Page 17 of Every Last One
“I love you too, Liv.” Sandra got out her entire reply before Olivia hung up. A rarity that told Sandra that Olivia was clearly just as shaken as Sandra. But regardless of her personal turmoil, Sandra had a job to do. Lives depended on her.
Sandra tried Dana’s number and listened to it ring until she landed in voicemail. She ended the call without leaving amessage. There could be many reasons Dana couldn’t answer. It didn’t mean her mother was dying.Nothing to worry about…
She pushed off the command vehicle and went inside. Brice raised his left eyebrow, a creepy expression of his that he pulled out when he was shocked or curious. This time she’d side with the latter, but she wasn’t getting into her personal life with him right now. “Tell me what I missed.”
NINE
12:05 PM
Jordon watched the hands on the clock roll around. Though two hours in this room felt like twenty. He’d never felt so caged in all his life. His parents’ wealth ensured the world was laid at his feet. A blessing and a curse because he wanted to make life on his own terms, putting in the hard work and netting his accomplishments. His father understood, but his mother not so much. Since the call with her was dropped, he imagined she’d spun out calling on everyone she knew for favors to find out what was going on with her little boy. Something he’d always be in her eyes despite the advancements he’d already made in his career.
He could hear his mother now. “Jordon, you’ll always be my baby boy.”
The gunman hadn’t stopped pacing except for a few short breaks. His eyes were clear, his pupils not pinpricked or dilated. Jordon could rule out drug use, but the man was antsy regardless. Though taking over a hospital at gunpoint was bound to do that to anyone.
Jordon was just happy the gun was out of his face. But he didn’t miss that the gunman kept it close, holding it in his hand as he moved around the room. He had taken his backpack and set it on the counter, though.
Colby Mahoney lost interest in his paper a long time ago and was sitting stiffly on the couch. Jordon knew he was married and a father of one. Leah Winters had dropped behind the couch when the gunman burst into the room but had since been directed to take a seat. She was only in her mid-twenties and a mother herself to two girls. They kept looking at Jordon as if he could rectify the situation.
But he had no plans on being the hero. He’d watched enough crime dramas to know the hero was always killed. No, he’d stay seated on this cushioned chair, still and subservient until the cops shut this down.
After all, his five-year plan certainly didn’t include being shot in the hospital where he worked. And it certainly didn’t include risking Maria’s life or their baby’s.
There was at least one other gunman who had spoken over the man’s walkie-talkie. There could be more, including others on this floor.
Jordon kept returning his gaze to the gunman’s backpack. He didn’t seem to worry about it as much as keeping a hold on his gun. But Jordon didn’t miss that periodically the man would pass a glance across the room. It was one of those times that Jordon followed his line of sight and noticed something was sticking out of the back flap on the bag. Definitely an electronic device. Probably a Wi-Fi jammer. Jordon was quite certain it was what the man had in his hands when the call with his mother was dropped. It was probably why his phone still didn’t have any bars. But how could he expect to get his hands on it without getting a bullet in the back?
The gunman stopped his pacing and picked up Nurse Mahoney’s newspaper from the coffee table and started flipping through the pages. Mahoney met Jordon’s gaze, and he didn’t care for the flicker in the nurse’s eyes. He had a tendency of being impulsive in his work, sometimes rushing aheadwithout approval from a doctor. Jordon shook his head, hoping Mahoney would take the direction.
Instead, when the gunman turned his back, Mahoney slowly got off the couch.
Stupid man!It would only take a split second for the gunman to turn around and pull the trigger. Just a split second…
Winters quietly hissed at Mahoney and passed a panic-stricken look at Jordon.
Their efforts to caution their colleague were ignored as Mahoney hurried toward the gunman, the soles of his shoes slapping on the floor.
Jordon watched in horror as the gunman spun. The rest played out in slow motion. Almost as if time stood still.
The blast of gunfire, followed by Mahoney’s screams. They came through dampened to Jordon’s ears as if from a thousand miles away.
Winters jumped off the couch and hid behind it. Her hysterical cries sounded like they were coming from a great distance.
Jordon’s ears were ringing but he noticed that the man was standing there looking from Mahoney to his hand, as if the gun were a foreign object and he was trying to make sense of what had happened.
If Jordon was going to do something, with the gunman in a trance, now might be the time. He hurried over to the backpack and lifted the electronic device out. It was a jammer, just as he’d thought. Now, he just needed to find the power switch and turn it off.
“I’d put that back in the bag if I were you.” The man’s voice rolled over Jordon’s shoulders as if dry ice, sending chills through to his toes. He braced for the feeling of a bullet tearing through flesh and bone, while a projection of his future playedout in front of him. Maria in a white dress smiling and saying, “I do.”
“I said, put that back!” the stranger roared.
All Jordon had to do was smash the jammer to the floor, but he froze. Just because the man hadn’t shot him yet, didn’t mean he wouldn’t. Jordon didn’t want to die. He wanted the chance to prove himself as a great father. To be a great husband. He raised one hand in surrender. “I’m putting it down.”
“No funny business.” The man’s voice trembled this time. Regret at shooting someone, or riding an adrenaline high because he had. Maybe both. But it was possible Jordon was being too generous to assign this man feelings of empathy considering what he was doing, what he had done.
Jordon put the jammer on the counter. It was out in the open, and should he get a clear opportunity to destroy the thing, he would. His fear be damned.
“Back to your chair. Now!” the gunman barked, guiding Jordon back to the chair he’d been in before with a wave of his gun.
