Chapter 04

Bank Bandits

In December, 1999, Gordie is in Carmel shopping with his sister, Danielle who is known as Dani-girl. They’re after a few Christmas presents for family members that are hard to shop for, so they’re checking out the wider range of shops in Carmel. They normally shop in View Port because the clan residence is built into the headland between the two towns with its front entrance being closer to View Port, but the tourist resort town of Carmel has a much wider range of goods for sale, though at slightly higher prices. They’ve found what they want and they need more cash to buy them, so they’re at the bank to get the money needed to make the purchases. This is because Gordie doesn’t have a credit or debit card yet, due to his young age.

They enter the bank and they join the queue for the tellers. Gordie notices a few very nervous people in the bank. Much more so than usual. Looking carefully around the bank he’s not happy with the way the nervous people are spread about. He softly says, “Dani, have a close look at the two men beside the security guards, the fellow two up from us, and the man over beside the Enquiries counter. Tell me what you think.”

She studies the four men with great care before she replies, “I think this bank is about to have a hold up. I don’t have a gun on me, do you?”

“No, Dad won’t let me carry one in public. I’ll see about changing that when we get home. I do have several finger knives. I’ll go to the Enquiries counter and deal with the others if you can take out this one when they act.” She knows how skilled he is with the knives and in hand to hand combat so she nods yes.

Gordie leaves the teller queue and he joins the Enquiries queue. Once in line he takes care to not be seen while he gets out five of his finger knives from his left pocket, then he sets them ready for rapid use. He’d like to have more, but five is all he can hold without it being obvious about what’s in his hand.

The queues move forward as people are served. The suspect robber is next in line. He moves to the teller, pulls a semi-automatic pistol from his coat, and he demands the teller hands over all of the money.

Dani-girl is standing with one person between them, but she’s a little to the left of that person. Moving forward she takes two short steps and grabs the gun-hand with her left hand while she slips a finger in between the trigger and the rear of the trigger guard to make it impossible for the man to pull the trigger. With a sweep of her right foot she knocks his feet out from under him while she places her right arm around his head and grasps his chin. In seconds his neck is bent back and his whole weight is resting on her arm. One jerk of her hand will snap his neck and he’s dead. He starts to struggle when she grabs his hand, but he goes very still when his feet go out from under him. He knows how close to death he is, so he waits for his mates to deal with his attacker, which he’s sure will happen at any moment.

At the same time the man at the teller windows pulls out his gun the other three move. The two near the guards hit them on the head and knock them out. The one at the enquiries counter goes for a gun under his coat. Gordie also reacts on the same cue. His reactions are faster. A knife is in his hand and moving before the man nearest him can reach his gun. Gordie throws three knives in quick succession. His hands are a blur when he grabs a knife and spins it off at his targets with a quick flick of his wrist and arm. The first knife hits the man in the right shoulder, penetrating the joint to cause pain and disable his arm. The second hits in his upper left chest, piecing the hand under the coat and pinning the coat to it. The third hits the left thigh, causing him to groan and stumble. He falls to his knees in great pain.

Spinning around Gordie throws the last two knives in his hands at the robber furthest from him, one in the right shoulder blade and one in the right thigh. The man is facing away from Gordie so both blades hit him from behind. He doesn’t know what hit him, only that it hurts a lot. He screams in pain while he stumbles.

Reaching up to his coat collar Gordie draws two more finger knives from the other sheath he keeps just behind his neck. In a quick draw and throw action he sends two knives, one after the other, winging across the room to the last bandit who’s standing beside the front door. Both strike the front of his thighs to cause him to stumble and fall. The gun he’s getting out of his belt is knocked from his hand by the floor when he falls forward and he puts his hands out to break the fall.