Choosing Happiness (12 page)

Andrea put her hands on her hips and looked up at her brother. “You are refusing to look past the baby sister thing and realize it. Life's short. I'm not going to let my fear win and make me give up the happiness I have now, for however long it might last, on the chance that it might not last forever. You know how it works. You’ve taken that chance with Jeanie. Give us the same opportunity."

Ben hung his head. "You're right, I've been treating you like the kid you were before I left for the Army. I've grown and matured since then, I guess it never occurred to me that you have, too." He reached up and touched a clean spot on the back of his hand to his mouth there was no blood but he seemed to be remembering being hit. "You're right. I deserved it, from both of you.” He looked back down at her. “Did Mom really say that?"

"Yeah, she did. I told her I suspected it had already been taken care of. She didn't seem too upset by the idea," Andrea said.

"Thanks, Sis." Ben looked at her, his mouth straight and brows dropped low. "So, you and Jake are okay again? I don't have to worry about him hitting me again, do I?"

"I still need to see him."

"Why are you here instead of there? What are you waiting for?"

"I'm not sure what to say, exactly. I want to do more than just show up and say I'm sorry."

"Well, with Jeanie, I use flowers or chocolate. If I've screwed up really bad, I go for jewelry."

"Somehow I don't think any of those are appropriate here." Andrea rolled her eyes.

"Yeah, I've got nothing else." Ben smiled, shrugging.

"I'll figure it out." Andrea’s voice turned hard. "You remember something before you start interfering in my life again.”

“What’s that?”

“I'm an adult and I get to make my own decisions and my own mistakes. I don’t need you there to stop it, though I wouldn’t object if you want to help catch me if I fall now and then."

"Got it," he replied.

She left him standing over the dolly, watching her as she went back out to the car, still trying to decide how to make the whole thing up to Jake.

A
ndrea knocked on Jake’s door, hoping it wouldn't take him long to answer. She'd forgotten to grab her jacket before she'd left the house. It had been nice out then, but since the sun had gone down the temperature had plummeted.

Andrea had driven around for nearly two hours since leaving Ben at the shop, trying to figure out what to say to Jake. She'd ended up deciding she couldn't plan it. The words had to come from the heart. She just had to show up and get it over with.

She was shivering when Jake opened the door.

"Andrea, you don’t have a coat on! Get in here, right now." He pulled her into the apartment and closed the door, leaving only a whisper of the cold outside behind. He looked down at her, his eyes glittering with hope. "Does this mean what I think it means?"

Andrea nodded, momentarily unable to speak past the emotions lumped in her throat.

Jake pulled her into a tight hug, holding her against him. "Thank you, God." Andrea was thankful for his warmth but was having a hard time breathing. She struggled against him slightly and he loosened his grip. She looked him in the face and finally pushed past the lump.

"I'm so sorry, Jake. I let my mind, my fears, and other people’s opinions try to talk my heart out of what it already knew. I can't guarantee it won't happen again but I'll do my best to stop it before it gets quite so bad."

"I can't really ask for more." He smiled down at her. "I wouldn't want you to change. I like you for who you are and I don’t want you any other way."

Andrea smiled back. "I like the way you are, too." She leaned into him and wrapped her arms around him as she laid her head against his chest.

Jake ran his hands up and down her back, as if reassuring himself that she was really there in his arms. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and Andrea picked her head up and tilted it back, lifting up on her toes until she could kiss him. Her hands slid beneath the loose t-shirt he wore, warming her still cool hands against the heat of his skin.

Easily stepping into the role of instigator, she walked him backwards until he hit the wall. She continued to move forward until she was pressed tight against him, feeling every inch of him hard and warm against her. She lifted her arms, resting one behind his neck while the other hand tangled in his hair as their tongues tangled and danced.

Jake splayed his hands over her back, pulling her closer. He enjoyed the feel of her against him. She pulled him away from the wall, backed into the living room and stumbled. Jake caught her easily, keeping her from falling but breaking their kiss. Andrea regained her feet and pulled at Jake's shirt.

