"You think we're playing games?" one voice came through the headset- the voice that belonged to the man that was the leader of the gang holding up a downtown bank, "Keep watching. I'll kill one hostage every hour, until you start taking us seriously."
"What was Megan upset about the other night?" Jules asked at breakfast.
"She told me that she's afraid that people, everyone- is out to get her. To attack her. To hold her hostage."
"PTSD?"
"I dunno, but at her age, I hope she snaps out of it."
"Don't count on it. You should know- it never gets easier."
"I know. Maybe if her confidence was higher, it'd help."
"Maybe I can do something," Jules replied, "Maybe I'll teach her some self-defence."
"Be my guest, if she's willing."
The rest of the Sunday was quiet. Jules took Megan to the gym, while I stayed home, and finished moving in some of my stuff- namely my gun safe and my own, personal firearms collection.
After getting everything tucked away, I took out my favourite gun- an M98 Mauser, chambered in 6.5 Swiss- a known collectors item.
"This is your new home." I said to the inanimate object. Haley used to hate it so much when I talked to my guns, she had me clean and work on them in the garage.
Lets hope Jules has a different take on this...
"And then I took her home, and I...you know..." Spike said, as he continued pumping iron.
Beside him, I laughed, as did Ed.
"What you're sayin' Spike- is that you kissed and told?" Ed asked.
"Hey- when I kiss and tell, I don't usually just kiss- we usually do more than that."
"Ok- lets stop this conversation here." Greg said, as he got onto a cardio machine across from us, "Nobody wants to hear about how Spike lost his virginity."
Ed and me started laughing, as Spike threw the boss a dark scowl.
"I'm joking Spike." Greg said, as Sam passed in front of him, and prepared himself in front of the punching bag.
"Speaking of the devil." Greg said, as he nodded in Sam's direction, "Anything you want to say Sam?"
"I'm sorry about the other day, guys."
Then there was an awkward exchange of 'no problems' and 'forget about it's.
As if on cue, to break the ice, Jules wandered in and stood in the centre, as she decided what she was going to work on. "What we talking about?" she asked.
"New subject." Ed said, lifting a medicine ball, "Everybody get the invitation to my BBQ in a few weeks?"
"Yeah." everybody said in unison.
"Please, Ed, make sure there's enough booze for everyone." Spike said, "Remember last time- me and Sam had to bow out, while you old timers drank virgin screwdrivers and wine."
"What's wrong with some good ol' OJ?" I asked with a laugh.
But the laugh was short spirited, as the call horn rang out, and our favourite dispatcher- Winnie spoke out, "Team One- hot call!"
"Alarm tripped by vault security at Royal Ontario Bank. Unknown amount of hostages or suspects." Winnie told us over the radio, on our way to the bank.
Down at the bank, we all piled out, and started doing our known jobs. Even though we knew what to do, Ed seemed like pointing it out to everybody.
"Boss and Jules-witnesses, Spike on intel. Sam- find a perch and sit there. Perra- get us some ears and eyes in."
"We got a place for our eyes?" I asked Spike over the radio, as I grabbed the required gear I'd need from the one truck.
"On the roof- air vent- rappel down the vertical shaft. From there, according to the plans, the air ducts change from barely big enough for humans to not big enough for humans."
"So, wheeled drone?"
"That might be your best bet. Fire escape ladder on the south wall will bring you to the roof."
"10-4"
"I'll go with you Perra." Ed said, as he ran behind me, "We need to plan for tac options."
It wasn't long before we were on the roof. Once there, Ed helped me setup a rappelling harness.
"See you on the other side." I said jokingly to Ed while I started my descent.
About halfway down I heard rumblings in the thin tin material that constructed the duct.
"Spike- does the bank use both levels of this building?" I asked.
"Yeah- why?"
"I'm hearing noises on the second level."
"Get a snake in there Perra, check it out." Ed commented.
