Chapter 24
Outside the post office Hope listens as the phone rings and rings but no one answers. She was hoping to get the suspect on
the phone, but Hope, on high alert, no longer cares who answers as long as that person can tell her what’s going on inside
the post office. The lookouts are reporting that some sort of fight broke out, but based on what they can see, it is not the
suspect who was the aggressor.
Perhaps the hostages are taking control. Perhaps, thanks to their actions instead of her own, the suspect will give up and
they can all go home. There was a time when such a resolution would’ve ruffled her feathers. She would want the victory, the
winning points on her side of the board. Now she doesn’t care about the board.
Things are devolving, becoming more desperate the longer those five people are trapped inside that post office together. She
needs more support. Especially with nightfall approaching, which always makes things seem worse. She looks at Bo, still beside
her. He is well intentioned, but he isn’t much help. She needs eyes on this situation in real time, an experienced SWAT team
at the ready. Help is on the way, she has been reassured. It can’t arrive soon enough.
She exhales as someone finally answers. But it is not Tommy. “Is everyone okay?” Hope blurts, then thinks better of it. “Sorry,” she says. “Who am I speaking with?”
“This is Sylvie. Yes, everyone is okay. We just had a, uh, misunderstanding.”
“I’m hearing there was some sort of altercation in there?”
“Yes,” says Sylvie. “But it’s over now.”
Hope doesn’t like depending on the impressions of a hostage. “I’d like to speak with whoever was involved,” she says.
“Okay,” says Sylvie.
Beside her, Bo whispers, “Ask to speak with them all.”
Hope looks at him, raises her eyebrows in question.
He nods. “Get a gauge on how everyone is doing.”
In the background she hears Tommy ask for the phone. “Wait,” Hope says. “Put him on first.”
“I will,” says Sylvie. “But tensions are pretty high. We’re all a little weary and edgy, as you can imagine.” Sylvie clears
her throat before continuing. “I know I’m not the one who can make demands, but I think perhaps some food might be helpful.
And water would be nice as well.”
“Okay,” says Hope. Not knowing the protocol for this in Sunset Beach—or if there even is a protocol—she has no idea how she
will go about making that happen, but she will figure it out. “We’ll get some sort of plan together.” She pauses, then adds,
“We’ll make sure you all are taken care of.” She hopes her promise brings some sort of comfort.
“One more thing,” says Sylvie. “If you don’t mind, I just wondered if perhaps someone could make contact with my husband.
He’s at home, and I know he never expected me to be gone this long, and he’s . . . well, he might be . . . anxious. After
all this time.”
Hope makes her voice sound confident and reassuring. “I know the chief is at the station working on informing and updating the families. I can ask him if he’s made contact with your husband when I talk to him again.”
“Yes,” says Sylvie. “That would be nice. I’ll try to get Tommy to come to the phone now.”
In the ensuing silence, Hope and Bo exchange glances, the seriousness of the situation reflected in both their countenances.
“That’s tough,” he says. “What she’s going through.”
Hope nods, feeling the pang of not being able to help that nice little old lady, of not being able to set her free right here,
right now.
“But,” Bo adds, interrupting her thoughts, “Tommy’s getting tired. Making poor decisions. What just happened is proof of that.”
Hope nods a second time.
“That’s good,” Bo says.
This wasn’t what Hope expected him to say. “Good?” she asks. Hope fears Tommy’s impulsive actions will lead nowhere good.
“In my experience, that’s how surrenders happen. They get tired, bored, frustrated that nothing is coming of their standoff.
Then”—Bo stresses the word—“they give up. It’s less about the fine art of negotiation and more about good old human nature. People
give up on things all the time.”
Tommy’s voice comes over the phone. “Yeah?” he asks, sullen.
“I don’t really understand what went on in there, but Sylvie tells me things are fine now. Do you agree?” she asks him.
“Yeah. It’s handled,” Tommy says, not offering further explanation, and Hope doesn’t press. She moves on to what Bo suggested.
“I’ve spoken to Sylvie, but I’d like to speak to the other women in the room.” She does not call them hostages. “Just to connect
with each of them and make sure they’re okay.”
Tommy sighs. She thinks he’s going to refuse, but then he says, “Fine,” and she can hear him handing the phone off to someone. A female voice says, “Hello.”
“Who am I speaking with?” Hope asks.
“This is Blythe.”
“Hi, Blythe. I’m Hope. I just wanted to check on you.”
