a chance to explain himself from what I've heard. And how I've heard he's scared stiff of you getting both drunk and mad...!?"
"And you believe anything that punk brat of yours said...!?"
"DO NOT call Jesse a punk brat, Perkins...!"
"Will you shut up over there, Greenwood!? I'm trying to sleep here!" yelled the neighbor across the street from his bedroom window.
"Ah, you shut up! You blare your TV all night half the time!" Glen yelled back at him. "Jake had a lot of reasons to lose respect for you, Perkins," he turned back to Jake's father, "The angry drunken outbursts especially; how's a kid supposed to respect someone if he's afraid that someone's going to kill them half the time!?"
"I would never hurt Jake, Greenwood...!"
"Maybe not physically, no, but there's more than one way to hurt a kid. And you've done it, Perkins. And from what I've also heard, you've bitten off everyone else's heads over the last year too. So tell me: what would your wife say if she could see you now, drunk and angry most of the time!?"
"Well...life's not worth much without Donna..." Mr. Perkins lowered his head.
"Actually, you haven't been worth much without Donna," Glen retorted, "You became a..."
There came the squealing of brakes as two more cars pulled up behind Mrs. Corwin's. "Glen, Annie, good, you're up already," Dwight climbed out of the first car, a solemn expression on his face, "Sorry to disturb you, but you need to know, I was downtown and...Lauren Shuler?" he frowned to see the state's attorney climbing out of the second car, "I don't think I called you..."
"Tina Milchan called me after you called her, Dwight. I'd told her to keep me informed of everything concerning Jesse's case after what happened at the institute. I know I'm a prosecutor by title, but if he's in any kind of trouble, I want to help defend him. I feel like I owe him for his coming forward in the Dial case," she confessed, "I only got the bare basics off Tina, though; how bad is this?"
"Well, as I was going to tell the Greenwoods here, Lauren, I caught Jesse and some other kids by the bus terminal, trailing after some guy. Jesse was quite rude when I tried to confront him and ran off..."
"Aha! So I was right; he did induce Judy to run away with him! Well I'm calling the police, and I'm pressing maximum charges against him!" Mrs. Corwin snarled to the Greenwoods, "And both of you are...!"
"Oh cork it, Anita!" Shuler barked, storming over to her courtroom rival, "I've been watching you for years, and I could tell you were ignoring Judy all that time, so if she's in trouble with the law now, it's partially your fault!"
"Oh don't you gang up on me too, Lauren!" Mrs. Corwin threatened her, "I've beaten you in the courtroom before, and I can beat you again...!"
"You just don't get it, do you, Anita!? It's not about winning or losing in the courtroom; it's about being the mother to your child, for once in your miserable, pitiable life!" Shuler raged at her.
"Whoa, whoa, back up here a minute, everyone," Annie waved her arms, "So Jesse was following some guy by the bus terminal and ran away when you confronted him?" she grilled Dwight.
"Afraid so. He and the other kids he was with grabbed the underside of the man's car and let him take them away. I have no clue what he's up to, but it looked pretty darn illegal to me. So I called the best defense counsel I know-who apparently then called Lauren Shuler as well," Dwight gestured towards the state's attorney. He shook his head glumly. "I wanted so much to believe in Jesse, I really did. I've tried for years to..."
It was then the radio in Glen's truck crackled to life. "Glen, Annie, are you there?" came Jesse's voice. The Greenwoods bolted for the truck. "Jesse where are you!?" Annie seized it first and asked him breathlessly.
"We're up in the mountains in Tugend Bluff State Park. Dial's holding Willy and the rest of his family in an old water treatment plant..."
"You have some serious explaining to do, buster!" Dwight barked sternly, leaning close to the radio, "If you're breaking any more laws right now...!"
"Dwight, it's all right, we'll handle this," Glen pushed him back. "Say that again, Jesse; Mr. Dial's holding Willy where?" he asked, frowning.
"The old water treatment plant in Tugend Bluff State Park. He caught Jake, Judy, and I and tried to kill us; Mr. Banks was there and saved us in time. We're going to try and free Willy and his family; we need your help..."
"Run that by me again, Jesse; Robert Dial tried to kill you!?" a concerned Shuler leaned towards the radio herself.
"Yes. He locked us in a closet in a ranger station and tried to choke us to death with exhaust fumes. You've got to call the police, Mrs. Shuler...!"
"Don't worry, Jesse, I'll get everyone I know on the line right now," Shuler assured him. "Well, there you have it, Anita," she turned to her courtroom rival with a cold expression, "The client you moved heaven and earth to get off just tried to murder your child. Tell me, was it really worth it?"
