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“You sure about going back to school?” Charlie asked his girlfriend as they walked up the road.
“It’s only a couple of days a week. It won’t be too much travel. Most of it I can do from here.” She told Charlie, knowing full well how hard he was trying to cover his anxiety over her new educational endeavour whilst also being super supportive.
“Ah, Nerd.” He quipped, pushing an imaginary pair of glasses up his nose.
“Stop,” Sarah told him, “You love it! I’ve seen you reading journal articles over my shoulder.” Nothing went past her.
“Yeah, it’s a little charming.” Charlie admitted to her as they walked back to his car, Rex by their side.
“All right, thanks for lunch. Got to go and see my insurance agent before she takes me for dead and cancels my insurance policy.” He carried on, ditching his gun and badge in the trunk.
Sarah laughed and took a sip out of her thermos; “You sure you haven’t put it off long enough?”
“Name one thing that’s more boring than insurance.” He responded, ensuring both items were secure in his car.
Sarah looked on, slightly confused at Charlie’s course of action.
“Why are you locking up your gun?”
“Guns make her a little nervous. She had an accident when she was a kid in her family. So…” Charlie’s voice trailed off.
“Oh.” Sarah got out.
“I just take it off.”
“You’re considerate.”
“Yeah, I really am.” He agreed with Sarah’s statement, and the both of them shared a laugh.
“Okay, I’ll see you back at the station.”
“See you.” Charlie embraced Sarah in a hug as he and Rex made their way towards the Insurance Building.
“Oh, hey!” Sarah exclaimed, grabbing her boyfriend’s attention.
“Yeah.” Charlie turned around, Rex at his heels.
“Um, I’ve been putting it off,” Sarah begun, staring at her feet; it never got less awkward to ask, “but um, my family’s hoping I’ll make it home for my Dad’s birthday.”
“Okay,” was all Charlie managed to respond, hand in pocket, already getting an inkling of where the conversation was going to lead.
“Do you think you and Rex would like to come in two weeks?” She asked, staring up at Charlie.
“My mother’s already invited all the aunts and uncles. I think she wants to show you off,” Sarah pulled a face as she took a sip of her coffee, “And I’ll be honest, I do to.”
“Um…”
“I was going to buy tickets the tickets today, actually.”
“Just let me check my calendar.” He told her, and could see from her eyes that was not the enthusiastic yes she was hoping for.
“Okay! Um, let me know what you decide!” She responded, a little too quickly, feeling dejected.
“Okay. I promise I’ll think it through.” He told her, offering her another warm embrace before he broke away and begun the monumental task of dealing with his insurance agent.
“Come on pal,” he beckoned to his partner as Sarah stayed put, thoughts wondering.
Charlie could hear Rex let out a little moan, looking back towards Sarah.
Charlie looked back to, and comforted his partner; “Don’t worry pal, it’ll be fine.”
“Also, don’t look like that – nobody ever asked you to meet the family.” He told Rex, feeling extremely judged by his canine partner.
*
“Hey Denise!” Charlie said, “I’m here to see Nina.”
“Detective Hudson!” she responded, “no dogs allowed, as I’ve mentioned before.”
“Yeah, um,” he responded, in his hands a figurine, which Denise promptly snatched and placed into her box.
“Some of our customers have allergies. And this one’s clearly a shedder.” Rex moaned in response, knowing the comment was targeted towards him.
“Could he stay out here with you and keep you company? I won’t be long.”
Denise sighed but melted at the sight of Rex, giving in – “Fine. He can stay with me.” Charlie rubbed his partner behind the ears for good measure, and let him keep Denise company, walking down the well-known path to Nina’s.
“Charlie – I thought I’d never see you!” quipped the insurance agent.
“Sorry for that; here’s the papers you wanted…” They carried on their conversation, Charlie noticing they were packing everything up, when one of Nina’s co-workers interrupted – “Something’s not working.”
“Felicia, did they disconnect the phones already?”
“No, not until the end of the week.” Felicia responded, rolling in a cake on a table into the conference rook behind Charlie.
*
“Rex, no!” Denise told him as she felt him drag her away from her desk, letting out a scream when she saw the armed gunman brandishing her weapon in her direction.
“Stay down!” He told her, as he secured the door, Denise and Rex locked inside.
*
Charlie, meanwhile, was knee deep in paperwork with Nina when Rex’s incessant barking commanded his attention. He stepped away from her desk, when he saw the dark-clad figure enter the hallway, from the get-go letting out a series of shots at himself and the insurance agents. Calmly but with haste, he ducked for cover behind Nina’s cubicle, instinctively reaching for his gun – a gun that wasn’t there…
Great. Just my luck… he thought as he took a deep breath. Just because he didn’t have his gun, or Rex, by his side, doesn’t mean he’d lost his wits too.
“Hey, Nina,” he whispered, gently shepherding her into the corner of the office, another employee scrambling behind him. He stuck his head out, making use of the mirror that was positioned perfectly to keep a lookout on the hallway, when he heard Nina whimper, and he turned to see her shuddering, palm of her arm tightly gripped over her shoulder.
“Nina, you’re bleeding.” He said matter of factly, removing her arm from the injury and taking a closer look.
