It Happened One Night [COMPLETED]

Chapter 11 - "We're in!"

Liv held her position for a long time, waiting to see if the men would return. When they didn't, she knew it was time to move, but she couldn't make her limbs obey.

Where would she even go? What would she even do? Her legs began to burn from their cramped position and it was enough to cajole her into moving. She stretched her legs out and pulled herself out of her tight hiding spot. As she stood, the gun fell to the ground at her feet.

She reached picked it up and examined it. She hadn't even checked how many bullets were left when she had taken it from the man. Her only reason for taking it was so it didn't end up in the hands of the wrong people. She checked the magazine. She had fifteen rounds.

She turned the volume up on the walkie-talkie as she walked to the edge of the roof. If the men said anything about Ezra, she wanted to hear. She looked down at where she had thrown her bottles. They had left a mess on the sidewalk but all the fires had already burned out.

It seemed like their idea hadn't worked until her ears picked up a very distant siren. She looked up and down the street, hoping to catch sight of the flashing lights moving in her direction. She didn't find any, but she was certain the siren was growing closer.

She ran to the other side of the roof and looked down. The result of Ezra's bottles were the same. Again, there was no movement, but the siren sounded closer on this side of the building. Maybe their plan had worked. She moved further along the edge of the roof, hoping to see the nearing emergency vehicle and she came upon her last bottle, the one Ezra had taken from her. The men hadn't taken it.

The siren was definitely coming closer and as Liv felt a spark of hope at the sound, she realized she wouldn't be the only one hearing it. If she could hear the siren, the chances were the men holding Ezra and Tommy could hear them too.

A moment later, her concern was confirmed when worried voices came over the walkie-talkie. She held it closer to get a better listen. The men spoke so fast. It was all just jumbled words to Liv except for a single word. Police. The men kept talking and she could hear the panic in their voices.

A memory from something her father said popped into her brain. The man she and Ezra had taken down had not been wearing a mask. They had both seen his face. Her father had told her that when a perpetrator lets a hostage see their face it's because they don't plan on the hostage living long enough to give a description of them. The police were on their way. The men most know the clock was ticking and Ezra had seen their face.

She had to do something. She turned her focus back to the walkie-talkie, listening as carefully as she could, hoping to understand anything else. One of the men spoke loudly and authoritatively and it shifted the tone of the conversation. They sounded assured and Liv didn't like it.

She grabbed the bottle and ran for the door. She stopped just as she reached it when she heard a familiar voice.

"Look, fellows, I think this is just a big misunderstanding," Ezra said. "How about that tequila? My office is just across the hall."

The men seemed to perk up at the mention of his office, but Liv did too. She didn't know if Ezra had purposefully mentioned his location for her, but either way, she now knew where they were holding him.

She pulled the door open a silver to check that the stairwell was clear before she stepped out. Cautiously, she glanced over the metal railing, looking down the sixty flights of stairs. They were empty. She stuck close to the wall as she began to climb down the stairs, trying to keep her steps as light as possible.

She kept the walkie-talkie on low, listening as the men began to interrogate Ezra about the office. They kept shouting a name at him, and he kept saying he didn't know what they were talking about. When she reached their floor of the building, she crept up to the door and pressed her ear to it. From the radio, she could still hear the men questioning Ezra. He continued to give them the same answer.