by David Archer
“Radiation?” Sam asked, his eyes suddenly going wide. “I've been in here with it for a while...”
Carlyle shook his head. “No danger to you. The Geiger counter makes it sound like a lot, but you've had a hundred times more exposure in a single x-ray.” He looked at one of the other men. “Frank? Check this out, this timer has a little less than sixty hours to go. I don't see any visible sign of a receiver, so we may be in luck, and it's not set up for remote detonation. Let's get it packed up and shipped to Pearl as soon as we can, and you kids can play with it.”
He turned to Sam. “Sam,” he said, “Harry said to tell you that he'll be in touch, but I think you're done here. You've eliminated the threat to Honolulu, my friend, and that's a pretty big thing.”
Sam shrugged. “How do you know they don’t have another one of these stashed somewhere else in the city?”
“Simple logistics. These things would cost them millions of dollars each, and the material is extremely difficult to obtain. They went to great pains to put one device in each of a dozen cities, so the chance that they had more than that number is pretty small. There would be only one per city. With these little bombs, they're not after mass destruction as much as mass terror, and they're accomplishing it just with the rumor.” He looked down at the bomb on the floor. “We're actually lucky they chose to put one here in Honolulu, especially since it wouldn't normally be considered a terror target. If you hadn't been so Johnny-on-the-spot and found this one, we wouldn't have the data we need to be able to find the others. With the radiation signature from this baby, though, we can fine tune our equipment to spot them more easily from the air, and we've got a chance now of getting more of them before they go off.”
He patted Sam on the shoulder. “Like Harry said, Sam, you done good! Go relax and take it easy for now.”
Sam nodded, and it suddenly hit him that he was exhausted. The adrenaline that had been driving him all morning was suddenly wearing off. He nodded, and said, “Thanks, David,” then walked out of the bedroom and past Cork at the door. He turned and went to the door to the next room, which was still open a crack, and stepped through it.
“Indie?” he called. “We can go now.”
She didn't answer. A chill went down his spine, and Sam knew instantly that something wasn't right. He snatched the Glock from its holster as he moved through the rooms, and found Indie being held by a man with a gun to her head in the bathroom. Sam leveled his gun at the man and stared into his eyes.
“Sam?” Indie said. “I'm sorry, Sam, he saw the men go into his room, and came in here to hide and try to watch. I didn't see him till he grabbed me.”
“Baby, it's okay, it'll be okay. I'll get you out of this...”
The man smiled. “That's touching, my friend, but let us discuss how you plan to do so. You have my device, I have your woman. If you can give me back what I want, then I am willing to give you back what you want.”
“Or I can blow your head off right now,” Sam said. “If you so much as flinch your gun hand, I will. Now, let her go and put your gun down.”
“Ah, I see, you're an amateur,” the man said. “But I am not. I am more than willing to die, my friend, so your threats have no meaning to me. The question is, are you willing to let your poor woman perish?”
Sam stared hard at him. The gun held to Indie's head was a Beretta, a nine millimeter automatic that was easy to obtain just about anywhere. It was a single action model, and the hammer was cocked back. If the man squeezed even the slightest bit on the trigger, it would go off and Indie would die instantly.
“The government has your bomb,” Sam said, “and there is no way I can get it back. Your plan here has failed, so the only option you have right now is to let her go and I'll let you walk out of here. If you try anything other than that, I will kill you. Your call.”
The man smiled. “Put your gun on the floor and let me walk out of here, and I will release her when I've gotten off the elevator.”
Sam shook his head. “Not gonna happen. She's not moving from that spot, and neither are you unless it's on my terms.” Sam kept his eyes on the other man's own, but a flicker caught his peripheral vision, and he realized that Indie had winked at him. A split second later, she simply dropped right out of the man's grasp to the floor.
The terrorist looked startled. He glanced down at where she was now sprawling on the floor and trying to roll away from him, and his gun hand started to move to aim at her again. Sam fired, instinctively going for a shot at the gun, and his aim was true. The man screamed as his hand exploded into several pieces, and his gun dropped to land on Indie's thigh. She grabbed at it and got it into her hands as she rolled.
