Nothing Ventured, Nothing Gained

by Brennen Tammons

  “Romero? Okay. Romero, you’ll be fine, we’re gonna take you the hospital. It’s going to be fine. I need you to tell me who your buddies are okay? Can you tell me that?”

  Victor then slips back out of consciousness. Detective Henderson performs CPR on him once again, however this time he is not successful with his efforts. Detective Henderson lifts up Victor’s eyes, checking his pupils; he is now dead. He then cries out to the other officers.

  “Suspect is gone; I need the ambulance here right fucking now. Do you hear me?”

  Detective Henderson then rests Victor’s head down on the grown, and walks back to the other side of the bank. He then takes his gun from holster and throws it on the ground. The other officers watch as Detective Henderson has a tantrum. He removes his badge from his waist as well, and throws it across the wall of the bank. Detective Henderson then unfastens his tie, sits down in the lobby area, and starts to cry out.

  “That’s it. I quit. I can’t do this anymore. I can’t. I quit.”

  Detective Henderson then gets up, and walks over to the water cooler in the lobby, and gets himself a glass of water. He then takes several gulps of his water. He returns back to his seat, muttering to himself.

  “I’m done, I quit. I’m not doing this fucking job anymore. I fucking quit.”

  Detective Henderson looks around the current chaos of the bank, and then wipes his face with his handkerchief. He then sets his cup down, and folds his hands on his lap. He closes his eyes and raises his eyebrows. He leans his head up pointing at the ceiling with his eyes still closed, and remains quiet.

  Chapter 22

  NOTHING EARLY, NOTHING LATE

  With Russell, Brian and Jesse now on the run, they continue on with their escape; leaving a presumed deceased Victor at the bank. All three of the men continue to stay in shock, in much disbelief as to what actually happened during the heist. From the time that Victor shot and killed the security guard standing near the entrance of the bank, was when the heist took an unfortunate twist and turn for disaster. The entire situation did not go as expected. All of this has now developed and produced many strange and unprecedented effects and consequences. John was shot during the heist, which was also something drastic. Being violent, was never part of the plan whenever the men would do a heist. Victor shot not one, but two men; killing one of them which was the security guard. Brian has also shockingly killed someone as well, Officer Waker. This was only because Russell as he was walking out of the vault, was stopped by the officer, and was

  told to surrender. Remarkably, all the men originally decided to give in and surrender. Being that they were involved in a tough and difficult spot from being corned by the police officer, it was decided at that particular point, the men would accept their defeat. They all proceeded to lay down on the floor, obeying whatever the officer instructed them to. Russell, who had his rifle wrapped around his chest, was trying to position the gun so he could get down on the ground. The officer thought that Russell was intending to fire his gun at him, so he shot Russell in the chest, and in his left arm with several rounds. From how badly Russell was shot, Victor began to panic and feel worried, and he pointed his gun at the officer. However, the officer quickly aimed his gun at Victor, shooting him in the neck multiple times. Brian out of heavy impulse, shot and killed Officer Waker right after that. Feeling betrayed by the officers’ actions, the men then turned against their original plan to surrender, and have now ran out the bank. Before they ran out, Brian attempted to get Victor to come with him, but failed. Victor was far too weak to continue, and has already lost a great deal of blood. The men barely left the bank in time, before the authorities arrived. All three of them got into their getaway vehicle in the parking lot behind the bank, and are now escaping.

  Brian drives the vehicle as fast as he can, trying to get back to “Home Base”, which is still quite a distance from where they currently are. He, and the rest of the men have already accepted that Victor is now gone, and they are the only ones which remain. Brian is aware that Russell was badly shot, however he doesn’t know the extent of his injuries. At this point, he can only head back towards the unit. Brian cannot chance taking Russell to a hospital, as that would only add more suspicion to them being there, and they would be apprehended by the authorities. Luckily, Max is a trained medical professional, and he could help them out in this particular case. Jesse is in the rear seat with Russell. Russell from being shot, is under much pain, and he isn’t able to move. He is slouched over Jesse’s lap, and Jesse is holding onto him tightly.

