High Noon

forehead. “Killing him isn’t going to hurt me, Jerry.”
    “I want you to beg me not to, like you did with Roy. Hear that! Hear that?” he shouted as someone screamed. “I’ve got my gun pressed dead center of his forehead. You beg me not to pull the trigger.”
    “Why would I, Jerry, after what he did to me? After I thought about doing it myself if I could.”
    “You know what they’ll say about you if I do it?”
    “Yeah. They’ll say maybe I didn’t try hard enough, maybe I didn’t put myself into this because, underneath, I wanted him to die. I wanted him to die hard. But you know, Jerry, I don’t care what they say about me. You pull the trigger, he’s gone, and it changes the situation out here. It takes a lot of the weight off me. You know how it works. You do a hostage, Tactical steps it up. So you want to pull the trigger? I don’t lose a thing. Is that what you want, Jerry?”
    “Wait and see.”
    He cut off the line, and Phoebe dropped her head in her hands.
    “Jesus, Lieutenant,” Vince managed. “You gave him permission to kill a hostage.”
    “Which is why he won’t.” Please God, don’t let her be wrong. “If I’d asked him, begged him, not to do it, he’d have done it. And he’d strap the rig on one of the others.”
    She pushed to her feet when Sergeant Meeks burst in. “You think I didn’t hear that? You think I didn’t hear you invite him to kill my boy?”
    He lunged at her. It took Sykes, Vince and Duncan to put him down, hold him down while he cursed at her. “My boy’s in there because of you. If he dies it’s because of you.”
    “He’s not in there because of me, but if he dies, yes, that’s mine. Get him out. Get him out of here.”
    “When are you going to talk to him about the hostages?” Phin grabbed her arm. “Why don’t you give him something, give him something so he’ll let the women go.”
    “I can’t—”
    “My wife, my mother are in there. For God’s sake, for God’s sake, you need to get them the hell out.”
    “I’m going to get them out.” She couldn’t allow herself to see them—Ma Bee’s dark, steady eyes, Loo’s slow, sultry smile. “I’m going to call him back, and we’re going to work at this until everyone’s out. Phin, you have to stay calm. If you can’t, I’ll have to have you removed. I’m sorry.” She looked from him to Duncan now. “I’m sorry.”
    “You’ll get them out.” Duncan reached out so their fingertips touched. “You’ll get them out. Phin, your sister’s out there now, and the rest of your family’s coming. You should go out, be with them.”
    “I have to know what’s happening.” Crumbling, Phin covered his face with his hands. “I have to know something.”
    “I’ll come out and tell you,” Duncan assured him, then turned to Phoebe.
    “Yes, that’s fine. Go out with your family, Phin, let them know your mother and Loo aren’t hurt. We’ll keep you informed.” She signaled to an officer. “Escort Mr. Hector to his family. If he needs to come back in, he should be escorted back in. All right?” She rubbed her hands up and down Phin’s arms, felt the muscles quivering. “You go, help your family. I’m going to help your mother and Loo.”
    “I can’t lose them, Phoebe.”
    “We won’t lose them. Go on now.”
    “How am I supposed to feel?” Duncan said as Phin went out. “They were meeting me in there.”
    “He’s responsible. And I’m responsible for getting them out.”
    And that’s what he’d wanted all along, she knew. Everything else had been building to this.
    Showdown.
    “Can I get some coffee in here?” Phoebe called out as she rubbed at the tension at the back of her neck. “And more water? Duncan, I have to ask you not to tell Phin anything I don’t clear you to tell him.”
    “I got that. What can I do to help?”
    “Listen. You’re good at listening.” She looked up at the board Sykes had posted. “His emotions are all over the scale. That’s typical for this first stage. He wants the negotiation, that’s our advantage. He doesn’t want to come out of it, so that’s his. I’m not calling him back.” She turned toward Vince. “He knows how to reach me, he knows how it works. Action, right? He likes to take action, make the moves?”
    “Yeah.”
    “It gives him more of a sense of control, of authority, if he makes the next contact. Let’s give him that. Let’s wait.”
    “Got the credit card report,” Liz strode up quickly.