Hostage

Talley felt sick; this is the way it went bad, this is how people got dead, just this fast.

Maddox clawed for his radio as other voices checked off positions and status. The tinny voice of Carl Hicks, the tactical supervisor, came back, calm over the strained voices of his men.

'Will advise, stand by while we assess.'

Talley didn't wait; he dialed the tactical team's frequency into his own transceiver.

'Pull back, pull back, pull back! Do NOT return fire!'

Martin's voice cut over his, short and clipped.

'Who is this?'

'Talley. I told you to respect that perimeter!'

'Talley, get off the freq.'

Maddox finally had his radio, cursing as he keyed the mike.

'One, Maddox. Listen to him, Captain. Do not breach that house. Pull back or we're going to have a mess!'

'Clear the frequency! Those people are in danger.'

'Do not breach that house! I can talk to him!'

Talley had his cell phone out. He punched redial to call the house, praying that Rooney would answer, then ran to Jorgenson's car, still there in the street, and turned on the public address system.

THOMAS

Thomas scrambled across the joists like a spider. He slammed his head into the low-hanging rafters so hard that his teeth snapped together, but he didn't stop or even think about the noise he was making. He scurried through the long straight tunnel of the crawl space past Jennifer's room, under her window, past her bathroom, past his, and then to the access hatch in his closet. He didn't pause to see if they were in his room, but scrambled through the hatch and ran to his bed. He wanted to retie himself; to pretend that he hadn't moved. He pulled the ropes back over his ankles, working frantically, his hands slick with sweat, as shouts and footsteps pounded toward him through the hall.

He looped the ropes and slipped his hands through, realized in a flash of fear that he had forgotten the tape that had covered his mouth, but then it was too late.

DENNIS

Dennis threw open the door. He saw that the boy had damn near untied himself, but he didn't care.

'C'mon, fat boy!'

'Get away from me!'

Dennis jammed his pistol into his waist, then pinned the fat boy with a knee to untie him. Outside, Talley's voice echoed over his P.A., but Dennis couldn't make out the words. He pulled the fat boy from his bed, hooked an arm around his neck, and dragged him back toward the stairs. If the cops crashed through the front door, he would hold his gun to the kid's head and threaten to kill him. He would hide behind the kid and make the cops back down. He had a chance. He had hope.

'Hurry up, Kevin! Jesus! Bring the girl!'

Dennis dragged the fat boy down the stairs and into the office where Mars was waiting by the window. Mars looked totally calm, as if he was killing time in a bar before going to work. He tipped his head when he saw Dennis, that stupid tiny smile on his calm face.

'They're not doing anything. They're just sitting there.'

Dennis dragged the kid to the shutters. Mars opened the shutters enough for Dennis to see. The cops weren't storming the house. They were hunkered behind their cars.

Dennis realized that the phone was ringing just as Talley's voice came over the P.A. again.

'Answer the phone, Dennis. It's me, Talley. Answer the phone so I can tell you what happened.' Dennis scooped up the phone.

TALLEY

Martin and Hicks ran into the cul-de-sac without waiting for a cover vehicle, Martin hitting the ground beside Talley so hard that she almost bowled him over, shouting, 'What in hell do you think you're doing, interfering with my deployment?'

'He's shooting at your people because he thinks they're assaulting the house, Martin. You're violating my agreement with him.'

'This scene now belongs to me. You handed off control.'

'Pull back your people, Martin. Just relax. Nothing is going on in there.'

Talley keyed the P.A. mike again.

'Dennis, take it easy in there. Please. Just pick up the phone.'

'Hicks!'

Hicks leaned into the car past Talley and jerked the mike plug from its jack.

Talley's head was throbbing. He felt caught in a vise.

'Let me talk to him, Captain. Order your people to stand down, and let me talk to him. If it's too far gone you can breach, but right now let me try. Tell her, Maddox.'

Martin glared at Maddox, who nodded at her. He looked embarrassed.

'He's right, Captain. Let's not get too aggressive here. If Talley made a deal, we have to honor it or this guy isn't going to trust me any further than a cat can shit a walnut.'

Martin glared at him so hard that she seemed to be trying to cook him with her eyes. She glanced at Hicks, then bit out the words.

'Pull back.'

Hicks, looking uncomfortable, plugged the P.A. mike back into its jack, then mumbled orders into his tactical mike.

Talley turned back to the house.

'Pick up the phone, Dennis. We made a screwup out here, but we are not coming into that house. Check it out. The perimeter is pulling back. Check it out and talk to me.'

Talley held the cell phone to his ear, counting the rings. It rang fourteen times, fifteen…