Dangerous Attraction [Closed] - Printable Version

Dangerous Attraction [Closed] - Printable Version

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Dangerous Attraction [Closed] - megs - 12-24-2016

YOLO, ETC

RE: Dangerous Attraction [Closed] - megs - 12-24-2016

The day started like any other. Julianna woke when her alarm went off at 7:30 AM. She fiddled around beneath her sheets until she found the device that was making the awful shrieking noise. Her finger slid across the screen and silence graced the room once more. She forced herself out of bed and went about her usual routine. A cold shower that did nothing to wake her up. She brushed her teeth and her hair with no enthusiasm. She twisted dark locks into an attractive updo.

She was notably more awake as she decided on her outfit for the day. Which wasn’t too difficult, once you pushed past the collection of colorful bridesmaids dresses her wardrobe was surprisingly monochrome. A white blouse and a black pencil skirt. Black pumps. Easy. She checked the time when she picked up her phone, just enough time to grab a cup of coffee and maybe a muffin on her way to work.

Julianna was a financial manager at Continental Bank & Trust. She worked almost exclusively with small business owners, assisting them in managing their loans and investments. She enjoyed her job, enjoyed being able to help people with aspirations. She also enjoyed a decent paycheck, though most of it was negated thanks to loans from her graduate studies at Yale’s Management College and the rent in her Manhattan apartment.

The bank was already open to the public by the time she arrived, so she entered easily through the front double doors. She sipped coffee and offered small waves to the other members of the staff as she made her way towards her office. She fished out a key card from her coat pocket, the door opened allowing her access, and she pushed it towards the wall, securing it in place with a rubber stopper. She set her coffee on her desk, and shrugged out of her coat to hang it over the back of her chair and turned on her computer. Julianna moved back towards her door to pull a files and memos from her in-house mailbox that was threatening to spill over. She dropped the pile on her desk and settled herself behind it. She slowly fingered through the paperwork as she waited for her first client.

Same as any other day.

RE: Dangerous Attraction [Closed] - saronym - 12-26-2016

It would not, in fact, be an ordinary day for anyone employed by or banking with Continental Bank & Trust.

If the explosive charges already planted in the main branch building had any say in the matter.

Well, it really came down to the man with the detonator.

And he stood in the bank lobby dressed in a dark ball cap fitted to his head, in a slate grey Henley under a fitted leather bomber jacket - visual puns, even if they would only mean anything to him, were not lost on this man. Grey eyes were momentarily hidden behind aviator sunglasses to avoid identification by the entrance cameras. Once passed those, the man removed his sunglasses and let them hang from the collar of his shirt. He kept his body oriented such that the other security cameras would not catch his face. They would only spy a man in a lowered ball cap with a sculpted jaw line.

An associate of his was already planting smoke bombs, and had a sound grenade at the ready. The point was to clear the building for it’s unplanned demolition. Their first statement to the banking industry.

“I’m in position.” Came a voice over the tiny ear piece hidden in his ear.

“Give me two minutes.”

“Roger.”

His eyes swept the room and he moved off towards the Men’s Room. He needed to take his position in the bathroom, where he’d be free from any shock associated with the sound grenade and to encourage anyone left in the room to evacuate. He would be the last left in the building and then once a safe distance away - kablooie.

Evacuation was key to their mission.

No civilians would be hurt. This was about property damage and controlling the eye of the media.

RE: Dangerous Attraction [Closed] - megs - 12-26-2016

It was like something out of a movie. The exact moment when Julianna realized that it would not be another day. Or at least, she would realize it when she took the time to think back on this moment in the future.

