Hostage

Mars settled onto the couch by Walter Smith. He put his hand on Smith's head as if he was stroking the soft fur between a dog's ears.

'They didn't give you the helicopter because they don't believe you're serious.'

De

'You don't know what you're talking about. They've got rules about this stuff. Fuck them anyway. I never thought we'd get a helicopter. I just thought it would be worth a try.'

Mars stroked Smith's head, ru

'You don't see the big picture, De

'You want a picture, Mars? Here it is: We've gotta find a way out of here with that cash.'

Mars patted Smith's head.

'Our way out is right here. You don't understand the power we have.'

'The hostages? Jesus, they're all we have. If we didn't have these people, the cops would be all over us.'

When Mars looked up again, De

'What we have is the fear they feel. Their fear gives us power. The police will only take us seriously if they're scared we'll kill these people. It isn't the people that we have to trade, De

De

'Okay, dude. Mars, you're creeping me out.'

'The police have no reason to deal with us unless they take us seriously. All they have to do is wait until we get tired, and then we'll give up. They know that, De

De

'So how do we convince them?'

'Tell them we're going to let the fat boy go as a sign of good faith.'

De

'We send the fat boy out the front door. We don't go with him, we just open it and tell him to go. He just has to walk across the yard here and out to the cars, and he'll be fine. Your pal, Talley, he'll probably call the kid over, saying something like, "C'mon, son, everything is fine." '

De

'We wait until he's about halfway across the yard, then we shoot him.'

De

Mars spread his hands at the simple beauty of it.

'Then they'll know we mean business, and we'll have something to trade.'

De

'Mars. We couldn't do something like that.'

Mars looked curious.

'I could. I'll do it, if you want.'

De

'I don't think so, dude.'

'You don't?'

'No. We couldn't do that.'

The bright intensity in Mars's eyes faded like a candle losing its flame, and Mars shrugged. De

De

De

He ran back to the office to tell Kevin and Mars that he had found the way out.

The planet Venus hung low in the blackening western sky, racing toward the ridge of mountains and the edge of Talley's roof. The stars were not yet out, but here in the high desert, away from the city, the sky would soon be washed with lights.

Talley's condominium was one of forty-eight stucco and stained-wood units spread over four buildings arranged like the letter H. Mature eucalyptus and podocarpus trees shouldered over the buildings like drunks leaning over a rail. Marion guessed that the condos had at one time been apartments, then converted and sold. Each unit had a small fenced patio at ground level, and centered between the four buildings was a very nice pool; small, unprotected parking lots were on either side of each building for the residents. It seemed like a pleasant place to live.

Marion walked through the grounds, hearing music and voices. Cars were turning into the parking lots, men and women still arriving from work; an older woman was methodically swimming laps, the pool's lone occupant; charcoal grills were smoking on several of the patios, filling the air with the smells of burning flesh.

Marion circled the building with Talley's unit. Because the buildings were of older construction (Marion guessed they had been built in the seventies), the gas meters, electric meters, and junction boxes for both telephones and cable TV were clustered together at an out-of-the-way spot opposite the parking lots. Any individual security systems would be junctioned with the telephone lines. Marion was pleased to see that the building had no alarms. Marion was neither surprised nor shocked; being a sleepy small town so far from LA, the greatest security the condo association might buy would be having a rent-a-cop cruise the parking lots every hour. If that.