TWENTY-ONE
2:03 PM
Sandra’s mind was on what was going on inside the Hanson home as she looked at the front gate. There was certainly no movement to suggest the security guard was on his way out. Had Ryan changed his mind about releasing him? If so, she was going to have a really tough time convincing Kreiger not to have ERT breach.
“All right, I’ve got the addresses for the secretaries,” Gibson said, cutting through the silence inside the vehicle.
Neal pulled out his phone and walked to Gibson’s workstation. “Hit me.”
As Sandra listened to Neal and Gibson talk, the front gates opened.
She glanced at the photos of the hostages and looked closely at the man walking through. “It’s Abram Duke.”
Her observation stalled the conversation between Gibson and Neal, as they turned to look at the screen. Donny and Monica were watching too. Abram just cleared the gates, and they shut again. Paramedics moved in to look the man over. From this distance, it didn’t appear that Abram had any significant injuries.
“This is good. Crawford held up his end of the bargain,” Neal said, thanked Gibson, and left the vehicle with his phone to his ear.
Gibson wasn’t far behind. His target was the released security guard.
“I’m going to call Ryan,” Sandra said while putting on her headset. Donny and Monica followed her lead. The timing wasn’t ideal with Gibson out of the vehicle, but she had to acknowledge that Ryan had released the security guard. Something that was best done immediately. But the line rang before she could place the call. As soon as she answered, Ryan spoke.
“I sent him out. Your turn. When should I expect the news stations?”
“I see you held up your end, Ryan, and I’m working on?—”
“Never mindworking on it.I may have released a hostage, but I have four more.”
“You did a good thing letting Abram go, Ryan.” She wasn’t going to react to his implied threat. Rather, she wanted to help him see he wasn’t a horrible person despite everything. If she could get that across, there might be a better chance of peaceful resolution.
“We’ll see, I guess,” he slurred.
Sandra glanced at Donny. He was looking right back at her. He’d picked up on the impaired speech too. Was Ryan intoxicated? Mixed with being armed and prone to auditory hallucinations with nothing to lose, that made for one volatile cocktail. “It was,” she assured him, “and I’m working on arranging what you’ve asked for…”
“How hard can it be to get the press here? They should be out there now, lining up on the street out front. These are the Hansons.”
Instead of sounding egotistical with this statement, he came across wounded by the lack of their presence. It was buried in his tone. Still, it wouldn’t be advantageous to point out the media was blocked from making their way down here. But she could give a reason that wouldn’t reflect badly on anyone. “People are scared, Ryan. Can you understand that?” She figured he would. He wasn’t a hardened criminal, but he’d felt pushed into taking the action he had.
“I won’t hurt the reporters. I just want the truth to come out!”
“Yes, I hear you, Ryan. I really do. And, please, trust me?—”
“I don’t trust anyone anymore. Not after being lied to all my life.”
Sandra took a couple of beats before replying. “And I can understand that, I really can.”
“Just get the reporters here.”
The line went dead.
Sandra sat still, staring at the video monitor, where Gibson was talking with Abram Duke at the back of an ambulance. While she didn’t agree with Kreiger, there might not be a way around inserting undercover officers to pose as reporters. It might need to come down to that. But the last time she was face to face with a hostage taker… She pinched her St. Michael pendant.
“Vos?” Donny said, slicing through her thoughts. “I don’t think he’s going to be cooperative until we at least meet him halfway.”
“I was just thinking that. I’ll counter that the press conference needs to happen outside.” It would be tricky changing the deal after Abram’s release. Possibly even deadly if she didn’t handle it right.
Monica was updating the markerboard after completing her notes when the door swung open.
It was Gibson back from talking with Abram Duke. “The situation inside really isn’t good. Ryan stripped Duke of his gun, bringing his tally up to two weapons. Duke’s was a Sig Sauer P320 and from what he can tell Ryan’s is a straight-up run-of-the-mill Glock 19.”
