The door to the interior room opened and Adam Chase stood there, gun in hand. “We are just about done here,” he said. “And then all of you get to go on with your lives. Unless you give us problems.” He looked at Stone and Robie when he said this.
“No problems,” said Stone.
Another man appeared next to Chase. He held a machine pistol in his right hand. His face was, like Chase’s, covered with a ski mask.
Chase looked at him and then indicated Stone and Robie.
“Watch them closely,” said Chase, and the other man nodded. “Any problems at all, just take them out.”
Chase left and the other man put his back against the door, his gaze scanning the room.
*
In the bank lobby there was a hole in the drywall at the location of the pop-out. The studs had been sawn apart and some concrete blocks broken through, creating an opening large enough for a man to get past.
Chase and his three associates had clambered through the hole and were now staring up the exposed shaft that was framed in by steel beams for the once proposed elevator bank.
It was dark, of course, which was why they had night optics. They slipped the lenses down over their faces and powered them up.
Chase hefted a backpack over his shoulders. His colleagues did the same. They strung sturdy nylon climbing ropes around their waists and then coupled them using D-links. Then they each picked a section of wall, gripped one of the steel beams, and started to climb. The beams were close enough together that they made good progress. On the lower floors the shaft was formed by concrete blocks, but on the upper floors it was only drywall and studs. Each of them moved expertly, gaining a firm purchase with hands and feet on the beams before hoisting themselves higher. At this pace they would be at their destination very soon.
*
Harry and Reuben were back in the men’s room, the blueprints for the mall and the bank branch laid out on the floor. Harry had quickly studied them and then pointed out the optimal egress. He made his living breaking into places far more secure than even a bank. He pointed to a section of wall next to the row of sinks.
“I think there is the best spot. We have to assume they’ll have the hostages in the interior room there.” He pointed to that area on the blueprints. “Right behind this wall is the bathroom in the bank. They did it that way so they could use the same plumbing from this restroom. Saves time and money.”
“Right,” said Reuben, studying the plans. “But there’ll be sentries, Harry. We have to account for that.”
“I know. That’s why I brought this.” He pulled from his knapsack what looked like a handheld wand that TSA personnel would use at airport security, except that it had a small screen on the handle. “Thermal imager,” he explained.
He moved it up and down in front of the wall and then checked the readout screen.
“It’s clear right now.”
“Well, let’s hope nobody with a gun has to take a pee in the next few minutes,” said Reuben.
Harry drew out a saw from his duffel and began, as quietly as possible, to cut through the drywall.
CHAPTER 10
Stone studied the guard in the ski mask, and the man looked back at Stone.
Finally, the man said, “You got a problem?”
Stone said, “How did you draw the short straw? Are you the junior guy on the team?”
“Don’t know what you’re talking about. Short straw?”
The other hostages looked on nervously as Stone leaned back against the wall with Robie tethered to him.
“Short straw. Surely you understand the concept. They left you here. They left you behind.”
“Important job,” countered the man. “Guarding all of you.”
“Not really. Better to have killed us, drugged us, or tied us up so well we couldn’t escape. Why waste someone? You’re a small team. Why divide your manpower that way?”
“Why don’t you shut up, old man?”
“You should have at least asked for backup,” said Robie.
The man snorted. “Backup? I’ve got an auto pistol. All of you are tied together. You take a step toward me, you’re dead. Why do I need backup?”
“For unforeseen things,” said Stone. “But apparently your mission leader didn’t care about that. About you, I mean. Expendable.”
“You don’t know what the hell you’re talking about.”
“Actually, I do,” countered Stone. “The rear-flank guy almost always goes down. That’s the nature of the beast. And your friends aren’t coming back through here to make their escape. But I bet they told you they were.”
The other man’s shoulders tensed. He snorted and said, “So now you know all about our plan?”
Stone kept staring directly at him. “The motorized outer wall to the bank is key-operated. Charlie had one key. You don’t have it because I saw your leader take it. He also took the other key behind the tellers’ stand. So you can’t open the door to get out.”
“Yeah, but he can.”
“Do you know what those things were he was having positioned on the overhead door to the bank?” asked Robie.
The man glanced at him but said nothing.
Stone said, “They’re either Semtex or C-4 hardwired to a detonator. They’re armed and I bet they’re configured so they can’t be disarmed except remotely. A handful of Semtex can take down a jumbo jet. What do you think those packs will do to this bank and everyone in it? Including you.”
Robie added, “And why put those up if they were planning to exit that way?”
Before the man could say anything Stone said, “Because they’re not coming back this way. Why would they? Cops will be waiting. It’s been long enough that people will know something is up.” He glanced at the bank employees and customers. “All these folks have people who will be missing them. Won’t take long to realize something is off.”
“Shut up,” said the man, but his gun hand was trembling slightly.
Stone said, “A vertical shaft up a building allows for lots of possibilities for escape. Lots of floors. That’s what I’d do. And I’m sure that’s what your friends are planning to do. While you stay behind here. For the cops to arrest. Or kill.”
The man’s gaze darted in the direction of the shaft, confirming for Stone that his speculation had been correct.
He continued, “They have the plans for the building. That will tell them the best place to branch off the shaft after they’ve completed their mission. Different floor, masks and jumpsuits come off. They walk away and out of the mall. Gone. Just like that.” He snapped his fingers.
“But not you,” said Robie. “You’re stuck here with us. And when someone tries to open the door to the bank, we’ll be vaporized. All of us. You included.”
One of the female tellers started to moan. A customer choked back a sob and began whimpering.
The gunman started nervously licking his lips.
Stone said, “So that’s what I meant when I said the short straw. You’re the sacrificial lamb. Maybe the cops will think you were acting alone. I mean, there won’t be anyone alive to say otherwise. That way your buddies get away free and clear. While your ass gets sacrificed. For the cause. Whatever that might be.”
The gunman pointed his weapon at Stone’s head. “I said, shut up. Or the next person to be dead will be you.”
The next moment the man was falling forward, the door having struck him from behind.
Robie and Stone surged forward together. Robie ripped the gun free from the man’s fingers. Stone slammed an elbow into the man’s neck, sending him down to the floor, where he stayed.
The door opened all the way and there stood Harry and Reuben.
Reuben eyed the fallen man. “Now I’d say that was pretty damn good timing.”
“Perfect timing,” corrected Stone.
Harry quickly cut all the hostages loose.
Reuben said, “There are C-4 packs strung across the entrance to the bank. No one’s leaving that way until the bomb squad comes in and clears them out.”
“I take it no one was in the front part of the bank,” said Stone.
Reuben nodded. “That’s right..”
Harry nodded. “But there’s a hole in the wall.”
“We knew they were trying to get from here to somewhere else. Do you know where they’re going?” asked Robie.
“A fund-raiser on the top floor,” replied Reuben. “Lots of elite types attending. Annabelle managed to get in.”
“And the target?” asked Stone.
“The vice president of the United States,” answered Harry.
Stone and Robie glanced worriedly at each other.
Robie said quickly, “Does the Secret Service know?”
Harry said, “Alex is on the protection detail, but Annabelle hasn’t been able to make contact with him yet.”
Reuben hiked his eyebrows and smiled. “VP. Just your run-of-the-mill stuff. Keeps us from getting rusty in our old age.”