ENJOY
CHAPTER 1
The clock outside the American Federal Bank showed three minutes until six when Pete Petrovski pulled into a space right out front. He left his helmet on his bike and crossed the sidewalk to the glass door. An unsmiling man inside opened it for him then twisted the lock as soon as the door closed behind him.
"Looks like I made it just in time," Pete commented.
The man's only response was a grunt as he closed the blinds that hung from the top of the door.
Pete took half a dozen steps inside before the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end. The two tellers behind the counter were both pale and wide-eyed, and the only other customers, a man and a woman, were standing in a funny-looking embrace in the middle of the room. Grateful he'd changed from his uniform but wishing he still had his gun, Pete took a few more cautious steps inside.
"We're clear," the guy at the door said.
The man in the center of the room turned, pivoting the woman with him, giving Pete three shocks in one.
He'd walked in on a bank robbery.
The guy was pressing a gun into the woman's rib cage.
And the woman was Libby Maxwell.
What the hell was she doing in town? She'd left ten years ago and had never come back—not for the visits she'd promised and certainly not for the wedding they'd half-planned since high school.
"Nice of you to join us," the man with the gun said. "If we get into trouble, four hostages are always better than three."
Addressing the rest of the frightened hostages, he said: "My name is Ben, I'll be your bank robber for this evening. Do what I tell you and no one will get hurt." He gestured with the .45 to Pete then gave Libby a shove. "You two, go over there and sit down."
Damn. Pete had been with the Copper Lake Police Department for five years, and none of his training had covered what to do when you surprised bank robbers in the act. He followed one general rule when things exceeded his expertise: call Tommy Maricci or AJ Decker. He was pretty sure, though, that the guy with the gun wouldn't like it if he said, "Hold on while I call my bosses at the police department."
Hands held loosely at his sides, Pete walked to the narrow table close to Libby and sank to the floor at one end. Libby did the same at the other end.
She'd given no hint of recognizing him. Was it possible that she didn't? That he had meant so little to her that after ten lousy years she didn't even know his face or his name?
She hadn't even officially dumped him, he thought with a trace of bitterness. She'd just stopped taking his calls and blocked him from her email. When he'd flown all the way to San Diego to find out what was going on, he'd discovered that she'd moved months earlier without telling him.
Just remembering the pain and frustration from all those years ago made his gut twist into a knot.
Why had she come back now?
Suddenly Ben was hauling Libby up and dumping her beside Pete. He grabbed her arm and clicked a handcuff on her wrist, then slapped the other end onto Pete's. Ben smiled at them. "I need to go talk to those two ladies over there about a vault. You two play nice. You might be together awhile."
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-LORI <3
