6 Hours 42 Minutes, page 8
part #5 of Vigilante Series
* * * *
Juice glanced at his watch and frowned before stepping back to get a better view of the mezzanine above.
“How long can it take Shade to check those offices upstairs?” he asked as he sidled over to Bull and Sparks. “He’s been gone a little while now.”
“I don’t know,” Bull replied, his tone reflecting unease for the first time, “But we’re not going to look for him. Every time someone goes off, they fucking disappear or get killed so we’re staying right here from now on.”
“This might sound cold,” Sparks murmured after a moment, “But if the others are all dead and we somehow get out of here, we’re going to be looking at a much bigger chunk of change each.”
“That’s real fucking nice,” Juice scoffed, “Except, how the hell are we going to get out of here?”
“I’ve been thinking of that,” said Bull. “How about if we asked for a helicopter to get us out of here? We’d take a couple of hostages and the money and fly somewhere.”
“Fly to where?” Juice challenged.
“Maybe some small airfield somewhere with charter planes,” Sparks suggested, warming to the idea. “We tie up the chopper pilot and hostages and leave them behind, hop a plane, head somewhere else, grab a car and disappear.”
“You know,” Bull was nodding and smiling, “Something like that could work. Do you know any small airfields in the area?”
“There’s one off the 640 in Mascouche,” replied Sparks as he pulled out his iPhone to start some internet research.
“And there’s another one by the 20 in Les Cèdres,” Juice pitched in, becoming a little more encouraged with the plan.
“Let me look into some charter possibilities,” Sparks offered. “Cuz this could actually work.”
“Do that,” Bull agreed, suddenly more hopeful. “Juice, keep an eye on our friends here. I’m going to have another chat with the fine captain.”
Chapter 22 - 11:31 a.m.
“This won’t be easy and will take some time but I’ll do everything I can to work something out, Bull,” said Edgar Leblanc, “I’m going to have to convince my superiors and, to do that, you’re going have to give me something in exchange if you want them to even consider getting you a helicopter.”
“How about if I don’t kill any other hostages,” Bull riposted. “There’s an exchange for you. Their lives for a chopper and you leave us the hell alone once we fly outta here. Get thinking about how you’re gonna convince your guys, Captain, cuz that’s my offer. I’ll call you back in a bit to check on your progress.”
The connection cut and Leblanc slid his phone shut as he looked up at Jonathan. “Can you believe it? A helicopter?”
“Can you get him one?” Jonathan asked, “Because if it’s a problem for you, I can look after it.”
“You actually think that we should give in to his demands?” the captain shot back, his tone, incredulous, “A commercial chopper with a civilian pilot and a guarantee that we won’t follow them?”
“I didn’t mention that I’m a pilot, did I?” said Jonathan with a grin, “With a civilian license. I fly both choppers and planes.”
“No, you hadn’t mentioned that, Mister Addley,” Leblanc replied with the shadow of a smile which quickly vanished. “But you aren’t really thinking of flying them out, are you? I understand that you have expertise in dealing with people like this, Jonathan, but you’d still be unarmed and outnumbered. It would be suicide.”
“I’m sure that I can find an acceptable helicopter with appropriate spots to hide any required weapons,” Jonathan reassured him, “And, I’m now also toying with the idea that Chris surrender, as long as it doesn’t get him killed, so that he can end up being one of the hostages taken on the chopper ride. If we can make that happen, I wouldn’t be solo.”
“What are the odds of your little scenario becoming reality?” Leblanc argued, “And even if we managed to make your dream come true, you’d still be outnumbered and held at gunpoint by desperate men who killed an innocent young woman less than half an hour ago.”
“Captain, you asked earlier who Chris and I were,” Jonathan stated. “Let me tell you what we are. We are men who are extremely capable and, when required, we can get very nasty, even when unarmed against armed men. Why don’t you let me make a call about that bird we need and then I’ll have a chat with Chris to see if my dream is feasible.”
