Read Online Along Came a Demon by Linda Welch - Free Book Online Page B
Authors: Linda Welch
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He dropped his backpack and bent over to pick it up. Next thing I knew, he held me by the upper arm, the blade of a knife pressed in my neck, one of those small jackknifes which don’t take up much space in a pocket. I understood how the police missed it when they patted him down.
The two SWAT who accompanied him dropped to one knee and held their pistols steady on him. He jerked on my arms and stepped behind me, keeping the knife blade at the side of my throat.
My day was getting better and better.
He backed inside the entrance of the mall, towing me with him. Before we got more than fifteen feet, he took us through a mall office door. He slammed the door shut, pushing me inside the office, where I stopped between two desks.
The place didn’t have any windows. Another door led off to god-knows-where.
He waved his little knife at me. “Over there against the wall, bitch!”
I edged over to the wall and a clear space with no desks or other furniture against it.
I was pissed and also very, very frightened.
A hostage situation is never predictable. The felon is as scared as his captives. Even as he makes demands, he knows the cops will get him in the end. The odds are stacked too high against him. He starts to think he has nothing to lose, which is when he’s most dangerous.
This guy was scared almost out of his pants. He stood against the door, trying to listen through it, waving the knife about in one hand while he gnawed at a hangnail on the other. He didn’t pay much attention to me. I was a female hostage and he toted a weapon, right?
He jumped back. Maybe he decided standing near the door was not such a good idea. Maybe the cops would shoot through it. I could see him losing it soon.
“ They’ll be phoning in soon, asking for your terms?” I said amicably.
“ Shut up!” he hissed.
“ What are you going to ask for?” I continued as if he hadn’t spoken.
He moved to stand in front of me and pointed the knife at my face. “I said, shut up !”
I shrugged. “Just trying to help. You should ask for a copter to the airport, then a jet. A jet is awful hard to stop and can take you anyplace in the world. Now a car, on the other hand… .”
He was getting mad now. I held up one hand placatingly, palm out. “You don’t want to hurt me. Lose your bargaining power. Nothing to stop them blasting their way in here if I’m dead.”
He looked at the hand I held up. I brought up the Ruger and put it point to point on the blade.
I gave him a brittle smile. “Mine’s bigger than yours and it goes bang . ”
He got a scared-rabbit look, but then his hand slowly dropped and a little spark in his eyes told me he thought about lunging at me. My hand followed his down. I made my face and voice chill. “Drop it!”
The knife clattered on the floor. I stepped back.
For a moment, all kinds of things went through my mind. Did he feel the same fear as his victims as he held his gun on them, just before he fired? How many of the dead did he kill? If I pulled my trigger, a few less ghosts would wander the mall.
We were alone. Only the two of us would know I didn’t fire in self-defense. And he wouldn’t be telling anyone.
The door burst open. I jumped and the Ruger wobbled in my hand. “Okay, we’ll take it from here,” Mike said.
I am not some badass with nerves of steel. I was terrified the whole time.
Mike was furious with me, but I shrugged it off. Did he really think I would let someone stab me when I had a gun and knew how to use it?
When we got back to Clarion, after I gave my statement, he bundled me in my car with orders to go home and stay put for a couple of days.
Another case over. Another paycheck. And four people who must linger in a mall, unseen, unheard, until their killers died.
And I don’t know what I would have done if Mike hadn’t come through the door when he did.
Chapter Seven
“ Um, you have a visitor,” Mel said.
“ He’s on the porch,” Jack
He dropped his backpack and bent over to pick it up. Next thing I knew, he held me by the upper arm, the blade of a knife pressed in my neck, one of those small jackknifes which don’t take up much space in a pocket. I understood how the police missed it when they patted him down.
The two SWAT who accompanied him dropped to one knee and held their pistols steady on him. He jerked on my arms and stepped behind me, keeping the knife blade at the side of my throat.
My day was getting better and better.
He backed inside the entrance of the mall, towing me with him. Before we got more than fifteen feet, he took us through a mall office door. He slammed the door shut, pushing me inside the office, where I stopped between two desks.
The place didn’t have any windows. Another door led off to god-knows-where.
He waved his little knife at me. “Over there against the wall, bitch!”
I edged over to the wall and a clear space with no desks or other furniture against it.
I was pissed and also very, very frightened.
A hostage situation is never predictable. The felon is as scared as his captives. Even as he makes demands, he knows the cops will get him in the end. The odds are stacked too high against him. He starts to think he has nothing to lose, which is when he’s most dangerous.
This guy was scared almost out of his pants. He stood against the door, trying to listen through it, waving the knife about in one hand while he gnawed at a hangnail on the other. He didn’t pay much attention to me. I was a female hostage and he toted a weapon, right?
He jumped back. Maybe he decided standing near the door was not such a good idea. Maybe the cops would shoot through it. I could see him losing it soon.
“ They’ll be phoning in soon, asking for your terms?” I said amicably.
“ Shut up!” he hissed.
“ What are you going to ask for?” I continued as if he hadn’t spoken.
He moved to stand in front of me and pointed the knife at my face. “I said, shut up !”
I shrugged. “Just trying to help. You should ask for a copter to the airport, then a jet. A jet is awful hard to stop and can take you anyplace in the world. Now a car, on the other hand… .”
He was getting mad now. I held up one hand placatingly, palm out. “You don’t want to hurt me. Lose your bargaining power. Nothing to stop them blasting their way in here if I’m dead.”
He looked at the hand I held up. I brought up the Ruger and put it point to point on the blade.
I gave him a brittle smile. “Mine’s bigger than yours and it goes bang . ”
He got a scared-rabbit look, but then his hand slowly dropped and a little spark in his eyes told me he thought about lunging at me. My hand followed his down. I made my face and voice chill. “Drop it!”
The knife clattered on the floor. I stepped back.
For a moment, all kinds of things went through my mind. Did he feel the same fear as his victims as he held his gun on them, just before he fired? How many of the dead did he kill? If I pulled my trigger, a few less ghosts would wander the mall.
We were alone. Only the two of us would know I didn’t fire in self-defense. And he wouldn’t be telling anyone.
The door burst open. I jumped and the Ruger wobbled in my hand. “Okay, we’ll take it from here,” Mike said.
I am not some badass with nerves of steel. I was terrified the whole time.
Mike was furious with me, but I shrugged it off. Did he really think I would let someone stab me when I had a gun and knew how to use it?
When we got back to Clarion, after I gave my statement, he bundled me in my car with orders to go home and stay put for a couple of days.
Another case over. Another paycheck. And four people who must linger in a mall, unseen, unheard, until their killers died.
And I don’t know what I would have done if Mike hadn’t come through the door when he did.
Chapter Seven
“ Um, you have a visitor,” Mel said.
“ He’s on the porch,” Jack
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