“You’re going to be alright. It’s just a minor injury.” He comforted Nina, tending to her injury, trying to keep her at ease.
“Are we going to die?” She asked the Detective, and he could see the fear in her eyes – this was Nina’s worst nightmare come to life.
“No, no,” he told her; this wasn’t the first time he’d dealt with some crazy with a gun, and certainly wouldn’t be his last.
“This ain’t even a big office.” The gunman carried on pacing, opening, and closing doors as he slowly inched his way towards their not so secluded hiding spot.
*
“There’s another exit at the back. Is it open?” He asked Nina, knowing he had to get everyone out safely; the gunman was looking for someone, and it was not going to be pretty if he found them.
“There’s no dial tone.” Wyatt popped his head back around as Charlie readjusted the temporary dressing around Nina’s arm.
“He must have disconnected the phones.” Charlie stated, whoever this person was, they had an agenda, and they were prepared. Charlie reached into his pocket for his phone, mentally cursing when he realised that without cell signal, he was going to have protect the scared and panicked workers, and take out the unknown, but most certainly volatile, gunman, solo.
“Don’t worry,” he carried on reassuring Nina and her co-worker Wyatt, “someone must have heard shots coming from this building.” Charlie bobbed up, staring out the window, praying to hear the sirens that were sweet to his ears.
*
Sarah was going down an Instagram rabbit hole when the all too familiar sound of sirens pulled her out of her bubble, and she looked up to see half a dozen cars speeding past her, stopping outside the building Charlie had walked in a mere couple of minutes ago.
*
Charlie let out a sigh of relief and felt some weight lifted off his shoulders as he saw police cars form a line in front of the building, people rushing outside.
Help was here, and with the promise of an escape route through the back door, the resolution to this issue was crystal clear. Hell, maybe he’d make in time to grab lunch and make it back to the office.
Charlie dictated a set of instructions to the two civilians beside him, keeping his eyes fixated on the mirror, waiting for the gunmen to make his way to the far end of the office before they begun to move. Waiting was always the most difficult part…
*
“Excuse me, I’m Sarah Truong with Major Crimes. That’s Rex.” She flashed her ID, walking past the police line and towards Rex and the woman who he’d escorted outside.
“What’s happening?” Sarah stopped in front of Denise.
“A man… With a gun…” Denise was still shaking, and Sarah grabbed the woman’s hands, rubbing her palms in a circular motion, trying to soothe her enough to find out enough to help remedy the situation.
“He went into our offices and locked the doors.”
“Which offices?”
“Bay Insurance.”
“Oh.” Sara tried to keep the panic welling up in her down; there was no use in getting everyone more afraid and panicky. She turned to look back at the building, only to spot Rex walking back in.
“Did you see Detective Hudson?” Sara asked, the colour draining out of her face.
“Charlie Hudson? Yeah, he’s inside.” Denise confirmed.
*
Inside the offices, the gunman had kicked in one of the office doors, and Charlie used his absence from the hallway to, together with Wyatt, lift Nina up and change their spot, narrowly making it across just as the gunman returned back into the main space, throwing up more taunts.
The four made it to another office, and Charlie dashed back out just as fast as he made it in, making a beeline for the exit that this whole plan was reliant on.
“Damn it.” He muttered as he rattled the door handle, knowing full well that this exit was not a plan, not at all. They needed to move away, and fast.
“The door’s locked.” He told the others as he walked back into the room they were hunkered down in, staring at the newly returned fear in Nina’s eyes, and making note of the shaking knees on Wyatt.
“No! What do we do now?” Nina asked him, just as they heard the gunman declare “I’m starting to get really mad now!” a mere couple of doors down from them.
*
“Shooter in the insurance office according to a witness.” Sarah had run up to Joe’s SUV as he pulled up, whipping his sunglasses on.
“How’d you get here so fast?”
“Was already here. Charlie and Rex are up there.”
“Wait – they’re inside?” He asked, just as fast taking his shades off, as thought that would help him comprehend the gravity of what Sarah had just told him.
“Yeah, Charlie – he’s in there, Joe.”
“Damn it!”
*
“I’ve got kids at home.” Howie, the newcomer to this unwanted party, blurted out as he popped his head out of the corridor.
“Uh uh.” Charlie gently pushed Howie back into room; people did strange things during strange times, and he unfortunately knew from experience that a civilian trying to reason or force their way out usually didn’t end well; he was going to get them all out, he just had to make sure they didn’t expedite their death first.
“I have an idea.” Charlie told them as he dashed towards the copier in the corner, plugging it out of the wall and tearing out the cable. A cord was no gun, but it was better than his bare hands. He dashed out of the room, taking refuge behind a wall as he watched the gunman enter yet another empty office, finger still on the gun’s trigger. As soon as he shut the door behind him, Hudson made another short sprint, trying the cord around the door handle, doing the same to the other side, generously knotting it.
“Hey!” The gunman called out, peeking between the blinds, before he begun tugging at the door.
It’s not going to hold, Charlie thought as he rushed back.
“Cabinet.” He pointed out to the others, willingly putting his back towards the shooter as he helped the three lift the cabinet over the threshold of the room. A bullet whizzed by, followed by another that lodged itself not an inch away from his shoulder.
