Punish the Deed (28 page)

Fifty-Four

Profanities screamed in his head. Over and over and over. Blocking out thought. He choked out an inarticulate scream in hopes of shutting up the internal noise. Around him, the hostages cringed. Even that ticked him off. He hadn’t hurt any of them.
What’s their problem?

“Stop it,” he yelled. “Where did that boy come from? Hunh?”

No one answered. A scream of outrage ricocheted in his head. He grabbed a lamp off the dentist’s desk and threw it into the wall. A loud smash and then bits of glass and ceramic tinkled as they hit the floor. “Where did that boy come from?”

Dr. Hirschman stepped in front of his staff and said, “He was Shannon’s patient.”

“Which one of you is Shannon?” Murphy growled, casting his eyes across the huddled group.

“None of us,” Hirschman continued. “She’s the woman you shot and killed.”

“Damn it,” Murphy shouted as he swung his arm across the desk sending piles of paperwork flying through the air. “Where was he?”

“I’m not sure,” Hirschman said. “But I suspect she’d hidden him somewhere before she encountered you in the hallway.”

“Come with me. And bring one of them kids,” he said to Hirschman. Then he turned to the frightened group. “You try anything and your boss dies and the kid dies.” He turned back to Hirschman and laughed. “Need the kid just in case some of your employees hate your guts. Now, move. We need to check hiding places for anyone else.”

They went room to room looking in closets and cabinets. Murphy focused on quieting the shaking anxiety in his gut.
I need to think. I need to plan.
A couple of the cabinets were deep and Murphy could not penetrate the darkness. He ordered the child climb into a cabinet to check in the back corners.
The kid’s scared of the dark but even more frightened of me. Good. That’ll keep him honest.

In the room where Ricky had hidden, the location was obvious. A cabinet door hung open in the wake of his flight. “Little bastard,” Murphy muttered.

After checking the final room, Murphy asked, “Is that it?”

“Yes,” Hirschman said.

Murphy grabbed the child and jerked him up against his body and placed the barrel of the gun to his temple. “You better be telling the truth or I’ll blow a hole in this kid’s head.”

The child trembled against Murphy’s leg, then his head dropped back, his eyes rolled back and he crumpled to the floor. “What the hell is his problem?” Murphy said as he pushed against the child’s body with the toe of his shoe.

“May I approach?” Hirschman asked.

“I don’t know how you can answer my question if you don’t. Idiot,” Murphy said, backing away.

“He’s just so terrified, he passed out,” Hirschman said, scooping the child up in his arms.

“Damn. Damn. Damn. This is such a meeeessss! It wasn’t supposed to be this way. It wasn’t supposed to happen like this. I just came here to kill you, not to get caught up in some drama with kids and women and cops. Damn. Damn. Damn. What the hell can I do?”

“What matters to you more? Getting out alive? Or killing me?”

“Killing you,” Murphy answered in an eerie flat tone. “But I’d rather do both.”

“Why? Never mind. That doesn’t matter. I’ve got a plan.”

“That’s a good one. You’ve got a plan to help me kill you?”

“Listen, that cop you’re talking with?”

“Yeah?”

“She wants the hostages out. You should negotiate with her give, her a few at a time. When I’m the only one left, it’ll take them a while to account for everybody and figure that out. You can do away with me as you please during that down time.”

“This has to be a trick,” Murphy said.

“No,” Hirschman said. “What did you call me earlier? A Goodie Two Shoes?”

“Yes.”

“That’s what my wife – rather my ex-wife – called me. She said I’d give up anything for a good cause. She wasn’t happy to see me working in this clinic, earning a fraction of what I’d earn in a regular practice. So she left. She said I sacrificed our marriage on the altar of good deeds. But she blamed it all on my ego. Said I only did what I did so that I would look good in the eyes of others. Maybe she was right. I don’t know. But I’ve lived doing the right thing for whatever reason; I might as well die doing the right thing.”

“You are so full of crap.”

“Maybe so. Maybe I ought to hook you up with my ex-wife. I think she’d understand you better than I would.”

“Shut up. Just shut your damned pie hole. You’re not living long enough to do any matchmaking.” Murphy poked the gun in Hirschman’s side. “Move it. Go back to the back. And shut up. I have to think.”

“Think hard. You can have what you want if you play it right.”

“I said, shut up!” Murphy screamed and slammed the barrel of the gun into the side of Hirschman’s head. The dentist fell forward, twisting his body on the way down, in order to land on his back and not crush the little boy in his arms.

“Charles!” rang out loud and clear, echoing in the hallway.

“That’s her,” Hirschman said.

“Shut up,” Murphy replied as he kicked at the dentist’s legs. “Get up. Get into the back room. Get up. Now. Hurry.”

“Charles!”

Hirschman struggled to his feet, leaning against the wall to give him the leverage to rise with the child in his arms. Murphy pushed at him, nearly making him lose his balance. He shoved him into the office with the others and shut the door.
Is the dentist right about this cop? Can I play her and get what I want?

“Charles!”

“What?” Murphy finally responded.