Sam leapt forward and tackled the bleeding terrorist, and they fell into the bathtub. With his gun placed against the other man's forehead, Sam got him by the throat, and the pain in his prisoner's mangled hand made him surrender.
The gunshot had alerted the men in the next room. Carlyle and three of the others came bursting in, guns drawn. One of them almost shot Indie as she was trying to get to her feet with the terrorist's gun. Sam screamed, “No!” The agent raised his weapon at the last possible second, removing his finger from the trigger he'd nearly squeezed, and a wide-eyed Indie let the gun fall back to the floor.
“What the hell is going on here?” Carlyle demanded, and Sam pointed at this captive.
“This guy was apparently checking on his toy next door, and saw me let you guys in. He came in here to hide, just like Indie, and found her. He wanted to trade me, make me get the bomb back for him, but Indie managed to get loose and that let me take out his gun hand.”
Carlyle let out another whistle. “Sam, you just captured Ahmed Al Faruq. He's been on the top ten list for six years.” He turned to the captive terrorist. “What are you doing here, Ahmed? Shouldn't this be a job for one of your foot soldiers?” Carlyle motioned to one of his men. “Get that wound staunched, and let's get this bastard somewhere he can be properly interrogated.” He turned to Sam, as Indie finally got close enough to let Sam get an arm around her.
“You okay, babe?” he asked, and she nodded, but there were tears flowing down her face.
“I'm okay, I was just so scared, Sam,” she said. “Oh, God, I thought he was gonna kill us both! When he let his arm relax a bit, I just thought if I could drop down, then you could shoot him. I didn't know what else to do!”
“You did perfect, baby, you did perfect! We got him!”
“Yeah, you did. We've been after him a while. What the heck is it about you, that you can walk right into things that we're killin' ourselves tryin' to do?”
Sam shrugged, but he wasn't paying much attention to Carlyle. He was too busy holding Indie close. “I'm just lucky, I guess,” he said, “but I'm more than willing to go back to letting you guys handle this crap. It's all yours, now!”
Carlyle grinned and nodded. “I bet! We'll have to get a statement from you at some point, but you can go for now if you want to. We'll handle the police when they come, don't worry about that.”
“Oh,” Sam said, “what about all the damage I did here, breaking into that room? Shooting the guy...”
“I'm pretty sure Uncle Sam won't mind paying for it. You were working for us, we've got it covered. Don't worry— you're safe now.”
Sam nodded, and led Indie out of the room as one of the others was taking care of Al Faruq's hand. They walked down the hall and got into the elevator, and then Indie began to cry in earnest.
“I'm sorry, Sam,” she said as she wept. “I'm trying not to fall apart, but...”
“Shh,” he said as he held her close. “It's okay, baby, it's okay. You've got every right to cry.”
“But I almost ruined everything! If he'd shot you, Sam, I don't know what I'd have done! I can't make it without you!”
Sam didn't tell her that the man would surely have killed them both, but he knew it was true. If she hadn’t distracted him, there would have been a gunfight that would probably
have left all of them dead. She didn't need to hear that right then, though, so he just kept reassuring her that everything would be alright, and when the elevator opened, he walked her out through the lobby.
Police officers were coming in just then, but another agent in the lobby stopped them. They paid no attention to Sam and Indie, who walked right past them and out the front doors. Sam started toward the van, parked across the street, and they got to it without anyone bothering them.
They drove back to their own hotel, and a different crowd of people were waiting when they stopped. Sam got out and was instantly accosted by several of them.
“Hey, I've got to get to...”
“Can you get us over to...”
“I'm not the regular driver,” he said. “I think the guy will be here any minute now, just wait.” He and Indie walked hand in hand back into the hotel, and went into one of the restaurants, but there was no one working. They turned and went to their room, and Sam made them coffee as they turned on the TV again.
