CHAPTER 5
Ringing stabbed the edges of his mind. He was so tired. He just wanted to rest, to sleep, but angry voices joined the ringing in assaulting his brain. Bobby blinked, and pain filled him. He desperately tried to focus. Through a haze he saw the frightened eyes of several of the hostages. They had been moved to a corner of the lobby farthest from the front door. The boy and girl were huddled against their mothers; the elderly couple held each other tightly; and the single older woman tried to help comfort the children. The older man looked very pale, and sweat covered the boy's mother's face. Bobby didn't like how they looked. He took a deep breath and slowly tried to push his body into a sitting position. The cold, hard steel of a rifle barrel stopped him.
"Get up!" Kevin shouted.
"Ok…ok…" Bobby said thickly. His mouth had blood in it, and Bobby involuntarily swallowed it. He felt horribly sick, and for a moment he was on his hands and knees. The phone kept ringing and increased the throbbing in his head.
"Get up!" Kevin yelled again.
"Kevin," Rye said. "He's hurt…Give the guy a break…He's our best chance of getting out of here…"
Kevin glared at his younger brother. "All right…Let's use him…Larry…Get over here! Rye…Watch them!" He waved his gun over the hostages.
Larry moved eagerly to obey Kevin, but Rye moved slowly to his post.
"Help me get him up!" Kevin said to Larry.
The two men yanked Bobby, who struggled not to pass out, to his feet.
"Please," Bobby gasped. "Just…tell me what you want me to do…"
"The door…Larry, hold the gun on him," Kevin ordered.
Larry jammed his gun's barrel under Bobby's chin. He and Kevin half dragged, half shoved Bobby to the front door. Kevin pushed the door open, and Larry pushed Bobby through it. The frigid air took Bobby's breath away, and he struggled to breathe for several moments. His coat was in the assistant manager's office, and the cold sent tiny, sharp needles into his skin. The bright sun and the pulsating lights of the emergency vehicles pounded his eyes. The cold air seemed to freeze the beads of sweat on his skin. He wavered, and Larry pressed his gun against his back.
"Stand up, you bastard," Larry mumbled. "Or I'll blow a hole in you…"
"Bastard," Bobby thought. "He doesn't know how right he might be…" He looked across the street at the assembled cops, searching for a small, blonde figure. He glimpsed Alex, pressed near the front and gripping one of the barricades. "She doesn't have her hat on," Bobby thought. "She'll get cold…"
"Hey!" Kevin screamed from inside the bank. "This is Kevin Maguire! I'm in charge here! Stop calling or we'll blow this cop's head off!"
Larry grinned evilly and jammed the rifle barrel hard enough against Bobby's head to make the detective stumble.
Across the street, Captain Fusco ordered the phone call ended. Alex looked over at the hastily set up table where a flock of technicians hovered over her cell phone and fought to increase and clear the signal from Bobby's phone. She stared back at the bank's front door. Even from a distance, Bobby looked terrible. Alex thought she saw blood on his face and head, and he staggered, his body held up partially by the gun jammed against his body. She turned to Captain Ross, who surveyed the scene through a pair of binoculars.
"Captain…How does he look?" she asked, blaming the shivers of her body on the frigid wind.
Ross lowered the binoculars. "He…He's looked better," he said carefully. "It looks like he's been knocked around, just like the two guys said."
Alex winced.
"He's taking blows meant for the hostages," Ross said softly.
"Of course he is," Alex said with a mix of frustration and admiration. "He's Bobby."
Captain Fusco turned to her. "He's doing everything right, Eames. He got two hostages out, and we've got some information about what's going on. Detective Goren is our ace in the hole."
The Chief of Detectives appeared over Fusco's shoulder. "Goren? Goren is the cop on the inside?"
"Yes, Chief," Ross said evenly.
