Sports Night Fic; One for the Money, Part Four
"Police are on their way, sir." The dispatcher’s voice was calm. "Stay on the line with me until an officer shows up to talk to you."
Just then, a police car pulled up next to Casey instead of racing by like the others. The officer who got out looked tense and grim and much, much too young to be on the police force.
"You phoned it in? Suspected bank robbery?"
Casey nodded. "Yeah, I think - - the guy locking the doors was dressed like a security guard, but it didn’t seem right."
The officer nodded. "It’s not. Somebody tripped the silent alarm, too. Do you have any idea how many other cars were in the parking lot?"
"Maybe eight? It wasn’t crowded. But - "
Something in his tone made the officer quit writing and look up sharply. There wasn’t any air, suddenly, but Casey managed to talk anyway.
"Charlie. My son. My son is in there. He’s only ten."
The officer put a hand on Casey’s arm. "We’ll get him out, sir. Who’s inside with him?"
"He’s with a friend of mine, Dan Rydell. We work together. We’re supposed to be taking Charlie fishing."
"Okay, I’m sure your friend is looking out for him. Try not to worry too much. We have our top guys on the scene. We’ll get him out."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Dan stared at the scene in front of him, trying to will a solution into existence. He was worried that Carl was going to try something stupid; he was getting jumpier by the minute, but there was just no way they could take these guys out without innocent people getting killed. If he knew it would be him and Carl - hey, fine, they knew what they were getting into. But it was just as likely to be someone else. Just as likely to be Charlie.
He took a shaky breath. He had to do something. The security guard was walking back and forth, making sure everyone got a good look at the business end of his shotgun.
He paused when he got close to Dan and Carl again, gesturing at Carl with the gun. "I’m thinking you two don’t need to be together. Go to the other side. Slowly."
After Carl was settled on the other end of the wall, he turned the gun on Dan. "Don’t try anything. Remember what I said before: next one’s a bullet."
"Don’t worry, I remember. I’m not going to try anything." He paused; the guy was talking, maybe he’d talk a bit more. "You gentlemen have a plan?"
"Yeah, man, don’t you watch movies? Hostages." He waved his arm at the frightened group and grinned. "They can’t shoot us if we’re holding on to hostages."
He seemed proud of his plan, and Dan bit back the urge to ask if he ever watched the ending of those movies. He nodded, trying to look thoughtful. "It’s not like you can take everybody, though. You’re going to have to let some people go."
"Why would I let them go? I could just tie them up here."
"You could, but letting them go shows good faith. Calms everybody down. Makes the cops look good, so they don’t mind working with you a bit. "
Just then the second robber walked up, portable phone in hand. "I told ‘em. They said they’re gonna work on it, but they want us to release a hostage to show good faith."
"Good faith, huh?" The security guard cocked his head at Dan, then moved the shotgun forward until it was nearly touching his forehead. "How’d you know they were gonna say that? You a cop?"
Dan would have laughed, it was just so stupid, but his sense of humor fled at the sight of the gun coming closer. "No, man, I’m not a cop. You can check my wallet, okay? I’m just, I, ah, read a lot."
"Wallet, slowly." He flipped Dan’s wallet open and seemed satisfied when he didn’t see a badge. "Yeah, okay, you don’t really seem like a cop."
"What are we gonna do, Ryan? They’re gonna call back in, like, two minutes."
"Don’t use my name during a robbery, Tom. We’re gonna give them a hostage, I guess. There’s too many of them anyway." He looked at Dan again. "So, smart guy, who should we release? You?"
Dan jerked his head toward Charlie, trying to look casual. "Standard operating procedure, you release the kid first."
"That’s true." Tom nodded in agreement with Dan. "Kids first, next step ladies."
Ryan frowned. "That’s all backwards. The kid, he’s probably our best hostage. He ain’t going to cause any trouble, and the cops damn sure won’t be shooting if he’s around. I say we need the kid."
"You don’t need the kid." Dan wasn’t going to let that happen, no way was that going to happen. "He’s not your best hostage. I am."
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
"This your little boy or something?"
"No, he’s not mine. I don’t have any kids."
"He’s not with you?"
Shit. How to answer? Dan didn’t want them to know Charlie was with him, but they were hardly going to believe a ten-year-old kid had come into the bank by himself.
"He’s with me." The lady on the other side of Charlie spoke up, and Dan wanted to kiss her. Charlie kept quiet, thank God. "He’s, he’s not mine. I’m watching him for my neighbor."
"So what do you care if I let the kid go?" Ryan looked honestly puzzled, and Dan tried to think of a reason that would make sense to him.
"I just want this to be over without the cops going crazy on us, and they’re going to be pissed if you keep a kid for a hostage."
"Yeah, well, let them be pissed. They’re still not going to want anything happen to a kid."
"They’re not going to want anything to happen to me, either."
"Why? You somebody important?"
"Kind of. I’m Dan Rydell -"
Tom broke in excitedly, "Alongside Casey McCall! I knew you looked familiar. Dude, I totally love Sports Night."
"Um, thank you. Anyway, my network is a big supporter of the mayor, and the police are not going to want anything to happen to me. And believe me, I’m not going to try anything. I want this to be over just as much as you do." Dan pointed to his bleeding head with a rueful grin. "You guys obviously mean business, and I’m in no shape to fight you. I’ll cooperate, and we’ll all get out of here, no harm, no foul."
The phone rang, and Tom looked at Ryan, who nodded slowly. "Give the phone to my favorite hostage. He can introduce himself, and tell them we’re sending the kid out."