The lobby of the bank was full of people. It was nearly midday, so that was unsurprising. Julianna wrapped up her current appointment. The young couple who wanted to open a gourmet donut shop was all smiles as they signed the last of the paperwork that would get them the loan they needed to buy a space they’d had their eye on for months. Julianna was pleased that she had been able to help them. Truthfully, she was at the mercy of the bank’s decision making. Or rather, stupid algorithms based on credit scores and extraneous risk factors that got to decide the worth of a person’s dreams. This, perhaps, was an oversimplification, but she made up for the corporate-run attempts at dream crushing by working the system in her favor.

She decided to reward herself with a long lunch. A big bowl of pho would really drive this victory home, she thought to herself. Standing, she shook hands with the couple and walked the short distance to see them out of her office. They left and a man entered simultaneously, turning his body just enough to avoid bumping into the woman.

Julianna watched him walk further into the bank. His height made it somewhat impossible for him to get lost in the mulling crowd. His dark baseball cap was fixture enough for her to track his movement. He looked suspicious. Or perhaps, he looked suspicious to her because she watched too many procedural law shows before bed. He removed his sunglasses, but there was something about the way he orientated himself that kept her standing in her office door, watching him with zero subtly.

He didn’t do anything. More specifically, he didn’t do anything that a person utilizing a bank’s services would do. He didn’t speak to a teller or another associate, he didn’t fill out a deposit or a withdrawal slip. He didn’t pull out his wallet. Julianna took a step forward, but stopped herself. Momentarily, she moved back into her office. Rounding her desk she picked up the phone, angling to call security, but the man was on the move again. Dropping the phone, it bounced off the receiver and rolled over onto her desk.

She didn’t know where her brain was when she darted out of her office. Didn’t know what she was thinking when she stepped in front of him. Her customer service smile spread across her lips, and she had to tilt her head to look up at him. He wasn’t dangerous, she suggested to herself. She was just paranoid. “Is there something I can help you with, sir?”

If he were dangerous, she could only hope he’d be scared off of whatever he was doing by being noticed by what appeared to be an overeager financial manager looking to snipe a commission.

If he was dangerous. She was an idiot.

RE: Dangerous Attraction [Closed] - saronym - 12-26-2016

Weaving through the crowd was easy enough. He took care to avoid touching anyone and moved fluidly. That is until a woman stepped in front of him and he nearly barreled through her. His eyes had been focused on the distracted security guard who flipped through the paper as he maintained his post near the doorway that would lead back into the vaults. So he had missed a shorter woman on his periphery making a line towards him, until she had cut off his path.

To avoid running directly into the woman clad in typical corporate monochrome, he had to place his hands on her shoulders. And in doing so he tried to maneuver past her, pushing her gently, but she was offering assistance.

This stopped him. He turned so that only the profile of his face was to either security cameras. He had their positions memorized in his mind.

“No.” The clipped word escaped his lips. He tried not to make eye contact, looking instead over her head, monitoring for any signs that they had been noticed by anyone. So far, they appeared to be customer and salesperson.

“Is there a problem?” Came the voice in his ear.

Owen shifted the backpack that was slung over his right shoulder. “I don’t need any assistance, thank you.” He said for her benefit as much for the associate in his ear who would now understand that he’d been approached by an employee.

“Excuse me.”

He needed to get away from her as fast as possible. The more he let her hear his voice marked by a clear Queens accent, and the longer he let her look at his face, the more danger he put himself into. He tried sidling past her, but bumped into a woman pushing a stroller. She frowned disapprovingly.

“Sorry, excuse me.” He repeated, trying again to pass, as he pulled his ball cap lower over his eyes.

Two witnesses now.

“60 seconds.” Came the voice in his ear.

RE: Dangerous Attraction [Closed] - megs - 12-26-2016

He hadn't noticed her until she’d spoken. He seemed distracted. For whatever reason Julianna made note of that, looking quickly to either of his hands settled on her shoulders. A displeased noise sounded off in the back of her throat. She looked up at him, shrugging his grip away from her shoulders and taking a step back. He was tall, but also...large in general. His hands had easily engulfed nearly the entirety of the space between her neck and upper arm. This should have been a warning. One of many warnings in the back of her mind that she had been ignoring that clearly indicated there really wasn’t anything she could do to stop this man.

Potentially dangerous man, her inner voice reminded her. She told it to shut up.

Green eyes fixated on grey ones as she committed details of his face to memory. She was distracted by the backpack as he adjusted it. Mental visuals behind her eyes were flashing alarms. She told those to shut up too. If nothing else, he was just some rich guy with a sack full of cash that he wanted to get into his safety deposit box. If that were the case, however, he still would have had to go through a teller.

She should have allowed him to move on, while she alerted the security guard.

Julianna maneuvered herself in such a way that made it more difficult for him to get around both her and the woman with the stroller, but it quickly occurred to her that she didn’t want the woman and her infant to be near if this was indeed some sort robbery. Or something worse. There was a string of expletives hidden behind the teeth of her smile as she took another step away, forming a gap just large enough for the man to attempt to squeeze through.

Still, she didn’t give him the chance of getting too far. Still, she acted foolishly. “Are you sure?” Her voice rose as she posed her question, and nervously smoothed her hands across her abdomen. “I couldn’t help but notice you seemed a little lost.” Louder with any distance he put between them. The security guard looked up from his paper, and focused his attention on the pair of them. As she intended. “I would be more than happy to help you.”

RE: Dangerous Attraction [Closed] - saronym - 12-26-2016

He was left staring her in the eyes. A staring contest with another corporate drone looking to make a sale. How befitting.

“Lose her.” His associate growled into his ear. “30 seconds.”

Her voice was lilting higher as she demanded whether he was sure he didn't need help and suggested he was lost. Did he not look wealthy enough to bank here, he wondered. Is that why she’d picked him out of the crowd. To intimidate him into leaving, perhaps.

More likely, just a nosy sales woman looking to make her next bonus.

“Lady, I’m not lost.” He insisted as his hand lifted and he pointed firmly behind her at the sign indicating the bathrooms were through the corridor. “I just have to poop. Nature calls. Excuse me.” This time he physically moved her out of his way as he had started to before and brushed past.

What she did after he moved away from her, he couldn’t say, nor did he care. He had enough time to slide through the restroom door before a deafening bang went off in the other room. The sounds of surprised and then terrified screaming quickly followed. Luckily enough, there were no other men in the restroom. He checked his watch and listened to the sounds of chaos outside the doors.

“Bank alarms have been disabled.” Another associate in his ear. This was to prevent the arrival of law enforcement for as long as possible. They did not want a swat team inside when it was time to detonate.

He let a full 90 seconds pass before he pushed open the door and glanced out. A smoke bomb had also been used to encourage everyone to evacuate lest they breathe in some unknown noxious fume. He used a thermal imaging monocular to help him scan the smoke filled lobby for any signs of people. There seemed to be some remaining shapes. He held back waiting to see whether they would leave or if he would have to encourage anyone.

It didn’t occur to him that he had told a nosy banker about his need to relieve himself shortly before an explosive went off in the lobby. What if she had sent someone to look for any customers stuck in the restroom? He doubled back and sure enough found a figure heading away from the building exit and towards the restrooms.

“Hey - hey! You need to get out of here!” He yelled through the smoke.

RE: Dangerous Attraction [Closed] - megs - 12-26-2016

Julianna was very clearly caught off guard by his response. Her mouth rounded into a perfect ‘o’ shape before she breathed the vowel. “Oh.” The restrooms were indeed right behind her. She had not considered that. Why had she not considered that? It probably had something to do with the episodes of The Blacklist that she had binge-watched on Netflix over the weekend. Here she was, rushing to stop a potential calamity and all she’d done was keep a random patron from using the restroom. Perfect. Wonderful. That would be so much fun for her to explain when he inevitably complained about her.

Thoroughly embarrassed she allowed herself to be moved, heels clicking as she took two steps out of his way at the insistence of his pushy hands. She didn’t turn to watch him walk off, choosing to go the opposite way back to her office to collect her things. Now, she really needed that lunch.

Julianna had just picked up her phone to check the time when the mayhem started. The ear-splitting noise drew a scream from her, and she dropped to the ground behind her desk. The sound had left a ringing in her ears, and she could hear the sounds of panic outside of her office like a hollow echo. She forced her eyes open, not having realized she’d squeezed the shut and found that the building wasn’t falling down around her. What had caused the noise? She lifted her head to peer over the edge of her desk. She could see the entirely of the bank through the glass panels that made up the opposite wall. Nothing appeared to be damaged but smoke was quickly filling the space.

With shaking breath she pushed herself up and moved out into the lobby, determined to help corral some of the disorganization. She adjusted the sleeve of her blouse over her hand and used it to cover her mouth against the offending smoke. It did little to help, but she powered through it directing people towards the exits. The lobby was clearing quickly, and Julianna turned to follow the last of the associates out until she remembered the man in the bathroom. Had he gotten out? She couldn’t be sure, and she couldn’t convince herself not to check.

Breaking off from the crowd she doubled back towards the rear of the building. Her eyes and her lungs burned and she really hoped whatever the gas was, it wasn’t toxic. She couldn’t see anything. She heard yelling, or at least, she thought she did. Her ears were still messed up from the initial, possible explosion?

“What?” she yelled back, before she was interrupted by a fit of coughs, progressively made worse by desperate inhales. Somehow she managed to choke out, “you need to get out of here.”

RE: Dangerous Attraction [Closed] - saronym - 12-26-2016

The busybody seemed to be having difficulty with the smoke which didn’t bother him as much. And yet, there she was insisting that he evacuate. After he had already told her to. And he had already been heading towards the door anyways. It was she that had proceeded in the wrong direction.

This woman could not be more obnoxious to him.

“Lady - what are you doing!” He yelled back at her. His hands waved futilely at the smoke that snaked around them. “Safety is that way.” He jerked a thumb behind his shoulder towards the entrance and exit.

“Why are you going towards the bathrooms? Are you crazy?” He demanded. Apparently she had provoked his nerves enough that he felt the need to pick a fight in a smoke filled room.

One of his associates was yelling into his own ear. “What are you doing! Get out of there.”

“There’s a civilian woman in here!” He yelled back, his index finger pressing the earpiece deeper so he could hear better.

“Law enforcement has been dispatched; we have no time!”

He pocketed his monocular device and slapped his hands down on his thighs. “You know what. Fuck it.”

He bent down low enough to hoist the woman over his shoulder. His arm curled around the back of her legs holding her over his shoulder with her face towards his back. He whirled around and moved quickly towards the exit mumbling about insane corporate customer service expectations. Moving quickly with her, he chose an emergency exit that led to an alleyway rather than the main exit. Around the corner, he let the woman slip off of his shoulder with little regard for whether she caught herself or fell to the ground.

Kneeling down he unzipped his backpack and pulled out the detonator, which was a small hand held with an extendable antenna. He pulled up the antenna and glanced at the woman, hesitating before he finalized his act. If he did it, she would know exactly who it was.

But even if he didn't do it, the charges would be found, and there would be a suspect on the loose. Better to at least get the job done.

He pressed the button.

RE: Dangerous Attraction [Closed] - megs - 12-26-2016

“I was looking for you, you ass,” she replied. Or at least attempted to around the billowing clouds that were making speech more and more difficult as she continued to attempt it. Apparently, all of her ingrained customer service mannerisms were forgotten as he got hostile with her. She fought against the desire to take lungfuls of air to sate her coughing, settling for short hiccuping ones instead. Alternatively, it could have been less of a choice and closer to hyperventilation brought on by the panic that was finally bubbling up in her. She pawed at her eyes with her hands.