"And he's doing a great job," Fusco added. Ross had informed Fusco of the Chief of D's hostile opinion regarding Detective Robert Goren, but Fusco had also seen an abbreviated version of Goren's file. Ross supported Goren, and Fusco was a friend of Jimmy Deakins who felt the former Major Case Captain had been treated badly by the Brass, including the Chief of Detectives. Jimmy Deakins had told Fusco several stories about the amazing and occasionally frustrating Goren and Eames, and Fusco gave Deakins, Ross, and that file far more credence than the Chief of Detectives.
"They're going back in," Ross said tensely. He raised the binoculars to get a last look at Bobby.
As soon as they were back inside the bank, Larry brutally shoved Bobby, who stumbled, fell, and rolled up against the gym bag. His blood froze. The bag wasn't empty. It was full of something hard and metallic.
"Damn it, Larry!" Kevin fumed. "Be careful!" He kicked at Bobby, who groaned and rolled away from the blow.
Rye, with growing horror, looked at his brother. "Kevin, what's in the bag?"
Kevin glared at him. "You'll find out soon enough, Rye," he said triumphantly. "Everyone will find out."
Bobby struggled to raise his body, but his arms trembled and he fell to the floor.
"Take it easy, son," the older man said gently. Bobby felt a comforting hand on his shoulder. "You're doing everything you can."
The three perps were in the middle of a heated argument. Rye was clearly deeply troubled by what the bag might hold. Larry was confused, and Kevin growing angrier at being challenged.
Bobby took a deep breath and, with the older man's help, managed to sit up. "Is…is everyone all right?" he whispered.
"The little girl," the man's wife said. "She has asthma…Her mother is worried…"
"And the lady," the man nodded in the direction of the white haired woman. "She has blood pressure problems."
Bobby, his heart moving towards his throat, watched the woman try to help comfort the little girl.
"The little boy," the man continued. "Is very worried about his mother…But I don't know why."
Bobby studied the woman. She was very pale and perspiring heavily.
"And Sam here." The woman gave Sam's arm a gentle squeeze. "Has some heart trouble…"
The man looked at his wife with a mix of love and concern. "Well, Ruth here has her troubles…This cold floor isn't good for her hip…"
Ruth tenderly touched Bobby's shoulder. "But I don't think any of us are hurting as much as you…"
"I…I'm ok," Bobby whispered. He leaned back against the counter. A shadow fell over him.
"What's going on?" Kevin asked harshly.
The man started to reply, and Kevin raised his gun. Bobby spoke. "We're not conspiring…Planning anything…Just talking…"
Kevin glared at him.
Rye looked at the hostages. "Are…are all of you ok?"
"Damn it, Rye," Kevin said. "Does your heart have to bleed for everyone?"
Rye's face flushed. "Just remember what we talked about, Kevin," he answered. He was clearly angry at his brother but unable to challenge him.
"Yea," Kevin growled. "You remember too." He swung his gun away from the hostages, and Bobby took a ragged breath.
"You watch them," Kevin ordered Rye. "Larry and I are gonna check the back."
Rye stood uncomfortably as Larry and Kevin left the room. Bobby looked down the row of hostages at the boy and his mother. The woman looked paler; the boy more frightened.
"Rye," Bobby said cautiously.
The young man raised his gun slightly. "Don't talk to me. Kevin's in charge."
"I…I know," Bobby said. "I just need to talk to them." He tilted his head towards the boy and his mother. "Make sure they're ok."
Rye gnawed his lip. "Ok," he finally said. "But make it quick."
Bobby dragged his body across the floor. "I get out of this," he thought. "I'm going to take a vacation…Some place quiet…Warm…"
The boy looked up at him with great, dark, scared eyes. "Can you help my mom? She has diabetes…"
Bobby touched the woman's neck and felt her pulse. It was fast, but strong. "I'll try," he said. "My name is Bobby."
"I'm Beverly Mitchell," the woman said. "And this is Ben." She smiled wearily. "I did a stupid thing…I left my bag with my insulin in the car…I thought we'd be in and out…"
"You need it," Bobby said.
