In The Blood

Double Green

(William)

The words that once upon a time I thought I'd never hear, had come, and my hands clenched tighter on the the chair I'd been sitting on. Double green. We had actually gone double green. Not just green but double green. Oh my Lord. This was as bad as it could get. There were two gunmen downstairs. Actively shooting at civilians. And the first one had been so close it made my ears ring, and for a good solid two minutes I actually couldn't hear a word Rick was saying or Lorenzo's incessant praying in Spanish. Not that I understood a word of it anyway. I just kept pawing at my ears, hoping an eardrum hadn't burst and that I wasn't permanently deafened. I couldn't shake the feeling that if I'd just opened the door, the door to the downstairs lobby, at that moment that I would have seen the gunman. Not that I could have done a damn thing, but still. I would have seen somebody shooting people. The thought made my stomach clench. This ain't TV no more. This is real life. My current reality. Currently locked away with management—or Rick and Lorenzo anyway. Where the hell Sandy had disappeared to was anyone's guess. I personally hadn't seen her since early that afternoon. Michelle swore up and down she'd seen her in the hallways a couple of times tugging at her dress, and Lorenzo said she'd helped with the subpoena mess. Security had looked briefly for her, but then we had to open to the general public and thus, deal with theatre-goers. Kline kept looking then had to step away, and Harris kept texting that she was with him. Repeatedly. Harris was getting on my nerves. Normally I like him OK, but today he was rubbing me the wrong way. Then all these codes, with Harris still insisting she was with him, OK and safe. All we could do was round our own selves up and place ourselves securely in our preordained space—Lorenzo's office—and hope she'd come up to join us. She hadn't and it worried the crap out of me. And I'm not normally a worrier. She and I may not see eye-to-eye on some things—or a lot—but I respect her. Underneath it all, she's an OK person. She's just the type that speaks without thinking and that doesn't take shit from people. I sincerely hoped that, wherever she was, she was safe and OK. For us, for her husband, for her kids, for her grandsons.

"W-William?" Hank asked nervously, rocking back and forth a little.

"I know," I said quietly. Was I prepared for this? No, never. I'd never thought in a millions years that I'd be in this position. Double green. Security at max capacity. All security personnel actively engaged. Harris pulled from CCTV, and I thought it was Gen with the performers? Or was it Jav? I wasn't sure. One of those two. And no one was comfortable with one security guard for all ten of them. Security, management, not even us on the sound crew. But it couldn't be helped. Not at this point. All hands on deck. And I was a back-up pair of hands. Or eyes, anyway. At least I wouldn't have to actively engage the threats. Just watch for them.

Swallowing thickly, I stood up. "OK, guys, let's do this."

"Be careful, William," Rick said seriously. "You too, Hank and Stephen."

"We will," I promised him, reaching out and extracting the pen from Stephen's mouth that he was trying to use as a cigarette. He watched me toss it aside on Lorenzo's desk.

"I need a cigarette worse'n anything," he whined.

"I know you think you do. Don't got time to," I retorted, easing the door open to get a view of the goings-on before I threw all three of us in it. Yep, pandemonium, just as I thought. Rupert was dragging some dude around as he worked the gun scene that was right on our stairwell. The dude was alternatively yelling at him about how he was going to sue us and pleading with him to keep him alive. I could hear shouting and crying down below, running feet, frantic activity. Oh my Lord, please help us get through this night. Alive.

Rupert looked up as the three of us tiptoed down and slunk around his crime scene, an atypical concerned look on his face. "I'm so sorry," he apologized to us. "It's so out of hand I can't believe it."