The Big Thaw - Donald Harstad [122]
“No disrespect,” he said, “but would you two mind moving? You’re fouling our line of fire.”
That was about as nice a way as he could have done it. In person, and not over the radio where everybody would have heard.
“You bet.”
“Hell, Houseman,” said Hester. “We’re just in the way, here. Let’s get back up to the CP.”
We arrived back at the Command Post in time for a major event. Just after we quickly briefed George and Volont on what we’d seen, the phone rang, and Sally picked it up. After a couple of seconds, I became aware that there was no conversation. I looked over at her, and her face was as white as I’ve ever seen one.
“Yes. Sure, yes… just a second …” she managed to get out. “Mr. Volont,” she said, “it’s for you.”
“Take a message,” he barked, still looking out the window, vainly trying to see the bank.
I could see her listen intently, and then look about her frantically. She covered the receiver. “Hester! Do you have a speaker phone button here? Where is it? Hurry!” With that, she got the attention of everybody in the room. Hester didn’t bother to tell her, just reached over and flicked a small button of the side of the phone base.
“It’s on,” said Sally.
“Mr. Volont?” asked a heavy, sarcastic voice. “You there for me today?”
“Who is that?” asked Art.
“This is Gabriel,” said the voice. “Where’s Special Agent in Charge Volont?”
Twenty-four
Sunday, January 18, 1998, 1018
This is Volont.”
The speaker phone wasn’t quite the quality it could have been, but I suspected it hadn’t cost the state that much, either.
Gabriel chuckled. “I’m so very glad it’s you. We have some business to conduct.”
“Not until you surrender the hostages,” said Volont.
“No, no. You never understood planning, my boy. No, the way it is is this… my people will drive away from the bank when they signal they’ve finished their business. They will drive away unmolested. Period.”
“Not that easy,” said Volont. “As long as they have hostages in there, they don’t leave.”
“Call the bank,” said Gabriel. “Ask to speak to the teller. We had a man pull the fire alarm, to set it off. We wanted some firemen present when we set off the charges to open the drive-thru window. Just in case of fire.” He chuckled. “We care about the citizens.”
“Won’t work,” said Volont. “We’ve got the bank sewed up tight. Nobody leaves.”
“Want to do an exchange?” asked Gabriel, lightly. “A lot for a few? Maybe some of your people? I’ll give you a great exchange rate. Two of your agents on the street for the one in the bank.”
“I think not,” said Volont.
“You ‘think not,’ do you? My, my. I’ll have to get back to you in a minute.” The line went dead.
Volont reached over and took the microphone from Sally’s desk. “All units, be extremely cautious. There may be other suspects in the area, and we have information that leads us to believe they know we have an agent in the bank.”
“How’d they ID him?” asked George. “Did they watch him go in?”
Volont shook his head. “He wasn’t the one I’d picked, remember? My pick got lost in the fucking fog.” He sounded disgusted. “The replacement is Unger. Built like a fullback. Moves like a cat. Looks nothing like a clerk or teller. They probably just took one look and neutralized him.”
Sure. The agent in the bank would have been under very strict orders not to endanger anybody, so if they picked him out right away … I would hate to be in the shoes of the “lost” agent when Volont got hold of him.
He resumed his conversation on the radio. “Each post … check your six, very carefully,” he said. Warning the agents to make sure there was nobody trying to maneuver into position behind them.
As he put the mike down, a klaxon began to sound in the distance. We all looked toward the bank. No apparent activity there.
“What is that damned thing?” asked Hester.
The phone rang, and Sally answered. We were all expecting Gabriel, I think. She listened for a second, and leapt to her feet, looking out the window toward the General Beauregard. We followed her gaze. Through the thickening fog, we could make out what seemed to be