“Charlie!” Nina called out, and he made his way around the back, but not before another shot rang out, no sound of a bullet of metal heard. So where did it land?
Not the time, Charlie Hudson, not the time, he told himself as he forced himself to not think about the last shot, but rather getting the three of them to safety.
*
Sarah and Joe were in the midst of a discussion when they heard the loud succession of gunshots, ducking instinctively.
“Gunshots. Joe, I need to get inside.” Sarah gripped a hold of the Superintendent’s arm.
“No, I’m not going to put you in jeopardy as well; SWATs on the way,” Joe told the Head of Forensics; he knew exactly what was going through her head – no doubt he was worried about the same thing too – but there was no way anyone else was going inside. Having Charlie inside was both a blessing and a curse – adding Sarah to the mix without having any idea of the situation and knowing about Sarah and Charlie’s relationship, well, he had to do what was best, and that was keeping Sarah down here, and keeping her busy…
Joe muttered thanks as SWAT pulled in.
“They’re going to go in and do their thing…”
“Joe, they’re going to escalate things.”
*
The gunman emptied out his revolver just as the four backed into the conference, barricading themselves inside.
“We need to flip the table,” Charlie declared, and begun forward just as Nina put a pause to his plan.
“Charlie, you’re bleeding.”
“What?” He asked, not sure if he was hearing her right.
“Your arm.” She pointed, and Charlie looked down at the trickle of blood making its way onto the ground. He hadn’t felt a thing, hell, still didn’t – hell of a thing, adrenaline. And then straight after, so that’s where his last bullet landed.
“Here.” Nina started to untie the black cloth around her shoulder, but Charlie placed his hand squarely on it; “it may be a shallow injury, Nina, but we’re not going to risk it. Keep it on.”
“What about you?” She asked, but Charlie had already undone his belt, tightening it a couple of centimetres above the bullet wound, clenching his teeth as he fastened around his upper left arm. At least it’s not your dominant hand, he thought, before realising that without a gun, that didn’t really matter.
“Tables, you’ve got to flip them,” he told Wyatt and Howie, who quickly got to work as Charlie quickly had a look at the damage done, relieved that the bullet had managed to squarely lodge itself in his arm, looking like it had missed everything vital. He could move it around with minimal pain, and he prayed that the pain threshold would stay that way until SWAT could make it up here. No doubt the new collection of shots invoked all the wrong attention.
“Open up!” The gunman launched into his tirade again, and Charlie could hear him rattling the doorknob on the other side of the cabinet.
“Can he see us?” One of the workers asked, but all Charlie responded with was a ‘Shh’. He was pretty sure that the gunman had only seen him for sure and was hence unaware that there were precisely four people in this room. For everyone’s safety, he had to keep it that way.
“We need to flip the other table – we’re too exposed.” He quipped, and rushed forward, but Howie stopped the Detective – “We’ve got this Charlie,” and together with Wyatt flipped the next table over.
“And the credenza too.” Charlie walked towards it, knowing that even with one hand it shouldn’t be so tricky, when he stopped in his tracks.
“Hi,” the brunette who’d been hiding underneath it bobbed up.
“Hi.” Charlie managed to respond, knowing that there were now five lives in the balance.
“Felicia, Charlie,” Wyatt did the introductions, before they moved the credenza.
“Who is it? What are they doing?” Felicia asked, and Charlie realised that he still didn’t have the answers to her question; without those two answers, he couldn’t even begin formulating a negotiation strategy. It was clear to the Detective that the gunman was searching for someone specifically – he just needed someone to identify him.
Charlie reached in his pocket for his phone, waiting for him to turn just the right amount to capture his face in the mirror.
“Any of you recognise this man?” He asked, showing around his phone.
“Oh that’s – that’s Louis!” Nina said.
“What? Louis Phalen!” Felicia evidently too recognised the gunman, “He got let go during the downsizing.”
Louis Phalen. Finally, a name, and the possible beginnings of a motive. Better than what he had five minutes ago.
“What can you tell me about him?” Charlie asked, and the insurance agents began handing him titbits of information that seemed useless on their own but started to form a picture in the Detective’s mind of Louis Phalen.
That was all good, but he needed to coordinate with his colleagues below, and Sarah – Sarah – she was down there, and had no doubt tried to reach him. Getting a message back was going to take some help from his partner. Charlie began to whistle, elated when Rex barked in response. Hudson walked up to the window, gesturing at his partner, confident in his abilities to understand precisely what needed to be done.
Not much longer than a minute after, Rex stood up, holding the cell phone jammer in his jaw.
Yes, good boy; “Leave.” He said, gesturing some more, when Louis came back into the corridor and spotted Rex with his tech in his mouth. Without a word, he put another three bullets into the window in Rex’s direction, Charlie unable to do anything but pray the window would hold out; it did.
Rex dashed away, and Louis paced towards where Rex had just been standing. Charlie took advantage that Phalen was not looking that way and reached for the phone that was lying in the centre.
“What are you doing?” Felicia asked, dumbfounded at why the Detective would have use for a phone that couldn’t call out.