"I...I...there's got to be some kind of mistake; Robert Dial wouldn't..." Mrs. Corwin stammered, looking stunned at what she'd just heard.
"He tried to kill a whale in cold blood before this; I'd say he certainly would," Glen said grimly to her. "OK, Jesse, once Annie and I get dressed, we'll be there," he told his foster son over the radio, "You said the water treatment plant in Tugend Bluff State Park?"
"Yes. Call Rae and Randolph too-and Mr. Walker if you can; they're going to move Willy and his family real soon, and we have to hurry...!"
"OK, we'll be there as fast as we can. You, Jake, and Judy just stay safe till we get there," Glen told him, signing off. "Make the calls, quick," he instructed his wife.
"Of course," Annie followed him towards the house, stopping to look at Mr. Perkins and Mrs. Corwin. "And if I were you two, I'd seriously consider coming along too," she told them sternly.
"It's got to be a mistake; he's setting this whole thing up...!" a numb Mrs. Corwin refused to let go of her delusions.
"Oh give it up, lady!" Mr. Perkins shouted at her, looking guilty, "They're right; it is our faults our kids ran away, and it's up to us to make it right!" He dug out his cell phone, "Hal, it's George...yeah, I know you swore you weren't going to speak to me again, but I need a big favor from you and the crew...this isn't about me, this is about Jake! He needs help right now, and apparently so do a bunch of whales...no, I'm not drunk, Hal, not this time! Honest to god; they're holding some whales in Tugend Bluff, and Jake went looking for them...bring the damn breathalyzer if you want, but I ain't had a drop since last night!" he now dug two bottles of liquor out of his coat pocket and examined them hard, then popped them open and poured the alcohol down the to sidewalk. "I know the whole thing sounds ludicrous, but this time it's true!" he continued begging to Hal, smashing the bottles against the storm drain, "Please just do this, Hal, and I'll meet every single one of the union's demands, and double your pay...OK, I'll triple it if that's what you want; whatever ends up making it right between Jake and I! All right, what I'm going to ask then probably'll sound crazy, but you and the boys get a whole bunch of dump trucks and..."
"Hurry, hurry, please!" Jesse begged softly, watching the glowing lights of the water treatment plant high atop the hill above them through the now very brisk snow; at least six inches were on the ground now, he noticed.
"It's going to take some time for them to get this deep into the park, Jesse, especially with the road likely snow covered by now," Mr. Banks told him. "How are you, buddy?" he turned back to his car, where the now revived guard sat in the back seat, holding a large chunk of ice to his head.
"I've got a splitting headache, as you can see," the guard winced. "But I just want to tell you kids, I'm so sorry," he told Jesse, Jake, and Judy regretfully, "I had no idea Wade was going to do what he did. I didn't sign up for this to kill kids, and could never live with myself if I had ended up part of something like that."
"But you did help these guys kill Willy's family, didn't you!?" Judy accused him.
"Yeah, I did," the guard hung his head in shame, "I took the boat out and led them right into Carl's clutches, then planted the spears and guns on board to frame the Indian and the trainer. And seeing what it spiraled into, I was wrong to do that too. If I..."
There came the blare of a horn. "Thank god," Jesse breathed a sigh of relief to see the lights of Glen's truck approaching down the snowy road behind them-and more headlights behind it. "Jesse, are you all right!?" Annie raced to him once the truck stopped.
"I am now, Annie; Mr. Banks had followed us and saved us in time," Jesse explained, pointing at his teacher.
"Thank you," Annie gave Mr. Banks a hug. "And Willy's up there?" she glanced up at the lights high above them.
"Sure is, Mrs. Greenwood; he and the rest of his surviving family, plus some dolphins and seals and sea lions," Mr. Banks explained to her, "Glad you and your husband were able to come and help."
"We did it before, so why not again? The Eco-Avengers ride again, I guess," Glen shrugged, joining his wife in staring up at the lights. "Sure you're not hurt?" he asked his foster son worriedly.
"No, Glen, thankfully. It's Willy I'm worried about now," Jesse told him.
"Me too, then," Glen put an arm around him. "So, what's the plan, Banks?" he asked the teacher.
"Uh, yeah, that's the problem, Mr. Greenwood. I've thought long and hard, and right now, we really don't have a plan," Mr. Banks admitted sheepishly.
"Well when you get one, let me know-and try it make it quick, before we're snowed in here," Glen goaded him, staring up at the now even heavier snow. More car doors slammed. "Jesse," Dwight approached with a stern look.