"Off, now. I want to feel you against my skin." She pulled off her own shirt. Kicking off her shoes and peeling out of her jeans while she was at it, she left her clothes in a pile on his living room floor. She looked up at Jake and saw that he'd done the same and was standing in front of her as naked and ready as she was. Turning for the bedroom, she looked back over her shoulder and smiled. “You coming?” she shook her ass at him as she disappeared through the bedroom door.

“Try and stop me.” He followed, catching her just inside the room. He swept her off her feet and into his arms. She squealed as he tossed her in the air and caught her before falling onto the neatly made bed with her in his arms.

The next morning, Jake got up early and went to work. Andrea rolled over and slept a couple more hours before leaving to take care of her errands for the day. She went to the bank to deposit a couple of checks. Sophia and Jeanie had each written a check to reimburse her for several things she’d picked up for them while shopping a few days before.

Stepping through the front door, she saw there were only a couple of people in line. Having gotten her deposit ready before coming in, she went directly for the line. She was waiting for a teller when someone burst in the front door, shouting. The noise made Andrea turn to see what was going on. There were four men, standing with their backs together, each holding a gun pointed at the various bank patrons.

"Nobody move!" Screamed a man's voice.

Andrea glanced around the large, open room. Everyone seemed to have frozen in terror. The man who had spoken moved to stand near the door where he could see everyone in the room. Two more men were slowly moving around the room, moving people away from the edges of the room to join the growing crowd in the middle. A fourth man moved quickly around the room. One by one he lowered the shades, leaving the bank somewhat gloomy with the only sunlight entering through the uncovered glass doors. Once they had everyone together in the middle of the room they made them all sit on the floor of the small waiting area, swinging their guns to point to where they wanted people, shouting commands.

"Everyone down, sit on the floor. Be still and keep your mouths shut and you might get out of here alive." One of the armed men told them as he swung the weapon over the group.

"Which one of you is the manager?" another asked, aiming his weapon at a child when no one admitted to the position. "This is the last time I ask. Which one of you is the manager?" He spoke slowly as he asked the second time.

"I am," claimed a calm, composed woman's voice. "I'm the manager."

"Good," the man lowered the strange looking pistol he’d pointed at the child. A woman, Andrea assumed was the child’s mother, pulled her close, wrapping her arms around her so she couldn’t get away again. "Come with me." He led her to the vault. "Open it."

"I can't, not alone." She replied.

“Why not?”

“The vault requires two keys. I don’t have them both.”

"Who else do you need?"

"My assistant manager, he has the other key."

"Which one is he?"

The woman looked back at the group of people sitting on the floor. "James is the one in the blue shirt, with the glasses,"

"James!" The man shouted. "Get your ass over here, now." A heavy-set man sitting a few feet from Andrea stood and slowly made his way through the seated people and to the vault.

Andrea thought quickly, wondering what these men were really after. If it were just cash they’d take what was in the drawers and get out of there as quickly as possible. She looked around at the people seated with her, they all looked as terrified as she felt.

