Rescue Me

Part 3

 Jesse stopped. He was within an arm’s reach of her now but so was the knife. He tried to placate the man “okay I’m not moving, what do you want?”

“Stuff all from you” and moving the knife closer to the woman he said “I want her to open the safe.”

“Okay, how about she goes to get what you want and I’ll stay here with you?” Jesse replied, putting his arm out and moving the woman back a little as he spoke, as if he was directing her to go.

“No way, she’ll call the cops.”

“Not if I’m here with you she won’t” Jesse assured him, hoping to god the cops that were on their way, approached without sirens.

“Nup I’m going with her to make sure she cleans it out” he said, his eyes fixed on the woman as he took a step to the side in order to move behind the counter. However the step took the woman out of his reach and with his focus now back on her, it was the opening Jesse needed. Lunging forward he put the guy in a headlock whilst bringing his arm down hard on the counter, dislodging the knife. As the man cried out in either protest or pain, the knife bounced on the shiny surface before falling to the ground on the other side.

Now he was unarmed Jesse wasted no time kicking his legs out from under him, propelling him to the floor so he was lying on his stomach. Kneeling on his back, he kept him pinned down with his own body weight.

As a stream of profanity spewed from the man’s mouth, Jesse pulled his arms high up behind his back, “yeah unless you want me to break your arm, shut up mate.”

Finally able to look over at the woman as the guy stopped yelling, Jesse saw she hadn’t moved. Studying her pale face as he withstood the man’s struggles to break free, he asked “you okay?”