I grabbed the drill I had prepared before coming down that was hanging off my belt and drilled a big enough hole for my small video snake to fit into.
"What do you see Perra?" Ed asked.
"Two men- probably security guards. Bound and gagged, Looks like a closet."
"Do they see the snake?"
"Probably not. They're not looking at it."
"Alright get it out. They're not going to help us where they are. At least we know where they are though. They still armed?"
I craned the video snake down. "Handguns are missing from their holsters. Probably taken by the suspects."
I pulled the snake out, and put it back in its pouch and continued my descent.
When I finally hit the bottom I radioed up to Ed, "At the bottom."
I immediately went to work. At the bottom of the shaft, I drilled another hole, and put the video snake through it. After setting that up, I removed the wheeled drone from its case in my bag, and turned it on.
"This thing working?" I asked over the radio, as I looked into the camera of the drone.
"Yeah. Drone's online." came Spike's reply.
I put the drone down, and wheeled it into position, using verbal instructions over the radio from Spike.
"In position." Spike said, "Fourteen hostages and four suspects. This video would be nice if we had ears to go with it."
After setting up the audio equipment to the video snake, I replied, "There you go. Ears up. I'm ready to come back up Ed."
Ed started to bring me up, as Spike fed the audio from the feed into our headsets.
"All I hear is Russian." I said to Spike, "You on the right channel?"
"Assuming you set it to channel 8, yes."
"That's the channel its on."
"Then that's what we're hearing from inside."
"Contact the universities Spike," Greg said over the radio, "Someone must speak Russian."
Finally back on the roof, as I was removing the harness I asked Ed, "So- we got a tactical plan yet?"
"I'm working on it."
"...the police have not yet confirmed the number of suspects or hostages. Strategic Response Unit is on scene."
After listening to the headlines on her smartphone, Megan tucked it back into her pocket, as she neared the front entrance of the school.
I can do this. Sure, ok, this is my first day back to school since the incident and the divorce. Granted- the self taught independent study was great, but lets face it- there is only so many times I can graph the same parabolas.
She looked over to the right before opening the door. Just three weeks before, she was taken hostage at that same spot.
After getting to her locker, and starting to put away her books, Megan could sense that someone was creeping up behind her. Suddenly, she felt a warm hand on her shoulder.
With her muscles tensing up with indecision, and the swarm of memories of being taken coming back into her mind, Megan nearly fell into her locker.
"What the hell are you doing?" the girl who sneaked up behind her asked.
Megan looked up at the joker, as she got up.
"Jesus Christ, Ashley- what the hell were you doing?"
"It was just a joke, Megan, lighten up." Ashley said, "Thank god you're back though- I don't think I could get through another one of Fenner's classes without you."
"Aha- Fenner." Megan said, with a laugh, as she finally composed herself, and glanced at her schedule posted on the inside of her locker, and grabbing the books required. "Did anyone see me...?"
"Do a head dive into your locker? No, just some freshmen."
"Great, now everyone thinks I'm a klutz."
"A klutz, Meg?" Ashley said with a snort, as Megan closed her locker, and they began walking down the hall together, "You're almost a celebrity."
"How so?"
"Lets see...you get kidnapped on break, and some badass cops-"
"Actually SRU."
"-SRU, whatever, save you. Oh, and lets not forget that everyone knows that your dad is a badass cop."
"Ash- its SRU, Strategic Response Unit." Megan said, as they waited outside their first class.
"Whatever Meg."
After a few quiet moments went by, Megan decided to finally say something.
"My mom and dad are separated, eh?"
"What?"
"Yeah. They filed for divorce, and everything got settled."
"Wow. I didn't know."
"I thought I told you."
"Well, you didn't."
"Spike!" Ed yelled over the radio, "This place have any sort of loading dock?"
"Yeah," Spike replied, "But once you're in from there, you're exposed on all sides."
"What where you thinking?" I asked Ed, while we still stood on the roof.
"Shape charge through the door."
