Page 4 of Andy

“You’re ridiculous, and you're going to get us all killed. The training says to just let them take what they want. You’re being an irresponsible jerk.”

More annoyance flashed over his face, and he pulled her close so his lips were right beside her ear, and she could smell his aftershave, along with the soap he'd used in the shower. “That guy had enough C-4 in his pocket to blow us all up. They aren’t here to grab money from the teller. Something else is going on. They’ve been here for too long. The cops are already outside by now. They were going to kill us all, anyway.”

Mel stiffened and pulled back enough to look him in the eyes. Andy seemed to believe what he’d said. He was right about one thing, this robbery was weird. They hadn’t passed around a note. Instead, they’d come in acting like they were going to shoot everything up, but not one shot had been fired.

Mel glanced around, making sure none of the other women were close enough to hear. “What do you think they are going to do?”

Andy shrugged. “I don’t know exactly, but I need to stop them before they get any wise ideas and end up killing someone.”

Mel drew in a slow breath. This man didn’t know this bank, didn’t know which doors opened to closets and which doors opened to rooms like this one.

“Follow me,” Mel said as she reached for the door handle.

He grabbed her arm, stopping her. “Hold on. I can’t let you go out there.”

“You can’t keep me in here. I know this building. It’s old. It’s not one of those new places with few rooms like this one. The building is a labyrinth of closets and rooms that function as hallways. Some of the doors open closets with shelves wide enough that you wouldn’t fit in them. You need me to guide you.”

She had a point. “Fine. But if I tell you to get down, you do it.”

She gave a sharp nod and then turned to leave, but his hand on her shoulder stopped her.

“I’m going first.”

“Fine. Leave this room and go to the right.”

He slowly cracked the door and paused before opening it wider and slipping out. Mel followed him, shutting the door quietly behind her. Her heart thundered, and for a second, her head spun. She had to keep it together or risk making a huge mistake.

She guided him to another room, and they silently slipped inside. She stepped past him, and he stopped her.

“What are you doing?”

“There’s a landline.”

“That’s good. Call the cops and tell them everything. Tell them about the C-4.”

“Good God. Does that man still have it?”

Andy shook his head. “Heck no. I have it in my jacket pocket. I need to see what those jerks are doing. Stay here.”

She reached out and grabbed onto his arm. “I don’t want to stay here.”

“I’ll be back in a moment. I just need to see what’s happening.”

She nodded, wishing she’d caught the flu this morning. No, that wasn’t true. She wished the robbers had caught the flu. Wishing this terror on anyone else wasn’t her way. If anyone had to deal with this crap, it was probably best it was her.

She picked up the phone and listened for a dial tone. Thank goodness this place still had landlines. If they’d gotten rid of them all like some people wanted, they wouldn’t have any way of calling the cops.

The operator answered on the first ring, and she breathed out a sigh of relief. She didn’t know if the robbers could hear her, so she spoke quietly.

“I’m at First Bank on Norris Street. We’re being robbed.”

“Norris Street. First Bank. Yes, there are officers on the scene. You said you were there. Are you inside?”

“Yes. There were three robbers, but one of them has already been disabled. There was a guy in the room where they put the women. Andy is his name. He took the robber’s gun and knocked him out. Tied him up, too. Said he had C-4—the robber, not Andy, had it. But Andy said it looked like it was enough to blow up the whole building.”

“Oh, let me put you on the line with the captain in charge of the scene.” Mel heard something click, then silence, then more clicks before the operator came back on. “This is Captain Bliss. He’s in charge of the scene. Tell him what you told me.”

“There are three robbers. They have big guns. One of the customers disabled one of the robbers and took his gun, then secured him with zip ties. Andy, that’s the customer, said the robbers had C-4. Said he pulled it out of the robber’s back pocket.”

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