Putting Everything on the Line

by Kathryn Pana

  ***

  When Bennett, Palmer and Harvey had left, Tom looked over at Will, deep in thought, looking at his empty cup.

  ‘Ready for a refill, guys?’

  Tom looked up, it was the waitress with a full coffee pot in her hand. ‘Thanks, that would be great,’ Tom replied.

  She filled the cups and walked away, serving others as she went.

  ‘She will be OK,’ Tom said as he put milk and sugar in the fresh coffees.

  ‘Is that a question or a statement?’ Will responded without looking up, with a hint of despondency in his voice.

  ‘A statement, we will get her back safe. You just need to trust yourself and your instincts to do this.’

  ‘Like I did yesterday, when I caused all this, you mean?’ he took a sip from his coffee not looking up at Tom once.

  ‘Will, you were not to know he would find us there, and it is not your fault. What he did yesterday and six years ago is all on him, you didn’t do anything wrong.’

  Will looked at him, he didn’t need any reminders of that, with what had happened yesterday, he was ready to break. He had waited six years for them to be in this position and now it could all go wrong and all because he let his feelings interfere with the job. Tom could see the strain in his face.

  ‘He wants you to snap, to mess up, he needs you to be like this,’ Tom continued. ‘People like him want people as good as you out of the way and he knows the ONLY way to get to you is to make it personal. He knows he can’t break you any other way.’

  ‘You are right, Tom. I know you are,’ Will sat back and took a deep breath. ‘I need to face up to it all at some point, and you know if we do this there will be some consequences, especially with Internal affairs crawling all over the department and waiting for us to mess up, but right now, we need to focus. We can’t afford any mistakes. We were on top form today, as a team, and we need to be like that but better tomorrow.’ He stood and got his things. ‘Thanks for the chat. This is for the coffees.’ He put fifty dollars on the table as he left.

  ***

  Outside the diner, Palmer, Bennett and Harvey got together and were chatting.

  ‘Harvey, you have worked with the Sergeant for a while, has he ever done anything so crazy before?’ asked Bennett.

  ‘I have worked with him for seven years, he chose me to join his team not long after he took it over. At first, he was really cool, relaxed never got mad or anything, even when things went south. Then, six years ago, we had an armed robbery at a jewellery store and it all went really bad really fast. We followed procedure and orders from the top, and the guy who has Kathy was the only one left after we took all his men down. Then he killed every hostage, he didn’t have to but did. Since then, the Sergeant has been angry and obsessed with getting this guy, he has pushed himself and all us to the limit since, to make sure we don’t make those kinds of mistakes again. Why do you think he is like he is? I was hoping to get this guy so the Sergeant could finally get justice and move on, but now he has Kathy, and I for one will have his back tomorrow no matter what, because he needs this. If anything happened to her after what we just heard about his feelings for her, I would hate to think what would happen. Sergeant Falco is a lethal weapon on a good day, never mind a bad one.’ Harvey explained. ‘So if you want to stay in this team, then get on board and fast, Sergeant needs us.’

  ‘Well, I’m in, but why have we never been told all this?’ Palmer asked.

  ‘You really think the one who demands perfection will ever discuss the day where it wasn’t good enough to save those people?’

  ‘Good point, well just hope it all works out tomorrow then, because I have a bad feeling about this whole thing,’ Bennett said.

  ‘Me too, but we have to get on with it and do our bit, the rest can be looked at later.’ Harvey replied. ‘Good night guys, get some sleep.’

  ***

  Will rode for an hour round the streets of Manhattan, before heading home. He lived in a Park avenue penthouse, which no one at work knew, except Tom and two others. His parents had been exceptionally wealthy. His father had made his money in real estate and owned a large corporation. The building in which Will lived was also his, one of many in Manhattan. His father was Russian-American and his mother was from Brazil, an unusual combination, but Will always remembered they had been very happy, and successful. When his parents were murdered six years earlier, as an only child, Will inherited everything.

  Will was never comfortable with the wealth, and as a young man had distanced himself from it. That’s how he had met Tom. He had insisted on going to a regular school and he spent most of his free time with Tom and his parents. Will’s parents had also looked after Tom, ensuring he and his parents had everything they needed, including health care.

  When Will had joined the force, his parents had changed his last name to protect him. Their name was well known and so his real identity had never been revealed. They bought him an apartment near Tom’s so people wouldn’t get suspicious and any woman that came into his life, and got as far as meeting his parents, signed legal papers so they couldn’t disclose anything.

  It was strange living in their home now, but it was the only way he ever felt close to them. Many nights he hated being alone and so had spent them in the company of beautiful women that he had met at the parties and fundraisers he attended. He was not happy, though, and they were only interested in the money, or he became friends with them and they kept quiet about who he was. Since his parents were killed, he was scared of getting close to anyone and today was the reason why. He didn’t know what he would do if something happened to the woman for whom he had dared to have real feelings.

  When he got home, he sat in silence for a while before making himself some food, which he didn’t eat. He showered and headed for bed. He laid there for hours, images of then and yesterday running through his mind again and again, wondering what if he had done it all differently, would they be alive? Would Kathy not have been taken? He eventually fell asleep at three a.m.