“The outside lines are disconnected, but maybe the internal lines are working. Nina, what’s your extension?” Charlie asked and dialled in ‘1127’. The loud ringing broke the relative silence and Phalen turned around to see Charlie holding up the phone with his good hand.
Phalen grabbed the phone in a huff but picked up the receiver.
“Hey, Louis.” Charlie said, “My name’s Charlie.”
“Oh. Hey Charlie.” Louis responded, as if he were on the phone with one of his buddies, “I see you noticed I couldn’t disconnect the internal lines. Congrats.”
“Yeah, you did a good job with that.”
“I know. I’m not an idiot.” Phalen paced closer and closer to the circular window between him and the five of them.
“Not at all.”
“Cause I know what I’m doing.”
“I can tell,” Charlie told him; it was the truth, “So, what exactly is it that you want from all this, huh?”
“I just want to send a message.” A message? Well, the beginnings of it were certainly received, loud and clear.
“I want to give my former co-workers,” Louis continued, “the goodbye they deserve! That’s all.”
*
Downstairs, Jesse frantically ran out of the mobile command unit, making a beeline towards Joe and Sarah, telling them the name that he’d discovered – Louis Phalen.
“Louis Phalen?” Joe asked, grabbing his notebook off him.
Just then, Rex dashed out of the building, and Sarah called out to the officer.
“Hey! Hey!” She beckoned, crouching down as he pattered up to her, cell jammer in mouth.
“What is it?” She asked, as Jesse took the jammer out of her hands.
“It’s a cell phone jammer.” Jesse said after a quick analysis.
“Maybe that’s why Charlie isn’t answering.” Sarah correctly deduced as Jesse switched it off, Joe reaching for his mobile and dialling the Detective.
“Oh, am I glad to see you.” Sarah told the canine, giving him a huge hug, for his benefit, but mostly for hers.
“Donovan.” The SWAT commander gave Joe and update, and it was clear to Sarah that he was antsy; patience was never their strong suit, but for once Sarah could understand why.
“I’m trying to communicate with...” Sara zoned back into the conversation just as he announced he was getting the Team in position.
“Not yet!” Sara rapidly pushed herself up to her feet, a drop of self-discipline away from physically grabbing hold of the armed officer.
“Sarah, it’s time!” Joe told her, before adding “Go!”
Sarah’s phoned pinged in her back pocket, and her relief was immeasurable when she saw it was from Charlie. Jesse and Joe huddled together and looked over her shoulder.
“Wait! Hold on!” Joe beckoned to the leader as Sarah carried on relaying the information.
“Two injured. No fatalities. He’s talking to the shooter.” Thank goodness for no fatalities.
“Rex!” Sarah called after the canine as he dashed back into the building. At least he could come and go.
“He’s not going to leave Charlie alone in there.” Jesse said, knowing Rex would be with Charlie did make Sarah a tad calmer – those two were quite a formidable duo.
Joe and the SWAT leader walked away, both evidently wanting to take control of the scene their own way, whilst Jesse and Sarah dashed back into the unit behind them, ready to give Charlie anymore information on the shooter, whom he’d managed to identify by himself.
*
“What’s it going to take to get us all out of here safely?” Charlie asked, his injured arm now beginning to throb; he couldn’t think about that now.
“Safely?” Louis said over the receiver, as though Charlie was asking him for Santa Claus’ location, “No man, that’s not the plan.”
“The plan. Tell me more.”
“Who the hell are you anyway, Charlie?” Phalen turned around, looking into Hudson’s eyes, before resting them on the belt tightly wound around his arm, and then the blood that had now dried on his clothes.
“Hey, look. I’m just a guy. A customer who came to get some home insurance.”
“Oh, I see. Wrong place, wrong time, type of situation. Well, just wrong. I’d apologise for shooting you, Charlie, but that wouldn’t be genuine. You’re kinda ruining my plan here.”
“Well, you’re honest Louis.”
“Tell me, Charlie. How’s your life insurance? Because I think that’s going to be much more relevant than the home insurance you came here to get. Think you still got time to do the paperwork?”
This dude was not kidding around. Life insurance… He might have been a shit shot, but anyone could shoot straight close enough.
“Hey Louis. Listen. I’m here now. I’m listening.” What was taking SWAT so long?
“Cool! Well, I’ve got no beef with you, Mr. Nice Guy. You know, I’m kinda over you trying to trap me in the office, trying to be some sort of heroes to these fakes. So, I’m going to give you a sound piece of advice – keep your head down, and maybe you’ll be fine.”
“Louis, you haven’t done something you can’t come back from. You can stop this right now.”
“No. And in case you haven’t noticed, I shot you. I don’t think the cops downstairs are going to give me a free pass on that one, Charlie. So, no. Do you hear me? Today is the day when all these smug jerks they finally realise what happens when they underestimate me! Me!”
Louis slammed against the wall violently, and Nina flinched in her hiding spot.
“You hear that? I’m coming for you!”
“You’ve been underestimated. Yeah. That can really get to a person.” Charlie needed to get into this dude’s mind, and fast.
“They shouldn’t underestimate me.”
“Yeah. I’m listening, Louis.”
