Say hello to the warden, everybody!” shouted a brawny inmate. He emerged from the prison and appeared in the spotlight, pressing a black Glock to his hostage’s temple. The inmate’s dark eyes were slits, his mouth a scarred sneer. It had to be Richard Williams, his malevolence evident even in his T-shirt and blue scrubs. Williams shouted, “Don’t nobody move a muscle, or Mr. Warden McCoy’s gonna get his head shot clean off, right in front of y’all.”

Nat watched, aghast. Warden McCoy, in a tie and jacket, had gone grim with fear. His blue eyes stayed glued to the gun at his temple. His mouth stretched in a grimace. Williams used the warden’s body as a human shield, wrapping a tattooed arm around the other man’s torso and walking him along in front of himself. The C.O.s, police, and firefighters on the driveway froze, a tableau of law enforcement personnel rendered instantly impotent. The car fire raged in the background.

“Now, here’s what’s gonna happen, folks. Ya’ll’s gonna stay cool. Me and my boys, we gonna take a little walk down to our car. If our driver gets hurt, or one of us gets hurt, these good people goin’ down.” Williams pushed McCoy ahead of him down the driveway. A black sedan with an ADT security badge on the door idled halfway up the driveway. It couldn’t get closer because of the fire trucks. The crowd of cops and C.O.s stood paralyzed, a captive audience to the thug’s little show.

Williams continued. “We already lef’ you one body, a C.O. who let me outta my cell. Don’t make me leave you any more. We don’t want no more heroes tonight.”

There was a new commotion at the entrance to the prison, and suddenly, someone else emerged from the doorway, behind Williams and Warden McCoy. It was Parrat, the pickup driver. He walked out in his fake-cop uniform, his gun to the soft cheek of another hostage. Nat gasped when she caught a glimpse of his victim.

Tanisa. The C.O.’s mouth stayed grimly closed, but her eyes had gone still with fright. The C.O.s in the crowd stood riveted when they saw her. Parrat had Tanisa’s arms pinned behind her back and he shoved her in front of him, The two of them walked closely behind Williams and the warden, like a horrifying parade.

A C.O. in the crowd shouted, “Let her be!”

Parrat didn’t respond, but Tanisa did. “Shoot him!” she hollered, her voice ringing clear and strong.

“Bitch, shut up!” Parrat shouted, shoving his gun into Tanisa’s ear. Nat felt her heart cry out.

Williams walked on, with McCoy in front, saying, “Now, now. Folks, stay cool, calm, and collected. Everything’s gonna be all right. Just stay cool. We got one more comin’ with us, then we outta here.”

Nat looked at the prison entrance. Another figure was walking outside with a hostage. Graf stepped into the spotlight in his C.O. uniform, his eyes cold as gunmetal and his revolver trained on Machik. A ripple of shock shot through the crowd at the sight.

A C.O. called out, “You’re scum, Joe! You’re worse than scum!”

Graf ignored him, and Nat was the only one not surprised at his treachery. The only trick was that Graf had Machik as a hostage. But that fit in, too. No one knew Machik was in on the conspiracy except for Graf and her. In effect, Graf was smuggling out a confederate, right under everyone’s noses.

A second C.O. shouted, “You won’t get away with it, Joe!”

Mundy stirred, and when he did, Nat felt something hit her hand. She looked down. There was a bulge in the back of Mundy’s jacket, around his belt. A gun.

“Very good job, folks,” Williams was saying. Warden McCoy looked terrified, the gun boring into his temple. “Y’all doin’ a very good job, and I’m mighty proud of you. Don’t nobody do nothin’ stupid and we all gonna be all right.”

Nat eyed the crowd. Nobody was moving. They couldn’t take the chance. Williams was getting away. The warden’s brow sweated in the lights. Anyone’s movement could trigger the murder of the warden and Tanisa. Nat couldn’t be seen behind Mundy’s back. She was too short, and for once, it was an advantage. She had to do something. She stayed perfectly still except for her hand, which she slipped under the back of Mundy’s jacket. If the trooper felt anything, he was too smart to let it show. The unfolding scene was proving her right. He must be letting her take it. She reached the handle of the gun and pulled. But it didn’t come.

“Me and my friends gonna take these good people wit’ us.” Williams’s voice grew closer. He must have been directly in front of Mundy. “We gonna drop ’em off, good as new, when we’re clear. So stay cool and nobody gets hurt.”

Nat tried the gun again but it didn’t move. Was it stuck? No. It must have been in a holster. Her fingers found some kind of latch over the gun handle. She fumbled and felt a snap, unfastened it, and finally slid the gun free. It was warm from Mundy’s body heat, and its barrel caught the dark light.

Okay, I’m not shooting anybody. The teachers can’t do everything around here.

Nat took the gun and eased it slowly under Mundy’s right hand, and she felt an almost physical tingle when he accepted it from her, betraying no movement.

Williams was saying, “Y’all stay—”

Suddenly Mundy swung his arm up and fired the gun. It exploded in an earsplitting pop pop pop, setting off a horrifying fusillade. The shooting happened in a sickening blur. A red hole exploded in Williams’s temple. He crumpled. The attack startled Parrat, and Tanisa turned and elbowed him. He fell away and was instantly cut down by the cops in the crowd, his body spinning with the impact of the bullets.

Graf aimed for Mundy, but flew backward when he was shot himself, his gun spraying bullets. One hit Machik in the head and he went down, dropping on the spot. The crowd surged forward, almost knocking Nat over. She let them rush past, squeezing her eyes shut against what she had just seen. She couldn’t believe that it had happened.

She half-stumbled and half-walked away, breathing in fresh air. She bent over and leaned on the huge, cold bumper of one of the fire trucks, praying to keep nausea at bay. In the next minute, she felt a large hand on her shoulder and turned around. It was Mundy, slipping the gun back into its holster.

“You okay, professor?” he asked.

“More or less.” Nat smiled shakily. She couldn’t believe it was finally over. “Okay, less.”

“You did nice work. You got guts. Sorry I gave you such a hard time.”

“S’okay.” Nat didn’t say I-told-you-so. It didn’t feel like a victory after so much carnage.

“You wanna show me that tunnel?” Mundy threw a comforting arm around her shoulder.

Nat nodded, wiping away a tear that came from nowhere.