"That'd be too loud. Why not just open the door?"
"Actually-" Spike thought aloud over the radio, "That might work. Get in, smoke for cover, and get behind the counting area."
"Too risky." Ed figured. "We need another way in."
"What about the sewers?" I said, as I looked out into the street, "The sanitation line is big enough for us, and probably butts right up to the building and dumps in. Shape charge, and we're in."
"Lets try to keep the amount of damage to minimum please." Greg asked.
"Rappel in through the upper windows?" Ed wondered.
"We'd need a helicopter. That, and I'm pretty sure no pilot in his right mind would even attempt hovering down here." I pointed out.
"There's always hard tactical through the front." Sam suggested over the radio.
"Only if there's no other option, Eddie." Greg told us, "We don't want a shooting spree."
"We're running out of options," Ed said, "So far are best plan is a shape charge into the basment."
"Correction-" Spike said, "There is no basment."
"What?" I asked over the radio, "How is there no basement?"
"We'll talk about it on the ground- lets go." Ed spoke, as we approached the fire escape ladder.
Once on the ground, we went inside the command truck, where Spike was working frantically, and Greg and Jules comparing notes.
Sitting in a chair beside Spike I asked, "Any hits?"
"None in the DMV or the TPD databases." he replied, "But they could just have no criminal record, and don't have a new style of license yet."
"What's a bunch of new-time criminals doing with a bank bust?" I asked.
"Any plan yet Eddie?" Greg asked, as he put away his notepad.
"Not yet boss."
"Ok- you try to get into the impossible building, and I'll try to talk down a bunch of unknowns." Greg said with sarcasm.
I silently laughed, as my eyes glanced over the roof-top scan.
Then it came to me.
"Ed-we make our own access. Those small vent tubes are HVAC vents, leading down into the mechanical room. We cut through, rappel in, cut the power..."
"Advantage us." Ed added.
"From the mechanical room, I can set up another set of eyes, which will get us a lot closer to the action. From there we reassemble, and plan out a long term tac, as the boss calls in, and sees what they want."
"That'll work." Ed said, with a grin, "Good job Perra."
Me, Ed and Jules climbed up onto the roof. Strapped to my back was the tanks that would feed the gas metal cutters.
Once on top, I donned the tinted welding glasses and cut our access. Meanwhile, Jules and Ed created and secured a single man rappel line.
Ed went in first.
"All clear." he told us over the radio.
I assisted Jules into the harness, and before she started lowering herself down, she gave me a big smile.
I couldn't help but smile back.
After the line was released, I followed suit.
Once inside, I went to work drilling another hole in an air vent, and putting in the long lined video snake, while Ed and Jules cut the power.
"In position?" Ed whispered over to me.
I nodded yes.
Ed pulled a set of breakers, as the power to the entire building was turned off.
Megan was fighting heavy eyes in the last few minutes of math class.
As the bell rang, she snapped to, collected her books and ran out of the class, and back to her locker.
Once there, she opened it up, and shoved the books in, as she started breathing heavily.
Not again, not again...
"Hey Megan." Ashley said behind her, "I know we both hate Fenner's class, but what gives? Why did you run out so fast?"
"Ash-" Megan started, as she turned around, and pulled her hair over her ear, "Secret sisters?"
"Secret sisters- you bet."
"The whole time in class- it felt like I was back in that guy's trunk again."
Ashley looked at her friend with concern. "You ok? You look ill. Maybe you should go see the nurse."
Megan shuddered as she felt her temple. "I do feel a bit hot."
"Go." Ashley said, "I'll stop by your gym class and tell McMaster you'll be late."
"Thanks."
Megan stayed at her locker until the 2nd warning bell. After closing her locker, she walked down the hall, and down one set of stairs. While on the landing in between the two sets of stairs, she looked down in the main hall, and she saw a man running down the hall.
Recognizing the hair of the man, she thought to herself, Jonas is always late.