“Look man. This is between me and Felicia. Not you. Do you know her? Do you know where she is?”
“What’s between you and Felicia?” Charlie asked.
Felicia let out a squeaky “me?” and Charlie turned around to shush her, but it was too late.
“Sneaky, sneaky little Felicia. She’s with you, isn’t she? She’s hiding in there with you, isn’t she? Like a little rat, hiding.”
Charlie said nothing; he knows she’s inside, can’t exactly lie, can I?
Louis rapidly walked away from the window, shouting Felicia’s name as he rattled the walls, Nina and Wyatt reacting to the sudden noise.
“Come out! You can’t hide anymore.” He carried on, as Felicia gasped, hand over mouth, looking to Charlie.
“Okay, Charlie. You want to know what, Mr. Calm Guy? I have a deal for you. I’m going to tell you something. You want this to be over, right? That’s what I want too. So, send her out. You want it to be over so badly, send her out!”
“I can’t do that.” No way in hell was Charlie going to put Felicia, hell any of them, outside of this room without a clear plan or until SWAT made their way up.
“Send her out. I’m waiting.”
“I can give a message to her. What would you like to say?” Charlie said, before repeating the question.
“Tell her that from now on, it’s only going to get worse. And it’s all. Her. Fault.” Louis ceremoniously slammed the phone onto the receiver and walked off.
From now on, it’s only going to get worse. Charlie could tell Phalen was not kidding. He needed to prepare everyone for what was coming.
*
Whilst Charlie and Louis were making the opposite of headway, Jesse and Sarah were busy getting more information about their gunman.
Financial troubles after losing his job? Sarah didn’t need to be told twice what that meant.
“Charlie says he’s got all the staff barricaded together in a room. SWAT wants to go in.” Joe walked in, updating them.
“No, Joe, you’ve got to give Charlie time.”
Joe was going to need to buy a lottery ticket after this ended, “Yeah, that’s what I told them.”
“Found his mother. Should we get here.”
“We don’t know what effect she’ll have on an active shooter.”
“Joe, I’d like to talk to her.”
“That’s not protocol.”
“Joe, any information we get could be useful to Charlie!”
Both of them locked eyes in a staring contest, neither willing to switch the horse they were backing.
“Please.” Sarah said, and Joe relented. There was no stopping Sarah when she put something in her crosshairs, and if it involved Charlie, well, she’d ask for forgiveness, not permission.
*
“Felicia, any reason why he’d have it out for you?” Charlie asked as he went to check on Nina.
“He has it out for me because I’m the one who fired him.” Felicia said, hands firmly pressed against the surface of the credenza, trying to ground herself, “Head office told me we had to make cuts!”
Felicia’s co-workers erupted into conversation, and he tried to focus on the conversation, instead of the fact that he felt he was slowly getting warmer and warmer.
“How did he handle it, the day you let him go?”
“I tried to make it clear it was a cost-cutting measure!” Felicia asked, as he loosened the belt around his arm and tired to peel his jacket off before Nina saw him struggle and helped to gently ease the sleeve off his arm.
“He was the most recent hire, so the first to go,” she carried on, whilst Charlie re-tightened his belt, using his jacket to wipe away the new stream of blood tricking from the hole in his arm. Half of him had hoped his body had gotten used to being shot at and one new bullet wound would be old news; shame the human body didn’t work that way.
“He had some sort of conspiracy that she was firing him because she needed to hire more women?” Wyatt chipped in, pulling a face that made it clear to Charlie that Wyatt thought Phalen was delusional.
“I told him that was crazy,” Wyatt carried on, “But, people believe what they need to.”
“You’re… you’re not going to make me go out there, are you?” The fear in Felicia’s eyes as the prospect that Charlie’d make her face Phalen, and his gun, was palpable.
“No – of course not. We’re in this together. Yeah?” Charlie reassured the four but knew that with Phalen not getting what he wanted, it was only a matter of time before he was sick and tired of the wall dividing them.
*
“It’s been quite for a while.” Sarah was pacing around, staring at the watch. No gunshots were good; she’d take the win.
“Sarah - found his online activity. Oh, oh no.” Jesse said, and Sarah hovered over him, reading over his shoulder.
“What is it, Jesse?” The good news had to come and come quick – Sarah wasn’t sure how much bad news she could take.
“He’s part of some men’s group online. That’s unfortunate.” Silence followed, and Jesse looked up at his colleague.
“Are you okay?” He asked, before mentally slapping himself; of course, Sarah was not alright – they were all worried about their friend stuck upstairs, but she and Charlie were so much more. No doubt it was killing her to not know what was going on.
“Yeah.” Sarah said, but no, not at all, was what she was thinking.
Jesse’s phone begun vibrating on the table and he flipped it round, relieved to hear Charlie’s voice when he picked it up.
“Charlie, hey!” Jesse responded before putting it on speaker, acutely aware of Sarah hovering behind him.
“Hey Jesse,” he responded, “are you on to the shooter?”
“Yeah, yeah. Louis Phalen, former employee.”
“Well, I’m getting the story from his co-workers, and it sounds like him being let go is what set him off. I’m sure there’s other grievances.”