She could tell her hearing was returning to normal because she could hear him talking to someone. It wasn’t her? Was he on the phone? Why did he refer to her as a civilian?

“I had to make sure everyone was-hey!” she was cut off his grabbing her and lifting her up. “What are you-? Put me down!” The rasp in her voice did nothing to make her sound authoritative and he did not put her down. In any other situation she would have fought him, but instead she chose to hide her face from the smoke against the back of his jacket.

Once outside, he released her. She lifted her face to breathe fresh air, squinting against the sunlight. She was disoriented, not entirely sure where he had chosen to exit and before she could right herself he was putting her down. Julianna would have enjoyed the dignity of staying upright, but instead her heel slipped out from beneath her and she dropped to the concrete. His rough transport had done nothing for her updo, and the French twist now hung lumpy across one shoulder. She coughed and wiped smoke induced tears out of her eyes.

Julianna looked over to where he was rifling through his backpack. Her brow furrowed, and her eyes moved the fraction of an inch to reach his face. It dropped again to the device in his hand, and then to his face and she caught his glance in her direction. “What are you…”

He pressed the button and a cacophony of explosions sounded off, close enough to cause her to scream. She stifled the noise she was making by clapping both hands over her mouth as she cowered, tucking her knees against her chest. A quick succession of ominous booms, followed by shrieks and shouting in the distance that were almost worse. Sirens drawing closer joined the din. Julianna dropped her hands.

“Oh my god,” she looked at the man again. She scrambled to her feet, tugging her skirt back down to her knees. “Oh my god,” she repeated with more emphasis, backing away from him. “You-” she faltered, not entirely sure what she would have been accusing him of. Didn’t want to point out the obvious either way.

Didn’t really want to risk more time in the presence of what was apparently a terrorist. Later, maybe she would be proud of her intuition. For now, she ran. She darted out of the alley away from him and towards a crowd, and hoped he felt no need to pursue her.

RE: Dangerous Attraction [Closed] - saronym - 12-26-2016

Owen laid low after his successful first job. They had destroyed the main building of Continental Bank & Trust and released a statement to the media about their motivations. An idealistic protest of world finance and how the industry propped up the intrests of the few at the expense of the many.

He felt some measure of guilt, briefly, in remembering the way that banker had huddled up and screamed. He remembered the way she’d started to protest and then stopped when he’d picked her up. She'd called him an ass. She'd called a man determined to make a political statement - who would carry the last civilian out to safety first - an ass. And not five minutes before that, he'd told her he had to poop. (That part bothered him more than the guilt or the name calling, of all things, he just had to bring up poop). Sure it was all very strange. Stranger than fiction. But had he really been an ass? She was the one who'd approached someone who clearly put out the vibe : Danger!

In all, he was glad a sketch of him hadn’t been produced and started circulating. He wondered if she had even given a statement to the feds or not.

Apparently letting her run off into the crowd hadn’t turned out so bad.

It still bothered him to know there was a woman out there who had seen his face and witnessed him commit what had been deemed an act of terror.

The media quickly moved on after the event as they were wont to do. After two months of preparations, t was time to execute their next task. Another bank, New Edge Financial had just undergone a large and controversial merger. They felt the need to protest such a merger. With explosives rather than picket signs.

He and his associates had a different plan in store for New Edge. The charges, once again, had been set and he was to head up the evacuation plan, again. This time they would all power to the building, rather than isolating the alarm system which had been tricky. Smoke bombs and sound grenades were still part of the evacuation plan.

Owen walked through the entrance of the bank to receive from his associate the key to the electrical box on the side of the building in the alley way. The same dark hat and sunglasses hid his features as he moved through the doorway. The same bomber jacket and backpack. Consistency was key.