Then, as if her last step onto the main floor was the trigger, a long continuous bell could be heard.
Puzzled, and nearly deafened by the bell, she looked around as a door opened, and a teacher grabbed her and pulled her inside.
"Stay with me." he said, as she looked into the class of grade nine geography.
'What's going on?" she asked.
"Its a lockdown- someone's in the school who shouldn't be."
"Power's cut boss." Ed informed over the radio.
"10-4, calling in." Parker replied.
The silence was killing us.
Then my phone vibrated.
"What's that noise?" Ed asked.
"Its my phone. Ignore it?"
"We got some time. Just be quick."
I un-clipped the retention strap on the pouch.
"Hello?"
"Hey Perra- its Winnie."
"What do you want?"
"I just got a call about Warden High School. I dispatched team six- they should be able to handle it..."
"You called me for that?"
"Well, I remembered that your daughter goes to Warden- just thought I'd let you know."
"Thanks, bye."
I put the phone back.
"Who was it?" Eddie asked, as he was looking around the mechanical room with his flashlight.
"Nothing- a security incident at Warden High School."
"You wanna talk about..." Jules started.
"No, lets just work, ok?"
"I got nothing guys." Greg said over the radio, "But he thinks we're not taking us seriously. Play it Spike."
In the background, I could hear Spike press some buttons, then it came loud and clear over the headset.
"You think we're playing games? Keep watching. I'll kill one hostage every hour, until you start taking us seriously."
"That's threat-" I said to Ed, "We gotta go in."
Megan looked around frantically, as she tried to get a grip as to what was going on.
Security incident. The guy got out- he escaped. He's tracking me down to kill me. Oh my god...
And without a sign- she blacked out.
"What are they carrying?" Ed asked Spike.
"Looks like handguns. Can't be sure of the caliber though."
"Whatever it is- the vests can take it." I said.
"Alright-" Ed thought out loud, "Flash and smoke in. We go in with the thermals up. We work across- identify and lights out with the less lethal. We don't want to be taking out civilians."
I switched out to my LL mag, as Ed and Jules followed suit.
The two of us formed up on Ed.
I threw in two simultaneous flashbangs and smoke grenades, as we donned our thermal goggles- which would read and display heat signatures.
Ed went in, followed by myself, then Jules.
Ed shot one suspect, as I took one at the same time. The other two started to run, but Ed and Jules knocked them out with a well placed rubber bullet, as I started putting cuffs on the two.
Megan woke up.
Lockdown. Lockdown. Oh my god- lockdown!
She started to shake violently, when the nurse approached her and said.
"Don't worry-" she said, as she checked Megan's vitals, "Everything is ok."
"But the lockdown?"
"The police had received a suicide call from a young man."
"Is he ok?"
"He's fine."
"Who came?" Megan said, as she thought about what her father was told her about his job.
"Sure, regular officers have the knowledge to talk down people who are planning on killing themselves, but when it comes to the practical- they don't have a lot of experience, so they tend to call SRU."
"What SRU team came? Team one?" Megan asked.
"I think he said he was part of team six."
It wasn't dad's team...
Sam had entered the bank at some point. With Sam's help, myself, Ed, and Jules took the four suspects and escorted them out of the building.
Once in the cruisers, Ed approached me.
"Good call Perra."
"Thanks, Ed."
"Sucks being single, eh?" Ed asked.
"What do you mean Ed?"
"It means, that at the end of the day, there's no one you get to come home to. No one who understands you."
"Thanks Ed."
"You are single, right?" he asked with a smile.
I gave him a smirk, as I looked sideways across the street to Jules, "Of course." I lied.
A/N: Hey fellas- I know I had promised to have the first part of the Perrasmith trilogy finished before I left for vacation, but I'm leaving tomorrow and I'm only posting this chapter! Acck! Sorry! What can I say? Life has caught up to me, and decided to throw me a curve-ball that I wasn't expecting.