“Yeah, on the money Charlie. He’s had trouble finding a girlfriend, but what he did end up finding was a mens’ group online that thinks women are the problem.”
Great. Cherry on top of the loaded cake.
Sarah walked out of the mobile unit and past the dozen or so police officers milling around, reaching Joe just as he ended a phone call. She couldn’t stay as Jesse talked with Charlie – it was too tempting to just snatch the phone and ask Charlie how he was doing.
“SWAT is in the process of removing the back door. It’s a slow process – they don’t want to alert the shooter.”
Sarah sighed; “Jesse is getting strong incel vibes from this guy.”
“Oh, that’s just fantastic.” Joe added, thinking exactly what Charlie was about this being a cherry on top of a loaded cake.
“Yeah, Jesse’s talking to Charlie now.”
“Ma’am, ma’am!” One of the female officers was chasing down an older woman who’d decided to ignore the police line and make a beeline for the building.
“Ma’am, you cannot go through there!” He grabbed her by the arm, Sarah grabbing the other.
“My son, he works in there. Is he alright?”
“Mrs. Phalen.” Sarah said, recognising the woman’s voice, “Come with me,” she led the woman away, knowing she was going to have to break the news that it was her son causing all this commotion.
*
“Howie, you’ve got to stay back.” Charlie put his phone back into his pocket.
“No – it’s too hot in here!” Howie exclaimed, crawling towards the barricaded door, “I’ve got to get out of here!”
“It’s not safe out there.”
“He’s going to come back right in here anyway!” Howie retorted, move the cabinet that was their one solid defence.
“Howie!” Charlie said, scrambling to his legs.
“What difference does it make man? It’s only a matter of time before he gets in here.” Howie was losing it. Charlie managed to reach him just as he pulled the door open ajar, slamming the door shut.
“We need to stay under cover.”
“NO!” Howie yelled, encasing the doorknob with his palm and yanking the door open. Charlie lurched forward, and they both toppled over, Charlie landing on his injured arm, vision blurring for just a second.
“It’s too hot!”
Charlie flipped onto his stomach and tried to grab Howie’s ankles with his right arm, but he just kept on going with no regard as to what was coming out of his mouth. The commotion bought Phalen from the shadows, and Charlie had just managed to get to his feet when he witnessed Howie on his knees, arms extended, Louis brandishing his gun again.
“Stop or I’m going to shoot!”
“I’m sick, man. I need a medic!” Howie told Louis.
“What is this?” Louis asked, “some kind of trick man?” The gun was still pointed at Howie’s head.
“I need to get out.” Howie once again talked as thought he hadn’t heard the conversation going on around him.
“Stop moving man! I’m going to put a bullet inside of you! Stop moving!” Charlie was so engrossed in Phalen’s threats he hadn’t realised his canine partner had made a move, and quite majestically, Charlie thought, launched himself through the glass that had been weakened and made a beeline for Louis.
The distraction was just what Charlie needed – he bolted towards the credenza and the untouched white cake, grabbing the knife that lay there and he launched it at Phalen. The knife landed squarely in his shoulder, and he lurched back against the cubicle.
“Rex!” Charlie yelled, and his partner dashed through his legs and into the office. Charlie was about to follow, but despite having a knife thrown at him, it seemed Phalen was not backing down.
“Mr. Nice Guy. Well, not so nice anymore. You have a choice – one of you stays here with me. So who’s it going to be? You, or Howie here. I’ve got to say, he don’t look too good.”
“Louis, you need to end this.”
“I don’t have to do anything. But you do. Make up your mind, Charlie.” It wasn’t even a question as to what the Detective was going to.
“I’ll stay. But you got to let me move Howie in.”
“Get Felicia to do it.”
“Felicia is going nowhere.”
Phalen shot at the window, and Charlie watched as the entire thing shattered.
“That was a warning shot. The next one will be closer.”
“Fine. Let Rex move him.”
“Your dog?”
“My partner.”
“If he tries anything,” Louis shook his gun; Charlie didn’t need any convincing.
“Rex!” He called out, and his trusty partner emerged once again. He gestured towards Howie, and Rex understood the assignment, dragging the now unconscious Howie back into the room, into relative security.
“Now what?” Hudson asked, hands still held high, despite the pain growing from his wound so much that he was ready to risk putting it down just to ease the ache.
Just a little longer. Hold out.
*
“Shots fired! Shots fired!” The statement echoed down on the ground.
Louis Phalen’s mother was still inside the mobile command unit, ignorant of the knowledge that her son was the maestro of this calamity.
“Ms Phalen, there really isn’t an easy way to tell you this,” Sarah begun, “we have reason to believe that Louis is the shooter.”
Jesse broke the awkward silence – “Did he have access to guns?”
“He’s never used a gun in his life!” Phalen’s mother proclaimed, “He’s not a violent person! No, you must be mistaken.”
Jesse and Sarah looked down; unfortunately, they’d dealt with so many family members who were oblivious to their loved ones in such dire straits, or in this case, causing them.
“We have reliable eyewitness statements saying that he is currently inside with a gun.” Sarah stated the look on the mother’s face one of shock, terror, and sadness.
“Is anyone hurt? Has he hurt anyone in there?”
