The three of them dismounted at the side of the bank. Ian saw Lauren and Dean steel themselves, secure their masks completely and nod to one another. They burst through the door, Lauren leading. Ian remounted his bike and set it up at his departure location. He returned to the other bikes, grabbed Lauren's and did the same thing. As he grabbed Dean's bike, he could hear the commotion inside. Dean's voice was clear. Ian tried looking inside, but because it was much brighter outside, the inside of the bank was darker than the outside, so all he saw was his own reflection in the windows. He got Dean's bike into position, mounted his and waited for the others to flee the bank so he could block the traffic.
A minute passed. Ian, feeling tense, started urging the two of them onto task, under his breath. Finally, after what seemed like a lifetime, Lauren crashed out of the bank door. She dropped her satchel, fiddled with something inside and then ran to her bike.
Ian, knowing that Dean was to burst out exactly three seconds after Lauren, rode out into traffic to block it. He managed to get the traffic blocked going in both directions. Lauren passed, but there was no sign of Dean. He waited. Lauren stopped on the far side of the street and waited.
"Where's Dean?" Ian hollered to Lauren.
"I don't know, he was right behind me" she bellowed right back.
Cars on both sides of the street started honking at Ian, making him want to just ride away. He must have been very suspicious in a mask outside a bank blocking traffic. No doubt there were a few 911 calls being made. Just as Ian was ready to turn around and find out what was holding Dean up, the tardy conspirator burst through the door. He turned the wrong direction looking for his bike, did an about turn, located his bike and with a disgusted cry, mounted and bolted across the street to get on it.
"What the hell took you so long?" screamed Ian as they got to the far curb.
"Things did not go so smoothly, pal."
"We'll have plenty of time to discuss this later, gentlemen." That was Lauren, getting to the point.
The three rode out of there with Ian in the lead. They made good progress, riding on adrenaline, up the street until the left-hand turn. Once there, Ian took a look behind him. Lauren was right on his tail, but Dean seemed to be having a bit of trouble. Not wanting to trust Lauren to lead the way, just yet, Ian decided to keep pressing, but keeping an eye on Dean as they went.
The next right had them riding on a gently curving street towards the north. They were making good time. Ian had not heard any sirens as of yet, but that did not mean they were clear of trouble, by any stretch.
The end of the curving street brought them to the campus of the girls school. The pathway that Ian had taken was as clear as if it was a ghost town. There, Ian turned around to see Dean struggling with the ride. He continued to press onward, hoping that, despite Dean's slowness, the rest of the route remained clear.
His expectations were shattered as soon as he saw the gates he had cut open. The gates remained chained open, but the students of the school took that as the executive order for them to park in the lane instead. He now needed to plan on the fly. He turned right, hoping that Lauren and Dean would be able to follow.
Racing down the sidewalk, he looked down towards the corner. There were about thirty people standing there waiting for the light to change. Fearing a massive collision, Ian started hollering for them to get out of the way. Oddly, this did more to make them block his route than clear the road.
Ian had to slam on the brakes. Lauren, right on his trail did likewise. Sneaking his bike through the pedestrians, Ian had a chance to see Dean finally catch up.
"Come on." Ian tried to urge both the crowd to move and the others to follow him. Behind him, he could hear Dean start to swear under his breath about the fact that he had to ride to freedom, rather than drive.
Ian threaded his way through the crowd, moving down the sidewalk. Lauren was right behind him, and Dean, swearing, was finally right behind her.
Once through the throng, Ian started pushing himself again, heading towards the construction site. He was starting to worry that Dean would not make it, or not try to make it.
Up ahead, Ian could clearly see the construction site. It had changed since he was here a couple of weeks ago, but the traffic was now slow, rather than stop and go. Either way, getting across the road would be easy. He sneaked a quick look behind him. Lauren was right on his tail, huffing and puffing for sure. But Dean seemed to be taking his merry old time a half block behind him.
Ian realised that the adrenaline of the robbery would have worn off by now, but if he could at least get the two of them across the pedestrian bridge, they could ride a bit easier. He decided to try some motivating.
"Come on Dean, Lauren! We are getting there! Let's not slow down now!" He glanced at Lauren, and she seemed like she smiled back at him from under her mask. He looked at Dean and he was riding slower than ever. "Lauren, meet us on the far side of the bridge" Ian directed. He then turned back to Dean.
"Come on, Dean, we are almost there."
"Cut the crap, Ian. It's your fault I'm tired. This was a damned stupid idea to take bicycles. You are a bastard for making me do this."
Ian let Dean have his rant. Then he stepped in. "Listen Dean. I had no choice. Let's get this over with, then we can part ways and never deal with each other again. Is that..."
They both heard it. It was the sound of sirens. And the sirens were not blocks away on Kingfisher Avenue. They were ones racing down Academy Avenue, towards them.
Differences forgotten. Ian and Dean cut immediately across the avenue, and raced up one of the residential streets. They got to the bike path and turned immediately left. With their legs pumping as fast as they could, Ian and Dean made a very fast two bicycle convoy. Ahead, at the pedestrian bridge, they saw Lauren waiting there.