  Jesse takes off Russell’s mask, and Jesse removes his own mask as well. Jesse becomes mortified and shocked when he notices how pale Russell’s face is. Russell is losing a great amount of blood, and his body is becoming weak because of that. Jesse places his hand over Russell’s forehead, and it’s cold. Jesse then starts to cry, from seeing Russell in this current status he’s in. Jesse is scared and worried that Russell is very close from dying. Brian then moves his mask, and drives faster than he previously was. All of the men are not speaking to each other; they are under too much pressure to talk. This heist was eventful and thrilling to each of them, and the main focus is to get back to “Home Base”, as fast as they are able to. Russell then begins to groan and moan in pain very loudly, which causes Brian and Jesse to feel scared. Russell squeezes onto Jesse’s hand with his right arm, as he not able to move his left arm. Jesse looks at Russell’s face once again, and he is now becoming more pale faced, and his pupils are also dilated. Jesse then feeling depressed and hopeless at how things are turning out, looks out the window sobbing. From how fast Brian is driving, everything looks like heavy streaks, including the other cars and the buildings surrounding the highway. Russell continues to scream and holler from the pain he’s in, and Jesse starts to rub Russell’s hair very softly to comfort him. Brian who can hear Russell’s cries, starts to worry. Because Brian is driving and paying attention to the road, he’s not able to see how badly Russell looks in the face, like Jesse can. Brian shakes his head in total disbelief that everything is turning into disaster, and things are not looking good for them right now.

  Back at the “First Federal Bank”, Detective Henderson continues to sit in the chair with his eyes closed. More investigators walk into the bank, and notice how he is slacking off. They walk over to him, and ask why he’s not investigating the robbery. Detective Henderson responds by saying that he’s unable to contain himself at the moment, due to how heinous this particular robbery was. He explains to the other investigators, that three different individuals are dead, and some of the suspects, are still out on the run. He explains that he threw his badge across the building out of rage from feeling upset. Detective Henderson also explains that he plans to now retire from the force, and no longer wants to work in this field. This type of work is not for him anymore. This high pressure is not something he can manage or deal with any longer.

  Detective Henderson is told that for now, he’s still the chief investigator when it comes to armed robberies, so they need his help. Detective Henderson although already having his mind made up, and will be retiring and quitting very soon, understands that he took an oath to protect the people of this city. He needs to knock off whatever issues he’s dealing with, and do his job, which is to investigate the robbery which took place. Detective Henderson decides to temporarily remain as a detective for now, and walks over to the area where he threw his badge. He grabs it off the floor, and clips it back on his waist. Right after that, the man who saw Russell, Brian and Jesse run into their getaway car, shows Detective Henderson the cell phone picture he took of their getaway vehicle. The detective immediately then orders for an all-points bulletin to be issued. Even though the vehicle doesn’t have a license plate, due to the severity of this particular robbery, all of the police make this vehicle their prime concern. An APB is then sent out for the vehicle the men are in.

  Detective Henderson then walks over to where John is. From being shot in the legs ve
ry badly, Detective Henderson tells him the ambulance will be coming soon, and that he’s going to be alright. John is irate that the men have escaped, and he screams out in pain from being shot. Despite the fact he’s badly injured, John must try to remember as much as he can from the robbery. With him being the bank manager, Detective Henderson needs to gather as much information on the incident as possible. John in an angry manner, explains everything which happened during the heist, to Detective Henderson. The detective takes out a notebook, and begins to jot down everything that Brian says.

