Chapter 187: Meet the Cavalry
"It's the kids that bother me. If I go with Lieutenant Grogan's recommendation and call for the full SWAT team, it will take at least a couple more hours to get setup for an assault. I don't want to let this go that long. I want it resolved as soon as fucking possible so we can get those kids out of there. If it was just adults, I might let them stew for a while, but every second we wait, those children are just going to be more traumatized.
"If we wait, rush hour will be in full swing and traffic that would normally go through here will be backed up for miles. An assault will almost certainly mean gunfire, and I don't want to risk any stray shots with the road packed with traffic.
"You see, I'm in a pickle. I need to end this fast and I don't want gunfire. You are the best chance we have to take those two out quickly, before they hurt anyone."
I nodded. This was exactly the kind of situation I had told Foster I could help with.
"What's the tactical situation?" I asked, hoping to sound professional.
"Grogan?" The Sheriff said.
"Two Caucasian males, mid-twenties. Baggy clothes. Canvas shorts and t-shirts. One is armed with a double-barreled shotgun. We think the other has a knife, but the witness wasn't sure. They are in the back of the store near the meat department. The hostages are on the floor beside the refrigerated cases. The perps are walking back and forth between them and the aisles. This makes it tough to get to them with sniper fire. If it was just one, or if they would stand still for more than a few seconds..." Grogan's unhappiness with the situation was clear. He swallowed his anger and went on. "We have two men at the southeast corner of the building, and two over behind that parked car across from the main entrance. Another two are watching the freight entrance around back. The two behind the car have limited sight into the back of the store, so we know where everyone is, but not all of them are visible at one time."
"OK," I said, thinking about how to sneak up on two armed men without getting a lot of innocent people killed. "I'll go in the back and approach from there. My associate will keep you informed."
As I jogged off down the side of the building, I heard Grogan and the Sheriff talking.
"She's just a little girl! What the hell is she going to do? We're just giving them another damn hostage. She's not even armed. I doubt she has more than a tube of lipstick in that fanny pack."
"Grogan, shut up. That little girl is the scariest bad-ass in this town. I've seen her work... and the aftermath. You go call for an ambulance."
Despite the Sheriff's conviction that he had just sentenced the two robbers to a trip to the emergency room, I swore I would try to bring this off without anyone getting hurt if I could at all avoid it. Not even me.
When I turned the corner of the building, I saw a black-and-white parked next to the loading dock. One officer was peeking around the open freight door. He heard me coming up behind him and turned around. I saw that his nametag said 'Rosario'.
"Where's your partner?" I asked.
"Inside, trying to get close enough to eavesdrop on them," he said. "Who are you?"
"The cavalry. Wait here until you get orders to move in. Or until you hear gunfire, in which case something has gone very wrong. Got it?"
"Yeah, but..."
I left Officer Rosario and crept into the dark storeroom. There were big metal light fixtures in the ceiling, but they were off. The only light came from the opening behind me and the windows in the door ahead. As I got closer to the swinging door leading to the front of the store, I saw Officer Murphy craning his head around a pallet of dishwashing powder. He was trying to hear what was going on in the store without being seen by the robbers.
The crepe soles on my shoes were as silent as if I were walking across a plush carpet. I got right up behind Murphy without him even knowing I was there. I put out a hand and tapped him on the shoulder.
"Hello Murphy," I said in a whisper.
He jerked but didn't make a sound. After a few seconds of deep breathing, he turned to look at me.
"Who the hell are you?" He said in a strained whisper.
"Got that citation yet, Murphy?" I asked smiling.
"No, that's on for next week. Who are you?"
"I'm your fairy godmother. I'm the one who leaves hold-up suspects lying around on street corners for lucky deputies to scrape up. In a minute, I'm going in there and deal with those two. I want to know that you're chilling here so I don't have to worry about what's behind me. If you aren't cool, go back and wait with Rosario."
"I'm good. Really."
"Great. Wait here. When I have them both disarmed and down, come and cover them and we'll get them cuffed. OK?"
"What are you going to do?"
"Anything I have to, Murphy. Anything I have to." I wanted to laugh out loud at my false bravado. I didn't have a clue what the hell I was going to do. But the time had come for me to do it.
I slipped away from Murphy and knelt on the floor right behind the right-hand panel of the double swinging doors. I eased up until I could see out the small, grimy window. I had to stand on my toes to do it.
The robbers were pacing up and down in front of the row of refrigerated cases about thirty feet to my left. I couldn't see the hostages, but they must have been on the floor at the robbers' feet because they kept looking down as they paced.
I watched for a bit to see if they followed some kind of pattern. The one with the shotgun was closest to me and always came close to the end of the row of cases before he turned to go back toward the hostages. His buddy never left the area where I thought the hostages must be. I noticed that the buddy held a knife in his right hand and waved it around as he paced. Both of them seemed highly agitated. Their movements were jerky and abrupt and the gestures they made indicated frustration. I thought the Sheriff was probably right to be worried. These two looked like they might do something stupid and violent any minute.
I decided that the one with the shotgun had to be my first priority. He could do the most damage of the two. When he was down I could go for the one with the knife.
I slid back down to the floor and 'spoke' to Neeka.
"I'm at the door to the front of the store. Murphy is here with me. He's going to back me up. Has the situation out there changed any?"
Her voice rang clearly in my head, "Just a sec... no. No changes. Everyone is still in the same position. Good luck, Sam."
I went back over to Murphy to attend to one final item.
"Look, Murphy, I'm going to show you something now so you won't be startled later, OK?"
He nodded assent, if not understanding. I looked right in his eyes and took on the aspect of the Dragon. His eyes went real big when my face changed, but after a second he nodded again. In the dim light of the storeroom, it must have been a chilling sight. I was going to need it to startle the robbers into what, if I was lucky, would be immobility.
I went back to the door and knelt behind the left-hand panel. I closed my eyes briefly and tranced. It was harder to do with my heart pounding in my chest and my nerves screaming at me and the shadows of doubt flickering at the edge of my vision, but I managed. Trance made everything seem to happen slower. I hoped that would give me another edge.
With a last deep breath, I slowly eased the right—hand door panel inward. When it was open enough for me to crawl through, I wedged it in place with a block of wood that was on the floor for that purpose.
I pulled the cowl up over my head as far as it would go and lay down flat on the floor with one eye looking around the door. I waited until the robber with the shotgun turned his back to me and started to crawl through the door. I had only gone a few feet when I realized that I couldn't get as flat to the floor as I wanted. There was a gap in my contact with the floor caused by two significant parts of my anatomy.
Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone