And she was. Gillian walked out of the restroom, raising her hands a bit. A quick glance showed her everybody crouching against the walls. The little girl was there with her mother, and she looked scared but fine, just like the rest of them.
The young man stood by the counter, holding a shotgun and a gun. Great. And right at his feet, Cook should be feeling like a damned caliph, with both waitresses kneeling by his side, pressing a table cloth already drenched in blood to his leg.
The young man kept pointing the gun at the pale cashier, and lifted the shotgun at Gillian, who approached him slow and careful. Gillian saw a heap of phones turned off on the counter behind him. His calm and his smirk gave her a bad feeling.
"Come, come, ma'am, welcome to our little party," he said.
Regarding the situation, Gillian decided not to get mad at the ma'am. She breathed deep and let adrenaline and twenty years of police duty work their magic, allowing her to keep her cool to say, "Hi. Look, I'm a police officer, okay? So now I'm gonna take my gun out to give it to you."
He looked straight into her eyes. "No tricks, ma'am."
And she held his eyes without a blink. "No tricks."
She slowly did as she'd said and threw her gun to his feet. He kicked it away from anybody's reach.
"What're you doing, Gillian!?" snarled Cook from the floor.
"Looks like the oldtimer knows you," said the young man with his smug smirk.
Gillian smelled the chance of a slight leverage and rolled her eyes. "Meet my boss, Captain Cook with Boston PD."
"He likes to play the hero and tried to shoot me."
There it was! She shrugged. "You know old cops: all of them John Wayne diehard fans."
Cook glowered up at her in disbelief. Damned Gillian! Instead of trying to overcome the son of a bitch, she was playing friends with him!?
Yes, she was. "So I'm Lieutenant Regan Gillian, but you can call me Reg. And you are...?"
"Phil Palmer, truly yours, ma'am." No use, he kept calling her that.
"Nice to meet you, Phil. Can I take a look at my boss?"
"Be my guest."
Gillian turned to the cashier. "D'you have a first-aid kit at hand?"
The girl nodded, staring at Phil in fear. He flashed a warning look at her and she reached under the counter, producing a white box. Gillian took it and intentionally turned her back to Phil when she crouched down by Cook. You're in charge, kiddo, but I'm not afraid of you.