"Dwight, I'm so sorry I kicked you like that, honest. I do trust you and respect you, even if it hasn't seemed like it at times," Jesse pleaded for forgiveness, "Wade was about to leave; if I hadn't left then, he would have gotten away and I'd never have caught up to him, and..."
"I get it, I get it; you and that whale are good friends, and you couldn't let anything happen to him," his social worker cut him off, "You still handled it wrong, though, and I may still push for disciplinary action against you..."
"Whatever you feel you have to do, Dwight. Just help us get Willy out of there."
"Oh no, no, I'm not going to break the law that egregiously, buster...!"
"Technically, Dwight, if those men have violated animal protection acts, anything we do to release them is perfectly legal as far as I see it," Shuler closed the door of her car and bustled over. "You came too, Mrs. Shuler? Thanks," Jesse was impressed.
"I got a call from a colleague that you might be in some kind of trouble, and I wanted to do what I could to help, to repay you for helping me with my case against Mr. Dial," the state's attorney told him. "So he's holding some whales up there?" she also glanced up at the compound's lights.
"Yeah."
"Well, if animals are being endangered, it should be all hands on deck, especially if the attempted murder of minors is part of the equation. So whatever you have in mind for this, I'd be glad to help too," Shuler nodded.
"You realize that means you can't participate in any court proceedings that might prosecute these guys, if they have committed a crime here," Dwight pointed out to her.
"I'm well aware of that, Dwight. But there comes a time when the common good trumps all, and there's plenty of other good lawyers out there who can handle the case just as well," Shuler reminded him.
With a squeal of brakes on the snowy road, an expensive-looking van now skidded to a stop behind the other vehicles. "OK, wait here for further instructions, Tom," Walker climbed out of the back seat and instructed his driver. "Is everyone all right?" he rushed forward.
"We are now, Mr. Walker," Jake told the institute's benefactor, "Mr. Dial's main henchman tried to kill us, but we were rescued in time. They're holding all the whales up there," he pointed up at the plant, "We're trying to come up with a plan."
"I see. Well, I have alerted the park service and the Coast Guard, and Lauren here told me over the phone that she'd called the police," Walker gestured at Shuler, "So people know we're here and what's going on. The problem is, with this blizzard raging, it's going to take a while till everyone gets here-so, you were a mole on the inside, I've heard," he scowled at the guard, "Care to explain yourself, Mr. Hobbs?"
"I guess so," the guard shook his head, "Carl Salkind sent me to be a man on the inside at the institute; he and Robert Dial had an agreement that Dial would get the whale with the flopped over fin, and we could do whatever we wanted with the rest of his herd..."
"It's a pod," Judy corrected him.
"Whatever it is. I tapped the boat's radio; I could hear everything that was said over the air. And on the night in question, I drove the boat out, lured the whales into a trap, and then put the weapons on board to frame your staff. I just never thought it would spiral to the point where Dial would order his men to kill kids..."
"Well you've done more harm than that, Mr. Hobbs," Walker's scowl deepened, "Two good people spent a week in jail for a crime they didn't commit, for one thing. And a whole pod of whales is decimated to the point where we don't know if they'll be able to stay together in the wild. Not to mention you've tarnished the institute's good name. However, if you're willing to make amends, I'm open to offering..."
Another set of brakes squealing cut him off. A familiar minibus stopped at the rear of the line. "Jesse, are you all right?" Randolph leaped out of the driver's seat, with Rae piling out the passenger side.
"I am, and I'm so glad to see you guys too," Jesse hugged them both.
"Believe me, I'm glad to be out of jail," Randolph said with a shudder. "So Willy's up there?" he looked up at the lights.
"Yeah, and they're going to ship him to a park in Mexico City. Dial's sold his family all over the world; they'll probably be moved real soon. So we've got to hurry and get them out quick."
"I see," Rae's gaze went up to the lights as well. "How did he look?" she asked the boy.
"He seems OK, Rae, but some of the others aren't. Kago's hurt, and he's not the only one; I saw a couple of them were wounded bad," Jesse gave Jake a sympathetic glance, "And they look pretty underfed too; I don't think they've had much to eat since they got captured."
"Those animals..." Rae muttered in disgust, "Just like Dial to not take care of them if he had the chance-and he actually tried to kill you!?"
"Yeah; he had Wade pump exhaust fumes into the closet we were locked in."
