Taxpayers are sensitive about that sort of thing. It was my call, being the highest-ranking local officer within range.
"This is sort of going to shit," I said, to Hester. "Comm, tell him to go to the bridge ramp and stand by there… nobody can even see him over there. Not in this fog." I turned to Hester. "Uh, does anybody you know have a Plan B?"
Just then, somebody tapped me on the shoulder, and I nearly jumped out of my skin. I turned, and there was one of the TAC team officers.
"No disrespect," he said, "but would you two mind moving? You're fouling our line of fire."
That was about as nice a way as he could have done it. In person, and not over the radio where everybody would have heard.
"You bet."
"Hell, Houseman," said Hester. "We're just in the way, here. Let's get back up to the CP."
We arrived back at the Command Post in time for a major event. Just after we quickly briefed George and Volont on what we'd seen, the phone rang, and Sally picked it up. After a couple of seconds, I became aware that there was no conversation. I looked over at her, and her face was as white as I've ever seen one.
"Yes. Sure, yes… just a second…" she managed to get out. "Mr. Volont," she said, "it's for you."
"Take a message," he barked, still looking out the window, vainly trying to see the bank.
I could see her listen intently, and then look about her frantically. She covered the receiver. "Hester! Do you have a speaker phone button here? Where is it? Hurry!" With that, she got the attention of everybody in the room. Hester didn't bother to tell her, just reached over and flicked a small button of the side of the phone base.
"It's on," said Sally.
"Mr. Volont?" asked a heavy, sarcastic voice. "You there for me today?"
"Who is that?" asked Art.
"This is Gabriel," said the voice. "Where's Special Agent in Charge Volont?"
24
"This is Volont."
The speaker phone wasn't quite the quality it could have been, but I suspected it hadn't cost the state that much, either.
Gabriel chuckled. "I'm so very glad it's you. We have some business to conduct."
"Not until you surrender the hostages," said Volont.
"No, no. You never understood planning, my boy. No, the way it is is this… my people will drive away from the bank when they signal they've finished their business. They will drive away unmolested. Period."
"Not that easy," said Volont. "As long as they have hostages in there, they don't leave."
"Call the bank," said Gabriel. "Ask to speak to the teller. We had a man pull the fire alarm, to set it off. We wanted some firemen present when we set off the charges to open the drive-thru window. Just in case of fire." He chuckled. "We care about the citizens."
"Won't work," said Volont. "We've got the bank sewed up tight. Nobody leaves."
"Want to do an exchange?" asked Gabriel, lightly. "A lot for a few? Maybe some of your people? I'll give you a great exchange rate. Two of your agents on the street for the one in the bank."
"I think not," said Volont.
"You 'think not,' do you? My, my. I'll have to get back to you in a minute." The line went dead.
Volont reached over and took the microphone from Sally's desk. "All units, be extremely cautious. There may be other suspects in the area, and we have information that leads us to believe they know we have an agent in the bank."
"How'd they ID him?" asked George. "Did they watch him go in?"
Volont shook his head. "He wasn't the one I'd picked, remember? My pick got lost in the fucking fog." He sounded disgusted. "The replacement is Unger. Built like a fullback. Moves like a cat. Looks nothing like a clerk or teller. They probably just took one look and neutralized him."
Sure. The agent in the bank would have been under very strict orders not to endanger anybody, so if they picked him out right away… I would hate to be in the shoes of the "lost" agent when Volont got hold of him.
He resumed his conversation on the radio. "Each post… check your six, very carefully," he said. Warning the agents to make sure there was nobody trying to maneuver into position behind them.
As he put the mike down, a klaxon began to sound in the distance. We all looked toward the bank. No apparent activity there.
"What is that damned thing?" asked Hester.
The phone rang, and Sally answered. We were all expecting Gabriel, I think. She listened for a second, and leapt to her feet, looking out the window toward the General Beauregard. We followed her gaze. Through the thickening fog, we could make out what seemed to be thick green smoke coming from the after section of the boat. Green.
"What burns green?" asked George.
"The horn sounding off is the fire alarm on the boat," said Sally. "This is our office, and they've got a fire alarm on the boat."
There was a small marine band radio on top of a filing cabinet in a corner of Hester's office. It came to life.
"General Beauregard to the DCI office in the Port of Frieberg," came a calm, clear voice. "This is Captain Hanson, calling the DCI office at the Port of Frieberg."
Hester picked up the mike. "Beauregard, this is Agent Gorse. Go ahead."
"Ma'am," said Captain Hanson, "there's a man here with a mask on and a gun to my head, who says I'm to call you and give you a situation report on my vessel."
Hester was more self-possessed than I was at that point. She actually answered in a normal tone of voice. "Go ahead with your report."
"Well, ma'am, first of all we don't have any fire. I repeat, there is no fire. We have some intruders who pulled the alarm and say they just set off a smoke candle. Then my engineer tells me that we have an engineering casualty, in that somebody has set off a little bit of explosive that has disabled our engines. We don't have a fire. We still have generating capability, but we can't move the boat under her own power."
"Right," said Hester.
"Then," said the captain, "the head of security tells me that the cash cages on the oh-one, oh-two, and oh-three decks and the counting room on the second deck have just been forcibly entered by armed men. They are going to remove all the money from the ship." He paused.
"Yes…" said Hester.
"And I'm to tell you that we don't have any casualties yet."
Silence.
"Captain?"
Nothing. Hester picked up her binoculars, and looked toward the Beauregard. "I can't see for shit…" She paused. "The green smoke is letting up… I think…"
The marine band radio came back to life. "DO?"
"Go ahead, Captain," said Hester.
"This man says that they are to be allowed off the boat unhindered, or they will sink her." You could faintly hear some other voice in the background. "And he also says that they are going to break our radios here, and that they've confiscated all the walkie-talkies from security. I guess this is the last trans…"
It apparently was.
"Fuck," said Art. He did have a way with words.
"We don't negotiate yet," said Volont. "We don't know enough."
"This isn't yours," said Hester. "There are about six hundred people on that boat. This is us and the sheriff only. We have jurisdiction here."
I would have been just as happy if she had left me and my department out of it. "We'd appreciate your help, though," I said.
Hester glared at me. I shrugged. She and I had no assets on the ground in this one. Ours were all at the other banks… A lightbulb might as well have come on over my head.