There was no news about the bomb being found, and Indie looked at Sam. “Why aren't they talking about it yet? You'd think they'd want to let people know they can relax.”
Sam shook his head. “They're gonna want to keep the terrorists from knowing they've got this one for as long as possible,” he said. “Once they find out, they may try to set the others off early. Carlyle said they can use this one to set their equipment so they can find the others more easily, so they're probably not gonna say a word yet.”
“So everyone gets to keep worrying. Can we try to call Kenzie, and our moms? Make sure they got out okay?”
Sam nodded. “Harry said my phone was set to high priority,” he said, “so let's see how well it works.” He took it out and dialed his mother's number.
“Sam!” she yelled as she answered. “Are you guys okay?”
“We're fine, Mom,” he said. “What about you? Everyone okay there?”
“Yes, yes, we made it to the cabin about half an hour ago. This place is filthy— it looks like no one's been here in years! Don't you ever come up here anymore?”
Sam grinned. “Well, not since I got shot, but it should still be in pretty good shape. You should be safe there until this blows over. Listen, Mom, I can't go into detail, but the bomb here has been found, and we're safe. I don't know how soon we can get back there, but there's a good chance they're gonna be able to stop the bombs. Just lay low there, and we'll be home as soon as possible. How's Kenzie doing?”
“Oh, she's fine, she thinks this is all a big adventure! She and Kim are outside playing now. I'm trying to get this place cleaned up a bit, it's just filthy!”
“Well, call her in for a minute, would you? We want to talk to her.”
“No problem,” Grace said, and he heard her shouting for Kim and Kenzie to come inside. “Kenzie, here, Daddy and Mommy are on the phone!”
A second later, Kenzie's voice came on the line. “Hi,” she said, and Sam grinned. “Hey, sweetheart! You havin' fun?”
“Yeah! We're in a log cabin, and there's deers and rabbits outside!”
Indie reached for the phone and Sam handed it over. “Hey, baby, it's Mommy! I miss you!”
“I miss you, too, we're in a old log cabin, and there's lots of animals outside! Me and Grandma Kim been out looking at 'em! There was a deer that came right up in the yard and it wasn't even scared of us!”
Indie laughed. “Well, that sounds exciting! Are you being a good girl?”
“Yeah. Grandma Grace says I'm the best little girl in the whole world!”
“Well, good, you keep her fooled that way! I love you!”
“I love you too, and guess what? There's a big fireplace in here, and Grandma Grace says we have to cook in the fireplace! Isn't that cool?”
Indie laughed despite everything that had happened, and Sam smiled at her. “Yeah, that sounds really cool! Let me talk to Grandma Kim for a minute.”
“Okay, bye!” Kenzie said, and then Indie's mother was on the phone. “Indiana, are you guys safe? Grace says they found the bomb out there?”
“Yes, thanks to my husband! Sam saw something suspicious, and because of that he was able to track it down! I married a superman!”
Sam yelled, “What she's not telling you is that she's the one who tracked it down and found it, not me!” but Indie shushed him.
Kim was talking. “Beauregard says Sam isn't done yet, he has to find the one here, too.”
“Well, I don't know how he can do that, Mom, we can't even get back there right now. There's no flights.”
“I'm just telling you what he said. He hasn't ever been wrong, you know!”
Indie rolled her eyes. “Yeah, well, I think he's off on this one. Listen, Sam says you guys will be safe there until we get back, and we'll be there as soon as possible. For once, just do what Grace says, and wait for us, okay?”
“Oh, we'll be fine here. Beauregard says this is a good place to be.”
“Yeah, well, I'm glad he agrees with me for once. Take care of Kenzie, and we'll be home as soon as we possibly can! Bye for now, and love you!”
“We love you too,” Kim said, and then the line was dead.
Indie smiled nervously at Sam. “Beauregard says you've got to find another bomb, the one in Denver.”
“Ha!” Sam barked. “I'd love to know how he expects me to do that! Beauregard is the most annoying figment of anyone's imagination I've ever encountered!”