  Chapter Twelve

  Will’s alarm went off at six-forty-five. He stirred from a deep sleep and turned it off. He came to, realising what time it was; he quickly got up and rushed round to get ready. He made himself his usual coffee, but today took it to go, as he wanted to get in early. He stopped by the front door and took a deep breath. He did a check list in his mind. He had everything he needed but he had to focus, be calm and collect his thoughts. Today he could not lose his cool, lives and jobs depended on it. He knew there was a chance that things would not go the way he had planned, that the possibility of them being arrested was high, but he had faith that they would all come through it; he doubted once the unit knew it was them, they would enter the bank. He had learned over time not to underestimate anyone, though especially those who had their mind set on causing chaos and, if necessary, death to get what they wanted. He knew today was going to be hell and he had to prepare himself for the worst, but his mind would not allow him such thoughts.

  ***

  Will was the first to arrive, as always. He sat for a while by his locker and took his time to get ready. He sat in front of his locker when he was dressed and ready and put his head in his hands. He took a few deep breaths. As the team walked in, he stood up and got his vest out of his locker, then closed the door. The team were quiet, none of the usual banter, just brief polite conversation, but most of it was done in silence, each one mentally preparing for the day ahead.

  ‘We all ready?’ Will asked and got nodded confirmation from each of the team. ‘Let’s arm up. We have a bank to get to.’

  He turned to them as he got to the door. ‘In case I don’t get a chance later, thanks for doing this, guys. I know it could cost you everything, if it should all go wrong, and I appreciate that more than you know.’

  They collected their weapons from the gun cage like normal, explaining they were going training, then got in the two black SUVs and drove away.

  ***

  Every
one kept quiet on the way to the bank, not really knowing what to say. They parked right outside the bank but so they didn’t block the line of sight from inside. On his ride around last night, Will had stopped his motorbike outside the bank and had a good look around, finding the best place to park and where he knew the police would position themselves, including SWAT. They got ready in silence, preparing their uniforms so no one knew who they were. They loaded and prepared their weapons, which they were all hoping they didn’t have to use, not in the bank at least.

  Will knew that there was a good chance they would, in fact, get arrested and there was a good chance that he at least would lose his job. How could he tell his team that? He was so afraid that one of them would have a change of heart and then Kathy would be killed, so he felt he had only to tell them the best-case scenario. How this was going to play out, none of them knew, but it was too late to turn back.

  Will got out of the cars first. People started looking. The team were fully armed and suited up but today they had nothing to identify them as police. People started moving away, knowing that something was about to happen. At nine-twenty-nine, the others got out of the cars; they looked at each other, paused and walked through the doors at exactly nine-thirty.

  ***

  Kathy was tied to a chair at one end of what appeared to be an old aircraft hangar. She was cold and exhausted. She hadn’t slept, not even when they put her on the bed that was there, but she kept thinking about what Sergeant Falco had said to her on the phone; she needed to keep hopeful. There was a desk with several television screens on it just a metre away from her and he was sat watching them intently. Apart from that, there was just a cold, dim, vast space stretching out in front of her. She could just about make out the end of the hanger in the dimness. She knew it wasn’t dark, but there were no windows in the place so it was just dark and cold. She looked over at him, watching the screens. He looked at his watch then back at the screens again.

  ‘You know you might as well kill me now, he is not going to rob that bank for you,’ Kathy said defiantly.

  ‘Well he knows better than to underestimate me.’ He paused and smiled. ‘And you should get to know him better, because they just walked through the door/’

  ‘You’re lying, he wouldn’t,’ she retorted.

  ‘Really, am I?’ He turned one of the screens so she could see it. ‘He really must like you, he wouldn’t put everything on the line otherwise. I have known him for a few years now and he has risked his career for two other people before; the only other people he cared about, but sadly, I had to shoot them anyway.’

  ‘Who?’ she questioned, trying to hide the fear that was building inside.

  ‘His parents,’ he said, smiling proudly.

  ‘You are going to kill me, too, aren’t you?

  ‘That depends on him,’ he replied, pointing at Will on the screen. ‘If he does exactly what I say, there will be no need to hurt you, but if he doesn’t, then I may have to change my mind, which is a shame. I quite like having you around.’

  Kathy sat in silence, looking at the screens. She had never known Will do anything that would break the law before, he was all about the job; she was finding it hard to believe what she was seeing.

  ***

  The Westgate bank was one of the smallest in Manhattan. It consisted of only three cashiers and two desk clerks in a moderately small room. In the far-left corner, there was a security door which Will presumed led to the vault and the manager’s office. It had been bothering Will all morning. Why this bank? It was too small to hold a large amount of cash or anything that would be considered valuable, but there had to be something that he needed or he wouldn’t risk getting caught, because before he took Kathy, he would have been doing this job.

  The customers watched the team as they walked in. Will walked over to the first cashier and the rest stayed by the doors, pointing their weapons down away from the public.

