Hostage

'We're fucked! That cop is down!'

Mars went to the entry. He didn't hurry or seem scared; he strolled.

'Let's get the car before more of them get here.'

Kevin was on the floor beside her father's desk, shaking. His face was milky.

'You shot a cop. You shot a cop, Dennis!'

Dennis grabbed his brother by the shirt.

'Didn't you hear Mars? He was going for his gun!'

Jennifer heard a siren approaching behind the shouting. Then Dennis heard it, too, and ran back to the windows.

'Oh, man, they're coming!'

Jennifer's father pulled her closer, almost as if he was trying to squeeze her into himself.

'Take the keys and go. The keys are on the wall by the garage. It's a Jaguar. Take it while you still can.'

Dennis stared through the open shutters like prison bars, watching the street with fearful expectation. Jennifer wanted them to run, to go, to get out of her life, but Dennis stood frozen at the windows as if he was waiting for something. Mars spoke from the entry, his voice as calm as still water.

'Let's take the man's car, Dennis. We have to go.' Then the siren suddenly seemed to be in the house, and it was too late. Tires screeched outside. Dennis ran to the front door. The shooting started again.

TALLEY

York Estates was a walled development that had been named for the legendary walled city of York in England, a village that was protected from the world by a great stone wall. The developers built twenty-eight homes on one-to three-acre sites in a pattern of winding streets and cul-de-sacs with names like Lancelot Lane, Queen Anne Way, and King John Place, then surrounded it by a stone wall that was more decorative than protective. Talley cut his siren as he entered from the north, but kept the lights flashing. Jorgenson and Anders were shouting that they were under fire. Talley heard the pop of a gunshot over the radio.

When he turned into Castle Way, Talley saw Jorgenson and Anders crouched behind their car with their weapons out. Two women were in the open door of the house behind them and a teenaged boy was standing near the cul-de-sac's mouth. Talley hit the public address key on his mike as he sped up the street.

'You people take cover. Get inside your homes!'

Jorgenson and Anders turned to watch him approach. The two women looked confused and the boy stood without moving. Talley burped his siren, and shouted at them again.

'Get inside now! You people move!'

Talley hit the brakes hard, stopping behind Jorgenson's unit. Two shots pinged from the house, one snapping past overhead, the other thumping dully into Talley's windshield. He rolled out the door and pulled himself into a tight ball behind the front wheel, using the hub as cover. Mike Welch lay crumpled on the front lawn of a large Tudor home less than forty feet away.

Anders shouted, 'Welch is down! They shot him!'

'Are all three subjects inside?'

'I don't know! We haven't seen anyone!'

'Are civilians in the house?'

'I don't know!'

More sirens were coming from the east. Talley knew that would be Dreyer and Mikkelson in unit six with the ambulance. The shooting had stopped, but he could hear shouts and screaming inside the house. He flattened on the street and called to Welch from under the car.

'Mike! Can you hear me?'

Welch didn't respond.

Anders shouted, his voice frantic.

'I think he's dead!'

'Calm down, Larry. I can hear you.'

Talley had to take in the scene and make decisions without knowing who or what he was dealing with. Welch was in the middle of the front lawn, unmoving and unprotected. Talley had to act.

'Does this house back up on Flanders Road?'

'Yes, sir. The truck is right on the other side of the wall that runs behind the house, that red Nissan! It's the suspects who hit Kim's.'

The sirens were closer. Talley had to assume that innocents were inside. He had to assume that Mike Welch was alive. He keyed his transceiver mike.

'Six, one. Who's on?'

Dreyer's voice came back.

'It's Dreyer, Chief. We're one minute out.'

'Where's the ambulance?'

'Right behind us.'

'Okay. You guys set up on Flanders by the truck in case these guys go back over the wall. Send the ambulance in, but tell them to wait at Castle and Tower. I'll bring Welch to them.'

Talley broke the connection, then pushed himself up to a crouch.

'Larry, did you guys fire on the house?'

'No, sir.'

'Don't.'

'What are you going to do?'

'Stay down. Don't fire at the house.'