LITMIR.BIZ

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caressed it with a lover’s touch.

      He felt her eyes and turned to her, giving a smile so dark, so full of violence, Andrea had turned and nearly run out of the bank. She’d felt his eyes follow her as she left.

      She’d been the last one out. Not two minutes after her exit, shots had been fired inside. The robbery soon turned into a hostage situation. Once out, Andrea had hidden in her car, parked in the back of the bank lot, and watched as the police arrived minutes later, then observers, then press.

      Andrea would’ve been escorted back with the observers if anyone had known she was in her car. She’d been so scared at the third man’s evil smile, she had literally melted herself into the driver’s seat of her vehicle, curling into a ball and protecting her head and face with her arms.

      She’d learned long ago that position didn’t stop pain, but at least this time it had kept her away from anyone’s view. The uniformed officer who had been in charge of security and taping off the parking lot had walked right by Andrea’s car without even seeing her in the dimming hours of twilight.

      Unfortunately, now she was trapped here since the lot was blocked off by police vehicles. There was no telling how long the showdown could continue with the three men inside. She would need to go find someone who could let her out if she wanted to leave this evening.

      Andrea exited her car, kept her head down and walked toward the action, planning to talk to the first relatively nice cop she could find. She didn’t want to draw any attention to herself, just wanted to get the help she needed and get out.

      When she got to the front line of police officers, Andrea started looking around more. There was a lot of excitement in most of these cops. Some were nervous, a few downright fearful. A couple were bored.

      She was easily able to spot the man in charge. He exuded self-confidence and self-importance, even without a radio in each hand and people constantly asking him questions. When he gave orders he expected them to be followed, and he was definitely the one giving orders in this situation. Another man and woman were standing with him. Everything about their faces and body language also suggested confidence, but they were respectful, caring—not power hungry. They stood back slightly, observing.

      Drawn by the situation even though she didn’t want to be, Andrea made her way toward those people in charge. She was careful not to get in anybody’s way or do anything to draw someone’s scrutiny, although she expected to be stopped at any moment. When she got close enough to hear the leaders, she stood beside an unmarked sedan, watching them studying and discussing the bank.

      She heard the man and woman—the observers—arguing with the man in charge.

      “Lionel, deadly force isn’t necessary yet,” the man stated, quiet but emphatic. “Plus we don’t know the exact situation. We have no inside intel.”

      “This isn’t your operation, Drackett,” the man named Lionel snapped. He wasn’t interested in anyone else’s opinions. “Omega isn’t in charge here—the Bureau is.”

      “We’re not even sure how many perps are in there, nor how many hostages,” the woman said, her voice as calm as Drackett’s had been.

      “We’ve got eyes on the building. There’s obviously two gunmen holding a room of seventeen people. They’ve got everyone in one location to keep them in line.”

      Lionel was wrong. There were three men involved. But Andrea imagined the third one with the evil smile just looked like one of the hostages if he hadn’t made any obvious threatening moves. With his briefcase and suit he’d blend right in.

      And he meant to kill everyone in the building. Everything in his body language and his emotions had screamed violence.

      “Neither of those guys have hurt anyone yet. Let us get our hostage negotiator down here to talk to them. Matarazzo is a whiz in this type of situation—you know that.” Drackett again. “He can be here within the hour.”

      Lionel shook his head. “No, I don’t need your rich wonder boy. I will handle this the way I see fit. The two gunmen have left the back of the building ripe for our entry. They are obviously camped in the front. They’re nervous. I’m not going to wait until they kill someone before I make my move.”

      Although their expressions changed for only the briefest moment, Andrea could feel the waves of frustration coming off Drackett and the woman he was with. Whatever was going on, it was personal. Lionel all but hated Drackett.

      That disdain was going to get everyone in the building killed. She could hear Lionel getting a SWAT team ready to breach the back door.

      She was afraid when they did, the third man would make his move. She had to tell the police leaders what she knew. She didn’t know if it would make a difference, if they would listen to her at all, but she had to try.

      She walked over to Drackett and the woman before she could let herself chicken out. She didn’t try to talk to Lionel; she already knew he wouldn’t listen to her.

      “Excuse me, Mr. Drackett? There’s a third man inside that bank. Someone more deadly than the other two you can see.”

      Drackett immediately turned his focus to her, as did the woman. It was a little overwhelming. Andrea wasn’t used to people actually listening to her that intently.

      “How do you know?” His voice was clipped but she knew it was because they were running out of time, not because he didn’t believe her.

      “I was in there. I saw them come in. I’m—I’m pretty good at reading people, their expressions. I could tell something was not right with the three of them. Those two guys.” She pointed at the bank doors where the two men could be seen. “And another one you don’t know about.”

      Drackett and the woman met eyes and stepped closer to Andrea. She could tell they had Lionel’s attention also, although he didn’t turn toward them.

      “I’m Grace. Tell us everything, as quickly as you can.” The woman touched her on the arm. Andrea fought the urge to flinch even though she knew the woman meant her no harm.

      “The two men, the ones with guns, are excited, a little shaky. They’re thrilled about a big payoff and perhaps about having to shoot their way out of the situation. They will kill if they have to, but that’s not their primary intent.”

      “And the third man?”

      “Evil.” Even in the Phoenix evening heat, Andrea felt cold permeate her bones. “He’ll kill everyone. Wants to kill everyone. I think he wants to take as many people as possible down with him.”

      Drackett whispered something to Grace and she eased back and disappeared into the crowds of law enforcement. She was gone too quickly for Andrea to get a read on whether she believed Andrea or not.

      “So help me God, Drackett, if you tell me we need to listen to what this child is telling us...”

      “This young woman has more actual intel than anyone else here. I’m not asking you to stand down, Lionel, just to listen and make sure you have all the facts before making any big move.”

      “I’m not going to wait for these gunmen to kill someone before we move in. SWAT will be ready to storm the back door in three minutes. We go then.”

      Everything about Lionel screamed determination. Andrea didn’t even try to convince him; he wasn’t going to listen to her.

      She took a step back. She had done all she could do. Things inside the bank would play out the way they would play out.

      She was about to fade back even more when Drackett looked down at a message on his phone. He turned and walked the three steps so he was standing directly in front of her.

      “You. Name. First and last.”

      “Andrea Gordon.” He wasn’t angry with her but the abrupt statement had her giving her real name rather than a fake.

      “Just wanted to know the name of the person

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