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Weathers parked his car as close to the bank as he could get The police had already closed down the road that lead past the bank building, stringing up yellow tape and parking cars lengthwise across the street to keep anyone froet in There were plenty of reporters already ere trying to cross the barricades anyway They&039;d been waiting for this, Brent knew Waiting for Maggie to do soet her to surrender," Brent said, "will you let her come home?"

He knew the answer, of course But he waited for Weathers to sigh and say, "It&039;s gone too far for that I&039;ll need to arrest her - it&039;s better if I do it than the local cops, probably I can take her some place safe"

"Like a - " Brent sed painfully, " - a psychiatric hospital? So she can get some help, work out her problems?"

"Maybe, eventually," Weathers said "I was actually thinking that the local jail wouldn&039;t be able to hold her She could just punch her way through the walls I have an idea about a place we can put her she can&039;t escape froain and turned to look Brent in the eye "She&039;s broken a lot of laws, and she&039;s hurt people You have to understand, Brent, that society has a responsibility to people who - "

"I understand that she&039;s ot out of the car before Weathers could say anythingat the roadblock pushing back the reporters but when he saw Brent he lifted up the yellow tape and let Brent duck underneath it Beyond the tape cars were parked in a semi-circle around the bank&039;s front door A few tendrils of yellow sutters - Brent had no idea what that was about The flashing lights and the squawking of so uns and rifles were crouched behind the cars They didn&039;t look at Brent as he walked out into the middle of the street Behind hiie&039;s naaret - your brother&039;s here Do you want to talk to him?"

Brent stared at the police captain, then back at the revolving doors of the bank This wasn&039;t going to work, he thought There was too much chaos, too many people strained to the pitch of desperation He needed to talk to Maggie alone He looked back at the police captain and said, "I want to go inside"

"No way, kid," the captain told hi one hand over the mouthpiece of his bullhorn so what he said wouldn&039;t be broadcast to the whole neighborhood "It&039;s too dangerous"

"I wasn&039;t asking," Brent told hi door It was shattered, its glass broken, but the metal frame was intact and when he pushed it, it turned and let hirabbed him and then jumped back, away from the door and the s She pulled him over a counter and down into a narrow space behind the teller s

"You shouldn&039;t have come," she said

"Jeez! That hurt! My head bounced off a cash register," he told her, rubbing the back of his skull The pain faded almost instantly, but still he was annoyed "Why did you do that?"

"They&039;ve got snipers out there If I showto shoot first and ask questions later"

Brent took a long look at her The light wasn&039;t great but he could see how tired she looked Her eyes were narrowed and her hair was a mess She looked even s, what&039;s been going on with you?"

"I&039;ve just been trying to keep out of trouble" She glanced up at the white painted wall behind theain as the police flashers outside cycled "Didn&039;t work Listen, I&039; to run away Leave town You&039;ll probably never see ain I&039;m sure that&039;s what everyone wants"

"Not me," he told her He stared into her eyes She looked away but he kept watching her face "Did you see the e I sent you? It was on TV all day And in the papers"

"I&039;vethe news It&039;s all about hoful I aed "But yeah I saw it It was really nice of you, Brent, to say those things It&039;s nice to think there&039;s one person out there whoI did I wish I could say it h"

"Of course it matters! That&039;s why I did it I want you to corand you anyes, if you just explain - "

Maggie laughed at hi warh It said he was just a little kid, still, and he couldn&039;t possibly kno serious things had become