Convergence - The Last Science #2.1 - In Plain Sight

B2: Chapter 10 - Allies of Coincidence - I

  Jeremy knew he was being irrational and reckless, but at this point he didn't care. After so many false positives, so many armed crimes in progress that turned out mundane and ordinary, this time had to be different. It didn't follow any pattern at all. A strange location, no demands, and an armed and organized group? In the same region the presumed-dead Hailey Winscombe was supposedly sighted only the night before?

  If they weren't connected, it was such a crazy-ass coincidence that Jeremy would be letting his superstitious partner down if he didn't pursue it.

  They'd identified the body of the man that had gone to Canada to kill Boris and Dan as a virtual nobody. The guy was a hourly wage drone and frequent sport hunter. Absolutely nothing to tie him to the men he'd tried to murder—except that he was from Elma, the nearest town of any size to Rallsburg.

  Jeremy had combed the town thoroughly with a practical army at his back, Aderholt included, but they'd found nothing. The chief was following up other leads to the west along the coast, while Jeremy took the Olympia and Tacoma areas. Any violent crime involving firearms, or even the hint of some kind of organized crime activity, and the local cops were sure to get a visit from their local feds.

  He might have enjoyed getting to pester them so much if he weren't still flying solo.

  "Give me some direction," he asked the sniper directly, ignoring the protesting lieutenant.

  "Best we can tell, they moved everyone to the back, then started sending them into the front one by one. It's fucking bizarre, sir."

  Looking for someone...? "Is there a back entrance?"

  "Locked up tight. When we approached, they took a shot at the ground to warn us off."

  "Locked up but they took a shot?"

  "There's a window. They put one guy there."

  "Excuse me, sir," interrupted the lieutenant. Jeremy rounded on him with a glare, but he stood firm. "If they aren't making demands and they haven't started killing anyone, wouldn't it be better to wait?"

  "That we know of," the sniper pointed out.

  "Shut up, Stebbins." The lieutenant scratched his head. "Why risk them killing the hostages? They've gotta come out sooner or later."

  "Do we have any drone cameras? Snakes? Anything to get us a view inside?"

  He shrugged, infuriating Jeremy. Don't you know your own fucking equipment? "SWAT's still on the way. Maybe fifteen minutes."

  "How the fuck did I get here before your SWAT team?"

  "We only have the one local one, sir, and they were off the clock. Had to call them in."

  A muffled gunshot and a flash of light filled the spaces around the blocked windows, causing them all to flinch.

  Jeremy shook his head. "Too late. I'm going in through that back door to negotiate."

  "You're fucking insane," the lieutenant shouted as he ran off, dropping all pretense of chain of command.

  Yeah, probably. But I've got two friends hurt by this mess now, not just one. Jeremy picked up the radio he'd grabbed from the truck, running an earbud up underneath his vest as he ran. He handed off his sidearm to the barricade a hundred feet away from the back door, then held up his hands and started walking down the alley.

  The back door was set into a plain stone wall, with a dumpster and a small shattered window on one side. Jeremy could see the bullet from the warning shot lying up against the wall, an ominous mark that served as a line in the sand. He stepped across it apprehensively, his hand raised in clear surrender.