  John tells him that four men entered the bank, wearing heavy disguises comprised of snow outfits. As soon as they entered, one of the robbers shot and killed the security guard. John points to Victor’s corpse on the floor, letting Detective Henderson know that he was the one who shot the guard. John then continues, and says that one of the men took charge of all the tellers, and other man ran out to the vault area. The other two men stayed on the main floor area, pointing their guns at everyone. John then explained that he was tired of being taken advantage of in his own bank, and wanted to save the others.

  As he has a concealed carry permit, he took out his gun, and pointed it at the robber who was taking care of the tellers. John then points again to Victor’s corpse, and reveals that he was the one who shot him in the legs. After he was immobilized, John explains that everything else he can’t exactly recollect as he was laying on the floor, being held hostage by the robbers. John does say that a police officer came into the bank, right when the men were about to leave. He says the officer told them all to get down, and during that time, he heard several rounds of gunshots. After that, John says he heard the robber who is dead on the floor of the bank, tell the other men to escape and leave him there. John says that all of the men presumably ran out the bank after that. John then argues and screams from the pain he’s currently in. He then complains once again, about how despite the fact a security guard, and a police officer were present to help deal with the situation, some of them still managed to escape. John is not happy at this fact at all. Detective Henderson agrees with him, and walks to other areas of the bank, talking to other patrons that were inside of the bank during the robbery, to gather more witness statements.

  The ambulance finally arrives at the bank, and John is carried away by the paramedics to go to the hospital. At the same time, the coroner is now at the bank. Victor’s, Officer Waker’s and Alan the security guard’s bodies, are all taken away as a part of the evidence for this case. Detective Henderson requests that Victor’s fingerprints be immediately registered. With the fact he’s one of the prime suspects in this manner, he is not yet identified. Detective Henderson explains the man only mentioned that his name was Romero.

  The detective continues to walk through the bank, and out of habit he begins to nitpick at how poorly operated everything is. With the building being quite old, it’s one of the oldest banks and buildings in Downtown Los Angeles. That shouldn’t excuse the fact of poorly operated and constructed security systems, and the layout the bank has; it is a big target for robberies. The bank tellers shouldn’t be at risk the way they are, and the bank is not safe at all.

  He believes that the classic design the bank has, is being disguised and covered up from how flawed the building actually is. It scores well for attracting patrons, and it scores well for keeping a colonial architecture design. However, when it comes to bank robberies and safety, this bank doesn’t score well at all. Detective Henderson is also upset that the vault for this bank is also poorly operated, that someone can easily hack and break through the lock with the correct tools. He looks at the ceiling, noticing the very few amount of surveillance cameras. By simply looking at these cameras, he knows well that the software used to capture these cameras are also not up to standards. Detective Henderson requests to see the surveillance video, and he starts to watch it.

  The “Snowman Bandits” as they are dubbed and called by the police, are seen entering the bank, and most of the eyewitness accounts, support generally what the video already compromised of. Detective Henderson is more concerned at catching the other three robbers who are still currently at large. He walks outside the bank for a few minutes, and takes a cigarette break. All of the emotions he’s feeling, are starting to make him feel uncomfortable and anxious. This is turning out to be one of the most sinister robberies and heists that he has ever come across. It was enough for him to make his mind up, towards retiring from this profession.

  Detective Henderson takes puffs of his cigarette, as he notices news vans belonging to practically every single major station arriving at the bank. He knows that very shortly, he is going to have to hold a press conference of this robbery. Detective Henderson starts to finish up his cigarette, and throws the butt of it away in the trash can.

  He walks back inside the bank, to where the investigation is still very much ongoing and still active. News reporters walk inside the bank, and question the detective, in an attempt to gain any information surrounding the heist as they can. He simply tells them that he in a few short minutes, will explain everything to them, letting the public know about this unfortunate event. The detective talks to some of his fellow investigators in the bank, informing them that the press is outside, wanting them all to explain the events to the public and media.

  Outside the bank, the media begins to prepare and setup for the conference Detective Henderson will be holding shortly. A small crowd of civilians also out of curiosity noticing the surplus of police cars and news vans, stand and gather around the bank towards the podium where the detective will be holding his press conference.