Chapter 23 - 11:39 a.m.
Located right off Montreal’s Trudeau International Airport, HeliPro was a well run and well respected helicopter charter business which catered to government and business executives alike as well as others who qualified as rich and famous. Their fleet of sixteen birds ranged from a two seat Robinson R22 Beta II to a Sikorsky S-76D with a seating capacity of thirteen and everywhere in between.
Though a fully legitimate and profitable going concern, reported as being a private company, HeliPro was different from other similar firms in that it was secretly owned by the Ministry of Defence as part of the ‘Discreet Activities’ sector overseen by Jonathan Addley.
Managing the operation was its president, Catherine ‘Cat’ Connor, a former military officer and pilot who had left the army for ‘private’ sector employment at Addley’s request several years earlier when HeliPro had been founded. An attractive brunette of five feet, four inches and barely over one hundred pounds, Cat, in addition to being a fair but shrewd business professional, was also a highly trained killing machine. She, as well as a handful of other pilots and employees of the firm, was also a ‘consultant’ with ‘Discreet Activities’, unbeknownst to their other co-workers.
Seated in her spacious and comfortably appointed office, she completed the call she was on and immediately went off in search of her chief mechanic and partner in life, Jeff Lloyd, who she found in the hangar working on a Bell 427.
“That’s just the bird we need,” she smiled. “Are you reading my mind again?”
“I plead innocent this time, Sweets,” the tall, wiry mechanic replied, raising his hands in mock defence as he looked down at the short and slender love of his life. “It was just due for some regular maintenance. You can check the roster.”
“I’ll take your word for it,” Cat said. “Are you almost done with it?”
“Yep, just finishing up,” Jeff confirmed. “Who needs it?”
“Jonathan just called,” Connor lowered her voice. “Get cleaned up and come to my office so that we can go over the specs.”
* * * *
Chris had been watching the activity below for a few minutes, where the three remaining robbers had held a brief discussion before breaking up. One of them, a short, skinny guy, had then gone off to one side to fiddle with his phone, apparently browsing the internet, while their ringleader had gotten busy on his phone as well to make a call. The third had returned to what seemed to be his regular duty, keeping an eye on their prisoners.
Chris’ phone vibrated and, noting that it was Jonathan, he opened the line and slid back into the duct, away from the ventilation grill.
“Hi there,” he whispered as he moved further still. “I’ve been meaning to call but I was doing a bit of surveillance first. All’s quiet for now but they seem to be planning something. By the way, I took another one out so they’re down to three.”
“You always have to prove that you’re better, don’t you,” Jonathan kidded. “Which one was it this time?”
“The black guy,” Chris replied. “He caught me in a conference room upstairs but I managed to subdue him. As it stands now, he should live, but I hope he wasn’t a pianist.”
“You broke his fingers?” asked Jonathan.
“I chopped his hand off,” Chris corrected.
“You’re a dangerous man, Mister Barry,” Jon stated.
“That’s why you’ve kept me on the payroll, Mister Addley,” said Chris. “What’s new on your end?”
“Well, you were right,” Jonathan replied. “They are planning something. They’ve requested a commercial chopper big enough for six passengers with a civilian pilot and a guarantee that they won’t be followed or tracked.”
“How the hell will they know if they’re being tracked or not?” Chris enquired.
“All we were told is that if they suspect that they’re on the radar by any means, more people will die,” said Jonathan. “I’m looking after getting the helicopter and I’ll be the civilian pilot.”
“I don’t like the sound of that, Jon,” Chris argued. “You can’t go off with them alone.”
“I’m hoping that I won’t have to,” was Addley’s response. “They plan to take some hostages and I’d like you to join the party. Do you think you can arrange that?”
“Hmmm, I’ll have to figure out how,” Chris replied. “With three of their people dead and two others missing, I think that they’re a little annoyed with me right now. They just might shoot me on sight. How long before you get the chopper?”