That’s when it occurred to her. These men hadn't taken away cell phones. She moved slowly, trying to make her movements look like she was shifting from sitting on her feet to a slightly more comfortable position on the thin carpet. She slid her cell phone out of her pocket. Careful to hide what she was doing, she tried to get some pictures of their captors. Thankfully, she kept the camera app on silent. It took several tries before she got a decent shot of one of the men and several seconds more to text the picture to Jake.

~~~

Jake was finishing the paperwork from a speeding ticket, they’d already let the driver go, when the call came in.

"Attention all units, we have a 10-90 at the First Regional Bank at 2648-3rd Street. 10-40 until we have contact with the manager," came the dispatcher's voice over the radio.

Jake glanced at Ramon picked up the radio and called in. "This is Hasting-8 we’re 10-77, about four minutes." Then buckled his seat belt while Ramon pulled the cruiser out onto the road, heading for the bank.

"10-4 Hasting-8, repeat, unknown situation, approach with caution."

They cruised by the bank, not pulling into the lot or slowing as they passed.

“The blinds are all closed.” Jake said as they went by.

“That’s not right. They’re always open during business hours and they were open when we came by an hour ago.”

Jake picked up the radio. "Dispatch, this is Hasting-8. We've driven past, it appears something's not right. The windows are all covered, but the lot is more than half full, we may have a robbery in progress 10-24 at my location, out."

"Roger, Hasting-8, requesting back up to the First Regional Bank at 2648-3rd Street.” Jake listened as the dispatcher repeated the call for back up and the situation at hand.

There were several responses of back up on the way and ETA's as Ramon turned their car around and approached more slowly. He stopped the cruiser before it would be seen from the door, the only uncovered glass visible. They got out of the car and tried to get some idea of the situation on their hands.

Starting at one end, Jake counted the cars in the lot, trying to get some idea of how many might be inside. He was trying to figure out how many possible hostages they could have on their hands when he felt his cell phone vibrate at his hip. Absently, he pulled it from the holster and glanced at the screen. Andrea had sent him a picture message, he holstered the phone and went back to counting cars without looking at it. Police cars were beginning to arrive around him as well as the shift Lieutenant. He knew they would be setting up a command post and trying to figure out exactly what was going on.

Jake had almost finished counting when he saw it. At first he didn't believe his eyes, blinking, he looked again. It was definitely Andrea's Escape. He pulled his phone and looked at it again, wondering how she could be sending him something from inside the bank. Quickly, he pulled up the message she’d sent and found that there was no caption, only a picture of a man holding a Glock 17 with a drum magazine hanging beneath his hand.

Jake couldn't believe it. Somehow, Andrea was inside the bank and had managed to send him photos of the people holding them.

Jake went to the command center. “Lieutenant Sanders?”

The man either ignored him or didn’t hear him.

Jake raised his voice, trying to get his attention. "Sir!”

The older man turned.

Jake continued, “As close as I can tell, we have a hostage situation on our hands."

"What makes you say that, Walters?"

"The bank is open, as evidenced by the number of vehicles in the parking lot. That's nineteen by the way, but the blinds are closed, despite the fact that they’re always open during business hours. If it were just a robbery the perps would be in and out and wouldn't take the time to lower the blinds."

The Lieutenant nodded, waiting for him to continue.

"I also have this," he showed his supervisor the picture Andrea sent him.

"Who is this?"

"I believe this is one of the captors."

"How did you get this information?"

"Sir, it appears my girlfriend, Andrea Higgins, is inside the bank."

"You mean Ben Higgins sister?" he asked.

"I do."

"What makes you think she's inside?"

"Her Escape is in the north corner of the lot. I noticed it shortly after receiving this message."

"So you saw the picture before you knew she was in the bank?"

"No, sir. My phone beeped while I was counting cars, I checked to see if it was urgent and seeing who it was from, I went back to what I was doing. It wasn't until I saw her car and realized she was in there that I looked to see what she’d sent."

The phone in his hand chirped, indicating a new message. Jake quickly checked the new message and turned to show the photo to the Lieutenant. It was another gunman, this one was a profile shot, but you could clearly see half of his face and that he was brandishing another Glock 17, the same distinctive drum magazine on this one as well. "Apparently they forgot to take away phones."

"That's one cool headed woman you have there." The lieutenant looked toward the bank. "Forward those pictures to the forensic department. Let's see if they can figure out who we have here and what exactly is going on." He turned away, issuing orders to others who were just arriving or were milling around. Jake forwarded the messages. He wondered what the men inside wanted and how far they were willing to go to get it.

~~~

The second picture had been easier to take, though she had only been able to manage a profile shot. She hoped the police would be able to figure out what was going on and maybe identify the men from the photos. She didn’t know if there had been time for anyone to hit the silent alarm she knew all banks had, but she had to hope.