“Everyone is alive,” Sarah said, answering the question, but not quite, “and we’d like to help make sure that it stays that way. Has his behaviour changed recently?”
“Well, yes. He has been angrier lately. I tried to raise him to be kind. I told him ‘forget about the girl who doesn’t like you back; don’t focus on her. There are more fish in the sea.’ But he doesn’t listen to his mother!”
“I think he was listening to someone online,” Jesse told her.
“Louis, his father died when he was young; he didn’t have a female role model.”
“I’m sure you did your best, Ms. Phalen.” Sarah told the distraught mother.
“Whatever’s happened to him lately, I’m sorry I can’t fix. But can you let those cops out there know that that’s still my boy.”
“I will.” Sarah swallowed before responding.
*
“Shut the door, Charlie. Slowly.” Hudson reached for the door and swung it shut.
“And y’all better stay there!” Louis shouted, no doubt to make sure they all heard him well.
“Louis, Howie needs medical attention. You do too.” Charlie gestured to the kitchen knife still jutting out of his shoulder.
“He’s okay.”
“Go take a peek, Louis.” The gunman stepped closer, taking a look at the still unconscious Howie who was turning grey.
An arguably stupid idea was forming in Charlie’s mind, but with the situation so dynamic, there was no time to wait for SWAT, who were dealing with the extra obstacles Louis had put into play. Charlie launched himself at Louis, and the two rolled around. He tugged the knife out of Louis’ shoulder, determined to grab it again, but Louis put his body weight onto his shot arm, and it slipped out of reach. The two men continued to struggle for the gun; Charlie couldn’t feel solid ground under his feet…
*
“Look! Look!” A bunch of gasps and yelps bought Jesse and Sarah out of the command unit, where they spotted all the bystanders and officers looking up – it wasn’t clear from the distance, but Sarah could see that someone was dangling out of the window.
As fast as her legs could carry her, she ran back into the command unit, right to the back, shuffling through all the tactical gear until she grabbed a hold of a pair of binoculars and rushed back outside, pointing them upwards.
The hairdo was unmistakeable – Charlie was the figure dangling out of the window.
“Charlie…” She managed to get out, heart in throat.
“Wait – Charlie’s who we can see?” Joe asked, grabbing the binoculars of Sarah for just a minute, needing to confirm it with own eyes.
“Joe – when Charlie said two injured, he didn’t mention he was one of them, did he?” Sarah asked, mentally chastising her boyfriend.
“Why’d you say that?”
“He’s wrapped his belt around his arm. Joe, he’s been shot. And now he’s dangling out of a window. Where’s SWAT?”
“Turns out Louis came really prepared. SWAT are telling me at least another twenty, and that’s if there are no more surprises.
“Joe. He’s not got that much time. I need to go up there.”
“Sarah, you heard yourself. He hates women – I shudder to think what would happen if you go up.”
“I can handle myself Joe.”
“I know that. I do, but I’m not going to let you go up there; I can’t have another officer in jeopardy.”
*
“Louis, you need to end this now.” Charlie managed to get out through clenched teeth; his left arm was screaming in pain, and he feared that he too would be – his right arm was gripping the edge with all the force he could muster, but it was clear that his hand was resting on an uneven surface – even a small shift of weight was painful as he felt glass dig deep into his hand.
“You just can’t let it be.” Louis said, crouching down. Charlie looked up to see that his efforts had been in vain – Louis still had the gun in one hand, the bloodied knife in the other.
“You have the power to end this.” Charlie told him.
“Look at you, how pathetic, Charlie, pretending to be my best friend, just because I’m the bad guy with the gun, and you’re the one staring down the barrel.”
“Louis, don’t do something you can’t come back from.”
“Oh my gosh, what is with you, and all this don’t do something you can’t come back from talk. You see, I came here with one person in mind, Felicia. But oh, have you gotten on my nerves. You stabbed me; that’s messed up man.”
“Louis, you’re a smart guy, that’s what everyone in here kept telling me. So be smart. Surrender before you’re forced too.”
“Not until what I get what I came here to do.” Louis said, getting up and walking away from the dangling Detective.
“Louis! Louis!” Charlie shouted out the gunman’s name as he tried to push himself up and back into the building. He’d managed to shift his weight to his injured arm and was about to lift his right arm when he saw a flash of silver – Louis had evidently decided to get back at him, stabbing him in return.
He no longer had an uninjured arm – his left was struggling with the effects of the gunshot, his right palm effectively impaled to the ground. Charlie let out an ear-piercing scream as he felt his grip with his left hand slipping too. Whether he lived or died now rested on how long the knife would stay stuck, and Charlie couldn’t believe that he was wishing for his hand to stay impaled.
*
Sarah was keeping an eye on the situation closely, breathless as she could spot Phalen crouching down and talking to Charlie.
“Joe, I’m not one to advocate this, but do we have a sniper, you know, if it comes down to it?”
“SWAT has two, yes, but they’re both up there trying to get through the door with the others.”
“Rex has been getting in and out somehow – perhaps they should forget about the door and just take an alternative route?”
“Louis has a gun still, and with Charlie hanging out – I don’t want to give him a reason to think he’s losing control.”