Fifty-Five

Lucinda headed back to her post by the front door. She was only a few steps away when the commander stepped in front of her. Two uniformed officers stood behind him.

“I thought I told you to leave the premises, Pierce.”

“You did, sir.”

“Here, Pierce, you obey orders or you are made to obey orders. These two officers are going to take you back to the station.” He stepped away, heading back to the command truck without looking back.

Two, young, red-faced cops stood in front of her. “Ma’am,” one said, “I need to secure your weapons, if you don’t mind.”

“I do mind,” Lucinda said.

“Ma’am, please . . .”

“I know, I know, you’re just doing your jobs,” she said, removing both of her guns and turning them over to the officer to her right. “Take care of them, okay. I want to get them back in good shape.”

“Yes, ma’am,” he said and headed for the patrol car to secure them.

The other officer said, “Ma”am, it sure would be nice if you’d come with me to the car without raising a fuss. I sure don’t want to have to handcuff you.”

“No, you wouldn’t. It would look really bad to that TV camera that’s zooming in on you right now,” she said, pointing behind him.

He spun around and when he did, she took off at a gallop for the front door, pulled it open, closed it behind her and ran into the center of the waiting room. “Charles!” she hollered.

Jake opened the outside door.

“Go away, Jake.”

“You need help.”

“Yes. Stand outside the door and don’t let anyone in here.”

“You need help in here.”

“No, I don’t. Just watch my back.”

“Well at least you need a gun.”

“No, I don’t.”

“Yes, you do,” Jake said and slid the weapon from his ankle holster across the floor. “Pick it up,” he hissed.

She bent her knees, grabbed the revolver and tucked in into the small of her back. “Now get out of here.”

As the door shut behind Jake, she shifted her attention back to the situation down the hall. She listened, hearing the mumble of voices and some scuffling noises. “Charles!”

She flipped open her cell phone and called Jake. Before he could say a syllable, she said, “Listen, I’m leaving this phone on when I slip it in my pocket so you can monitor. Please don’t let anyone come in unless I ask for help.”

“Lucinda . . .”

“No time, Jake.” She slid the device into the pocket of her jacket and shouted again, “Charles!”

“What?”

At last, a response.
“I need to talk to you before we all die.”

“Do you want me to kill these people?” he screamed as he ran down the hall towards her.

“No, Charles, but I’ve got to talk to you. They’ve run out of patience.”

“Sounds like a cop trick to me.”

“Damn it, Charles, I wish it was. We’re both in deep.”

“Oh, good. Trying to relate to me. Where is that? Page two of the manual?”

“Charles, I’m in trouble, too. I swear to you. They ordered me to leave. But I knew I couldn’t. I had to help you.”

“You had to help me? That’s a laugh.”

“C’mon, Charles. You do want to be called Charles, don’t you? Or is it something else, Charlie? Mr. Murphy? What?”

“Cheese, my friends call me Cheese.”

“Cheese, you don’t want to die before your work is done. You don’t want to die until they understand why you are doing this. If you do, it will be just like being left behind again. You don’t want that. I don’t want that. It’s not fair. You’ve been left behind all your life.”
Please, dear God, let him buy this line I’m peddling. If he doesn’t, I don’t know what I’ll do.
Lucinda’s heart pounded and her tongue stuck on the roof of her mouth.

“What do you want?” Murphy asked.

“Take me in exchange for the kids.”

“What good will that do me?”

“It’ll take off some of the pressure. Get the kids out of here and the – what did you call them? The storm troopers. That’s it. The storm troopers won’t be so intense.” Lucinda allowed a minute of silence to pass before speaking again. “Cheese, we’re short on time here. What’s it gonna be?”

“You got any weapons?”

“No, Cheese.”

“Show me.”

Lucinda removed her jacket, taking care not to turn her back in any direction that would be visible to Murphy. She unfastened her shoulder holster and placed it on the counter. She slid her jacket back on and bent over. Pulling up a pants leg, she removed the empty holster on her ankle and laid it beside the other one. “See?” she said, spreading her arms wide.
If he frisks me, I’m dead.

“Yes. Wait a minute. I’ll get the kids.”

Oh, thank God
. She tried to still the tension that created a vibration in her chest. She breathed deeply in and out all the while listening to the noises from the back. She tensed a few times when Murphy’s voice sounded hostile but she held her position. The door creaked open.
One, two, three, four children
. Lucinda fought back the urge to shout out in victory. “Cheese, I’m going to open the outside door and send the kids outside.”

“Don’t you go with them or everyone else in here dies.”

“I know, Cheese. I’ll send them out and then I’ll come through the door to you.”

“You’d better. The people back here won’t get a second chance.”

Lucinda shepherded the frightened children to the door. She pushed it open, ramming Jake in the back. “What?” he said.

“Four kids. I made a trade.”

“Them for you? No way.”

“Yes. Get these kids away from here.”

She stepped away, letting the door slam shut, and walked into the hallway. “Cheese, I’m coming in.” She steeled herself and put all her senses on high alert. If things went bad, it was unlikely she could get the gun out in time but she sure would try.