Hostage - Страница 6

His life was about to change again.

JENNIFER

Jennifer had never heard anything as loud as their guns, not the cherry bombs that Thomas popped in their backyard or the crowd at the Forum when the Lakers slammed home a game-winning dunkenstein. The gunfire in movies didn't come close. When Mars and Dennis started shooting, the sound rocked through her head and deafened her.

Jennifer screamed. Dennis slammed the front door, pulled her backwards to the office, then pushed her down. She grabbed Thomas and held tight. Her father wrapped them in his arms. Layers of gun smoke hung in shafts of light that burned through the shutters; the smell of it stung her nose.

When the shooting was done, Dennis sucked air like a bellows, stalking back and forth between the entry and office, his face white.

'We're fucked! That cop is down!'

Mars went to the entry. He didn't hurry or seem scared; he strolled.

'Let's get the car before more of them get here.'

Kevin was on the floor beside her father's desk, shaking. His face was milky.

'You shot a cop. You shot a cop, Dennis!'

Dennis grabbed his brother by the shirt.

'Didn't you hear Mars? He was going for his gun!'

Jennifer heard a siren approaching behind the shouting. Then Dennis heard it, too, and ran back to the windows.

'Oh, man, they're coming!'

Jennifer's father pulled her closer, almost as if he was trying to squeeze her into himself.

'Take the keys and go. The keys are on the wall by the garage. It's a Jaguar. Take it while you still can.'

Dennis stared through the open shutters like prison bars, watching the street with fearful expectation. Jennifer wanted them to run, to go, to get out of her life, but Dennis stood frozen at the windows as if he was waiting for something. Mars spoke from the entry, his voice as calm as still water.

'Let's take the man's car, Dennis. We have to go.' Then the siren suddenly seemed to be in the house, and it was too late. Tires screeched outside. Dennis ran to the front door. The shooting started again.

TALLEY

York Estates was a walled development that had been named for the legendary walled city of York in England, a village that was protected from the world by a great stone wall. The developers built twenty-eight homes on one-to three-acre sites in a pattern of winding streets and cul-de-sacs with names like Lancelot Lane, Queen Anne Way, and King John Place, then surrounded it by a stone wall that was more decorative than protective. Talley cut his siren as he entered from the north, but kept the lights flashing. Jorgenson and Anders were shouting that they were under fire. Talley heard the pop of a gunshot over the radio.

When he turned into Castle Way, Talley saw Jorgenson and Anders crouched behind their car with their weapons out. Two women were in the open door of the house behind them and a teenaged boy was standing near the cul-de-sac's mouth. Talley hit the public address key on his mike as he sped up the street.

'You people take cover. Get inside your homes!'

Jorgenson and Anders turned to watch him approach. The two women looked confused and the boy stood without moving. Talley burped his siren, and shouted at them again.

'Get inside now! You people move!'

Talley hit the brakes hard, stopping behind Jorgenson's unit. Two shots pinged from the house, one snapping past overhead, the other thumping dully into Talley's windshield. He rolled out the door and pulled himself into a tight ball behind the front wheel, using the hub as cover. Mike Welch lay crumpled on the front lawn of a large Tudor home less than forty feet away.

Anders shouted, 'Welch is down! They shot him!'

'Are all three subjects inside?'

'I don't know! We haven't seen anyone!'

'Are civilians in the house?'

'I don't know!'

More sirens were coming from the east. Talley knew that would be Dreyer and Mikkelson in unit six with the ambulance. The shooting had stopped, but he could hear shouts and screaming inside the house. He flattened on the street and called to Welch from under the car.

'Mike! Can you hear me?'

Welch didn't respond.

Anders shouted, his voice frantic.

'I think he's dead!'

'Calm down, Larry. I can hear you.'

Talley had to take in the scene and make decisions without knowing who or what he was dealing with. Welch was in the middle of the front lawn, unmoving and unprotected. Talley had to act.

'Does this house back up on Flanders Road?'

'Yes, sir. The truck is right on the other side of the wall that runs behind the house, that red Nissan! It's the suspects who hit Kim's.'

The sirens were closer. Talley had to assume that innocents were inside. He had to assume that Mike Welch was alive. He keyed his transceiver mike.

'Six, one. Who's on?'