“Not for a few hours,” Jonathan responded. “Edgar made it as clear as possible that getting a helicopter would require some time and effort and even let on that it might not happen. We’re not in too much of a hurry to accommodate these bastards.”
“I’ll work on a plan from my end and I’ll let you know,” said Chris. “Once I surrender to them, we’ll be out of contact so we have to plan this right from the get-go.”
“If you surrender to them, Chris,” Addley warned.
“I’m sure we can make this happen, Boss,” said Chris. “Let me mull this over for a bit and I’ll get back to you.”
Chapter 24 - 11:49 a.m.
“Uh, excuse me, uh, sir?” Head Customer Service Associate, Sara Bergeron said to Juice. “I-I’d really need to use the facilities.”
“Uh, the what?” Juice replied, not expecting that any of the hostages would address him.
“She needs to use the bathroom, you idiot,” Simon Chase spat. “Even prisoners, like you’ll be in a little while, are allowed to go to the bathroom.”
“I need to go too,” Annette Laurier timidly announced before breaking into tears.
“What the hell is going on here?” demanded Bull as he stomped over.
“Some of them need to go to the bathroom,” Juice mumbled.
“Aw, Jesus Christ,” Bull muttered. “Can’t they just hold it in?”
“I-I could take a leak myself,” Juice admitted. “I’ll check out the can to make sure everything’s cool and then I can take them one at a time, okay?”
“Oh, just go,” Bull barked, exasperated. “Where’s the goddamned bathroom?”
“I know where it is,” said Juice as he hurried to the opposite side of the customer service counter. “I saw it when we went to the vault.”
“Fucking bathroom breaks,” Bull snorted as he eyed the hostages in exasperation. “Next thing I’ll know is, they’ll be wanting lunch.”
“I don’t know about the others, but I think pizza would be good,” Chase called out then smiled as Bull glared at him.
* * * *
Chris sat on steel girder above the bank’s vault, running through the ‘surrender’ plan he had formulated. It was a bit of a stretch but, with his corporate experience in clinching big deals in the past coupled with countless ‘Discreet Activities’ operations over the last thirteen plus years, his acting skills were well enough honed that he believed he could actually pull it off. A key element to his succeeding was that the robbers were, in fact, as dumb and naïve as he gave them credit for to date.
He pulled his phone out and placed a call which was quickly answered.
“Here’s my plan, Jon. It’s going to mean more casualties but it should work so, tell me what you think…”
Chapter 25 - 12:03 p.m.
“Yes, Captain, I said pizza,” Bull shouted in the phone. “Ain’t you never heard of pizza before? We’re all getting hungry in here, it’s lunchtime and we can’t really go out so I’m ordering pizza for everyone. Is that a problem?”
“Not at all, Bull,” replied Leblanc. “We can get you pizza. That’s not a problem. How many people are we feeding?”
“Uh, let’s see,” said Bull as he counted, “Eleven people.”
“Eleven, okay. Now what kind of pizzas would you guys like,” the captain continued as he gestured three to Jonathan, confirming that three robbers were left plus the eight remaining hostages.
“Christ, I don’t know,” Bull retorted. “I like all-dressed so get some of that. Maybe some plain, some pepperoni and some vegetarian. Get some fries too, the spicy ones. I like fries with my pizza.”
“Want anything to drink with that?” enquired Leblanc.
“Shit, Captain, you should go work for Dominos,” Bull laughed. “Yeah, how about a six-pack of Sleeman Red. Get some Coke and Sprite too, I guess.”
“Hmmm, I don’t know about the beer, Bull,” Leblanc replied. “I don’t think throwing alcohol into the mix is a good idea at this time.”
“Aw, Jesus, gimme a break, will you?” Bull shot back. “I’m having a crappy day here as it is, Captain. I don’t need your goddamned preaching cuz I want to have a beer. Get me the fucking six-pack already.”
“Alright, Bull, we’ll get you the beer,” Leblanc conceded. “I’ll get this ordered and over to you as soon as possible.”
