“We can’t wait forever,” Gray says, going to the trunk of our patrol car, and I’m right beside him. Where he goes, I go.
We strap on our vests and O’Reilly comes over to us. “What are you thinking, Gray?” She looks like she wants to protest, but she already knows Gray doesn’t take orders as well as he probably should.
“There’s a back door here, and I checked the security with the manager because this is my bank. We can go through it, and it’s hidden so the robbers likely don’t even know it’s there.”
His reply is calm, and I smirk a little while looking down at my vest and strapping it on tight, trying not to show that I’m impressed.
“And if they do?” she asks him smartly.
“Then we handle it,” Gray says. He nods at me and I try hard to keep my face straight, but the adrenaline starts coursing through my body in anticipation of what we’re about to do.
“Hernandez!” O’Reilly snaps, and I see Hernandez is already strapped in a vest as he hands one to his superior. He and I were in academy together and both got positions with the DPD. I was ecstatic when we were both assigned to the same precinct. Even though I’ve been through a lot of scary situations already, this is another ball game altogether. It’s hard to have all of this experience under my belt and not be able to talk to anyone about it, to not be able to say, This is scary, but I’ve been through worse.
I can’t talk to anyone about it.
Shaking my thoughts away, I follow Gray’s lead as he edges around the side of the building. There aren’t many windows, which makes it much easier for us to hide from the watchful eyes inside. I swallow and take a deep breath. I can’t let my nerves and added adrenaline make me screw up. There are innocent lives that need to be protected.
This is why I joined the force. This is why I wanted to be a cop: to protect innocent people from the dangers of the world, the ones that pop up when you least expect it. When bad things come at me, I want to be prepared for any scenario.
“Davis,” Gray snaps, tilting his head toward the door. It opens out so I stand beside it and aim at the lock. I hit it, and Gray pulls it open with a hard yank. He enters first, and I’m at his back. I feel O’Reilly and Hernandez come behind me, and all four of us enter the building as silently as possible.
This part of the bank has offices for the managers, but it seems abandoned. The criminals obviously put everyone into one part of the building to keep them together.
A whimper sounds somewhere and I pause, signaling to the others with my left hand to let them know I hear something. They stop and scan their surroundings; I see something out of the corner of my eye and gesture to indicate to Gray where I’m going.
I round an office door, gun drawn and ready to take down whomever is hiding behind it. When I turn to take them out, I stop immediately and put my gun away. A young girl is sitting behind the door, her cheeks stained with tears and her face full of fear.
“Hey,” I say softly, hands raised as I kneel to the ground. “It’s all right, you’re safe.”
I take her hand, and O’Reilly instructs Hernandez to take her outside. I’m surprised she wants me to stay, but I don’t disobey, nodding at Hernandez when he grabs the girl and takes her outside.
I breathe a sigh of relief. One life down, several to go.
I resume my position, this time behind both Gray and O’Reilly, and keep my gun drawn toward the door that’s already open. We hear shouting from the front of the bank and pause, listening for any sounds indicating them coming our way. If they see us in here, it’s game over.
“This is the Denver Police Department. We have you surrounded. Please let the hostages go and come out.” We hear the boom over the bullhorn outside and I cringe, hoping it doesn’t antagonize whoever is inside.
“No way! You’ll kill me!” The voice sounds low and loud, but there’s fear in his tone, undermining his false confidence.
“We have no reason to hurt you. Just come out and we’ll decide how to precede.” This negotiator is horrible. This isn’t how you talk someone down.
“No, you need to let me go. If you don’t, I’ll kill one of the hostages.” A cry sounds from somewhere in the main lobby, and the sound of flesh hitting flesh makes my vision turn red. “Shut up, bitch!”
I look to Gray and O’Reilly, waiting impatiently for an order. Gray signals for us to spread out to get the best vantage and we nod, following his directions. I find a spot where I can see the man standing there. He’s sweating horribly, and I can tell things are not going the way he wanted them to. That can make a person reckless.
With how we fan out, I’m the closest one to him, and his back is turned toward me. I could take him from here, but I don’t want to kill him.
I look over to see Gray signaling what he wants me to do, and I take a deep breath, nodding as I place my gun back in my holster and ready myself for what’s about to happen.
A shot rings out and I take a running leap, tackling the man to the ground. I use my momentum to take him down, which isn’t easy with him clutching his leg where Gray hit him, and I straddle his back. He struggles, his resistance making it impossible to grab his arms, so I lift a fist and throw it into his jaw. The force knocks his face into the ground, and I take the chance to cuff his hands behind his back while he’s distracted.
“You’re under arrest,” I say calmly, and I don’t notice right away that the hostages are standing. Some are crying, and all of them are clapping. I bite my lip and will the blush to go away as I haul the perpetrator off the floor and through the doors.
I read the man his Miranda rights as he’s placed in the back of our patrol car.
Gray approaches me, and I stare in shock at his raised hand, which is apparently waiting for a high five. I’ve never seen Gray high-five anyone. “You did good, boot.” It’s high praise coming from him.
Damn, that feels good.