Beyond the Western
The Birthday Surprise
Scott A. Gese


Image sourse: Piqsels

As soon as she walked through the front door, she felt the tension.


Beyond the Western

Then she noticed the man wearing a ski mask and knew why. He pointed a gun in her direction and used it to motion her to the back room where the others were being held.

Not on my birthday,” she thought as she scanned the scene. One gunman was with one of the tellers. She was being forced to empty out the registers. A second gunman was at the safe with another teller. He was filling a sack with bundles of bills. The security guard lay on the floor in a pool of blood. The silent alarm had not been set off. There was a cake on a table behind the counter.

The gunmen didn’t realize the woman who had just walked in was the branch manager, her name was Sasha Lee. He took her cell phone and led her to the back room.

As soon as the door was closed she reached into her jacket pocket and pushed the button on her remote unit setting off a silent alarm. It put the local authorities into immediate action.

Once the money was gathered the men shoved the two tellers into the back room with the others.

Only Sasha knew the room was a safe room. and she had the remote that secured it. She reassured everyone that they were safe, then cautiously stepped outside the door and locked it behind her. She was quick and quiet as she slipped behind a counter unnoticed.

The two men had just stepped outside when the first police car pulled up. They high tailed it back into the bank. The cops didn’t know the full situation so they kept their distance for the time being.

The phone rang. The men ignored it at first, but it wouldn’t stop. One of them finally answered it. An officer was on the line. “Looks like we have a situation here son.”

“That’s right,” replied the gunman. “We got hostages.”

As one gunman talked with the officer, the second one went to check on the hostages. He wanted to make sure they weren’t going to try something stupid. He found the door to the room they were in was locked.

They may have had hostages, but they were of little use if they were locked in a room they couldn’t get into. While one was on the phone, the other worked at getting the door open.

While he was occupied, Sasha quickly stepped behind him and with the stealth and ease that revealed her training in Ninjitsu, she took him out. He never knew what hit him. The gunman on the phone had no idea his partner had just been decommission.

Once off the phone he called to him, but there was no answer. He stepped behind the counter where he found him unconscious.

“What the hell is this?” He scanned the room but saw nothing. A voice behind him whispered in his ear, “Are you looking for me?”

The startled gunman quickly spun around but it was too late. Sasha had him down and out before he had time to react.

Sasha cautiously stepped out the front door. She was met by an officer who happened to know her. “Sasha, when I realized it was your branch I knew there was going to be trouble.”

“Trouble?” She replied. “Piece a cake.”

© Copyright 2020 by Scott A. Gese All Rights Reserved.