"I don't believe it," the former whale trainer shook her head in disgust, "He's even lower than I thought he was capable of being. Yeah, you're right, we've got to hurry then."
"So anyone have any ideas how we get them out and back to the ocean?" Randolph asked the group.
"We're working on it, Randolph," Glen turned to Mr. Banks, who shrugged innocently, "It sure won't be easy, though. Loading up some twenty-five whales and dolphins, then finding our way down to the ocean from this deep in the mountains in a huge blizzard-it's going to be a lot harder than last time, that's for sure."
"Well we've got to, Glen; Willy needs us..." Jesse suddenly stopped as he saw another set of headlights above them on the road leading to the water treatment plant-lights to a car that was audibly stuck in a snowdrift and spinning its wheels. "Hey, that must be the vet they called for," he realized.
"Vet?" Walker inquired.
"The whale hunters hired some Swedish vet to clear the whales for transport; it was a security measure so no one could tie them to..." Judy started to explain.
"Wait a minute, wait a minute," a smile crossed Mr. Banks' face, "I think I have at least a beginning of a plan here..."
"Well we'd feel a lot better with a whole plan, Jack..." Randolph pointed out to him.
"Well this at least gets us in the door, Randolph," Mr. Banks' beam widened as the veterinarian could be heard jumping out of his car on the hill above and cursing in Swedish. "Mr. Greenwood, take me up there in your truck," he asked Glen, "We'll bring him down here, and then we'll make a big switcheroo."
"I don't follow you," Glen frowned.
"I think I know what he has in mind, Glen," Annie, in contrast, understood, "Come on."
She bustled for the truck. "You kids climb up on that hill there," Mr. Banks instructed Jesse and his younger friends, pointing to the hill in question, "When I give you the signal, snow on his parade. We'll handle the rest. The rest of you, find a good hiding place so this looks legitimate," he told the other adults, who raced to hide behind trees and boulders. Jesse scrambled with Jake and Judy up the hill and took his position in front of a large pile of snow by the edge. "Well, here we go," he told them excitedly.
"Yep," Jake looked thrilled himself, "It's good to get to help you free Willy this time."
"Same here," Judy agreed. The three of them watched Glen's truck drive back up the road, soon coming to a stop next to the veterinarian's stuck car. It was impossible for Jesse to make out what was being said among everyone on the hill, but the veterinarian did climb into the truck, while Glen hitched the Swedish man' car to the back. He then drove it down the hill to where everyone had parked. "Get ready," Jesse told Jake and Judy, placing his hands against the big pile of snow. Glen's truck came to a stop right underneath where they were squatting. "Hey, what's the story here!?" the veterinarian, a large man similar in girth to Mr. Banks, protested in accented English, climbing out and looking around, "There's no whales around here!"
"Uh, yeah, we're just, uh, getting your car out of the way so it doesn't block the trucks when they take the whales out," Glen explained, now on board with the plan, "And we'll take you to them right after we take care of this."
"In fact, we'll do that...now," Mr. Banks gave a nod up to the hill. Jesse and the others shoved the large pile of snow down on top of the veterinarian. Howling, he ran around blindly-straight into a tree, in fact, which apparently was enough to knock himself out, as he immediately keeled backwards to the ground. "Actually, that worked even better than I thought," the teacher mused. "OK," he told the others as they came out of hiding, "Now I'll pretend to be him to get us all in..."
"Another problem," Rae raised her hand with a frown, "Dial knows what the rest of us all look like. We'd never get past security..."
"Not quite everyone, Miss Lindley," Mr. Banks gave Dwight a sly glance. "Oh no, no, no, I'm not getting involved in this!" Dwight waved his arms, "I'm just a regular everyday social worker, and I do not get involved in...!"
"Come on, Dwight, deep down, you know you want to," Jesse goaded him with his own grin.
"Absolutely not...!"
"Come on, Mr. Williamson, I guess it is, live a little," Mr. Banks put an arm around him.
"It would probably work better, whatever you have in mind, if I was there with you," Hobbs the guard spoke up, "They'd believe you more with me there..."
"Probably," Walker nodded knowingly, "And if you do help, I guess we can probably convince prosecutors to reduce any sentence you might receive, can't we?" he asked Shuler.
"Yes, I believe we can," the lawyer nodded herself, "Just so you are on the level with helping," she advised the guard.
"Yeah, yeah," the guard nodded, "I almost was an accessory to killing kids tonight; I've gotta make amends for that."
"Great, then," Mr. Banks approved of this addition to the plan. "Now, everyone," he turned to the others, "what I have in mind is..."