"Yea, she does," Ben said. "You're really a policeman?"
"A good question," Bobby thought.
"Yea, Ben…I'm a policeman," Bobby answered, not willing to confuse a scared boy with NYPD politics. "But I don't have my gun…"
"You're hurt," Ben said.
"It looks worse than it is," Bobby said with a confidence he didn't feel.
They heard Larry and Kevin coming from the back of the bank.
"Get back over here," Rye said anxiously. "Or Kevin…"
"Ok," Bobby said. "I'll do everything I can, Ben." He crawled painfully back to sit by the Sam and Ruth.
Kevin appeared in the lobby. He strode in front of Bobby. "Tell me what they're planning," he demanded.
"They're worried about the hostages…They won't attack…Try anything that would hurt them…" Bobby said.
"What about you? Another cop?"
A bitter smile played on Bobby's mouth. "I'm the least important person here."
"You got that right," Kevin sneered.
"Kevin!" Larry shouted from a back office. "We're on TV!"
"Rye…Watch them!" Kevin rushed to join Larry.
"That's what this is about, isn't it, Rye?" Bobby asked as soon as Kevin disappeared. "Kevin wants attention."
Rye gnawed his lip again. "It was supposed to be easy…Kevin said it'd take a few minutes…No one would get hurt…"
"But he picked a time when there would be a crowd in the bank," Bobby said gently. "And he didn't move that quickly to get out of here." Bobby hesitated. He had to reach Rye, but he didn't want to scare the hostages. "And what's in that bag, Rye?"
"He…he's my brother," Rye said. He stared at the bag.
"And he's betrayed you before," Bobby said. "I…I know something about that…My brother…" He slowly shook his head. "Hasn't been the best thing in my life."
Rye looked at Bobby, then the hostages, and then at the horde of cops in the street.
"Rye," Bobby said, his voice still calm and clear. "I can tell Kevin doesn't tell you the truth…or at least all of it…"
"Damn it, Kevin," Rye said in despair.
"He's messed things up before," Bobby said thoughtfully. He might have been explaining a point to Alex or Ross. "But this…" He waved a hand and tried not to wince at the pain.
Rye started to pace.
"You have to make a decision, Rye. Loyalty…loyalty to family…It's a great thing…But if it isn't returned." Bobby struggled against rising emotions. "Of if the person doesn't deserve the loyalty…You…You have to do what's right…Rye…You have to make a choice."
Rye stopped pacing. "I…I don't want Kevin to get hurt…He…He's still my brother…"
"The longer this goes on," Bobby said. "The greater the chance he'll get hurt…You know that, Rye."
The little girl whimpered and gasped. Her mother looked up at Rye. "Please," she pleaded. "She's sick…I left her medicine in the car…"
"And my Mom," Ben said bravely.
Rye stared at the back of the bank for several agonizing minutes. "Ok…ok…" he finally said. He moved quickly. "You and your daughter…You go first…"
The woman rose quickly. The little girl, aware of her mother's hope, grew quiet. "Thank you, thank you," the woman said to Rye. She turned to Bobby. "And you…"
"Go," Rye said. "As fast and quiet as you can…"
As the woman and child slipped through the door, Rye turned to the older people. "You three next…"
As they stood, the trio each gently touched Bobby on the shoulder. They moved stiffly but as quickly as they could. Rye glanced anxiously at the back of the bank as they left.
"All right," he said in a tight voice. "You and your mom."
Ben rose and helped his mother to her feet. She trembled, and Rye reached out to steady her.
"You follow me to the door, kid," he said. "And I'll help your mom."
Ben looked at Bobby. "He'll be ok?"
"I'll do what I can," Rye said.
"Thank you," Ben whispered and followed Rye and his mother to the door.
Bobby closed his eyes and leaned against the counter. "They're not out yet," he thought.
Rye opened the door and guided Mrs. Mitchell through it. A whoop of joy broke the quiet as Larry and Kevin emerged from the back of the bank.
END CHAPTER FIVE