Halfway Heroes

by Dustin Martin

  Chapter 29—Setting the Stage

  So they kidnap people. It’s not like they’re killing anyone. It was becoming harder for Mark to brush aside his doubts. Yet he wanted to hold onto his position and what he’d been given. So what if a couple of people got roughed up? Nobody was hurt too bad. Nothing that a little rest and recovery couldn’t fix.

  That thought process was shattered when Heather laid out blueprint maps of the bank on the office table. Mark wondered how she had come by them, but decided he’d rather not know. The top of the blueprint read “Evergreen Bank.” That was in the middle of the city.

  Lydia’s parents were struggling in the corner of the office, still trying to escape. Heather walked over to them, unplugged their ears, and expelled her wispy, colorless gas into their faces. Mark instinctively held his nose, but Heather directed the gas to Lydia’s parents only.

  “Calm down,” she said. They paused in their struggling and slumped in their chairs. Heather returned to the blueprint.

  Her long finger traced their entrance plan into the bank. “We’ll go in through the front,” she said. “We’ll say we’re there to ‘fix the lights.’ I’ll cut some of the power about half an hour beforehand. Finster,” she said, pointing at the large man, “you and Mark will handle the vault.”

  “Easy,” Finster said, grinning.

  “I thought we were only staging a robbery,” Mark said.

  “We are,” Heather told him. “But it’s a safe place to wait for the BEP Division. Every other area has too many weaknesses. I’ll round up some of the employees while you two cut their security system, which is on the main floor in the security room. Here.” She pointed it out. “Now, from what I understand,” she said, flipping to another page of the blueprints, “the vault is below the first floor, past a barred gate and a security station. There’s the safety deposit box room, another guard station, and the main area where they hold the money. We need the bank manager to open the vault.”

  “Of course,” Finster said.

  “You’ll also be in charge of erasing the security footage,” she said. “Should be able to do it in the security room. Once we’re clear, we set up, hunker down, and call the police. We’ll need someone in the safety deposit box room, someone outside the vault, and someone in the vault, where we’ll hold them.” Heather jerked her head at Lydia’s parents.

  “Sounds good,” Finster said. “What kind of resistance should we expect? Local cops and the BEP?”

  “I would add FBI as well,” Heather said, musing over the blueprint.

  “FBI? For a fake robbery?” Mark asked, stunned.

  “They’ve been after us for years,” Finster said. He chuckled. “They even gave us nicknames. Or, well, code names. Mountain.” He thumbed his chest. “And Toxic.” He pointed at Heather, who grimaced at the moniker.

  Mark gulped. “Who are you people?”

  “Some of the best,” Finster said, “and the most wanted in the world. Welcome to the club. A few days from now, you’ll be on their list. Maybe you’ll get a code name, too!”

  “Okay, Finster. I need you to set up the equipment.” Heather rolled up the blueprint. “May as well go now since it’s night. The key to get in is 5416.”

  “I’ll take Mark along,” Finster said. “Come on.”

  “How did you get the number to —” Mark began.

  Heather ignored his question and Mark was left to assist Finster in loading thick cylinder canisters about the size of portable oxygen tanks into the van before they drove off to the bank. When he had asked Finster what the canisters contained, Finster had smiled and winked. “A little test that Whyte wanted to run. That’s why he picked the Evergreen Bank. Smack dab in the city’s center. The perfect testing ground.”

  “For what?”

  He chuckled. “Oh, I won’t spoil the surprise, but it’ll be a great diversion while we’re getting away! You can bet on that. We’ll kill two birds with one stone on this job!” His laughter was unnerving. Mark had never seen him this elated before. Was Finster always like this before assignments, or only when people’s lives were at stake?

  Mark could see the headlines the day after tomorrow. His face, plastered on newspapers everywhere, an accomplice to robbery, kidnapping. Maybe even worse. He had to tell someone. Anyone. He couldn’t go through with this. He didn’t want to be a criminal.

  The van pulled up to the rear of the bank. Finster reached into the back and tossed Mark a security guard uniform consisting of a gray shirt and black slacks. “Hurry up and change,” he said. Mark assumed the uniform was courtesy of Heather’s handiwork. After he’d changed clothes, Finster jammed a black cap on his head. “Keep your head down,” he said, straightening his own uniform. “Act natural.”

  They unloaded the canisters and took them to the back door. Finster punched in the key code. Mark dragged his canisters inside as Finster shouldered the rest of the load.

  The bank was completely quiet. One step on the immaculately clean floors would be magnified by the large, off-white cathedral halls. Finster paid no mind to that and marched ahead, leading Mark to different sections and setting up the canisters. At their first stop, in a secluded closet brimming with boxes and old office furniture, Finster activated the canister. He pressed some buttons on its side and a red light shut off as a green light above it lit up. He stood back and nodded. “They’ll get a kick out of these.”

  Mark nearly knocked the canister over as he turned to leave. Finster leapt forward and steadied it. “Whoa! Be a bit more careful!”

  “Sorry,” Mark said.

  “You will be if one of these babies goes off,” Finster said.

  On the second floor, Mark saw a lone security guard on patrol. He wanted so desperately to warn the man, but Finster held Mark at bay in the shadows. “Keep calm. Don’t move and he won’t see us,” Finster said. But Mark wanted to be caught, and when they passed the security guard in the shadows of the pillars near the wall, Mark almost called out to him.

  Then he remembered. Whyte. The very thought of the man and the consequences of exposing himself stayed Mark’s voice. Forlornly, he watched the security guard disappear as Finster pulled him along. He was back to helping Finster set up for the robbery.