Live Fire Read Free Page B

want what he got, do you?’
    He glared at Marker defiantly. ‘You don’t have to threaten girls to get what you want.’
    Marker thrust his face close to the man’s. ‘You want some, do you?’
    ‘I just want you to take what you want and go. It’s the bank’s money you’re after, not ours. No one here is going to stop you, so just get on with it and leave us alone.’
    Marker could see that the man wasn’t intimidated by the rhetoric or the gun. He stepped back and slammed the butt into the man’s face, splintering his teeth. Blood gushed from his mouth and he dropped the briefcase. Marker hit him again, this time on the side of the head. He slumped to the ground without a sound. ‘Anyone else?’ he shouted, turning back to the rest of the customers. ‘Anyone else want to give me any grief? Because I’ll kill the next person who steps out of line. Do you morons understand?’ They pressed together, too scared to look at him. One of the elderly women had her eyes closed and was muttering a prayer. Marker pointed the gun at them, waiting for any signs of defiance or resistance.
    Knight aimed his Kalashnikov at a blonde woman in a pale blue blouse. ‘Open the door, darling, before anyone else gets hurt. And don’t even think about hitting the silent alarm.’
    She moved towards the door. Edwards covered the other tellers with his revolver. ‘You two get back against the wall and keep your hands where I can see them.’
    Knight walked towards the blonde, keeping the Kalashnikov pointed at her chest, his finger on the trigger. ‘Don’t get any ideas,’ he warned her. ‘Like my friends said, the bullets in this will go straight through that glass.’
    She opened the door with trembling hands and Knight stepped through, Edwards behind him. ‘Everyone on the floor!’ Edwards shouted. ‘Face down with your hands on the back of your head.’ He pointed to the stairs that led up to the offices. ‘Anyone comes down, you take care of them,’ he said to Knight.
    McMullen and Edwards went through to the safe-deposit room. Edwards dropped his sports bag on the metal table in the middle of the room and took out two electric drills. He handed one to McMullen, then pulled a folded sheet of paper from the inside pocket of his coat. He scanned the list. ‘You do two-five-eight and two-five-nine to start,’ he said.
    McMullen ran his gloved hand down the bank of boxes until he found two-five-eight. He pulled the trigger on the drill and pressed the whirring bit against the lock. As he drilled out the lock mechanism, Edwards started on another box.
    Brewerton and Franklin watched the robbers leave the bank on one of the monitors on the wall behind the manager’s desk. On another Sandra Ford was comforting the customers. One of the pensioners was crying and she put an arm around her.
    ‘See, Owen, that wasn’t too hard, was it?’ said Brewerton.
    ‘What happens now?’ asked Crompton, looking anxiously at the gun in Brewerton’s shoulder holster.
    ‘Now we’ll be on our merry way,’ said Franklin, standing up.
    ‘What about my wife and son?’
    ‘They’ll be fine, Owen,’ said Franklin. ‘You did everything we asked – you did us proud. Your wife and daughter will be released in one hour. All you have to do is wait one hour and she’ll call you. As soon as she does you can call the cops.’
    ‘My career’s over, you know that?’ said Crompton. ‘They’ll think I helped you. They’ll think I was your inside man.’
    ‘What do you want, Owen?’ asked Brewerton. ‘Do you want I put a bullet in your leg or we beat the crap out of you?’
    ‘I’m just saying, the police always think there’s an inside man.’
    ‘We kidnapped your wife and your boy. They’ll understand you had to co-operate.’
    Crompton folded his arms and shook his head emphatically. ‘You don’t get it, do you? Even if the cops don’t blame me, my bosses will never trust me again. My career’s over.’
    ‘Owen, if you keep