The Mass Shooting

Chapter 2

One of the men stands behind me. The man that has my phone puts a finger on his lips. He answers and puts it on speaker.

"Harper? Honey? You there?"

I look at the man. My breathing quickened.

"Harper?"

A tear ran down my face. "Dad!"

The man behind me puts a hand on my mouth.

"Harper? Are you okay?"

"Harper's not here at the moment, Mr. Dwells."

"Who the hell is this?"

"I'm the one that is keeping your daughter and other people hostage at the Manhattan Mall. Right now she is being punished for calling the police."

He looked at me and a tear ran down my face.

"Don't you f*****g hurt her. I swear I'll kill you."

"I don't think you will. If you want to see your daughter again, then you listen to me. Since your a retired Navy Seal and head security guard here at the mall, I have a job for you. If you don't do it, I'll kill Harper and the other hostages. You meet me here in an hour for further instructions. Do you understand me?"

"Yes. Let me speak to her, please."

"You have one hour."

He hung up the phone and looked at me. The man behind me took his hand off my mouth. The man that spoke to my dad punched me. My lip started bleeding.

"Gag her and put a bag over her head. Tell the guys on the roof what's going on and tell them to look out for her father."

Someone behind me put tape on my mouth and a black bag over my head.

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It felt like its been a couple hours that I've been sitting in this uncomfortable computer chair. Being gagged and unable to see terrified me. Tears have been falling for a while. I heard commotion from outside the security office.

"He's not here yet. We should just kill the hostages and just take Harper. We can use her against her father..."

I heard a phone ringing. "Enzo."

Silence.

"That's wonderful." I heard shuffling. "He's here. Tie her hands behind her back and let's bring her with the others. Keep the bag over her head."

I felt hands untie me and retie me. Two hands grabbed each of my arms and they dragged me out the door. We kept walking for a couple minutes. Then I heard gasps and crying.

"Put her on her knees. He's coming."

Someone shoved me down to the floor. I grunted in pain. I heard slow footsteps.

"Welcome, Mr. Dwells."

"Where's my daughter?"

Tears ran down my face. The bag was torn off my head. I closed my eyes from the brightness and my eyes adjusted. The first thing I saw was my dad. He had relief in his eyes. I looked at the leader and back at my dad.

"Let's get to business."

"Let Harper and the hostages go first."

"I don't think so." The leader shook his head. 

Then someone grabbed a fistful of my hair, pulled it back forcefully and put a blade to my throat. Tears ran down my face. I screamed, but it was muffled.

"Don't you..." My dad started.

"Let's not worry about her right now. You and I have business to attend to."

My dad didn't say anything. 

"Let me make a point."

Enzo took out his small hand gun and pointed it at one of the hostages head. Then he pulled the trigger. The woman fell on her side. People screamed. My chest was heaving heavily. Tears were pouring down my face. Enzo put his gun away and looked at my dad. My dad looked shocked. I started struggling.

"Do I have your full attention, Mr. Dwells?"

My dad nodded. "Yes."

"Great. Let's head to you're office." He turned to the man that had the knife to my throat. "Keep her here with the other hostages."

The man put his blade away and let me go.

"Sit."

He shoved me down on the floor by his feet. There were six other men standing around the hostages so none of them would escape. I looked at Jace and he was also sporting a black eye and a busted lip just like Eli. Seems like Eli and Jace have been fighting back. They both look at me with pitying looks, but I shook my head no and frowned. Grace had tears rolling down her face. Ashley had a handprint on her left cheek. It seems like they are beating my friends and not anyone else.

Fifteen minutes passed and Enzo and my dad haven't came back yet. Then all of a sudden, we hear a loud beeping noise coming from one of the stores, like someone stole something. We looked in the direction and someone had thrown a pair of jeans out of the store. Two men took out their guns and walked toward the store. 

Then the next thing I know, they both get shot down with guns with silencers. My eyes went wide. Then the other men that were standing around, including the two behind me get shot down. I flinched and ducked. Then men in S.W.A.T uniforms walks around the corner from other stores, still having their guns raised.

The men came over to me and cut the zip tie while the others helped the hostages. I stood up.

"Is there a Harper Dwells here?" One of them asks.

"Over here." I call out.

Two of the men walked over to me.

"Are you the one that called 9-1-1?"

"Yes."

Jace, Eli, Ashley and Grace walked over to me. I smiled at them.

"Where is your father?"

My smile falls. "He went with the leader to the security office, along with two others named Riaz and Maxim. Maxim's the one with the Russian accent. The leader's name is Enzo."

They looked at each other and back at me.

"What did the leader want?"

I shook my head. "I don't know, but he was going to use me as leverage against my dad. He wanted my dad to do something for him." I said as I was playing with my hands nervously. "Why?"

"You and your family are in trouble. We need to get you to safety." He started pushing me the way they came.

"Wait." I stopped walking. "We have a friend in here somewhere and we need to find her before they do." I turned towards Jace. "Call her cell and put it on speaker."

He dialed her number and put it on speaker. It rang twice before she answered it.

"Hello? Jace?" She whispered.

"Luna, its Harper. Where are you?"

"I-I'm in Sportsman's Wearhouse, hiding in a tent. Why? What's going on?"

"S.W.A.T is here. I'm coming to get you. Stay there."

"Okay. I'll be waiting." Then she hung up.

"Okay, you guys go with them and I'll go find Luna."

They started protesting.

"No way, we aren't letting you go by yourself!" Eli said. "Ashley and Grace can go with them. They don't want to be in here anymore."

I looked at the girls. "It's okay. We'll be fine. We'll see you outside." Ashley and Grace smiled.

They walked off with some of the S.W.A.T team.

"I'll send two of my men with you, since I can't stop you."

"Thanks." I smiled at him.

"Do you know how to use a gun?" He asked us three.

I shook my head. "Yes, my dad taught all of us."

He gave us a handgun each with extra bullets. All five of us, including two S.W.A.T team members, walked towards the stairs.

"Did you see how many men there were when they took you hostage?" I asked Eli and Jace.

"I don't know. There were too many of them." I stopped walking and turned to them both with wide eyes.

"Are you kidding me? You could have said that earlier?"

They didn't say anything. We kept walking. When we reached the stairs, we made sure to check to see if anyone was around. When the coast was clear, we started walking, but stopped again when we heard yelling coming from the direction of the security office. We hid behind benches that weren't see through.

"Where the hell are the hostages?! And who killed my men?"

"We didn't kill them. We knocked them out with chloroform darts. They'll be out for hours." One of the men whispered.

"You can do that?" I asked and looked at him amused.

"It took us a while to make it, but it sure is working." He smiled and I smiled back.

"Harper! I know you can hear me! I have your dad tied up. Come out and I won't kill him!"

I looked at Eli and Jace. They shook their heads.

"Are you kidding me? f**k no. Your not going." Jace almost yelled.

"I have to. He still has my dad. Just take them to Luna and get the hell out of here. I'll be okay."

They hesitated, but then they left quietly. I put the gun in the back of my pants after I put it on safety. I stood up and slowly walked towards Enzo and few of his men. When they saw me, they pointed their guns at me and I raised my hands in surrender.