Still. That probably won’t happen. Surely, the police will talk Daniel down soon. And everything will be just fine.
Which is why, when I notice Ryan scanning the shelves behind us again, I whisper, “I’m okay. Really. Forget I said anything.”
His head jerks in my direction. Determination is written all over his face. “You’re not,” he replies quietly but firmly. “You need your insulin. And I’m going to get it for you.”
My stomach squinches into a knot. “No. You don’t have to. Forget?—”
“This is your fault!” Daniel yells. He advances towards Greta and raises his gun to point at her head. “All these people! It’s your fault they’re here! It’s your fault if they die!”
Greta lifts her head as she meets his gaze. “How is it my fault?Youcame in here with a gun?You’reholding everyone hostage. I didn’t make you do that.”
“You fucked me!” he retorts. “You kicked me out. You stole from me. Now you’re living the high life and I have nothing!”
“You can have it all,” she replies. “I told you. I’ll give you whatever you want, Daniel. Just let everyone else go. Then we can work it out.”
Daniel hesitates.
Hope flickers to life.
Maybe he’ll accept her offer. Even though it would be patently unfair, because everything Greta has, she worked for herself. But maybe he’ll accept, and we’ll all be let go. Then Ryan won’t feel like he has to do something, and?—
“NO!” Daniel bellows. “No! You need to suffer for what you did!”
Greta stares at him. “Isn’t this enough?”
He shakes his head. “No. I want you to suffer. Just like I did. And I want everyone to know it’syourfault they’re in this situation.” Daniel turns away from her and casts his gaze around the semicircle of hostages. “This is her fault,” he announces. “Hers. When you’re thinking about how scared you are, how you’re missing Christmas with your families, just remember it’s this bitch’s fault you’re here.”
One of the other hostages, Emily Diamond, who has twin girls back at home, asks shakily, “You’re not letting us go?”
Daniel smirks at her. “Not yet. I’m not close to being done here.”
Ryan stiffens beside me. His jaw sets.
Oh, crap.
He has that determined look again.
“She has kids,” Greta tells Daniel. “Little girls. They need their mother. Just let Emily go, at least.”
As soon as his attention shifts back to Greta, Ryan touches my arm. In an undertone, he says, “I have an idea. But I need your help.”
“Ryan,” I whisper, “just let it go. I’m sure he’ll give me my purse, eventually.”
“No. We can’t risk it.” Watching Daniel carefully, Ryan reaches into his pocket and pulls out his keychain. On it are a car fob, a couple of keys, and a small flashlight. He lets me look at it for a moment before curling his fingers around it again.
“You’re going to usethat?” I’m struck with a vision of Ryan rushing at Daniel with his keys held firmly between his fingers, just as I was taught to do in the self-defense class I took back in college.
But that was a defense meant to be used in a desperate emergency. Not as an actual plan to take down someone armed with a gun.
Ryan waits until Daniel starts ranting at Greta again before explaining, “Not the keys. The flashlight. It’s a tactical one. With enough lumens to blind someone temporarily.”
A flashlight?
I don’t want to be a skeptic, but he wants to attack Daniel with aflashlight?
“Ry—” I start.
“It’ll work. Especially with the strobe function.” He pauses several seconds before adding softly, “Trust me. I wouldn’t try this if I didn’t think it would work. I should have tried it sooner, but I was hoping…”
