Marla and Pete resumed their lives come Monday morning with a new purpose and attitude, both of them thankful for all the gifts God had given them. Betsy and Marla were getting close to reopening the bakery and Pete had given the press release to all the tri-county newspapers, never thinking that anyone further away cared about the bogus discovery of the diamonds.
Pete had added security monitoring equipment onto the computer in his office so he could watch the evidence room for any suspicious activity. Whoever had been working with Dillon and Captain Perkins was keeping a very low profile and he truly had no hint as to who it might be. He would just have to be patient and wait for the guy to show his hand, taking comfort in the fact that at least Marla was now safe. With the diamonds out of the equation there was no need to go after her, the press release told the thief exactly where to look. Jeez, it practically included a freaking map. He suspected that it wouldn’t take long for the culprit to show himself. Clicking his computer onto the security mode he glanced back and forth while he did some paperwork.
Marla decided to grab some carryout from the diner and take it to Pete’s office for lunch, knowing he didn’t want to leave his office even long enough to eat. Anyone with half a brain would figure out that would be the perfect opportunity for them to go through the evidence room uninterrupted. When she walked into Pete’s office she was stunned that he wasn’t there. She set out her lunch on one side of his desk and went around to his side, intending to set his out, when she looked up at his monitor and saw him standing in what she assumed was the evidence room with his hands up in the air in surrender. Someone not in camera range was holding a gun on him. All she saw was the vile weapon pointing directly at Pete’s chest. She ran out into the nearly empty squad room and began yelling for help.
“Help. I need help. Someone has Pete at gunpoint.” She kept her voice low but urgent as she rushed to the nearest officer, having no idea where the evidence room was in relation to his office.
“Where?” Looking around confused, the desk sergeant scratched his head.
“I’m guessing in the evidence room. Come look at the monitor in his office.” Marla took off for the office with the sergeant close on her heels.
“Look. That’s the evidence room, right?” Pointing at the monitor with a shaking hand she put her finger on the gun as if to make it disappear. All the sergeant could see was a gun and Pete with his hands up. They could see he was talking to whoever had him hostage but there was no audio.
“Don’t just stand there, help him!” Now she was screaming. “Tell me how to get to the evidence room,” she demanded. But the sergeant was already barking orders into the phone on Pete’s desk, calling people from the squad room into the office in between talking into the phone. Marla trembled in the corner of the office as she let the officers take over. When one of the officers was told to head to the evidence room she tried to follow but was stopped before she made it past the hallway.
“You need to stay here Mrs. Jensen. We need you to stay out of the way and let us do our job. Captain Jensen will be fine ma’am. Have a seat right here and stay safe.” The sergeant ordered her as if she were under his command. She sat down but she didn’t like it. The agony of waiting was unbearable as the sergeant continued to get updates, eventually calling in a hostage negotiator.
Now was the time Marla panicked. Her breathing became shallow and irregular as she struggled for air. Her ears were ringing so loudly that she couldn’t hear anything anyone was saying and her chest began to hurt as she slipped off the chair into darkness.
Marla awoke lying on a cot in some strange office with paramedics surrounding her, talking rapidly. At first she couldn’t make any sense of the words, hitting her ears in a jumble of sounds. As the ringing in her ears began to subside she realized they were talking to her.
“Mrs. Jensen, just lie still. We’re here to help you, how do you feel? Are you having any pain anywhere?” They questioned her endlessly before they would even allow her to sit up. All she kept asking about was Pete, frustrated that they wouldn’t tell her anything. Finally she stood and just walked out of the room to try and get her bearings. Holding tightly onto the grimy walls, she looked for someone to help her find Pete.
“I want to see my husband. Where is he?” She kept mumbling to herself as she made her way through a maze of hallways and offices. Finally she stumbled into the squad room, which was now completely empty.
“Where is everyone?” She finally yelled at the top of her lungs in frustration, not even noticing the paramedics that were holding their arm out, ready to catch her if she fell. Heads poked out of multiple offices to see what was going on when one of the officers came to her and escorted her to the Chief’s office. At lease she was mildly comforted when she realized that the Chief himself had taken over command of the situation.
“Tell me what’s going on.”
“Right now we have a hostage negotiator talking to the perpetrator and trying to get him released. So far nothing else has happened and Pete is just fine. This could take quite some time to get resolved, do you think you want to go somewhere else and wait? I could call someone to come and get you and take you home to wait there,” The Chief offered.
Right, like that was going to happen.
“I’m not going anywhere without my husband. I’ll wait right here and I don’t care how long it takes.”
She refused to be swayed and stubbornly stayed in her chair and watched everyone try to save her husband. The only time she left the office was to use the restroom, and then she was right back, waiting and hoping with occasional prayers thrown in here and there. Later on the prayers turned into bargains she attempted to strike with God and begging everyone for any news at all. Twelve hours later and they were no further along than they had been eleven hours ago.
Frustration grew along with anger and resentment amongst the officers. One of their own had turned on them and that didn’t bode well with anyone. Marla had overheard the officers speak the name of Phelps as if it were a piece of shit in their mouths. She had never heard the name before and was sure Pete hadn’t ever mentioned anything suspicious about him to her. Teams of officers worked earnestly to try and gather information about Phelps for the negotiator to use whenever he saw fit. Someone had obviously ordered in some pizza because someone shoved a plate at her with a couple pieces on it and a coke into her hands. She just nodded her appreciation and began to nibble, not because she was hungry but because she knew she should eat something for the baby. Even little peanut knew something was wrong because she was moving practically nonstop since this whole ordeal had started. Marla placed her hand on her belly to try and calm her down, rubbing gently and mumbling that everything was going to be all right. Hoping she was telling the truth.