Chapter 86: Christmas Eve Incident
"Can't believe it's Christmas already," Simon said, looking at the Buy More's seasonal transformation — tinsel on every display, a large artificial tree near the entrance, the particular visual chaos of a retail store that had committed fully to the holiday.
It was December 24th.
School was out. Most of the city was doing something other than working. Simon was at the Buy More anyway.
"Plans for tomorrow?" he said to Chuck.
"Bartowski family Christmas," Chuck said. "Eggnog, pajamas, Twilight Zone marathon. The whole thing."
"Classic."
"What about you?"
Simon thought about it. "Dom's gone. His crew's scattered. Mia's around." He shrugged. "Probably her place. Maybe Miami after that."
Chuck looked at him. "Miami?"
"My parents are on a platform in the Gulf. Close enough to reach from there." Simon kept it simple. "I might go see them."
Chuck nodded in the way he nodded when he understood more than he was going to ask about.
Big Mike's voice came from the direction of the Christmas village — a large display setup in the center of the floor, artificial snow, animatronic figures, the full production. He was wearing a Santa suit that fit him reasonably well and looked entirely natural on him, which said something about Big Mike.
"Bartowski. Lewis. One hour to open. Get everyone to the Christmas village. Now."
The pre-shift assembly was what it always was — Big Mike working through his seasonal version of the standard motivational address. The core message: Christmas Eve was a last-chance buying day for everyone who had forgotten someone on their list, which was most people, and the Buy More was prepared to serve that need at a fifteen percent premium on all merchandise.
Simon listened to this and found it genuinely impressive. The markup was not subtle. People would pay it anyway because the alternative was explaining on Christmas morning why there wasn't a present.
He was mid-preparation when the front doors rattled.
He looked. Ellie and Devon, Meg and Veronica, all four of them pressed against the locked glass with the expressions of people who had somewhere to be.
Chuck unlocked the door.
"Your father's present," Veronica said to Simon's unspoken question, walking in. "I completely forgot. I figured if you were working here I'd come to you."
"We don't open for an hour," Simon said. "But you can look around."
"I know what I want," Veronica said. "I just need to find it."
Meg kissed Simon on the cheek. "I'm with her. Don't worry — I haven't forgotten your present."
"Now I'm curious," Simon said.
"Good," Meg said, and followed Veronica.
Ellie and Devon went toward the small appliances section, holding hands and discussing something that appeared to involve a very specific kitchen item.
Simon went back to work.
Five minutes later, every television on the floor switched to the same breaking news feed.
Simon heard it before he understood it — the particular breathless register of a live television news voice tracking a vehicle in real time. He looked at the nearest screen. Aerial footage. A white sedan. A police pursuit.
"He's not stopping," the anchor said. "He is not stopping—"
The front wall of the Buy More exploded inward.
The white sedan came through the glass doors at approximately thirty miles per hour, crossed fifteen feet of floor, and stopped with its front bumper touching the Nerd Herd service desk.
Silence.
Then: "Nobody move."
The driver climbed out. He was in his mid-thirties, disheveled in the way of someone who had been running for a while and had not slept. He was holding a revolver. His eyes had the quality of a person whose internal monologue was competing loudly with external reality.
He looked around the store. Pressed his free hand to his head for a moment.
"I think I may have made this worse," he said, apparently to himself. Then, louder: "My name is Nathan Edward Ryerson. Most people call me Ned. I'm sorry about the door." He scanned the assembled staff. "Who's in charge here?"
Every employee pointed at Chuck.
"I'm not really—" Chuck started.
Ned aimed the revolver at him.
Simon had already moved to the edge of the Christmas village display and was speaking quietly into his earpiece. "Sarah. Problem at the store. Get Casey."
"Already here," Sarah said. "What's the situation?"
"One armed fugitive, one vehicle through the front entrance, unknown number of civilians. He's emotional, possibly unstable. Can't talk more — he's grouping everyone."
"Understood."
Simon ended the transmission and rejoined the crowd.
Ned had them moving toward the Christmas village — the large central display, open enough to keep everyone visible and controlled. He guided them with the uncertain authority of someone who was improvising the details of a plan that had been more vague than specific when he started it.
He got them there. He found the security panel behind the service desk, held Chuck at gunpoint while directing him to engage the blast shutters — the heavy security doors that the Buy More had installed after the Black Friday incident. They came down with the sound of something definitive, sealing every exterior entrance.
The store was locked from the inside.
Simon found Meg and Veronica in the crowd and moved to them.
"Are we okay?" Meg said.
"We're fine," Simon said. "Give me a minute to find an opening and I'll end this."
"Absolutely not," Meg said, and took his arm.
"Simon," Veronica said. "Don't."
"I can handle—"
"You can also wait twenty minutes for an actual resolution," Veronica said. "Those two things can coexist."
Simon assessed the situation. Ned was nervous, clearly not trained, brandishing the revolver with the grip of someone who didn't quite know where to hold it. He wasn't going to shoot anyone — he was looking for something else, which meant this was a containment situation, not a lethal one.
He stayed where he was.
"I need one person to go," Ned said, facing the crowd. He was relaying something the police outside had apparently communicated through Chuck. "To show good faith."
From the middle of the crowd, Emmett pushed to the front with both hands raised. "Me. Pick me. I'll go. Please, me."
Ned stared at him.
Emmett appeared to be experiencing genuine distress about being held hostage in a retail environment and had decided that cooperation was the efficient solution.
Ned, after a visible internal debate, pointed at the door.
Emmett left at a speed inconsistent with his usual measured pace.
Simon watched this.
"Your store," Veronica said.
"Every time," Simon agreed.
"What happens now?" Meg said.
"Chuck went toward the employee corridor," Simon said. He'd seen the movement from the corner of his eye — Chuck, having established communication with Ned, slipping toward the back with the particular focused energy of someone who was about to do something instead of just talking about it. "Which means Casey and Sarah are inside now."
He looked at Ned, who was pacing in front of the Christmas village with the contained agitation of someone managing a situation that had gotten larger than expected.
"It's almost over," Simon said.
Meg leaned against his shoulder.
He put his arm around her and waited.
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