“Good,” Bull replied, “And, Captain, don’t try to do any funny shit like doping up the food cuz if I start to feel funny or see anyone going woozy, I guarantee that all the hostages will be dead before I keel over. Got that?”
“Loud and clear, Bull,” said Leblanc. “Loud and clear.”
“Good man, Captain,” mocked Bull. “I’ll leave this phone on for now. Call me when the food gets here.”
* * * *
“So, what do you think?” asked Chris, having finished the outline of his plan.
“You’re putting yourself at risk, Chris,” Jonathan replied without hesitation.
“It’s not going to be the first time, Jon, and it certainly won’t be the last,” Chris argued. “At least, I hope it isn’t. The only chance we have of me getting on that chopper with you is if I’m a hostage. There’s no getting around that.”
“You’re right but, what if they just shoot you as soon as they see you?” Jonathan challenged. “Even if they do listen, what if they don’t buy your story and decide that you’re the one who screwed up their plans?”
“Hopefully, I’ll be convincing enough that they’ll believe that I’m just a victim of circumstances,” Chris replied. “You do agree that my story holds up, don’t you?”
“Yeah, it’s plausible and, knowing you, I think you can sell it,” Jonathan admitted.
“And Ian Howard will vouch for who I am,” Chris concluded. “So, do I go with it? Otherwise, there isn’t much I can do except try to gun the three remaining bastards down which is dangerous with eight hostages hanging around.”
“I agree, Chris. Go with it,” Jonathan sighed, “And I’m looking forward to seeing you again, alive, in a short while. Anything else before we roll with this?”
“I’ve been kind of busy and haven’t had time to give Sandy a call so she’s unaware of what’s going on,” said Chris. “Can you call her and let her know I may be late for dinner?”
“Sure, have me do the dirty work,” Jonathan laughed. “I’ll let her know and I’ll be seeing you soon.”
Chris cut the connection and started making his way along the steel beams to return to the mezzanine conference room above, hopefully for the last time. Simply put, this travelling within the walls, ceilings and air-ducts was starting to get rather annoying. As he reached the vertical beam which he intended to climb, he heard footsteps below him then a door opening and closing a little further away, followed by muffled voices. Remaining immobile, he strained to hear the conversation but was unable to make out the muted words. Try as he might, all he could hear was the distorted vibration of the sounds as they filtered through the walls and ceiling below him.
* * * *
“This is not going as planned,” said Mistah B. “Far from it.”
“I’m sorry, but we did everything like we were supposed to,” Juice replied. “If we cut the wrong cables, that’s your fault cuz...”
“You didn’t cut the wrong cables,” Mistah B interrupted. “The communication systems, including the alarms, were all cut out fine. I don’t know how the cops found out, and so quickly for that matter, but this has fucked up big time with over half of you guys dead or disappeared. And Bull, drinking and smoking dope, then shooting Louise? That was just stupid. I never should have involved him in this.”
“I know, I know,” Juice agreed. “It’s making me sick but, it’s done. Bull just lost it. You know how he is.”
“He’s an idiot, that’s what he is,” barked Mistah B. “And, I also don’t appreciate getting roughed up or threatened.”
“Ah, come on,” Juice pleaded. “We’re just making it look real.”
“Anyway, there’s not much that I can do about anything now,” said Mistah B. “It’s in your hands so you guys just better figure out a way to get the fuck out of here with the cash and lay low somewhere.”
“Bull’s asked for a chopper,” Juice explained, “And Sparks is looking into renting a plane.”
“Yeah, I heard about that,” Mistah B replied in a sarcastic tone. “We’re all in the same room out there and discretion isn’t Bull’s forte. I’ll believe that plan when I see it happen.”
“They think it will,” said Juice, trying to appear optimistic.
“Time will tell,” scoffed Mistah B, “But if it does, don’t the three of you start getting ideas of disappearing on me because I’ll make sure you all rot in prison.”