And a key had been pressed into his palm by a man who passed by him casually as if they didn’t know one another. Time to start his work. He hesitated in spying a familiar face exiting an office to the side. It felt like time had stopped. Or maybe his heart had stopped? No it was thumping loudly in his ears. Fight or flight. Whirling around and cursing to himself, he moved out of the building again, hoping she hadn’t spotted him.

RE: Dangerous Attraction [Closed] - megs - 12-26-2016

Julianna had watched the resulting fallout of the attacking on the news in her apartment. Huddled in bed with a pillow to her chest she watched replay after replay of the damage. People in a panic, smoke billowing upwards to mar the sky with dark clouds. The building she had worked in, a building she had been in reduced to nothing but crumbling brickwork and demolished foundation. She kept thinking about the man, the one who had carried her out of the building he had intended to blow up. She pieced together that hurting people wasn’t part of their agenda. However they were, the ones quick to make their agenda known to the public.

She hadn’t spoken to anyone about the attack, and no one had come to talk to her. The evacuation had been a success, people interviewed by the media didn’t have much by the way of information. Perhaps, they’d chosen to give up before they’d bothered talking to her. She wouldn’t have had anything to say, regardless. Julianna suspected she was the only who knew anything useful, but the man in the baseball cap knew just as much about her and if she were honest, she was too scared to risk it.

Too scared for a lot of things. She found it difficult to motivate herself to leave her apartment in the first few weeks after the attack. The idea of getting a new job at a new bank made her nauseous. Realistically, she figured the same thing happening to her was a slim chance, but still she hesitated. Her landlord was willing to be sympathetic for the first month, but after the second his patience began to wear thin. She was blowing through her savings hiding away at home, her bills would begin to pile up.

Julianna interviewed with New Edge Financial a week after their merger. They were looking for new team members to take on the influx of accounts that came with it. It wasn’t difficult for her to get the job. She had a good education, a good background and recommendations heavy with high praise. She had sympathy.

She found it easy to fall back into work. Her routine was much the same and she didn’t think about the man in the baseball cap. Apparently, she should have tried to get another job sooner. She felt better, this what she knew, after all. What she was best at.

Turning off the light, she stepped out of her new office. It was bigger than her old one, not that she cared. Julianna had decided to take any early day. She didn’t have any appointments, and was willing to lose commissions to her co-workers. She just wanted to be outside. It was chilly and threatening to snow and she wanted to see it. Adjusting her coat over her shoulders, she looked out into the lobby and as if drawn by a magnet her eyes settled on a man. She took pause. Her breath caught because was not just any man. Why this. Not again. He turned and headed for the exit and she followed after him. She didn’t know why, clearly remembering how well it had gone for her the first time.

She couldn’t reason as to why her brain worked like this; why her feet always pulled her in the direction of danger and not away. She stepped out onto the cold sidewalk and quickly looked in either direction. “Hey!” she snapped loudly, drawing attention. Which was fine, she didn’t care. She pushed through the crowd, as quickly as obstinate New Yorkers would allow her to.

“Hey!” she said again, turning the corner and following him down an alley. “I know who you are,” she accused. “And I probably know what you are up to.”

RE: Dangerous Attraction [Closed] - saronym - 12-26-2016

Hey!

He kept moving through the crowd as if he hadn’t heard her. As if he was unaware that anyone would be seeking to draw his attention. Because for her to be chasing him down defied all logic. So surely, it was some other lady calling to some other man.

He reached the electrical box after turning down an alley. A voice was following him. That voice was following him. As luck would have it, of course, it was the nosy banker lady. He cursed his height which made it hard for him to dodge someone looking for him.

“Seriously.” He muttered to himself as he unlocked the box. “Why this.”

He didn’t stop his work, but proceeded to remove a wire cutter from his bag.

“Lady -” he held his hand out to her that she should stop her relentless approach. “Please. Just go away. Go home. Go anywhere.” A scary terrorist nearly pleading with a harmless banker lady to please leave him be. He waved his hand as if to shoo away a fly or some other pest.

Snip snip snip.

