Page 18 of Sinful Surrender

“Go home and rest. Wait for news. Negotiators are en route now and expected to arrive within the hour. We’re all hopeful this situation can be resolved peacefully. Do you understand me, Detective?”

In a daze, I descend the porch steps and head toward my car.

“Detective Malone? I need your verbal acknowledgment. You know as well as I do that attending a scene like this while emotional only places everyone else at risk. You have a loved one inside that building. It’s best if you stay away.”

“Okay…” My voice is hoarse. Broken, as I open my car door and slip behind the wheel. “I hear you, Cap.”

“Stay away,” he presses. “I’ll remain in contact. The second I know anything, I’ll make contact.”

“Alright.”

Slowly, I pull the device from my ear and study the screen, foreign at the moment, as Fletch yanks the passenger door open and drops in with athud.

I kill my call and toss my phone to the center console. Then I look to my partner. “Who called you?”

“Sera. She’s at the bank too. Outside. Delicious and Aubs are inside.”

“Hostage situation.” I slip the key into the ignition and turn the engine over. Then finally, like everything snaps back into motion, my thoughts grow faster, and my movements speed up.

I push the gear into reverse and risk running a uniform down as I back away from the house. “Captain Bower said it’s an active hostage situation. Dude is armed and dangerous. There’s already one hostage down.”

“Fuck.” Fletch fixes his seatbelt and smacks the button for lights and sirens. “Sera says the front door’s locked, and black plastic has been taped up over the windows to keep eyes out. She heard the gunshot, but that’s all she knows.”

“GSW to the stomach. Dammit.” We tear around a corner only to come to an almost stop in end-of-day traffic. “Cap said they need to send medics in, but can’t.”

“There are already doctors inside,” he rasps. “Two of them, who lack self-preservation skills and a filter on their mouths.” He turns to me as I take the shoulder and use part of the sidewalk to keep us moving. “What else did the captain say?”

“That I’ve been dismissed from duty. Georgiana’s case has been taken from me, and I’m to go home and watchWheelof fuckin’Fortunewhile I wait for news.” I wrench the wheel and bring us around another corner so the tires squeal on the road. My sirens wail, but folks in the city rarely give a shit about that sound these days; they’re too desensitized. Too busy. So I keep us moving, cutting across City Park when the opportunity arises. “He forbade me from going to the bank.”

“So we’re going to the bank?” He holds on to the handle above the door when we skid on moist grass, then he takes out his phone and searches his contacts. “I’m still pissed.” He hits dial. “We’re not okay.” But then he lifts the phone to his ear and his eyes to me. “Does Tim know?”

“About Fentone?” I bring us out the other side of the park and back onto the road. Already, I see the barricaded street. The cop cars. The uniforms keeping everyone away. “No. He doesn’t know.”

“Just me?”

I nod and bring us to a screeching stop just two feet from a uniformed officer. “Just you, me, and her.”

Ripping the keys from the ignition and pushing out of the car, I grab my badge, when I’d rather my gun, and charge past the barricades.

“Tim!” Fletch runs beside me, his phone pressed to his ear. “Come to First National. I’ll probably lose my job for involving a civilian, but you deserve to know. Don’t bring a fuckin’ weapon,” he grits out. “Just come.”

“You just brought a war downtown.”

“Yeah, well…” He follows me at a run. “It had to be done.”

I see Seraphina at least fifty feet from the bank doors. Tears and mascara run down her face, and her hair, usually so perfect, is now messy from pushing her hands through it in stress. She’s restrained by three cops as she fights to get closer to the building. Closer to her friends. So I charge her way and free her with a single flash of my badge.

“What’s happening?” I take her shaking hands and notice the bag hanging from her arm. The fluffy toy inside. “What the fuck happened, Fifi?”

Her lips tremor, and her eyes jump between mine. “We went shopping for bears.” Her voice breaks with a sob as she peers to Fletch. “We were shopping for presents for Mia, but then Chief Mayet had to go to the bank. We were all walking in at the same time, but I got a phone call, so I turned around and stayed on the steps for a few minutes.”

She ducks her head and sniffles. “That’s all it took. A few minutes. Then the doors were slammed shut and plastic was taped across the front.”

“Who called the cops?” When she takes too long to answer, I shake her arm until her teeth chatter. “Hey! Who called?”

“I did. I-I saw the guard, and I heard the gunshot. So I called, and a few minutes later, they got here and dragged me away from the front door.”

“How many people are inside?” Her eyes fling to Fletch again, seeking comfort. She’s in shock. Terrified. But my wife is in danger, so I grab her jaw and bring her attention back to me. “How many inside, Seraphina?”

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