phone?”
“Yeah. It’s in my pocket.”
“Good. Give it to me.”
He held his free hand out to me. The other one remained on the gun. I fumbled in my pocket and pulled it out. My hands were slick with sweat.
“Thanks.” He studied it carefully. “Nice phone. One of those expensive kinds.”
With a sudden burst of rage, he threw it across the room. It smashed into the wall and fell to the floor, the casing cracked. I flinched, but managed to keep from jumping in my seat.
“I just want to know one thing, Tommy.”
“W-what?”
“Was it worth it? Talking to Michelle? Hearing her voice? Was it fucking worth it?”
I didn’t hesitate, but my voice was nothing more than a hoarse whisper.
“Yeah. Yeah, Sherm, it was.”
“Okay then.”
He lifted his head, looked me in the eye and grinned.
“W-what now?”
His grin got wider.
“They’ll probably try to do some surveillance, see if they can verify the situation. Might try to get a camera inside, maybe one of those little robotic units or a pole scope or something. We’ve got fifteen minutes left. After that, all bets are off.”
“So what do we do?”
His demeanor changed again. Once more, his tone was light and friendly— just my buddy Sherm, who’d never pointed a gun at me in his life and who didn’t have a secret past that I knew nothing about.
“We go with my plan, dog. We have some fun. You still thirsty?”
“Uh, sure. Yeah, I could use a drink.”
“I’ll go get you one of those sodas, do a quick check, and make sure everything’s secure; and then we’ll start.”
“Start what?”
“The party, man. Let’s get this party started.”
With a wink, he grabbed his pistol and hopped off the desk. Turning his back to me, he walked out of the office and turned left down the hall.
Fifteen minutes. But if Sherm found out about Benjy or John or any of the other stuff, the shit could hit the fan long before then.
The dead cop’s .38 stared up at me with that one good eye.
I picked it up, tucked it underneath my shirt, and hurried for the vault.
SIXTEEN
John was sitting up and staring at Benjy in wide-eyed amazement. Both of them smiled at me as I rushed in. The others looked tense, except for Martha, who had her eyes tightly shut and her head bowed in prayer. I wondered what I’d missed. Things had changed, however subtly. Something was going on, something more than John’s miraculous recovery. I figured they must have overheard Sherm’s and my conversation.
John was breathless. “Tommy! Holy shit, you’re never gonna believe what’s happened. It’s incredible.”
“I know all about it,” I said, trying to quiet him. “But we got more important things to worry about right now.”
I had their attention.
“Listen up, all of you. Sherm’s going to be back here any second now. The cops know who we are. They know that it’s just the three of us holding you. My— my wife called them, after I talked to her.”
“Michelle?” John gasped. “She ratted us out?”
“She didn’t mean to, dog. She was just worried. Anyway, Sherm’s not acting real steady right now. He says that he’s going to surrender and let you guys go, but I don’t know if he means it. I’ve made up my mind— I’m going to get you out of here, but I need to find a way to talk to the cops and let them know I want to surrender. Any ideas?”
“I could fake another heart attack,” Roy suggested, glancing uneasily at the others, especially Dugan. At the time, I chalked it up to stress. Had I known . . .
“No.” I shook my head. “That won’t work. Sherm would probably just let you die in here. I found out that he didn’t ask for an ambulance for John, so I can’t see him getting one for you.”
Benjy slid backward, wiping John’s blood on his pants.
“Shit, I almost forgot. Benjy, come here. I need to tie your hands up again.”
Without a word, Benjy scurried back over to his mother.
“Come on, Benjy, don’t do this. You know I’m not gonna hurt you, buddy.” I looked around.
“Where the hell is the duct tape?”
“Tommy.” John was wide-eyed. “We can’t surrender. They’ll take us to jail.”
I knelt beside him and gave him a hug. He was surprised at first, but then he squeezed me back, tight.
“I’m glad you’re alive, man. You have no idea . . .” My voice cracked.
“Tommy, don’t cry. It’s okay now. That little kid saved me. Ain’t it wild?”
“Yeah, it’s something, that’s for sure. But we can’t let Sherm find out about him, John. Sherm can’t know what he can do, okay?”
“Why not?”
I sighed. “Something’s wrong with him, John. Something bad. Remember when you said that sometimes Sherm scares you?”
“Yeah.”
“Well, let’s just say that I’m learning the reasons why. You’ve got to trust me on this, bro. There’s a lot of stuff about Sherm that we didn’t know. Stuff that happened before we met him, before he came to town.”
“What kind of stuff, Tommy?”
“Don’t worry about it right now. I’ll tell you later.”
He felt his stomach, letting his fingers trace over the spot where the wound had been.
“Now listen, John. I’m telling the cops that you weren’t involved with the robbery. You drove us here and didn’t know what we were planning. We just told you to sit in the car and wait. Next thing you know, Kelvin tried to carjack you. He shot you and you ran into the bank for help. That’s how you got here.”
“But Tommy—”
“No buts, John! You shut the fuck up right now and listen to me. That’s what I’m telling the cops and that’s what you’re gonna tell them too. You got that? Enough people’s lives have been destroyed today. I almost lost you, man. You almost fucking died. I’m not going to let anything else happen.”
“That’s very noble,” Dugan said. I detected a hint of sarcasm in his voice, but I ignored it. John nodded in understanding, then reached up and grabbed my shirt in his bloody fists.
“No more arguing,” I pushed his hand away.
“No, it’s not that, Tommy. I’ve gotta tell you something else. Wait till you hear this.”
“What?” I was only half-paying attention to him. Remembering my discarded pistol, I glanced around for it, only to find that it wasn’t where I’d left it. It was gone— just like the duct tape. I started to get a very bad feeling.
“Tommy— there was a light.”
That stopped me cold.
“W-what? What are you talking about, dog?”
“There was a light, a bright light. I remember getting shot, and I remember a little bit of running to find you guys, but not much after that. Just pieces here and there, like skipping around on a DVD or something. Gunshots. Sherm hollering at somebody. Sirens. I guess I went to sleep for a while. I remember it being cold, really fucking cold. I don’t know how long I was out. But when I woke up and looked down, you were bent over me, pounding on my chest and telling me to breathe. I told you that I was okay, but you didn’t hear me. That’s when I figured out that I was looking down at my own body, just like in the movies. I was here in the vault but I was floating above