“This is about the fight, isn’t it?” Blythe says. “I shouldn’t have done that. He made me so mad, I just—”
Now Hope knows who the person involved was. She looks over at Bo, and he gives her a thumbs-up. “I wasn’t asking about the
fight,” she says. “I know tensions are running high and things are bound to flare up. We’re going to try to get some water
and maybe some food in to you guys as soon as possible. We want to make you as comfortable as we can.” She fears she sounds
like a concierge instead of a negotiator.
“Well,” says Blythe, “it’s settled now. So that’s good.”
“That is good.”
“And some water would be great,” adds Blythe.
“I’ll start working on it as soon as we hang up. But first I’d like to talk to—Morrow, is it?”
“Yes,” says Blythe. “I’ll get her.”
There is a shuffle, and a new voice comes on the line. “Hello?” she says.
“Am I speaking with Morrow?” asks Hope.
“Yes, this is she,” says Morrow.
“Hi, Morrow. This is Hope. I just wanted to speak with each of you, get a gauge on how you’re feeling and any urgent needs
you have.”
“I urgently need to get out of here,” quips Morrow.
Hope gives a little laugh. “I understand that completely. We are working behind the scenes here to make that happen. I appreciate
you hanging in there.”
“Has my—” Morrow stops.
“Has your what?” prompts Hope.
“It’s silly. I doubt you’d know the answer. I just—I was wondering if perhaps my daughter has contacted you guys? If she knows
about this?” Part of Morrow wants Hope to say yes, and part of her wants Hope to say no.
“I know the chief of police is liaising with family members, as well as with the media and other branches of law enforcement.
So he would know better than I would if she’s been made aware. I will say, based on the media turning up and members of the
public coming by, there’s a good bet that she does know.” Hope does not say that this is the biggest thing to happen in Sunset
Beach in quite a while, and it’s likely the whole town knows by now.
“Okay,” says Morrow.
“Would you like me to get a message to her if I can?”
“No, that’s okay,” says Morrow. “I’ll . . . tell her myself soon enough.”
“I like that positive attitude,” says Hope. “Now, if you could just give the phone to Nadine, I will have spoken to everyone.”
“Okay,” Morrow agrees.
There is more shuffling until Nadine speaks, her voice wary as she asks, “Yes?”
“Nadine, is it?” Hope asks. This is, she knows, the woman at the center of the dispute, the unwitting catalyst. Hope thinks
of the last negotiation. There’d been a woman at the center of that siege as well. But she’d never gotten to speak to her.
The suspect never allowed it. In that regard, this is progress.
“Yes,” says Nadine. She rushes to add, “I just want to say I’m sorry about all this. I should’ve torn up the papers when he
asked and been done with it. Now I’ve gone and caused all this trouble.”
“You didn’t cause all this,” says Hope. She wants to say more; she wants to preach a sermon on whose fault this is. But she holds her tongue. “I don’t want you to worry about that. Just try to relax while you wait on us to get you out.”
“You never know what could happen,” says Nadine. There is innuendo in her voice, but Hope isn’t sure what she’s getting at.
She wonders if Nadine is up to something, and if so, do the others know? She feels a little zing of excitement travel through
her. Perhaps the hostages are plotting something. If they are, Hope hopes it’s a safe plan, preferably risk averse.
“Can you put Tommy back on now?”
“Yes,” Nadine says. “And, Hope?”
“Yes?”
“Thank you.”
“I haven’t done anything yet,” protests Hope.
“You will,” says Nadine.
Before Hope can respond, Tommy’s voice comes back on the phone.
“Okay, thank you for letting me speak to everyone. That was helpful,” Hope says, pandering to him.
“Uh-huh,” says Tommy.
Realizing that’s all she’s going to get from Tommy, Hope continues. “When I spoke to Sylvie, she had a good idea. She thought
perhaps some food would be helpful. Maybe some beverages.”
Tommy gives a little heh, heh sort of laugh and says, “I can think of a beverage I’d like.”
Hope ignores him. She thinks of the last negotiation.
They’d sent in pizzas. The suspect had agreed because his children were getting fussy, and probably because he was hungry too.
It was to be his last meal as a free man.
She thinks of the letter Alex told her about just a few hours ago, an honor bestowed when she has felt anything but honorable.
She had done good that day, but it had all been forgotten the moment she returned her father’s call.
She forces herself to focus on the here and now rather than the past.
“Why don’t I have some pizza and bottled waters sent in?” she asks.
Tommy’s voice perks up a little. “You can do that?”
“I’ll have to go through some approvals, but I think we can make that happen. Why don’t you ask the ladies what kind of pizza
they like, and I’ll call back in a few minutes?”
Tommy agrees, then hangs up without saying goodbye. Some people, thinks Hope, have no manners.