He Was Duressed, Your Honor

Chapter 7

"This is crazy, this is crazy," Poe mumbled to himself as he walked toward the freight elevator in Miller Tower.

"Shut up," the man next to him hissed. Poe hadn't learned his name and didn't think he'd ever care to. "Shut your damn mouth and get the job done."

One thing he hadn't anticipated was the amount of physical labor this job would require. His muscles ached, his vision swam, and he couldn't stop staring at the ring still on his shaking hand.

For a moment, Poe couldn't even hear the man speaking to him. All he could see was that guard's blood on his hands whether or not it was actually there. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he was aware that Memphis was hurt, badly. But he forced himself to focus on the task in front of him.

He heard footsteps nearby but chose to ignore them. Until he realized his mask was propped on top of his head. He yanked it down quickly before turning to face the newcomer. Praying to god he wouldn't have to "take care of them" like he did the guard.

His eyes widened in horror to recognize the face he saw. Parker Orlov. She was about Jun's age and used to work with Memphis back when Memphis could still manage to hold down a job that wasn't mass robbery. 

"We're almost done here, get back inside," the man next to Poe shouted. 

His voice made Poe want to cower, but they had a job to do. He was not going to let his family suffer for his mistakes. 

Little by little, the auction items were loaded into the freight elevator. The door opened on to the roof and Poe gazed longingly over the skyline of the city. The breeze swept his hair and the cold stung his face. 

He wondered briefly if jumping off the side would somehow get him out of this.

They loaded up the helicopter which was becoming a little full. Poe had heard of the place that the helicopter was from. An old flight school called Koller Campbell Air that went out of business after they stupidly got one of their customers killed or something. Their had been rumors about a mechanical failure, and Poe wasn't sure if he wanted to find out if those rumors were true.

He said quick thank you that his part of the plan was to leave through the security exit. 

Stepping back into the building, Poe could still see Memphis's blood on the jagged door frame. He increased his pace back into the building. He tried to convince himself that his intuition was incorrect. That his nerves were on the fritz since a gun was metaphorically being held to his head, forcing him into this robbery.

But something told him that wasn't it. 

As they descended in the elevator, noises could be heard over the whirring of the gears. Thuds and grunts, and by the time the group exited Poe had broken into a sprint. 

He reached the door of the vault and the first thing he saw was blood. Lots of it. And from what he could tell, it was coming from Memphis as she struggled against the security guard desperately trying to grab her gun back.

"It's over," he mumbled to himself almost absentmindedly. 

The guard would get the gun, she would kill them or turn them into the police, and he would singlehandedly be responsible for his sister's death. For his parent's death.

De la Porta had the entire city in his pocket. There was no where they could hide. No where he could not reach them. He felt the tingle of De la Porta's breath on his neck and his whisper in his ear, and that was enough to force Poe's aching joints into motion.

Making quick strides, Poe grabbed hold of the security guard, knocking her away from Memphis who promptly collapsed on the ground. 

The guard struggled against his grip, but the two fell to the ground and Poe swung at her face, hoping to subdue her as easily as before.