11:25 a.m.
Parker walked away from Anna. "Winnie, can I get a cell number for Nathan Billings? Let's see if we can make contact here."
"On it!" Winnie responded. "Alright, I have it pulled up, I'll patch it through."
Seven pairs of ears listened as the phone rang.
"Come on, Nathan, come on. Pick up," Parker muttered.
"Hello?" Team One heard a tense voice on the other end answer the phone.
"Nathan, my name is Sargent Gregory Parker. I'm with the Police Strategic Response Unit. Thank you very much for picking up the phone. Can you tell me how everyone is doing in there?"
"Everyone's fine, but that's going to change very fast if I don't get to talk to Anna. Do you hear me?"
"Yes, Nathan, I understand. And I want you to know that I take this very seriously, I want to help you here," Parker responded.
"Good. I want Anna. I know she's out there. I want to talk with her or I swear I'll kill a hostage. You know, it's not right what she did to me. She can't just walk away like that, not give me a chance to make things better." Nathan's voice was bitter and flat.
"Nathan, I want to help you here, but I'm afraid that won't be possible just yet. You have to show me that you're willing to work with us here too. How about as a show of good faith you let some of your hostages go, Nathan. Cooperating with me here will make things a lot easier for you."
"You think I'm stupid, don't you? Everyone stays here with me until Anna comes in. That's the deal. You have until noon." Nathan shot back his response and then the line went dead.
Parker paused a brief moment and then spoke into his headset. "Alright team, Nathan's not budging just yet. Let's see if we can get eyes in, we need to know what's going on in there. Spike, Wordy, try looking at the floor plans of the building and see where we might be able to get in, even just with the fiber optic camera. Jules, Lewis, Sam, keep talking with the students that were able to escape and see if you can find anything more about what we're dealing with here."
Ed walked back to where Parker stood. "Boss, what about taking a small team in there with Anna, giving him what he wants. Maybe she can talk to him and get him to release his hostages. It's a calculated risk."
"It could be worth a shot." Sam chimed in over the headset.
"Or sending in a team could spook him and cause him to shoot. Either at us or at a hostage." Parker corrected. "Until he starts cooperating with us, I don't want to move her in there. Let's get an immediate action plan ready just in case the subject becomes active."