Return to the Bay

[tasha7905]

Great chapter cant wait for more.

[Skykat]

It's amazing how quickly stories fall down from the first few pages so quickly!

Sorry it took so long to write this. I had major writers block and I've been focusing on the competition and starting my other story but I've wrote chapter sixty one as well. it'll be up in a couple of days time.

SIXTY

‘Ring, ring.’

“That thing is driving me crazy!”

“Just ignore it will you, carry these boxes to the car.” Dan handed the heavy boxes to Sutty who obligingly carried them outside.

“Answer the bloody phone!”

“McGregor it’s obvious they’re not going to answer. I think this whole thing has been a total waste of time.”

“They will answer!” Jesse’s lips were set in a stubborn line and his hands gripped the phone so tightly that the Governor was not sure he could retrieve the phone from him even if he wanted to.

“You have five more minutes McGregor. After that it’s back down the block.”

“They’ll answer.” Jesse insisted. They had to answer.

The single minded determination that had stopped Kane’s hand from shaking on the bus was wavering. Now that the moment was actually here he felt scared, sick. Terrified. He just wanted it to be over. He knew he was meant to stay focused but he could not help himself from looking at every person who walked past him. Where they an undercover cop? Where they someone Gus had sent to spy on him? Were the police even here? His fears were reassured as he spotted two officers he recognised sitting on a park bench and Kane allowed himself a deep breath. The police had it all under control. He carefully crossed the street and, after holding the door of the bank open for a little old lady, he entered himself and headed straight for the customer service desk. Patiently he waited his turn, trying his hardest not to look around as he did so. The man next to him was reaching for something in the pocket of his jacket, did he have a gun? Kane froze, not sure what to do, but he managed to relax as the gun turned out to be a harmless cheque book. Get a grip, he cautioned himself. Taking deep breaths he waited patiently for his turn in line.

“I’m going to answer the phone, it’s driving me crazy!”

“Just leave it will you, it’ll stop in a minute.”

“Look if it’s Leah I’ll tell her I’ve not seen you alright?” Without waiting for an answer Sutty picked up the receiver. “Hello?”

“Thank God! I need to speak to Leah!” The abrupt voice sparked a flair of recognition in Sutty’s head, it’s sharp tone was all too familiar yet he could not place it.

“Leah’s not here.” Out of the corner of his eye he saw Dan breathe a sigh of relief. “Who are you?”

“None of your business, where’s Leah?”

“She’s at work, I think.”

“F&#%!” At the other end of the line the phone was hung up and Sutty looked up at an anxious looking Dan.

“Who was it?”

“Someone for Leah,” Sutty replied, feeling troubled. He had recognised that voice but where had he recognised it from.

“F#^%! F*#%! F@&#!" Jesse slammed the phone down in disgust. “Where’s your phone book?”

“Phone book? Come on McGregor someone answered the phone. Isn’t it about time we stopped playing this little game?”

It’s not a game! This is serious!”

“So why are you trying to get hold of a Leah then? All this bomb stuff, it’s just a story so you can phone your little girlfriend. Admit it!” The Governor demanded furiously.

“Leah is Detective Baker’s sister in law,” Jesse explained.

“And I’m the Prime Minister’s mother. Pull the other one!”

“I’m serious!” Jesse insisted.

“So am I!” the Governor shot back furiously and Jesse sank to his seat, defeated. It was too late, he had failed.

“All systems look good from here. John is everything okay?” Peter was watching the screens in front of him. An increasingly nervous looking Kane was standing at the counter just in front of John who nodded his head ever so slightly as Peter watched on.

“Okay confirmed. Two people ahead of Kane and fifteen minutes to go. We’re making good time. Kane you’re doing great but you need to relax.” As Peter watched the screen he saw Kane let out a breath he must have been holding and shake his hands out as if to release tension. “Becky, Kane should be moving into your line of vision now. Time for your role,” Peter instructed. Becky Arnold left her desk and headed to the Customer Services counter.

“Hi can I help you?” she asked the second man in front of Kane.

“I’m after some information about a credit card,” the man supplied.

“Right if you could just fill out this form then please and somebody will be able to see you soon. Can I help you?” she asked the woman in front of Kane.

