"Got that right," Vincent said. "There's cops makin' a big circle around the building."
"I can't get a call through to Frank and the others," Joe added. "Says the number's been disconnected."
"Bullshit," Vincent retorted. "We just called there an hour ago." He looked out the window. "Something's up."
"You think they know about the hostages?" Joe asked.
"I don't see how," Vin answered, "unless Piper talked."
Joe frowned and pulled his gun from its holster. "You think we need to deal with those two?" He looked over at Diana and Latisha.
Vincent shook his head. "If the cops are really after us, we're gonna need a bargaining chip." He looked at the two hostages. "Don't hurt 'em just yet. But get the other guys up here from downstairs. We might need some spare guns."
outside
<Phones are out of commission>, Grissom informed Phil through his earpiece.
"Copy that," Phil replied. He switched his earpiece to a police frequency.
<The guy told you they have hostages?>
<Yeah, but we weren't told there would be anyone else in there.>
<So are there hostages or not?>
<We haven't been able to check into that yet. We're still securing the perimeter of the building.>
<See if you can get someone to run surveillance. I don't want to take any chances.>
Phil looked up at the curtained upstairs window. If the police got involved, then there'd be no chance to rescue Kit's kids. From what he'd found out from Griffin, these mobsters were a bit amateurish, but they knew how to use hostages, and in the event of a standoff, a rescue could prove just about impossible.
Impossible for anyone but the Unidentified Man.
Phil had a choice to make. He had done his best to make sure that he left that part of himself in New York. Did he really want to resurrect that persona, even for a moment? And if he did, would he be able to turn back?
But did he really have a choice?
Phil switched his earpiece back to the MBL frequency. "Griss, execute at your discretion. Repeat, execute at your discretion. You copy?"
Grissom sounded alarmed. <Are you giving me the green light? Now? Please confirm.>
Phil nodded. "That's an affirmative, Griss. Execute at discretion, weapons free." He checked his weapons and prepared to go invisible.
