Go Out With A Bang! Read Online Free Page B

almost certain this is a different
gang. The ones in the Petrolex job were killed in the explosion.
Had to be.'
    Suddenly
a burst of gunfire from the hotel made everyone dive for cover. It
was a short lived spray of bullets, that thudded into the ground
well short of the surrounding police officers. It was just a wake
up call.
    'They
seem pretty bloody lively to me,' said Goldstein, walking off to
his Bentley to call his brother.
    Andersen
had resigned himself to another long night. Morris and Crowe joined
him.
    Morris
said, 'Are we just going to spend the night being shot
at?'
    Andersen
asked,'What's Hancock say?'
    'Keep
them surrounded for as long as it takes. If they want to come out,
they do it with their hands in the air. Oh. And he says if anyone
mentions overtime pay, he's going home.'
    Crowe
said, 'He'll not be risking any of his men in chopper drops onto
the roof this time. Can't say I blame him.'
    Andersen
said, 'He's playing it safe. The Goldstein brothers are for dealing
with them. If they do that, it doesn't mean we all go home and let
them walk away with millions.' He checked his watch. 'We have
nearly two and a half hours before the Goldstein's have to make the
deal or not. Any progress finding Ducket?'
    Morris
said, 'We have a couple of kids...I mean young detectives, trying
to get into Old Cranky. Nothing so far. Vince made an interesting
comment, though. The Ferret doesn't want us looking for him. The
complete lack of any clue is an indication of that.'
    Another
burst of gunfire had them diving behind a Tactical
vehicle.
    Andersen
growled, 'Those creeps are really beginning to piss me
off.'
     

Chapter 10
    There
was no more gunfire from the windows of the hotel. Andersen had
talked on the phone to the Goldstein brothers. They were adamant
the best way out was to pay the money and get on with their lives.
They had talked to the top executive at their insurance company,
trying to strike a compromise about who would pay out what. The
brothers had tried a fifty fifty compromise for agreeing the twenty
million payout against many millions more for the value of the
hotel, should it be blown up. All they got was a vague comment
about not setting a precedent by dealing and to leave it up to the
police to resolve the situation.
    To the
frustrated brothers, this was wasn't helpful and after making
promises to change their insurance company, regardless of outcome,
they decided to pay out the money. Their bank manager had been
informed, and the money was made available. They were going to
deal.
    Andersen, Crowe and Morris sat on deckchairs well out of
range, staring at the lit up hotel. To keep his officers on their
toes, Hancock had them rotating with each other on a regular basis
and doing strange and seemingly unnecessary things to make sure
they kept alert.
    Morris
yawned and checked his watch for the fifth time in as many minutes.
A Tactical officer approached him out of the shadows.
    'Detective Morris?'
    'Here,'
said Morris.
    'I have
this for you.' The officer behind the dark visor handed Morris an
envelope.
    Morris
took the envelope, opened it and read the four words. 'Shit. Hey.
where did this come...from?' The fully armed and armoured officer
had gone.
    'Stan?'
Andersen said.
    Morris
said, 'Here,' and passed the note over.
    'Shit.'
He read it aloud. 'The hotel is empty. F.'
    They
were on their feet and running to Hancock.
    'What?'
snapped the giant.
    'This.
The hotel is empty. F,' said Andersen.
    Which
was the exact second another volley of shots blasted the hotel
lawns.
    'That
sound empty to you?' said Hancock.
    'John,
one of your officers just handed this over to us,' said
Morris.
    'Nope.'
    Crowe
said, 'John. Hello. Dressed in fashionable black Tactical armour,
matching accessories like a helmet and a visor...Oh.'
    'Kaching,' said Hancock. 'One of yours, dressed up as one of
mine. That was the Ferret.'
     

Chapter 11
    'Am I
following this,' said Crowe, struggling to keep up. 'The one who
gave us this note