When Darkness Falls

chapter 58

T heo let the plan run through his mind one last time.

The moment of opportunity would arise when he bent down to lay the injured girl on the stoop. Crouched like a football lineman, he could let his right leg fly back with the force of a mule kick. Falcon would never know what hit him. Theo would sweep up the girl and roll away from the open doorway, out of the line of fire. The cops would see Falcon go down and immediately send in the SWAT to save the other two hostages. That was the plan, but Theo was nothing if not a realist.

Things never went according to plan.

“Open the door,” said Falcon.

“How? I’m holding the girl.”

“Hold her tight with your right arm, drape her knees over your left forearm. That will give you a free hand.”

Theo complied, and Falcon was right. The girl weighed maybe a hundred pounds, and he could easily free up a hand and still manage to carry her. He turned the deadbolt, and the door unlocked with the portentous sound of a shotgun shucking.

“Nice and slow now,” said Falcon.

Theo reached for the doorknob, grasped it tightly, and turned it to the right.

“Even slower,” said Falcon. “Now open it.”

Theo pushed the knob away from him, and the hinges creaked as the door swung outward. Building codes required external doors to swing out in south Florida, to prevent hurricanes from coming inside. This time it seemed that the hurricane might be going the other way. Theo, however, suddenly felt very small standing in the open doorway. Night had indeed fallen, and searchlights cut through the darkness like giant lasers. One was aimed directly at Theo, and it was momentarily blinding. Had he not been holding the girl, he would have shielded his eyes. He couldn’t see very far-that was probably one of the intended effects of the searchlights-but he sensed or at least hoped that somewhere out there was a huge police presence.

“TAKE THE SHOT,” Chavez said into his bone microphone. He spoke in a hushed voice, albeit with urgency.

The sniper came back in his earpiece, “It’s a black male, one of the hostages. I don’t have a shot.”

Chavez was with his tactical team in room 105, just two doors down from Falcon and the hostages. It was as close as they felt they could get to Falcon without tipping their hand that SWAT was on the way. The entire team was dressed in black SWAT regalia with Kevlar helmets, flak jackets, thigh guards, and night-vision goggles. Each was armed with an M-16 rifle and.45-caliber pistol. The front door was open for a quick exit. The men stood in the ready position in anticipation of the crack of a sniper shot that would be their starter pistol.

“Can you see Falcon?” said Chavez.

“Negative. The black male is holding the injured female in his arms, but there is no sign of-Check that. There’s Falcon. He’s standing directly behind the male hostage.”

“Then take the shot.”

“There is no shot.”

“If you can see Falcon, there’s a shot.”

“It’s too risky. He’s using the hostage as a shield.”

“What about the north-south snipers? Any angle for a shot to the side of the head?”

“Negative. The hostage is standing at the threshold. Falcon is still inside.”

“Then back off. It’s time to breach.”

“If you breach now, Theo Knight is dead.”

“Then take the shot, damn it!”

TAKE THE SHOT.

For a brief instant, Falcon thought he was hearing voices in his head all over again, but it sounded unlike any voice he’d heard before, and it was coming from a place that seemed all too real-specifically, one of the nearby rooms.

“Back inside!” shouted Falcon as he grabbed Theo by the collar and pulled him out of the doorway.