“You’ve been stealing money from my account!” the woman screeched.

“Okay well if you’ll just take a seat and my colleague will be with you shortly.” Becky looked up at the CCTV camera with a look that blatantly said ‘I’m not getting paid to do this.’ The woman grudgingly sat down and Becky turned to Kane.

“Can I help you Sir?”

“I need to open a safety deposit box,” Kane replied, his voice shaky.

“Right, I’ll need the Branch Manager for that. If you’d just wait here I’ll go see if he’s free.” Kane watched as he headed into the Back area of the Bank and his shaking increased. There was no going back now.

“What are you doing?” the frustration was clearly evident in Dan’s voice as he watched Sutty dialling a number on the phone.

“I recognised that voice,” Sutty insisted. “I’m just calling it back.”

“You’re wasting your time. Can we just deal with the important stuff, like getting my stuff out of here?”

“Just a minute.” The phone was ringing out now and, ignoring Dan’s huffing and puffing, Sutty waited patiently for an answer.

“Warrinor Prison, Governor Caspar speaking.” Sutty took a deep breath, shocked. It had been him! He had thought it was but he hadn’t been sure. It had to be though, nobody else would phone from the prison. “Hello?”

“Hi I just had a call from this line,” Sutty began.

“Oh, and who might you be?” The Governor asked.

“My name is…” Sutty paused, if he said his own name the Governor might not put him through so he tried the next best thing. “Dan Baker.” From beside him the real Dan Baker was snarling at him but Sutty was too intrigued to notice.

“Your last chance McGregor. It’s Dan Baker.” Jesse looked up, hopefully from where he had been sat, his head in his hands. Surely Dan was an even better bet then Leah to get hold of Peter?

“Dan?” Jesse took the phone eagerly.

“No Jess it’s Sutty.”

“What the...” Jesse was completely taken aback but fortunately he stopped himself from saying Sutty’s name out loud. The Governor would really have got sussed then. “What are you doing at Leah’s?”

“Well I…” Sutty began but Jesse instantly cut him off.

“Tell me another time. I found out what Philips is up too. He’s planted a bomb in a safety deposit box, the same box that Kane is due to open in about ten minutes time. Peter and all the cops are at the Bank now. You have to stop the box from getting opened!”

“What?” Jesse could almost hear Sutty’s mouth drop open in horror.

“You heard me, he’s planted a bomb and you have ten minutes to contact Peter Baker and stop it going off!”

“S&#$! Dan’s with me here, we’ll do our best,” Sutty promised.

“It just better be good enough.” Jesse replied. He hung up the phone and breathed a sigh of relief. He had done all he could. It was up to Sutty and Dan now.

“My name is Mr Shaw and I’m the Branch Manager here. You are?” Kane wondered momentarily if the Bank Manager had been briefed on the situation because if he had, he was doing an excellent job of keeping calm.

“Kane Philips.”

“Mr Philips, my assistant tells me you wish to open a safety deposit box?” Kane nodded, too unsure of himself to speak. "Right and do you have the necessary documentation?”

“Yes Sir.” Kane replied.

“Good. Lets go through to my office then shall we?” Kane followed Mr Shaw through to the back area of the Bank.

On the screens Peter watched proceedings. “Good job Becky and especially you Kane. You’re doing great. Jack he’s all yours.” He sat back on his seat and looked at Sergeant Bellmore.

“Do you really think Holden’s up for this?” Bellmore asked.

“He better be,” was all Peter could reply.

“Oh my god! Dan you need to phone Peter now!” Sutty insisted as he hurriedly retrieved the phone book from the shelf above the phone.

“What? Why?” Dan was confused but Sutty’s face was ashen and Dan knew without a doubt that the other guy was not kidding, he dialled Peter’s number.

“That was Jesse McGregor. He just told me there’s a bomb been planted in the Commonwealth Bank and it’s going to go off in ten minutes time. He said Peter’s running a police operation down there. We have to warn him!” Sutty insisted.

“Peter’s at the Bank?” Dan’s face drained of colour.

“Yeah, you need to get hold of him now!”

“It went straight to answer phone,” Dan said quietly, hanging up his mobile. “What do we do now?” he looked to Sutty for an answer but Sutty had none to give.

