“What? Where?”
“At a bank. He’s at a bank.”
“A bank?”
“Holding up a bank.”
“What?”
“First Capital.” She paused long enough to catch her breath. “In Wales.”
“He has hostages,” she said. “He’s asking for you.”
My thoughts buzzed:
Basque spit out a mouthful of blood as the officers hoisted him to his feet. “Read him his rights,” I called, then turned back to Ellen. “He has hostages?”
“Yes, and he said you have to be there by four twenty-five.”
“Or what?”
She shook her head. “We don’t know.”
I looked at my watch. I had twenty-four minutes.
A half-hour drive? I’d never make it in time.
Oh yes, I would.
“Call it in.” I was hurrying toward the door, trying hard not to limp. “And get word to Radar that I’m on my way.”
90
The paramedics were unloading a gurney when I got outside.
I didn’t want them to hassle me. So I was thankful I was still wearing my leather jacket and that the blood from my shoulder hadn’t seeped through too much. “There’s a woman inside,” I told them. “She didn’t make it. The suspect’s jaw is broken. Don’t give him anything for pain.”
Calvin was standing beside my car. He gasped when he saw me, and gestured toward my leg. “My dear boy, you’ve been shot!”
I looked where he was pointing. “Stabbed, actually.” I didn’t mention my shoulder.
“That must hurt, terribly.”
“I’m okay.” On my way to the car I was able to grab a pressure bandage from a paramedic and tighten it around my thigh. At the last minute I went ahead and threw one around my shoulder too, then opened the driver’s door.
“You can’t be serious, my boy,” Calvin said. “I’ll drive.”
For just a moment I actually thought about letting him. It would’ve given me a chance to put pressure on the gunshot wound and quiet the bleeding. Besides, using my injured leg to work the gas and the brake was not something I was looking forward to, but letting him drive was too far outside of protocol even for me. “I’m good.”
I thanked him for helping me find the slaughterhouse, got directions from dispatch, and took off for First Capital Bank in Wales.
Radar had done as Tod’s kidnapper had demanded.
Once he was inside the bank, once he had the three bank employees and two customers restrained, he’d called the cable news stations and instructed them to send their news crews immediately, to have their cameras ready, because they would need to catch what was going to happen at 4:25.
And now, already, the news crews and law enforcement were starting to arrive. SWAT was setting up a perimeter around the parking lot.
The phone rang. Earlier Tod’s kidnapper had told him to expect a call and Radar picked up.
The man let him speak to his son, who was terrified, crying, then he warned Radar again not to let him down. “You would not want to see what Tod’s going to look like if you don’t do what I said. I’ll be watching.”
Then before hanging up, he told Radar what had happened beneath the barn.
Convinced the man was telling the truth, Radar lowered the receiver and tried to steel himself to actually do what would be necessary to save his son’s life.
Ralph stepped out of his car.
Sheriff’s deputies, local police, and a SWAT team had taken position around the bank. News crews from four different cable stations were setting up remotes just beyond the police tape. More news vans were on their way.
He looked around, then asked a lieutenant who appeared to be calling the shots, “Who was in charge here?”
“I’m in charge,” the man answered sharply. “Who are you?”
“Were.”
“Were?”
“You were in charge.” Ralph flipped out his creds. “Hand me that megaphone.”
91
4:14 p.m.
11 minutes until the gloaming
Radar heard Ralph calling to him through a megaphone, commanding him to exit the bank, but he ignored the agent’s orders.
Out the window, Radar could see more emergency vehicles pulling in. SWAT and local police were there in full force. He recognized the Flight for Life helicopter from the Milwaukee Regional Medical Center hovering overhead.
He turned and looked at the five hostages who were lying facedown on the floor, their hands and feet secured with the plastic cuffs he’d brought with him.
The phone rang. Radar stared at it, wondering if it was Tod’s kidnapper again.
He picked up.
“What are you doing, Radar?” It was Ralph.
“He’s got my son. The guy from this week. He’s got Tod.”
“He was the one on the phone, wasn’t he? The call you wanted me to trace?”
“Yes. Did you get it?”
“No. Just so you know, Gayle and Angie, they’re fine. They’re at the station. They’re safe.”
“Thank God.”
“Is Tod…I mean, do you know if…?”
“I talked to him. He wasn’t hurt, but he was crying. Scared.”
A pause. “What did he ask you to do, Radar? Just take the bank? If that’s it, then it’s done. Let those people go.”
“He said they need to stay here.”
“Until when?”
“Just get Pat over here.”
“He’s on his way.”