"Did you hear that?" she hollered at the two of them as they passed her.
"Get on your bike and follow us!" Dean hollered right back.
Ian streaked ahead so he could remove the plastic tape. However, with the sounds of the sirens still echoing in his head, he decided that the tape would be the thing that gave way upon impact, so he decided to ram the tape.
The front of the bike hit the tape, and with the exception of a bit of a stutter in his pedalling, it was like nothing at all had stopped him from getting on the bridge. Riding across the bridge, he felt as if he was achieving freedom. He knew that he was not safe yet, but the feeling was there.
The sirens were fading into the distance behind them. Ian started feeling much better. He crashed through the tape at the far end of the bridge like a distance runner who had completed his race. He rolled out on the street, and started a calm, but quick glide to the west.
Lauren and Dean finally caught up to him. Both were breathing hard, but neither seemed the worse for wear. Ian asked "Are you guys doing alright?"
"Winded, but I'm strong enough to finish." Lauren could barely get the words out.
"I hate you." Dean did nothing to hide his dislike of Ian.
"Well, whether you hate me or not, in about five minutes we will be completely hidden, and then we can forget that we ever knew each other."
"I could not think of anything better."
The three of them continued to ride on. With the bridge behind them, Ian was convinced that the hardest part of the escape was done. They could almost ride as leisure riders to their destination.
The sound of sirens on Lewis & Clark Avenue ahead of them smartened him up.
"What are those sirens for?" asked a horrified Lauren.
"Probably for another emergency. This is a big city" suggested Ian, wistfully.
"Those guys are looking for us, and Ian here has led us right into their friggin' trap" was the first thing to leave Dean's mouth.
"Shut up. You don't know that, and we'll have plenty of time to get to the van."
Ian started leading them up the streets that would get them to Lewis & Clark Avenue. They could hear sirens all over, although Ian tried to play that off as his hearing echoes.
Within minutes, they got to Lewis & Clark Avenue. Where they wanted to cross was not controlled and it would take a daring risk to life and limb to cross there. Ian tried to urge the others to cross, but neither would budge. That's when Lauren came out with her fantastic stroke of brilliance.
"Let's walk the bikes across. Great Plains people let pedestrians cross without too much issue."
"I don't know" replied Dean.
Lauren got off her bicycle and readied herself for a dash across the street. Ian and Dean did the same. It was as if Moses had parted the traffic. The traffic on both sides stopped, allowing them to get to the north side of the street. Ian was impressed. She had come through where he had faltered.
"Let's get out of here and to the van. It's right around the corner." Ian was still concerned about some sirens he heard in the distance.
The three rode uneventfully but still with a sense of urgency to the van. They managed to get the bicycles into the van within seconds of arrival. Lauren retrieved the ramp, Dean closed the van doors and all three of them jumped into the crew seats up front. They waited.
"What the hell are we waiting for?" asked Dean.
"Just cool your jets there cowboy," interjected Ian showing his annoyance. "The plan never was to leave right away. We want the police to give up on us."
"Your crackpot plan almost got us caught. You could not even get us here together. It took a chick to sort you out."
Ian looked at Lauren. She was glaring at Dean. This "chick" was obviously someone who prided herself in her resourcefulness and having Dean degrade that by relegating her to the realm of "chick" was not going so well.
In order to keep the peace, Ian decided against arguing with against Dean. Instead, he gripped the steering wheel and looked out the windshield at the various employees working in the commercial complex.
Dean, tired of sitting still, crawled into the back where the bicycles were stacked and slouched down on the wheel well.
"He doesn't like you much" Lauren whispered to Ian.
"I really don't care one iota" replied Ian truthfully.
Lauren, took a deep breath. Ian was awaiting some form of rebuke, but when nothing came of the breath, he realised that she was just coming down from an extended series of adrenaline highs. He could feel it, and he was certain that Lauren was feeling it too.
They sat there for another thirty minutes. They heard nothing about any bank robbery on the radio. They never saw any sign that the police were even looking in their area. Cautiously, Ian started the van. He waited another minute before shifting it into gear. Slowly, he pulled the van out of its parking spot, heading out to the street. Stopping at the corner to await a clearing in traffic, both he and Lauren had their senses fully alert as they craned to see any indication of police activity. Ian snuck a quick peak at Dean, and he was asleep by the wheel well gripping his satchel in a big bear hug.
Once traffic was clear, Ian pulled the van out onto Lewis & Clark Avenue heading west, away from where all the activity had been earlier. Once the vehicle was moving, he felt a lot better. He was now not sitting there, but had an active part in ensuring that he maintained his freedom.
"Where do you want to be dropped off?" Ian asked Lauren.
"Can you get me up onto the far north end of town?"
"No problem, do you mind if I take the suburban freeway rather than through town?"
"Take whatever route you want" she replied with a subtle smile.
Ian smiled back. She had warmed up to him since their first meeting. He had purposely chosen the suburban freeway because it would take an extra thirty minutes to get to the north end, and that was another thirty minutes of time with her. It was going to be a pleasurable ride.