Hostage (2001) Read Online Free PDF Page B

had forever changed his life for the worse.
    His life was about to change again.

Hostage (2001)

JENNIFER
    Jennifer had never heard anything as loud as their guns, not the cherry bombs that Thomas popped in their backyard or the crowd at the Forum when the Lakers slammed home a game-winning dunkenstein. The gunfire in movies didn't come close. When Mars and Dennis started shooting, the sound rocked through her head and deafened her.
    Jennifer screamed. Dennis slammed the front door, pulled her backwards to the office, then pushed her down. She grabbed Thomas and held tight. Her father wrapped them in his arms. Layers of gun smoke hung in shafts of light that burned through the shutters; the smell of it stung her nose.
    When the shooting was done, Dennis sucked air like a bellows, stalking back and forth between the entry and office, his face white.
    '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.

Hostage (2001)

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