“Yeah, I sorta told Mom there wasn't any way, but she has complete faith in old Beauregard. Sometimes I wonder if she's losing something.”
“Like her mind? Yeah, I kinda wonder that sometimes, too.”
The two of them sat back on the bed, and Sam flipped channels, but almost all of them were running news about the bombs. After a few minutes, he clicked it off, and they lay back and just held each other.
Sam's phone rang, and he picked it up. “It's Harry,” he said.
6
“Hello, Harry,” Sam said.
“Sam, I've just about decided that I need to keep a leash on you, or at least a GPS tracker so I can find you whenever the world is in danger. You not only tracked down a nuclear bomb, you captured one of the most wanted terrorists on the planet. Now, how the hell am I supposed to put this into a report?”
“Hey, that's not my problem,” Sam said with a grin. “But if Uncle Sam wants to throw another reward my way, I'd be game.”
“You know how that works, they don't give me squat to work with,” Harry said in his slow drawl, “but believe me when I say that I plan to work something out. Gotta keep on your good side, boy, I might need you to save my own hide again, one day!”
“So this is just a social call, then? Chit chat?”
The old man laughed. “I know you don’t believe that,” he said. “No, actually, I'm calling because I remembered you've got a little girl back here in Denver. Where is she? I want to get your family out, just in case.”
“We already did,” Sam said, “but I appreciate it. My Dad left me his old hunting cabin out on Hoosier Ridge. My mom and Indie's were taking care of Kenzie, and I had them all go out there. They're safe.”
Harry was quiet for a moment. “Then, I'd hazard a guess that you'd like to come back to Colorado pretty soon?”
Sam sat up. “You could arrange that?”
“I can. If you give me the go ahead, I'll have a car there to get you in twenty minutes, and you'll be in a specially authorized aircraft in an hour, on your way back here.”
“Do it,” Sam said. “Now, what's the catch?”
“Sam! You hurt me, boy! Why would there be a catch?”
“Because you're with the government, and the government never does anything without strings attached! What's the catch?”
Harry sighed. “I'm shorthanded, back here. Denver is not a high priority station for Homeland Security, not as high as LA or Chicago, anyway. I need a man who's actually seen one of these things, and has the cojones to go after it. That le
aves me you. Will you help me out?”
Sam turned to Indie, his eyes wide. To Harry, he said, “Would you believe me if I said an old Civil War soldier already told me I had to?”
Indie's eyes went just as wide as Sam's, but she didn't say anything. Harry said, “At some point, boy, you are going to tell me the story behind that, but not right now. I'm sending the car, so be ready in twenty.” The line went dead.
Sam turned to Indie. “Harry will have a car here for us in twenty minutes, to take us to a plane that's gonna take us home. He wants me to work with his people on finding the bomb.” He stared at her, and then said, “If I survive this, I'm gonna kill Beauregard!”
Indie shook her head, rolling her eyes. “You can't, I've tried. Believe me, I've tried!” They got up and started packing hurriedly, and were downstairs at the front desk when the car arrived. The crowd of people trying to leave earlier had finally dispersed, and Sam was able to check them out with no trouble.
“Mr. and Mrs. Prichard?” the driver asked, and Indie nodded. “May I take your bags?”
“Thank you,” Sam said, turning to meet the man. They followed him out to a sedan, and he put their bags into the car's trunk.
“I'm to take you straight to the airport,” he said. “There is a plane waiting for you, so hang on. I was told, with absolutely no way to misunderstand my orders, that I am to get you there as soon as possible, and that is exactly what I plan to do.”
Sam and Indie buckled into the back seat, and the driver took off. He was apparently serious about needing to get them there quickly, because he took every shortcut and even ran a few red lights. They were at the airport in less than twenty minutes, and he drove them straight through a gate to where a Gulfstream jet was waiting on the tarmac. As they got out of the car, another man wearing a pilot's uniform approached them.