[bay girl]

I nearly had an attack when i saw that this had been updated. Very exciting.

Great update. Hope to read some more soon.

[Sunny Girl]

Amazing!! I'm on tenterhooks . . .

[Skykat]

I nearly had an attack when i saw that this had been updated.

Oops. I think I'll try and update more often from now on!

[tasha7905]

Great update Skykat I hope they can get hold of pete in time.

[I love music]

...after holding the door of the bank open for a little old lady

I like that, and the conversations with the customers before Kane too. Including background people makes a scene much more realistic.

“Where’s your phone book?”

Great line! I can just imagine Jesse saying it to the Governor!

“You’ve been stealing money from my account!” the woman screeched.

Ooh, we've ALL wanted to tell banks that at some time or other, luv!

“It went straight to answer phone,” Dan said quietly, hanging up his mobile. “What do we do now?” he looked to Sutty for an answer but Sutty had none to give.

Great cliffhanger!

Excellent chapter, Kat, lots of tension and excitement. Most of all, I love the way this story just flows.

[Guest]

Wooo I love the cliffhanger

[ldscott]

Brilliant, thanks for the update, can't wait to read the next part!

[Skykat]

Hm, I wasn't sure about this chapter but Jess said some positive things while proofing so I thought I'd run with it and see what everyone thinks. It's quite short by my usual standards.

Please r and r and thanks to Jess for proofing.xx

SIXTY ONE

“The Police Station. There’s bound to be someone there, and they’ll be able to get a message to Peter,” Sutty suggested suddenly after a few minutes of frantically wracking his brain.

“You’re right.” Dan picked up his mobile and began dialling. “What are you doing?” he asked of Sutty as the other man rifled through the phone book.

“Plan B,” Sutty replied. The phone being answered in the Police Station diverted Dan’s attention and he quickly forgot all about what Sutty was up to.

Robbie had been keeping his head down and trying to get on with his work, but it was not proving easy. Something was up, why was Jack at the Bank posing as a worker? Why was that other woman permanently shooting him dodgy looks? Something was obviously going on here, but Robbie had no idea what. He sneaked a look around him, looking for any clues as to what was happening, but the Bank Manager Mr Shaw leading a very familiar person into his office diverted his attention. What was Kane Philips doing here? This got more confusing by the minute. Surely it couldn’t be a co-incidence that Kane and Jack where here? Tasha had only been saying the other day how she thought something was up between Kane and Kirsty. Maybe it was because he was in trouble with the police? Robbie’s imagination went into overdrive as he considered several possible scenarios. The door closed behind them and behind him he heard Jack sigh with relief. The air in the back offices felt heavy, the silence was like a weight around them all and it only added to Robbie’s sense of increasing unease.

“It’s Dan Baker, Peter’s brother. I need to speak with him urgently.”

“I’m sorry Dan but Peter’s on an operation and can’t be disturbed.” The Desk Sergeant knew Dan well but was still not willing to compromise her job by letting him speak to Peter.

“It’s urgent! A matter of life or death!”

“Well I suppose I can get a message to him,” she paused thinking that Dan Baker did sound very much on edge.

“Can’t I speak to him myself?”

“No I’m afraid not.” There was firmness in her voice.

“Fine. You need to tell him then that Jesse McGregor has been on the phone. Gus Philips has planted a bomb in the Bank.”

“What?” the Desk Sergeant was stunned.

“In the safety deposit box, when they open it a bomb’s going to go off,” Dan repeated down the phone what Sutty was hissing in his ear.

“You’re serious?”

“Deadly. You have to warn Peter!” Dan urged.

“Don’t worry I’m onto it!” The Desk sergeant slammed the phone down and tried Peter’s mobile, no answer so she picked up the Police Radio.

“Base Unit one, this is desk, over?”

But nobody answered.

“Base Unit one this is Desk, over.”

“Can’t you turn that bloody thing off!” In the white van Peter was becoming irritable at the seemingly endless distractions that were occuring. “We’re at the crucial point of the operation here.” On the screens Kane and Mr Shaw were just heading out from the Manager’s office.

“Sorry, I’ll switch it off,” Sergeant Bellmore promised. Peter nodded, satisfied.