Dreyer's voice came back.

'It's Dreyer, Chief. We're one minute out.'

'Where's the ambulance?'

'Right behind us.'

'Okay. You guys set up on Flanders by the truck in case these guys go back over the wall. Send the ambulance in, but tell them to wait at Castle and Tower. I'll bring Welch to them.'

Talley broke the connection, then pushed himself up to a crouch.

'Larry, did you guys fire on the house?'

'No, sir.'

'Don't.'

'What are you going to do?'

'Stay down. Don't fire at the house.'

Talley climbed back into his car, keeping his head low and the driver's door open. He backed up, then powered into the yard, maneuvering to a stop between Welch and the house to use the car as a shield. Another shot popped the passenger-side window. He rolled out of the car almost on top of Welch. Talley opened the rear door, then dragged Welch to the car. It was like lifting two hundred pounds of deadweight, but Welch moaned. He was alive. Talley propped him upright in the open door, then lifted for all he was worth to fold Welch onto the backseat. He slammed the door, then saw Welch's gun on the grass. He went back for it. He returned to the car and floored the accelerator, fishtailing across the slick grass as he cut across the yard and into the street. He sped back along the cul-de-sac to the corner where the ambulance was waiting. Two paramedics pulled Welch from the rear and pushed a compress onto his chest. Talley didn't ask if Welch would make it. He knew from experience that they wouldn't know.

Talley stared down the length of the cul-de-sac and felt himself tremble. The first flush of panic was passing, and now he had time to think. Now he had time to acknowledge that what was happening here was what had cost him so much in Los Angeles. A hostage situation was developing. His mouth went dry and something sour flushed in his throat that threatened to make him retch.

He keyed the mike again to call his dispatcher. He had exactly four units on duty and another five officers off. He would need them all.

'Chief, I pulled Dreyer and Mikkelson off the minimart. We've got no one on the scene now. It's totally unsecured.'

'Call the CHP and the Sheriffs. Tell them what's going on and request a full crisis team. Tell them we've got two men down and we have a possible hostage situation.'

Talley's eyes filled when he realized that he had used that word. Hostage.

He remembered Welch's gun. He sniffed the muzzle, then checked the magazine. Welch had returned fire, which meant that he might have wounded someone in the house. Maybe even an innocent.

He shut his eyes hard and keyed the mike again.

'Tell them to hurry.'

JENNIFER

Jennifer whispered, 'Daddy.'

Her father held her head, whispered back.

'Shh.'

They snuggled closer. Jennifer thought her father might be trying to pull them through the floor, that if he could just make the three of them small enough they would disappear. She watched Mars peering through the shutters, his wide back hunched like an enormous swollen toad. When Mars glanced back at them, he looked high.

Kevin threw a TV Guide at him.

'What's wrong with you? Why'd you start shooting?'

'To keep them away.'

'We could've gotten out the back!'

Dennis jerked Kevin toward the entry.

'Get it together, Kev. They found the truck. They're already behind us.'

'This is bullshit, Dennis! We should give up!'

Jennifer wanted them to run. She wanted them to get away, if that's what it took; she wanted them out.

The words boiled out of her before she could stop them.

'We don't want you here!'

Her father squeezed her, his voice soft.

'Be quiet.'

Jennifer couldn't stop.

'You have no right to be here! No one invited you!'

Her father pulled her closer.

Dennis jabbed a finger at her.

'Shut up, bitch!'

He turned and shoved his brother into the wall so hard that Jennifer flinched.

'Stop it, Kevin! Go through the house and lock all the windows. Lock the doors, then watch the backyard. They're gonna come over that wall just like we did.'

Kevin seemed confused.

'Why don't we just give up, Dennis? We're caught.'

'It's going to be dark in a few hours. Things will change when it gets dark. Go do it, Kev. We're going to get out of this. We will.'

Jennifer felt her father sigh before he spoke. He slowly pushed to his knees.

'None of you are going to get out of this.'

Dennis said, 'Shut the fuck up. Go on, Kevin. Watch the back.'

Kevin disappeared toward the rear through the entry.

Her father stood. Both Dennis and Mars aimed their guns at him.

Jennifer pulled at his legs.

'Daddy! Don't!'

Her father raised his hands.