Hostage

Mars pushed Thomas onto the floor with Jennifer, then aimed at her father. Dennis put his own gun in the waistband of his pants, then snatched a lamp from the corner of her father's desk. He jerked the plug from the wall, then the electrical cord from the lamp.

'Don't go psycho and everything will be fine. Do you hear that? I'm gonna take your car. I'm gonna tie you up so you can't call the cops, and I'm gonna take your car. I don't want to hurt you, I just want the car. Gimme the keys.'

Her father looked confused.

'What are you talking about? Why did you come here?'

'I want the fucking car, you asshole! I'm stealing your car! Now, where are the keys!'

That's what you want, the car?'

'Am I talking fucking Russian here or what? DO YOU HAVE A CAR?'

Her father raised his hands, placating.

'In the garage. Take it and leave. The keys are on the wall by the garage door. By the kitchen. Take it.'

'Kevin, go get the keys, then come help tie these bastards up so we can get outta here.'

Kevin, still by the windows, said, 'There's a cop coming.'

Jennifer saw the police car through the gaps in the shutters. A policeman got out. He looked around as if he was taking his bearings, then came toward their house.

Dennis grabbed her hair again.

'Don't fucking say a word. Not one fucking word.'

'Please don't hurt my children.'

'Shut up. Mars, you be ready! Mars!'

Jennifer watched the policeman come up the walk. He disappeared past the edge of the window, then their doorbell rang.

Kevin scuttled to his older brother, gripping his arm.

'He knows we're here, Dennis! He must've seen me closing the shutters!

'Shut up!'

The doorbell rang again.

Jennifer felt Dennis's sweat drip onto her shoulder and wanted to scream. Her father stared at her, his eyes locked onto hers, slowly shaking his head. She didn't know if he was telling her not to scream, or not to move, or even if he realized that he was doing it.

The policeman walked past the windows toward the side of the house.

'He knows we're here, Dennis! He's looking for a way in!'

'He doesn't know shit! He's just looking.'

Kevin was frantic, and now Jennifer could hear the fear in Dennis's voice, too.

'He saw me at the window! He knows someone's here! Let's give up.'

'Shut up!'

Dennis went to the window. He peered through the shutters, then suddenly rushed back to Jennifer and grabbed her by the hair again.

'Get up.'

MIKE WELCH

Officer Mike Welch didn't know that everyone in the house was currently clustered less than twenty feet away, watching him through the gaps in the shutters. He had not seen Kevin Rooney or anyone else when he'd pulled up. He'd been too busy parking the car.

As near as Welch could figure, the people from the red Nissan had jumped the wall into these people's backyard. He suspected that the three suspects were blocks away by now, but he hoped that someone in this house or the other houses on this cul-de-sac had seen them and could provide a direction of flight.

When no one answered the door, Welch went to the side gate and called out. When no one responded, he returned to the front door and rang the bell for the third and final time. He was turning away to try the neighbor when the heavy front door opened and a pretty teenage girl looked out. She was pale. Her eyes were rimmed red.

Welch gave his best professional smile.

'Miss, I'm Officer Mike Welch. Did you happen to see three young men running through the area?'

'No.'

Her voice was so soft he could barely hear her. Welch noted that she appeared upset, and wondered about that.

'It would've been five or ten minutes ago. Something like that. I have reason to believe that they jumped the wall into your backyard.'

'No.'

The red-rimmed eyes filled. Welch watched her eyes blur, watched twin tears roll in slow motion down her cheeks, and knew that they were in the house with her. They were probably standing right on the other side of the door. Mike Welch's heart began to pound. His fingers tingled.

'Okay, miss, like I said, I was just checking. You have a good day.'

He quietly unsnapped the release on his holster and rested his hand on his gun. He shifted his eyes pointedly to the door, then mouthed a silent question, asking if anyone was there. She did not have time to respond.

Inside, someone that Mike Welch could not see shouted, 'He's going for his gun!'

Loud explosions blew through the door and window. Something hit Mike Welch in the chest, knocking him backward. His Kevlar vest stopped the first bullet, but another punched into his belly below the vest, and a third slipped over the top of his vest to lodge high in his chest. He tried to keep his feet under him, but they fell away. The girl screamed, and someone else inside the house screamed, too.