“Oh fuck me running! Bring that son of a bitch here. Now!”
“Benjy,” I called, trying to keep my voice calm, “come on out now, buddy.”
Timidly, he opened the door and peered outside. His little hands were still dripping soapy water. His eyes widened in surprise when he saw Lucas, and he started to shut the door again.
“It’s okay, Benjy. Go on back to your mom and let Sherm tie you up again.”
“But Mr. Tommy—”
“Listen to me now, Benjy. Just do it. I promise that everything will be all right.”
“Okay, Mr. Tommy.”
He trotted off toward the vault, with Sherm keeping an eye on him the whole way down the hall. I waved my pistol, indicating to Lucas that he should follow.
“Keep your fucking hands up where I can see them.”
“It’s cool, man. It’s cool. Just don’t shoot me, you hear? I didn’t mean any harm. I was just scared, man. I was real fucking scared.”
“Who did you call on that cell phone?” I asked.
He flinched.
“N-nobody!”
Keeping the pistol trained on him, I snatched the cell phone from his grasp. The lights on the keypad were still lit up and the screen showed the last number dialed. 911
“Oh shit. You called the cops?”
“I’m sorry. Please don’t shoot me, mister.”
“What were you doing in there anyway? How did you get inside the bank?”
“I was just doing my job. That’s all. I deliver the water and pick up the empty bottles every Thursday. Finished up the bank’s delivery and I was in the bathroom washing my hands when I heard the shooting start, so I hid inside the closet. I didn’t know what the hell was going on, but I figured it was a robbery of some kind.”
“Guess you were right.”
I followed him down the hall and shoved him into the vault ahead of me. Sherm appraised him with a grim smile.
“Well, well, well. Check this shit out. What do we have here? A late guest to the party?”
A look of recognition flashed between Lucas and Sharon and Kim. Sherm and I both caught it immediately.
“Oh, I see you’ve already met the ladies?” Sherm pulled out the duct tape. “Sit your ass down, now.”
“I’m sorry, Lucas,” Sharon said.
“Shut up!” Sherm pulled off a strip and began to bind the driver’s hands behind his back. Lucas began to shake.
“Look, I-I got a wife and two kids at home, and another one in college. Please don’t kill me. I’m begging you here, man. I’ll do anything you guys want.”
“What I want is for you to shut up,” Sherm snapped.
He turned to glare at Kim and Sharon and they shrank back against the wall, straining against their duct tape bonds.
“When exactly were you going to tell me that this guy was in the bank with us?”
The menace in Sherm’s voice was almost palpable.
“We didn’t know,” Sharon protested. “Honestly, Sherm. When you rounded us up, I figured that he must have gotten out. I wasn’t exactly paying attention to everything that was going on when the shooting started.”
“You’re lying, bitch.”
“No, I’m not. I swear to you, it’s true.”
“Goddamn it, leave her alone,” Dugan yelled. “She’s telling you the truth.”
“You stay out of it, tough guy. I warned you all what was gonna happen if you tried playing us.”
Finished with binding Lucas, he stood over Sharon.
“We honestly didn’t know, Sherm,” Kim pleaded. “We didn’t try to play you or anything like that. Why would we? It’s like you said, you’re the man in charge. Please, you’ve got to believe us.”
“Yo, Sherm?”
“What, Tommy?” His eyes didn’t leave Sharon and Kim.
“I found this on him,” I held up the cell phone. “He’d dialed 911 on it. Guess he talked to the cops. I don’t know what he told them but it probably wasn’t good.”
Sherm bent down and grabbed Lucas’s face in his hands, pulling him close.
“What the fuck did you tell them?”
“N-nothing. I didn’t say—”
Sherm moved like a piranha. He flashed forward and bit down on Lucas’s nose with his teeth. Lucas screamed and blood began to well from the corners of Sherm’s mouth.
“Stop it,” Kim yelled. “Leave him alone.”
Sherm shook his head back and forth like a dog and then let go. Sharon and Kim were screaming. Lucas’s mangled nose dripped blood onto his blue uniform. He was crying.
“That’s for lying to me,” Sherm wiped his crimson mouth on his sleeve. “Do it again and I’ll bite one of your fucking fingers off. Or maybe I’ll munch on one of these pretty ladies instead. Bite their titties off and shit. How would you like that? Maybe go down on them and get that clit between my teeth and then—CHOMP! Hell, I might even chew off one of fat boy’s nipples over there. If you think I’m playing, you just try me.”
“No sir,” Lucas wheezed, “I don’t think you’re playing. I believe you’d do just that.”
“Good. Now, tell me everything, from the beginning. And remember, Lucas, I’ll know if you’re lying.”
Lucas took a deep breath through his mouth. Bright red blood welled up from his nose and tears still ran from his eyes.
“I . . . I’d just finished delivering the bank’s weekly water supply, and picking up the empty bottles. My truck has been having trouble with the oil— got a leak in it. Been asking the maintenance department to fix it, but they couldn’t find their ass with both hands and a flashlight. So I checked the oil level before I went to the next stop. I got my hands dirty so I came back into the bank to wash them. Normally the bathroom is for employees only, but Keith said it was okay. I was in the bathroom washing my hands when I heard the shooting. I was scared and didn’t know what was going on, so I hid inside the janitor’s closet. I . . . I called the police on my cell phone, and then I called my dispatcher at work, and told them to call the police too. I tried calling my wife too, but she wasn’t at home. I’d just hung up with the police a second time when your partner caught me.”
“So you talked to five-oh twice? What did you tell them?”
“Not much, really. Just—”
“Careful,” Sherm warned. “Don’t you fucking lie to me, Lucas. I’m still hungry.”
The deliveryman glanced at Sharon and Kim, and swallowed nervously. Blood ran down his face. He licked his lips and continued.
“I-I t-told them that the bank was being robbed, that there was shooting and that there might be some people dead or hurt. I didn’t know how many of you there were or how many people were inside. That’s all. They asked me a bunch of questions but I couldn’t answer any of them because I was in that dark closet and couldn’t see anything. So they told me to sit tight. Said they’d get me out of here. The second time I talked to them, they told me that the Quick Response Team was on the way from York and that everything would be okay. Look, let’s be reasonable. What was I supposed to do, given the situation? I was scared.”
I needed another cigarette. Not sure what to do with the cell phone, I slipped it into my pocket.
“What do you think, Sherm?” I asked.
He exhaled and shook his head.
“No problem. We’re not going to sweat this. If they were going to rush us and try to take the bank based on what this asshole told them, they’d have tried it by now. We stick to the plan. We’re okay for now.”
“John’s not okay, Sherm.”
“I know that, dog. I meant other than him, we’re okay. That cool with you?”
I nodded.
Lucas looked at Sharon.
“Where’s Keith? A little while ago, when I was still in the utility closet, I thought I heard—”
