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\u201cWe need to hurry. Except\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cExcept,\u201d David Clancy said grimly, \u201cif you burst in there, someone will start shooting, and children might die. The robbers are\u2026well, one of them is a total mystery. I thought he was the brains<\/em>, so to say, but now I think the other was the impetus behind everything going on and brainwashed the kid into doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cKid?\u201d Jackson asked. He had help now. He could truly assess the situation.<\/p>\n \u201cAppears to be about seventeen or eighteen. The blonde called him Billy, and I remembered something about a home robbery not long ago where some folks were killed in front of their son. I think that\u2019s the boy. The woman has a rapport going with him.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAngela,\u201d Jackson whispered. \u201cShe would.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou know her, sir?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cShe\u2019s my wife. And an agent, as well. We\u2019re with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. It\u2019s an agency\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cSir\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cCall me Jackson, please.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cDavid,\u201d the ghost said politely. \u201cI know about the world today. One thing about wandering the Earth is that you get to see and hear a great deal. I know this is all expedient. And I\u2019d be rushing more, except people will die if you burst in.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s been my dilemma,\u201d Jackson told him.<\/p>\n \u201cBut I know another way,\u201d David said.<\/p>\n Jackson frowned. \u201cThere\u2019s a back door. We bank here, which is, of course, why my wife Angela is in there. But the back door is uber-alarmed. It\u2019s a small branch of a major bank, so the security measures\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAre meant to save the facility more than the people,\u201d David commented dryly.<\/p>\n Jackson nodded. \u201cSo?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThat\u2019s not the only way in that I know about,\u201d David said and appeared to inhale. \u201cOnce upon a time, tunnels extended all down the street\u2014part of the Underground Railroad. When I was a child, I came through them with my mother. We had friends in DC waiting for us. As I mentioned, I signed up when I could.\u201d<\/p>\n Jackson hesitated. He had served himself. Still, he winced as he asked, \u201cAnd you\u2026?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cOh, no, I wasn\u2019t killed in the war. I was nineteen in 1862. I made it into the twentieth century. I saw some of the worst days of human carnage possible, but I also learned that any man can be a good man, and any woman can be mean or kind. I watched generations of my family grow. And that is why I know that a tunnel with an entrance to the bank through a supply closet in the assistant manager\u2019s office remains. One of my grandsons held the job until he passed of natural causes several years back.\u201d<\/p>\n Jackson looked at David and nodded.<\/p>\n All the souls who remained had stories. The captain\u2019s seemed to have a harsh beginning but a good ending.<\/p>\n Unfortunately, they couldn\u2019t get into it now.<\/p>\n \u201cHow do we get into the tunnel?\u201d he asked David.<\/p>\n \u201cThe sewer.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWhy doesn\u2019t everyone know about the entrance?\u201d Jackson asked.<\/p>\n \u201cBecause you have to know where the old break in the stretch leads to another old break in the stretch. Not that many people like to play in the sewers,\u201d David said dryly.<\/p>\n \u201cYes, but the workers\u2014\u201d<\/p>\n David shrugged. \u201cI\u2019m sure some know there are holes that lead to holes. But mostly, they\u2019re down there to work\u2014and get the hell out. Where we\u2019re going anyway. You ready?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe can come up in the assistant manager\u2019s office?\u201d Jackson asked, wanting the assurance.<\/p>\n \u201cYes. And no one working there now knows that the shelving unit to the left of the desk slides open. I don\u2019t think anyone has known for the last forty years or so,\u201d David told him.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m ready to get dirty,\u201d Jackson said. \u201cI just need a minute to tell one of my senior agents so he keeps our backup out of sight and controls anyone else.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cYou are armed, right?\u201d David said.<\/p>\n \u201cOh, yeah. But I\u2019m hoping\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cAngela, your wife, the blonde in the bank. You\u2019re hoping she can bring about a happy ending?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cExactly.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n