Page 82 of Rescued Dreams

“I was just about to leave.” Amelia lifted her chin. “By myself.”

“We have an appointment.”

Elam’s friend over by the front door swung his arm back and clocked the security guard, still on his break, in the forehead. Daryl tumbled backward on the chair, tipping it over and landing on the floor behind it. Out cold.

Amelia gasped.

Cynthia stammered and started to back up.

Elam pulled a weapon from his hip, under his jacket, and swung it up to point at the bank employee. “Like I said, we have an appointment.”

The other men Elam had brought moved in. The customer in line spun around and started a fight, grappling for the man’s gun. Elam fired off a shot over his head.

The fighting duo froze.

“No one moves. No one tries anything…like hitting the emergency switch.” Elam swung his gun around and fired another shot over the teller’s head.

She screamed and backed up, holding up her hands.

“Don’t do this, Elam.” Amelia had to say it, and letting them all know his name meant they could identify him.

He ignored her, but that grip on her arm didn’t let up. Her fingers started to go numb. He scanned the room. “Everyone come sit in the center of the room.”

Two more men came in the front door, both carrying duffels.

Elam said, “Lock it down.” He waved his gun, and the customers and employees gathered in a group in the center of the room, by the island with stacks of deposit slips and brochures about savings accounts.

The men who’d come in fixed something to the front door that covered the handles, like a lockbox, wire arms that stretched to the corners. Once they were done with the front door, they continued around the room. One disappeared down a back hall—to secure the back exit?

“What are you doing?” Amelia’s mind only concluded one thing. “You can’t rob a bank!”

Elam said, “All we’re doing is making a withdrawal.”

“We?”

He turned to her, a sinister look in his eyes. “Amelia Hilden and her brother Elam Hilden are here to cash out their father’s account.”

Amelia gaped at him. He’d planned this entire scenario. “And if I refuse?”

She didn’t want that money. It was her whole reason for being here, proving she had nothing to do with this place.

Elam stared at her with cold eyes. “I’ll kill every innocent person in this room.”

TWENTY-EIGHT

Ridge gripped the handle above the door while Della brought the rig to a stop outside the bank, where it seemed like an ocean of cops had gathered. There was no formal SWAT team in Last Chance County. Each of the officers on duty took on the role as needed.

“What’s happening here?” Della shut off the truck. “This is chaos.”

Ridge said, “The call was for police assistance, so it could be anything they need us to do.” Usually that involved Rescue 5, but there were plenty of things Truck could do when someone was trapped—or hiding. Including some skills that would get a firefighter on a bomb squad in a bigger town, or on a special HAZMAT team.

“We might need tools, but let’s find out the situation first.” Ridge jumped out of the truck and slammed the door, trudging over to the huddle of senior officers. “Chief?”

Macon stood with Conroy Barnes, the police chief. “Good, you guys are here.” Macon nodded.

Chief Barnes said, “We may need you to gain entry. Something is blocking the door, but we’re not sure what. The surveillance isn’t super clear on it.”

Ridge nodded. “Whatever you need.”