“Why do you doubt yourself so much?” Fipps asked Elliott, shaking his head.
Elliott shrugged,. “I don’t know. I’ve just never felt that capable, I guess.” Elliott slumped onto the bench, crestfallen.
The taller man gave Elliott a contemplative stare. It didn’t have the penetrating effect of Higgins stare or the baleful intimidation of Roger’s, but right that moment, Fipps was seeing deeper with less effort.
“Never felt capable? Then why on earth did you do this thing? Everyone says this was your idea.”
“It was,” Junie chimed in.
“I said open up,” the voice insisted from outside, more demanding and tense now.
Elliott opened his mouth to say something, but Fipps held up a hand to shush him. “Hear me out,” Fipps said. “This was all your idea. You took charge and made a pretty radical call coming south to preserve what matters to you. An even more radical call to kidnap the girl you want because you thought she was in danger. You took charge to get us out of that precinct. And so far no one you didn’t want to die has died.”
The soldier pounded on the door of the van. “Open. Up. Now.” He sounded tense. They knew he wasn’t going to wait much longer for them to comply.
“Not going to say you’re a masterful commander or anything,” Fipps went on. “But maybe you should just relax a little bit. Do what comes natural and stop second guessing yourself.”
“Open up in there now, or I’ll be forced to assume you’re hostile,” the soldier outside commanded.
Elliott glanced at the door behind Fipps, thinking. The pounding on the door was insistent and rang around the back of the van, clouding his thoughts.
“That guy sounds pretty serious,” Fipps pointed out unnecessarily. “Now’s your chance, kid. Higgins ain’t here. We can’t count on him to save us this time. Your little redheaded Cuisinart is in the other van. It’s all you, Elliott. Don’t over think it.”
Elliott took a breath and then marched to the door. As he passed Junie he grabbed the tactical mug out of her hand; it was empty so she didn’t protest but looked surprised. He yanked the door open as quickly as he could. The soldier’s face registered astonishment before Elliott grabbed the front of his shirt and hauled upwards… with absolutely no results. The van sat about four feet off the ground and the soldier outweighed Elliott by seventy pounds, all of it either muscle or petrified oak, he couldn’t be sure. Lacking strength and leverage, Elliott was left with a handful of camo and a need to improvise. The soldier gave him a snide look that was wiped clean when Elliott brought the tactical mug down across his temple.
“Ha ha!” Elliot gloated as the soldier’s eyes glazed over and he slumped to the ground. Elliott let go just in time to not be dragged down with him. Elliott turned to Fipps and Junie, grinning from ear to ear.
“I did it!” Fipps pinched the bridge of his nose. “What?” Elliott asked.
Fipps ducked his head out the door of the van, then jumped out. He grabbed the unconscious soldier under the arms and heaved him up. Elliott and Junie grabbed his hands and hauled him into the van, scraping the poor guys’ shins on the edge as he went. Elliott winced in sympathy: shin scrapes were horrible.
Once they were back inside and the van door was shut, Fipps turned to Elliott. “I said not to overthink it, not to fail thinking about it at all,” Fipps said. “Did you really think you could get that guy into the van yourself?”
Elliott sighed. “Yes, I guess I did.”
Fipps grasped Elliott by both shoulders. “That was pretty damned stupid.” Then Fipps grinned like a maniac. “But I like your initiative! Good start!”