  ‘Where is the manager?’ Will asked the woman stood behind the desk.

  ‘He is in a meeting, do you have an appointment?’ she asked in a pleasant voice and with a smile, almost oblivious to his attire and weapons.

  Will hated what he had to do next. He had never drawn his weapons on any innocent person before. He took a deep breath, and looked at the security camera, knowing he would be watching.

  ‘I do now,’ he replied as he pulled his handgun and pointed it straight at her. ‘Show me where he is.’

  The rest of the team secured the doors and then got the staff from behind the desks and made everyone sit on the floor, backs to the cashier’s desks. They still didn’t point the guns directly at anyone, but made it look convincing for the cameras; he had to believe they would shoot someone, even if they had no intention of doing so.

  Will followed the cashier to the manager’s office. He was with a customer.

  ‘I said I was not to be disturbed,’ the manager said in a stern tone as Will and the cashier entered. Then he saw Will’s gun behind her and froze, eyes wide with fear.

  ‘I said it would be OK,’ Will signalled them to get up. ‘Now let’s go, nice and slow, we don’t want anyone doing anything stupid and getting hurt.’

  He followed them out to the main part of the bank. ‘You two sit down with the others, and you,’ pointing to the manager, ‘you go and open the vault and don’t tell me you can’t, I know better.’

  He signalled Palmer to follow the manager. ‘Tell me when you are in,’ he said as they went through the security door.

  It was nine-forty and the cell rang right on time.

  ‘Yeah?’ Will answered.

  ‘Hello, Sergeant. I didn’t know you had it in you, just watching here on the monitors gives me chills of excitement. I could find you a spot on my team if you want a change in career,’ he laughed and then paused, almost waiting for a response before he continued. ‘Now I see you have the manager opening the vault. Well done, but before you start celebrating, maybe you should take a look outside the windows. New York’s finest, including you fellow SWAT members, are surrounding the building, and it appears the media has been tipped off. They know it is you and your team in there so I hope you weren’t planning on an easy exit, even you will struggle with this one,’ He laughed again, clearly pleased with the situation Will was now in.

  ‘So what are we taking?’ Will asked, trying to mask his anxiety.

  ‘What’s the hurry, Sergeant? Everything will be revealed in good time. I will call back when the vault is open, so I suggest you find a way to hold off the police and your friends on SWAT from coming in to get you, I would hate for you to get shot before you manage to find Kathy.’ The phone went dead.

  Will went over to the windows and looked through the blinds. Just as he said, there were police everywhere, including SWAT, and there were camera crews and reporters too. He scanned every building and car, making a mental note of every position each officer was in.

  ‘Shit,’ he signalled Tom over to him. ‘He has gone and tipped off the media and they know it is us in here. It is going to be all over the news. There goes plan A: with the media outside watching, they are not going to let us walk out of here that easy.’ Will explained quietly so as not to alert the rest of the team.

  ‘Great, now what?’ Tom asked, obviously concerned by the developing situation. ‘This is going too far, Will, what if they decide to come in? What are we going to do then, shoot at our own unit?’

  ‘We keep going. I have a plan B, but just keep it quiet for now, I don’t want the others worried just yet. He was always going to try and get us in the shit; I should have realised how far he would go, though, but I got distracted with getting Kathy back.’

  At that moment, the bank phone rang. They all looked over, they knew what was coming next.

  Chapter Thirteen

  ‘Hello?’ Will answered the bank phone.

  ‘Hello, this is the NYPD SWAT unit, can I speak to the person in charge, please?’

  Will recognised the voice on
the phone as Sergeant Holt, a trained negotiator for the SWAT unit.

  ‘Yeah, that’s me,’ he replied.

  ‘Good, now if you take a look outside, you will see that the bank is surrounded by officers. We don’t want anyone to get hurt, so why don’t you tell me what you want. But first, what’s your name?’

  ‘Sergeant Holt, this is Sergeant Will Falco of the New York SWAT unit Alpha team, and I want to speak to Captain Bridge. When you get him down here, he can call me on this number, but I will only talk to him, and in the meantime, I suggest you don’t try anything like coming in. My team are the best trained team in the unit and we would really hate to prove that today. Get the Captain and we can talk some more.’

  ‘Sergeant Falco, what the hell? How is it you on the other end of the phone? I can call the Captain for you and I will keep our guys out here, but you need to give me something here.’

  ‘I wish I could, but right now I can’t, not right at this moment, please just get me the Captain.’

  Will hung up and looked at the others. ‘That should have bought us some time, let’s just hope it is enough.’

  ***

  Captain Bridge was sat in his office, wondering where Sergeant Falco and his team were, he hadn’t seen them since they arrived this morning at the start of shift. They hadn’t been in the office at all, and more concerning, they had missed a call, which had never happened before; the officers in the gun cage had said they signed out their weapons for training, but they shouldn’t have missed the call. It was becoming an extremely bad day. His first team had disappeared, there was a hostage situation at a bank and he still had an officer missing. He needed a coffee. He was heading over to get one when Lieutenant Planter came running over.