He clipped the wires he had isolated which cut the power to the bank. “Shits about to happen so I suggest you hightail it sweetie.” He said with no small amount of condescension.

A series of two explosives went off inside like clock work. The sound grenade followed by the smoke bomb. Panicked patrons ran from the building just as they’d planned. No automatic alarms so there would be a delay in alerting the authorities.

RE: Dangerous Attraction [Closed] - megs - 12-26-2016

His hand did nothing to keep her away. Her heels snapped on cracked asphalt as she all but ran towards him and the power box he was fiddling with. She ignored his demands, just like she ignored every other sensible thing. Including, once again the feeling in the pit of her stomach that should have been all she needed to turn the other way. “Oh, my god, you go home,” she returned lamely. She was close enough now that when he tried to shoo her away his hand was in her face and she pushed at it with her own.

“What are you doing holy shit stop it,” she said in a single breath with vain attempts to smack his hands away from the exposed wiring. She stopped trying to stall him because it wasn’t working, but when he called her sweetie, she pushed hard against his shoulder. Her offense of the disdainful epithet apparently ranked higher than her sense of self-preservation. “Sweetie,” she repeated. “Could you get any worse-” she was cut off by the explosions. This time she didn’t scream, because unfortunately she expected them. Assuming that his presence here was identical to the last time she saw him. But she did jump, an obvious startle. A lift of her shoulders as she took a step away from him.

“What the fuck?” Her voice pitched higher when she spoke. Rising with her emotions. A strange mix of fear and anger. Opposite ends of the spectrum that had no business running together, because apparently they made her reckless.

Which was another word for stupid.

“You know I could call the police, right?” Her hand disappeared into the pocket of her coat where her phone was tucked away. “I know what you look like. I saw you both times! Or I could just scream right now? Draw some attention to this whole shit operation you’ve got going on.”

RE: Dangerous Attraction [Closed] - saronym - 12-26-2016

Grey eyes were rolling upwards as he moved the wires around in the electrical box. He would have never thought he would be sarcastically rolling his eyes while shutting down the electricity to an international banking institution. But once again here he was.

“How about this? I will go home.” He offered. Her hands did little to disrupt his progress as he merely batted back at her. “When I’m finished up here. ‘Mkay?”

Once his work was finished he deposited his tools back into his backpack. He worked at something hidden inside the bag for a moment before he hoisted it onto his shoulder. “I’m not sure who has the worst luck here. Me or you.” He wasn’t really speaking to her as much as just speaking thoughts that came to his mind.

“Gotta get a move on here. This things gonna blow.” He patted the exterior wall of the bank almost fondly. “I don’t have the detonator today so it’s not my choice when it goes off.”

He took a step towards her, grabbing her wrist that reached for her phone. “You're not going to call the police." The only thing enforcing that statement was his hand on her wrist. It was going well for him so far. "Go ahead and scream. What do you think makes your scream sound more important than all the others going on right this minute? Who's going to come save you?”

He tsked and reached with his free hand into his backpack and produced a rag.

“Word to the wise. Keep your little nose out of people’s business in the future little lady.” With a jerk of his arm, he pulled her towards him and forced the rag over her mouth dosing her with chloroform.

Apparently this had turned into a kidnapping. Once again he found himself with the woman thrown over his shoulder and he turned down the back alley again to his getaway car. He dumped her into the backseat. A series of loud explosions sounded off in the background as he rummaged around in her purse until he located her wallet. From there he had her address from her identification.

And so the very nice kidnapping terrorist took her home to her Manhattan apartment. Inside her home, he left her lying on the couch while he rooted around for more information on his victim. Went through her mail and found some student loan bills. In the closet was a strangely abundant collection of bridesmaids dresses in colors and cuts that looked ... humbling. She seemed like an ordinary enough woman. So why was she going all action movie heroine bumbling into dangerous situations on him?

It made no sense.