Chapter 20
TWENTY
Sandra was delayed calling the assailant on the fourth floor.
She was distracted by the other progress being made.
Thanks to Luis’s help, they were able to grab pictures of three of the four armed assailants.
Including footage of Cross letting a younger man into the server room.
There were no cameras inside the boardroom, and earlier video just showed the woman approaching Pamela’s desk, head down.
The faces they had were being run through facial recognition databases, but no one was expecting any hits.
Gibson printed the images and affixed them to the markerboard with small magnets.
Neal made sure that the pictures were distributed to all the officers and detectives in the field, with the primary focus being Eric so he could show them to Stevie Cross for a reaction. He flagged the man with Cross.
“The man from the fourth has to be in his mid-to-late sixties,” Sandra said. “He’s older than I had imagined.”
“And then you look at his friends. The woman on the second floor, maybe late thirties. The guy on the sixth only mid-twenties,” Brice added.
“His age lends to him being good with computers and tech,” Kreiger said.
“Maybe that’s a little stereotypical, boss,” Monica said.
“Yeah? Look at you.”
“I’m flattered you think I’m in my twenties. I turned thirty-two last week.”
Kreiger smiled. “Well, whatever. Stereotypes became that for a reason. They track.”
“Okay, I’m going in again. I’ll try to get through to the HTs on the second and sixth floors first. Then I’ll try Mickey,” Sandra said, putting her headset on. The rest of the team followed her lead.
“Maybe we could call him Perp Four,” Gibson suggested. “You know, for being on the fourth floor.” He turned around and faced his computer again when no one responded.
The rest could call him what they liked, but she’d think of him as Mickey until or unless he gave her a different name.
She didn’t need to inadvertently mess up when she was on the phone with him.
“Luis, I’ll let you know before I try each floor.
If you could bring up the live feed for each nurses’ station as I go, that would be great. ”
He tapped some keys and brought his laptop over, holding the screen for her. “Here’s the second.”
No one was within sight. She put the call through and listened to the line ring.
Still no one. She hung up. “The sixth,” she said to Luis, and he brought up that nurses’ station there.
Like with the second, not a person in view, and her call went unanswered.
Luis brought up the nurses’ station from the fourth without her asking.
Here goes… She punched in the numbers, and after the second ring, the door of the break room opened and Mickey entered the frame alone.
He leaned over the desk and grabbed the receiver. “Didn’t I tell you I would kill him if you called me again? I’ll put a bullet in him, I swear.”
More threats, but there was no sign of Maddox, and no accounting for the victim of the earlier gunfire. “Mickey, the guys out here found out a gun was fired. I’m doing my best to keep everyone at bay, but I need to know that everyone is all right.”
Brief hesitation, then, “Everyone is fine.”
“Could I speak to Jordon Maddox, just to see for myself that he’s okay?”
“No.”
Sandra bristled, but if she pushed to speak with Jordon, she’d put Mickey on the defensive. “But he is okay?”
“For now.”
He didn’t want her to forget he was the one in charge between them. “Is anyone else with you, Mickey?”
“Two nurses.”
“Do you know their names, Mickey? I could tell their families they’re okay.” She wanted to humanize his hostages.
“Nah, I’m not going there.”
“You and your friends want something, and I can help with that. Just let me know their names, and I’ll fight for you.”
The man scoffed. “No one fights for me. And friends? That’s a joke.”
“Then, please, tell me who they are, Mickey.”
Silence.
“We know there are others. Let me help you out of there. Maybe none of this was even your idea.”
“What do you know? You don’t even know my real name. Also, I’m a grown-ass man, and I make my own decisions.”
“Then tell me what you would like. I can guarantee your safety if you will surrender peacefully.”
“I’m not giving up.”
The terminology was noteworthy. “No one said anything about giving up. You would be making a choice to stand up for yourself and your future. Nothing’s happened that you can’t walk away from.
” A lie regardless of whether there were no injuries or a death at this man’s hands.
He’d know that in the back of his mind, but her assurance might help him forget that long enough to surrender.
“That’s bull crap, and we both know it. I came into this hospital armed with a gun and fired it. I fired it!”
“It doesn’t sound like that’s what you wanted to do.”
“None of this is playing out like I thought it would.”
That ad lib was his first sign of weakness. “And how did you see it playing out?”
Mickey didn’t respond to her, but he was rubbing his chin in thought. His face was downcast. The weight of what he had done and was doing seemed to set in.
“The longer this goes on, there’s a better chance people will get hurt, Mickey.
Some patients in there are dying or will without their medication.
” A little girl will die without her new heart…
But she wasn’t putting the pressure of a child’s life on his shoulders.
That could make him feel more powerless and have him acting out.
“You can put an end to this,” she added after allowing him time to speak.
“No. She wouldn’t want that. Same with the others.”
Up until now, he spoke as an individual.
Now it was like he was remembering some bond or allegiance he had with the others.
“Who is she, Mickey?” She tiptoed around because coming out and saying she heard the woman bark at him that morning would hurt the trust she was trying to establish.
She had hijacked their radio frequency, so he could have even put it together. But if he did, he didn’t let on.
“Nah, I’m not telling you that. You don’t know who any of us are, do you?”
She couldn’t lie or he’d see through her. This was an opportunity to learn more and build trust. “We know of four of you. Are there more?”
“No.”
Brice nodded.
“The woman on the eighth floor has people holed up in the boardroom.”
“Wait a minute, how do you know…?” On the laptop screen, Mickey was looking around. He smirked. “You’re spying on us. Well, keep watching.”
Mickey slammed the receiver down and left the nurses’ station, slipping out of view into the nurse break room.
“What’s he doing?” Monica asked.
Sandra didn’t answer, and neither did anyone else. Everyone was captured by the screen on Luis’s laptop.
Just seconds after he left, Mickey returned to the nurses’ station. This time he wasn’t alone. He had a hold on Jordon Maddox and a gun pointed at his head.