  Detective Henderson finishes his objectives inside the bank, and he then walks to the podium outside the entrance. He immediately starts to feel nervous from looking at all the cameras pointing at him. For a short while, he is unable to compose himself and map out the words he wishes to explain. Knowing that many people are going to be watching this event, and it’s important that if he wants these men to be caught, he must relay and explain to the viewing public as much information about the circumstances as he can. He stands at the podium and starts to scribble down notes, and his fingers shake rapidly, making difficult for him to write. Each time he attempts to write down notes, they come out sloppy and unsatisfactory. Detective Henderson then becomes frustrated. He breaks the pen he is writing with, and crumples up the paper he was writing on. He decides to improvise his statements. It might not be the most professional thing to do, but it’s more comfortable for him at this time. All of a sudden, Detective Henderson is alerted that he is about to stream live on the news. He looks at the camera, giving his statement.

  “I would like to inform the people of Los Angeles, that around 2 P.M. this afternoon, a group of men who we have called the “Snowman Bandits”, have entered the ‘First National Bank’ right behind me here on Grand Ave., and committed an armed robbery. In the process, a hostage was injured with critical injuries. One of the suspects was killed, another suspect was injured, a police officer and a security guard were also sadly shot and killed during the event.”

  Detective Henderson for a few seconds, looks at the camera and becomes unable to open his mouth to express any words. His mental capacity after explaining that part of the event made him internally choke up. He looks down towards the podium, to give the illusion or façade that he’s actually reading notes, when he doesn’t have any. He then while still looking down, shakes his head and clears his throat. Detective Henderson looks back at the cameras and continues.

  “Suspects are believed to be armed and dangerous, and they are currently at large. Two innocent people were killed, and these suspects will stop at nothing. A hostage that was present inside the bank, managed to get a picture of their getaway vehicle. It is a black Chevrolet Tahoe, without any license plates. The windows are tinted heavily as explained by the witness. Again, these men are armed and dangerous, so I ask that you please take caution.”

  Detective Henderson looks down once again
to make it seem like he’s reading notes. He decides to wrap up his explanations, and give out his final remarks to the press and news media.

  “If you see these men, please alert us. This is very important that we catch these guys. These men are dangerous, and we need to capture them. At this time, I will not be taking in any questions, or any other remarks that the public wishes to know. I thank you all for your time.”

  As Detective Henderson steps away from the podium, many of the news outlets try to pester him for more information, but he ignores them and doesn’t give into what they want. He walks back inside of the bank, and looks around the scene again. In great disbelief of how everything happened, and all of the tragic situations which have resulted from the heist. The only thing which is making him feel positive, is that he was able to find out the information around their getaway vehicle. Having all of this available for the public to know, will make it much easier for this investigation, and capturing the suspects. For one final time, he shakes his head and feels disappointed that his plan didn’t go as expected.

  Having a failed attitude, Detective Henderson no longer wants to work in the police field, and will always have this case in particular, as the main prominent reason as to why he gave this career up. It is causing too much stress that he is able to deal with and control, and he has had quite enough. Detective Henderson then lets the rest of the investigators continue their agenda, making sure they all know he’s leaving the crime scene.

  He walks out of the bank, and gets in his car, driving off. As he’s driving, he circles around the surrounding area. Instead of going back to the police station, he remains patrolling the street. Mainly having a strange feeling that the men could possibly still be in the surrounding areas of the bank. Detective Henderson contemplates asking the department to set up road blocks to capture the men. He pulls his car over to the side of the road, and calls the police headquarters, asking to set up barriers in the highways and major roads, as there are active armed robbery suspects in the area. At that moment, in addition to information of the getaway vehicle the men are using, many major roads are being blocked by authorities. With all of these tactics on the line, Detective Henderson feels that his chances of catching these men are high.