Looking at the phone in my hand, I knew Rowan wanted me to text his father. What do you say to one of the richest men in the country?
With shaking fingers, I typed out a message, "My name is Ruby. I'm in the bank with Rowan. I'm hiding behind a desk and he passed me his phone. I don't think anyone else knows I'm here."
"I'm Paul. I'm going to help get you out of there. I'm working with the police. Can you send us a picture of the inside?"
I carefully leaned out and snapped a few pictures of the lobby area. Pulling back to my hiding area, I sent the pictures and waited. It was many long minutes before I got another response.
"Four gunman?"
"Yes"
Another long pause. I can hear Rowan pacing through the lobby. His long legs eating up ground. Glancing around the edge of the desk I could see Rowan raking his fingers through his soft black hair. One of the assailants is nervously shaking his leg. Another captor is chewing something and smacking it loudly. Gum?
"The police want to enter through the South door. Anyway you can send a picture of that entrance? Or the hostage area? Without exposing yourself?"
South entrance? I had been inside too long. I had to get my bearings. It was after dinnertime and the sun was low on the horizon. Front of the building. So South would be to the left of the teller line. Right behind my cubicle. I didn't see how I could get a picture of the South entrance. But I could squeeze under the desk and get some decent shots of the hostages.
I did what I could and I waited. I knew the breach would happen soon. When it did I would be ready.
Rowan must have sensed that time was running out too. He started talking louder and theatrically. Drawing attention to himself and making a scene. Complaining about his hunger and how long the pizza was taking.
"I swear, if my father doesn't come through with a pineapple pizza soon, I'll abscond to some deserted island myself. See how he likes that."
Suddenly, the South door exploded off its hinges and SWAT team flooded through. The four gunman lifted their guns to defend themselves.
I concentrated hard on the leader's mind. Quickly I was able to push the gun towards red sneaker's shoes and pull the trigger. Red sneakers hollered in pain and started yelling, "Why the hell did you just shoot me?"
Next I found tall man, he was reaching for a young female hostage to use as a shield. In another moment I entered his mind and he released the hostage. He turned his gun towards the fourth assailant and shot. A grunt of pain and a gun clattered to the ground. By now the police were on hand and placing hand-cuffs on all four men.
I slowly stood up from my hiding spot. I had been crouched for hours. I was sore and hungry, but mostly relieved that everything was over. As I surveyed the room, a pair of icy blue eyes clamped down on me. Rowan looked at me like he knew all my secrets. I glanced away and left the building.