“Base Unit one this is desk requesting urgent communication, over!” Peter bristled with fury and even Sergeant Bellmore was angry at the interruption.

“Desk what on earth…” Sergeant Bellmore picked up the radio to strongly reprimand the officer but she cut him off in his tracks.

“Begging your pardon Sir but I have an urgent message for Detective Baker. We’ve had a message from Jesse McGregor,” she began. Peter who had been listening in, sat up suddenly and snatched the radio from Sergeant Bellmore.

“This is Detective Baker. What did he say?”

“Dectective Baker he said there’s a bomb in the safety deposit box, it’s going to go off when the box is opened.”

“S$%T!” Peter slammed the radio down and took up his headset.

“Base Unit to all Offiers. Evacuate the Bank now! All Officers evacuate the Bank now. Do not, I repeat, DO NOT open the safety deposit box. It contains a bomb. I repeat, all officers evacuate the bank, there's a bomb in the Safety Deposit box!” At Peter’s instructions the people on the screen came alive as Police officers whipped out their ID cards and began ordering the evacuation.

“Looks like it’s working,” Sergeant Bellmore remarked relieved.

“Yeah. What’s happening in the back though? Kane and Mr Shaw are still heading towards the safety deposit box!”

“No it’s okay. Kane’s turned back towards the office. They must have got the message. You go help with the evacuation, I’ll watch the screens and let you know what’s happening,” Sergeant Bellmore offered. Peter nodded his agreement as he raced from the van into the crowds of terrified people.

Dan was pacing the front room, nervously. Sutty was on the phone pressing a number of buttons and looking increasingly preoccupied. In his pocket Dan’s mobile began to ring and he answered it quickly.

“Mr Baker I thought you’d like to know that I made contact with Detective Baker and the message has been received.” Dan breathed a sigh of relief as the Desk Sergeant imparted her news.

“Thank God! Thanks for letting me know.” Dan hung up the phone, relieved.

“Sutty it’s okay, they got hold of Peter. Who exactly are you on the phone to?” Dan demanded.

“I’m on line to the Bank, I’m just waiting for Kane Philips to come to the phone. Did you say they got hold of Peter?”

“Yeah, he got the message, everything’s okay,” Dan replied with a smile and Sutty released the breath he did not realise he had been holding.

“Lara, John we need everybody at least two blocks away from here, get as many people as you can to help you!” Peter snapped at the first two Officers he saw. They immediately began to do as he asked. “Becky who’s still left in there?” Peter demanded when he finally reached the door of the Bank.

“Nobody out front Sir, it’s all empty,” Becky replied.

“What about the back offices? Where’s Holden?”

“I don’t know Sir, I haven’t seen him come out,” Becky replied.

“Holden this is Detective Baker, if you’re still in the Bank you best get the hell out of there right this instant!” Worry was making Peter react with more fury than usual. “Holden?”

“Detective Baker from the looks of the screens they haven’t got the message, they’re still headed for the box!” Sergeant Bellmore’s panicked voice came over the radio.

“S^#T! For God’s sake Holden get out of there!”

“He’s not responding Peter, his mic doesn’t seem to be working!” Sergeant Bellmore’s usually calm voice was well and truly on edge.

“For God’s sake Holden, get out of there!” Without thinking Peter raced into the Bank.

In Leah’s house a relieved Dan continued to pack his things while Sutty waited on the phone to be put through to Kane.

In the Diner Kirsty glanced nervously at the clock, then at Irene and then back at the clock.

In the Bank Peter raced at the speed of light through numerous security doors in an attempt to reach the Back offices.

Back down the block Jesse thumped the walls in frustration and worry, had he been too late?

In the Back offices Jack exchanged a look with Robbie and checked his watch anxiously as he watched Kane and Mr Shaw.

In the white van Sergeant Bellmore watched in increasing horror as Mr Shaw made his way unknowingly towards the safety deposit boxes. “Peter get out of there!” he screamed suddenly and in the Bank Peter stopped in his tracks.

But it was too late.

A large explosion ripped through the building as it became suddenly engulfed in a fireball of flames and Peter was knocked backwards off his feet into total darkness.

In his cell Gus Philips checked the clock and sat back, a maniacal grin on his face.