“You won’t have to,” Nadine says. She smiles at Tommy. It is her “I am so much smarter than you” smile.
“I’ll give you the keys to the doors,” she says to him. “Then you can lock us in once we get back from the bathroom. You’ll have the keys, so you won’t need the barricade anymore.”
He looks at her skeptically. “Without that barricade they might just bust in here.”
Nadine gives the barricade the side-eye. “It’s not like that barricade was ever going to stop them from entering. It’s a few pieces of furniture. Not that hard to get past.”
Tommy thinks about this. “Yeah, I guess,” he says. He gestures at his gun. “This is what’s keeping them out more than anything.”
“Right,” says Nadine. She goes over to the counter and picks up the keys they keep on a little hook underneath. She returns and drops them into his palm. Quickly, as if she will have second thoughts and take them back, he shoves them into his pocket.
Tommy looks at her like he thinks she is helping him, like she is coming around to his side. Nadine lets him think whatever he wants. She keeps her seat as he tells Morrow and Blythe to come and help him remove the barricade. They slide off their stools and help him push the cabinet and the display rack back to where they were before. The tourist pamphlets are still askew, and the other things have been jostled in all the shifting around. She makes a mental note to fix them later. Her mama always taught her to leave a place better than you found it.
Chapter 19
Hope hangs up with Sylvie for the second time, calls the commander nearest to the building to warn them about the hostages’ movement, and turns to Bo, who’s been quietly listening in. This whole situation is so rudimentary, so far from what she’s used to. There is no Negotiation Operations Center, which they refer to as the NOC. There is no technology to assist them in getting eyes on the suspect or hostages. No negotiation team to serve in different capacities, to add ideas, to confer with. Bo can’t even properly listen in on what’s being said. It’s probably what he’s used to. Like they did in the old days.
“He’s taking them to the bathroom,” she reports. “It’s out in the vestibule area, so he’s removing the barricade and walking them out to it. The guys close to the building will be monitoring it.”
Bo’s eyes widen at the mention of Tommy removing the barricade. “Getting rid of that barricade,” he says. “That’s progress.”
She thinks this over. “Not really,” she admits. “He’s just going to use Nadine’s keys to lock them back in once they get back to the room. That was the agreement.”
“But with the barricade out of the way, we can use drones and have better visibility through the glass if we need to go in.”
“Not yet,” Hope says, her voice clipped, anxious at the suggestion of going in this soon. They’ve barely gotten started. Sheknows that words are every bit as powerful as tactical force. But that power takes time to build. “I don’t want anyone going in yet.”
“To be sure,” Bo says. When he smiles at her, his bushy eyebrows nearly graze his cheeks. “We’re nowhere near the trigger point.”
Relief floods Hope’s body. When Hank told her Bo was former FBI, she hadn’t bothered to ask what he had done for them. She didn’t know if he’d been on the tactical side or the talking side of a negotiation. Though they are there for the same outcome—resolution—the two sides often approach things differently.
Bo lifts the binoculars to his eyes as if from this distance he’ll be able to see what’s happening inside the vestibule. He watches the building for a while, then speaks to her. “I see movement. Can’t count heads from here, but it looks like they’re all walking as a group.” He heaves a sigh, and she can’t tell if it’s from weariness or sincere worry. “So far, so good,” he adds.
“Yes,” she agrees. “So far, so good.”Now, she thinks,just to keep it that way.
Chapter 20
As Tommy directs them out the door and into the vestibule, Morrow falls into step beside Nadine, thanking her as they head for the bathroom. “I’m so glad you asked for this. I’ve had to go for the past hour, but I was afraid to say anything,” she says. “Funny how something as simple as going to the bathroom can feel like a luxury.”
Nadine thinks about what Morrow has said, how when something you once took for granted is taken away, you’re that much more grateful for it when it is restored to you. She looks over at Tommy and thinks of all the things they took for granted, things that will never be restored to them, especially now. She thinks of what they would be doing if things were different. Probably planning one of their “Sunday Fundays” for the coming weekend, heading to the beach with sub sandwiches from Publix and a cooler of cold drinks to spend the afternoon listening to Jimmy Buffett or Morgan Wallen while lying in the sun. Though nothing particularly special, those were her favorite days. They were happy once; she remembers this fact whether she wants to or not. They did love each other. Which makes what’s become of them even harder to accept.
Ahead of Nadine and Morrow, Sylvie walks beside Tommy, who isn’t keen on the idea of taking them to the bathroom. He hasn’t said so, but Sylvie is betting he’s probably worried aboutlosing control once they are out from behind the barricade. Still, they could all use a bathroom break. They’ve been inside that room for hours.
And so, like a kindergarten class with the meanest teacher in the world, they shuffle their way out into the vestibule. They pass the dropped hot dog, and Sylvie wonders if she should get some paper towels in the bathroom to clean it up but then rethinks it. Tommy did pull a gun on the two women who came in. Sylvie recalls the women’s terrified faces, the way they ran for their lives. Oh, how she wishes she could’ve joined them.
Tommy gives orders as they near the door to the ladies’ restroom, embracing his authority. “You go in there, you do your business, and you don’t dawdle,” he says. “I’ll be waiting out here, and if you don’t come out in a reasonable amount of time, I won’t hesitate to come in there.”
“Tommy,” says Nadine, with that past-tense way of saying his name that says she’s done with him, only he doesn’t seem to notice. “There’s no exit out of this bathroom,” Nadine continues. “Just a little window not a one of us could fit through. We have no choice but to come out.”
Tommy attempts a look that Sylvie supposes means he is not to be trifled with. “All right, then,” he says. “Go on.” He makes a little shooing motion with his hand.
Released, they hurry behind the bathroom door, each of them stopping as the door closes between them and their captor. No one goes into the stalls. Instead, they just look at one another, knowing this is their chance to communicate apart from Tommy. But to say what? No one seems to know the right words for a moment like this one.
Then Sylvie reaches out her hands, grasping Nadine’s on her left and Blythe’s on her right. Nadine looks over at Sylvie, thenreaches out her free hand to grasp Morrow’s. Blythe does the same. They cluster in a tight circle and hang on to one another.
“We will get through this,” says Sylvie. She makes eye contact with the other three women as, one by one, they each nod. Sylvie adds, “Amen.” Then they let go and take turns in the stalls before convening again at the sinks to wash their hands.
When Morrow goes to open the door, Nadine stops her. “One more thing,” she says, keeping her voice low. She reaches into her pocket and reveals a set of keys.
