Five Beautiful Boys

Come With Your Arms Raised High

At the foot of the ladder to the main exit from the bunker, Gerard paused and held out a set of keys to Frank.

"You know the way from here and you've got my car keys."
"If you're about to suggest you're not coming with us, then you can forget that," Frank replied flatly.
"Look," Gerard shrugged, "believe it or not, I do want you guys to escape. Now I know Mikey's okay, I'm happy. You don't need me."
"We do..." Frank began before Gerard interrupted.
"There's no point me going with you! I'll slow you down and it's pretty clear that they don't care that you have hostages. You'll get caught and..." Gerard looked down at his feet as he steadied himself on a rung of the ladder. "I don't want that."
"I know," Frank nodded, "I heard what you said to Mikey and I understand. Let me tell you, you've got a lot more guts than I gave you credit for. But, you helped us back there; we'd have been arrested for sure if you hadn't stepped in, and we look after our own."

Behind Frank, Ray and Bob were both nodding their agreement. Gerard smiled faintly; he had switched from despising them to respecting them, even liking them, all in the space of an hour.

"If you leave me here, you're more likely to get away. I'll say I passed out with the pain when they find me..."
Frank shook his head vigorously. "No, all or nothing. All or nothing..." he hesitated, "...Gee?"

Gerard gave a small appreciative laugh as Frank used his familiar name. It felt so odd; so very few people ever called him that.

"But isn't it safer if...?"
"Maybe for us," Frank shrugged, "not for you. Maybe it'd be fine, but if when they find you, they blame and arrest you, you may never get out. If there's one thing I know about legal matters it's that Mikey can't represent you."
"No, I'm a prosecution lawyer," Mikey threw in.
"Unhelpful, Mikey," Frank cocked his head to one side. "I'm just trying to make a point here."
"Okay, okay, I get it and... I appreciate it. Let's go."

Unlocking the exit door, Gerard pushed it open a fraction of an inch, relieved to see the room in darkness. Opening the door slowly so as not to attract any attention merely from the movement, Gerard led the four men through into his manager's office.Relieved that this end of the corridor was on a separate lighting circuit, Gerard could see through a glass panel in the wall, that the corridor beyond the office was dimly lit from the lights further down the long corridor. In the dim light, he could see the movement of shadows further down the corridor and knew that the police were still nearby. They would have to wait it out.

*

The five men stood in absolute silence waiting for an opportunity to slip out and escape, but they had now stood there for upwards of twenty minutes and the police were still there. Under cover of darkness, so that he felt reasonably confident he would go unnoticed Gerard pressed himself against the door and peered briefly through the blind covered glass panel nestled between the door and wall, before pulling back. The police were still too close; if they were to try to escape now, they would certainly be seen.

"Why won't they do something?" Ray spoke in an agitated whisper.
"I think they're waiting for a bank official," Gerard frowned. "To work out where we went. That's a problem."
"Why?" Bob asked. "We half expected it anyway."
Frank nodded. "Because when they work out where we went, they'll know where we are now."
"We have to get out, and the only way is through this door," Gerard nodded behind him.
Frank stared hard as he considered their options. "If we wait to be found, they'll come from both sides and we'll be trapped. The only real option is to leave now."

Glancing around at all four men, Frank quickly formulated a plan of action.

"Okay, Bob, I know what I said before but I think it's safer for you if you stay behind but hidden..."
"Why?" Bob cut in, surprised at the suggestion.
"Because we'll probably get caught and if we do, I don't want you with us. If you get arrested, you'll never see your son again, let alone get custody. And you know, sooner or later, Dan'll get taken away from her. He'll end up in the system."
"Frank, I can't leave you guys to risk getting caught. Like you said before, we look after our own."
"That's what I'm doing now," Frank replied with frustration.
"I'm coming with you," Bob insisted. "It's my risk and I'm taking it."
"What's your plan?" asked Ray.
Frank shrugged. "It's not really a plan so much as an act of desperation. We have no bargaining power if it all goes wrong."