“I’d say he already is.”
“I’d rather not add…” Joe begun, but was interrupted by Sarah screaming out Charlie’s name, dropping the binoculars to the ground.
“What just happened?” He asked, grabbing a hold of Sarah who looked ready to drop there and then.
“He just stabbed Charlie in the hand, his right hand. He was barely holding on with his left. Joe, you can fire me, discipline me, write me up, but I am going up there. Sooner or later the SWAT guys will get in, and Charlie is going to need medical attention, my attention.”
There was no use arguing with her, that much was clear to the Superintendent.
“Sarah, you don’t know how Rex got in and out.”
“That’s not a problem. I’ll just ask him.” She told her boss, grabbing a hold of the dog whistle on her keys.
“Sarah, be careful. I’ll let SWAT know you’re coming up.”
*
“Louis, you don’t have to do this, please!” Charlie could hear Felicia’s voice as she begged Louis to stop doing whatever he was doing – the most Charlie could see were the shuffling feet of the two former co-workers.
“Louis!” He called out again, and Louis walked closer, Felicia in tow. In the background, past their legs, Charlie could see the familiar four paws patter out of the office and back down the corridor.
Good boy, Rex. Good boy.
“Stay out of this Charlie! Or I swear I won’t stop at the knife next time.”
“Louis, ple-” an audible slap cut the sentence short, followed by a thud. Felicia’s eyes met Charlie’s.
“You’re wrong Felicia. You see, you need to understand the order of things. You’ve got to learn that women don’t deserve everything.”
“Louis, Louis, look I’m sorry. I’m sorry you got laid off. Listen, let me fix this, alright.”
“LIES! You will stay there and listen or I’ll make sure you won’t be able to fire anyone ever again.”
“Louis.”
“Charlie, you’re ruining a moment here.” Louis dragged Felicia by the collar precariously close to the window, “you seem to not understand, so let me make you.” He pulled the gun out and squeezed the trigger. Charlie heard the gunshot, but no new pain washed over him. He opened his eyes, this time coming face to face with Louis’ eyes.
*
Rex had met Sarah halfway up to Bay Insurance’s offices, and she managed to mutter a quiet thanks as she raced back up with the canine officer.
Sarah left behind one, two, three floors, and in what certainly was her new personal best, made it to the correct floor. Rex had no issue making his way through the window; Sarah had to tackle with a chair to make it into the hallway. Quietly but with haste, she made it into the main space just in time to see Louis let go of a female hostage and point a gun at Charlie.
“…so let me make you.” He said, Sarah pulled out her gun and aimed at the gunman’s midsection, watching Louis drop the gun and fall to the ground.
“Louis Phalen, you’re under arrest.” She told him, securing his hands behind his back and kicking his gun out of reach before leaving him be for the SWAT officers that had given up on stealth and had just kicked in the door.
“Rex, help me get Charlie!” She told the officer, and he scrambled to the ledge.
“Charlie, Charlie, I need you to grip on with your left.”
“Can’t lift my arm.” He told her as she lay flat on her stomach and leaned over the ledge, Rex clamped down on her trouser pant.
“Sarah, let me.” One of the SWAT guys joined her on the floor, offering his assistance.
“Okay, on my count, officer. I’m going to pull the knife out, and as soon as it’s out, you pull.”
Rex barked, and Sarah acknowledged him – “You too Rex.”
Sarah shuffled just to the side to give the SWAT officer and Rex space as she spoke to Charlie.
“Charlie, this is going to hurt, but I need to take this knife out, alright. Don’t move, don’t struggle – we’re going to pull you up.”
“Hmm hmm.” The only thing keeping Charlie conscious was the fact that if he lost it, there was no question that he’d never open his eyes again.
“Okay. Three… Two… One…” Sarah carefully but quickly pulled the knife straight up, the tears that she’d been fighting to hold back since she found out Charlie was in this situation finally spilling out at the scream that left Charlie’s lips.
The SWAT officer struggled, but Rex put his entire weight behind pulling Charlie up, rubbing his head against Charlie’s once he was laid flat on the ground.
“That’s a good boy…” Charlie managed to say as Sarah begun to generously cover his arm with a bandage from the tactical bag the SWAT commander had left for her before he dragged Phalen downstairs.
“Felicia… Nina…” Charlie muttered.
“They’re fine, Charlie. They’re okay.”
“Howie?” He asked.
“Charlie – they’re all alive. Thanks to you. Now, quit asking questions and let me keep you alive.”
“Sure, but just one more.”
“What?”
“Are you still down to fly me out to see your family?”
“Charlie Hudson now is not the time! Can you ask me once you get the all-clear from a doctor.”
“Are you not giving me one, doctor?”
“No. And next time, I’m coming with you.”
“Good idea – I always thought insurance was boring.” He muttered as Sarah started fussing over his gunshot wound and beckoning the paramedics to make haste with the stair chair.
“I can walk, Sarah. It’s my hands, not my legs.” He told her, and then winced as she took off the makeshift torniquet and applied a proper one.
“Well, as a doctor, I’m disregarding that opinion. Do not fight me.”
Charlie had done enough fighting for today – his head and arms agreed with him.