Chapter 9 The Last Hostage

Phineas landed hard on Lucas and pushed the gun sideways toward the dead bodies piled on top of each other against the wall. Lucas had pulled the trigger and was holding it so the bullets made a trail down the wall to the floor. Phineas put all his strength into keeping Lucas' gun pointing at the bodies and keeping the pressure on the trigger. He was almost sure the other hostage had not been hit, and if he could just empty the gun, the threat would be a lot less.

Suddenly he saw a handgun pointed at Lucas' temple and heard a man's loud voice. "Stop, police."

Several pairs of hands pulled him off Lucas and he realized the room was full of police officers and the smoke was disappearing quickly. He stood up, dizzy from the heat and lack of water, and shaking. The smell from the decaying bodies made him feel nauseated.

"What's your name, sir?" one of the officers asked him, but he turned away.

"Jeff," he whispered as he coughed, and rushed to the spot under the table where he'd pushed Jeffrey so long ago. Another officer was already there, tending to him. He had a bucket of ice and one of water and was sponging Jeff down.

Phineas fell to his knees and grabbed Jeff's shirt from where he had discarded it. He put it into the water bucket and began working with the officer to wet Jeff's body to cool him off.

Jeff's eyes fluttered open and the man handed Bogg a cup of water, "have him drink," was the terse instruction, but Phineas didn't need to be told. He gently lifted Jeff's head and held the cup to his lips.

"Drink this Jeff," he said softly and Jeff gulped down the whole cup.

"That's good," the officer said. "Give him a few minutes and then give him this one," he indicated another cup of cool water he had just poured.

Jeff held out his arms toward Bogg and he didn't need any invitation.

As Bogg lifted Jeffrey onto his lap and switched to a seated position on the floor, a man appeared in the shadows of the room, not too far away. His appearance was silent and he was not noticed by anyone. He tilted his head to the side and strained to hear their soft conversation.

"I thought you were dead," Jeff's voice was hoarse, his throat still felt incredibly dry.

"I'm okay," Phineas whispered as he held Jeff close to him with his left arm and continued putting the cool water on him with his right. "I was scared for you, it was so hot. Here," he said, picking up the cup and holding it up to Jeff's lips again, "drink some more."

They sat together and Phineas gave Jeff a drink every few minutes, and wiped him down in between times. Slowly they both calmed down and Jeff finally sat up and looked at Phineas.

"You drink now," he said offering him the cup Phineas had just poured for him.

Phineas smiled, took it and drank, and they began sharing the water.

"Hey, my shirt!" Jeff exclaimed, just realizing what Bogg had been using to cool him off.

"It needed to be washed anyway," Phineas joked and wrung it out over Jeff's head. The man in the shadows couldn't stop the smile from coming to his lips.

Jeff glared at him, but couldn't be angry, so he smiled, took the damp shirt and pulled it over his head. "That's better," he said.

Phineas handed him another cup of water, "keep drinking, and I should get you to a cooler place," he said glancing around.

"How about some information now?" It was the same police officer who had been caring for Jeff when Phineas had finally gotten to him.

"Thanks a lot for helping Jeff get cooled off," Bogg said.

"No problem, I took a lengthy statement from the other gentlemen, and the hostages who were allowed to leave, so I have a pretty good idea about what happened, but I do need a little information," the officer said.

"Hey, you were the one holding up the signs in the hall," Jeff interrupted.

"Yes, and your information helped us very much," he turned to Bogg, "you should be very proud of your son, he gave us important information about what was happening in there. The Captain planned the assault using it."

Bogg smiled and put his hand on Jeff's shoulder, "I am."
As he answered a few questions for the officer, Jeff unhooked the omni and checked it, then turned it so Phineas could see the green light.

"You got any idea what we did to make it green?" Bogg asked him after the officer left.

Jeff shrugged, "not this time."

The man continued to stand in the shadows taking it all in.