She raced up the stairs to the second floor, but a distraught George was already in the study screaming, ‘Dad.’
She shuddered, as she remembered George sitting in a corner, rocking himself repeatedly, in tears.
TAYLOR PLACED A COMFORTING arm on her shoulder. She gradually composed herself.
‘Killing himself had nothing to do with our son losing to Thomas Steel. Twenty years ago, men didn’t go to counselling or seek help for mental problems. My husband... he hallucinated sometimes. Often couldn’t sleep. Always chasing the stars and the dream.’
Ron Taylor handed her more tissues, taking the soaking pieces of the old ones from her.
Trying to steel herself, she continued. ‘It was just wrong timing. His Dad had long been depressed, long been struggling with himself. But George was just fifteen; he hated himself for failing his Dad. Somehow, he got it in his head, if he had won it, his Dad would still be alive. I tried to explain it to him...I tried.’
No one said a word. It was as if time stopped but in reality, it was ticking and ticking frighteningly fast for Bianca and Steel.
Mrs. Lee said, ‘Imagine a white wall.’ Taylor and Lane both nodded.
‘Imagine a white wall with a nail on it. That nail was Thomas Steel. Everything that has gone wrong in his life, no matter how trivial, was Thomas’s fault. Over the years, I’ve insisted that he go to therapy. He’s been on and off. I think he knows his anger towards Thomas Steel is irrational, but he couldn’t let it go.’
‘Couldn’t let it go,’ she repeated as she shook with grief.
She looked at the cup; it was now empty.
‘See this,’ she said, lifting the cup a little higher. She crunched it in her gnarled hand, the sound of the plastic cup crunching sent tingles up their spine, ‘That’s what happened to him that day. His heart was crushed, and it didn’t bounce back.’
‘Now and then, he’d track Officer Steel down. It was easier when he was just a beat cop. When he joined NYSP, it was as if a blanket of anonymity suddenly shrouded your officer. There was little news about him. Thomas Steel’s name is never mentioned in the papers, but every time there was a bomb threat in the City he’d come home morose, repeatedly saying, “I bet that’s him that’s defused that bomb.”
‘He Googles your officer and nothing comes up, and he’d say, ‘Someone’s cleaning him off the system. He’s a member of the bomb squad, mother, so his identity’s protected, but one day, we will meet again.’’
‘In the last two years, he was happier, more settled, until a month ago. He didn’t want to talk to anyone about it. He just lost interest with his work, quit and decided to do menial jobs. He said he was downsizing his life. For these last four weeks, I didn’t know what he was up to.’
At this point, Yamamoto informed them. ‘I spoke to the Supervisor; he said George Lee was hired as Christopher Lee through a blue-collar agency. Budget cuts, sir. City Hall employs casual blue-collar workers when they’re short-staffed.’
Mrs. Lee gripped Taylor’s hand, ‘His Dad’s Christopher Lee.’
Taylor sensed they were getting closer to the bottom of the tipping point. ‘Something happened four weeks ago, we need to find out what. What drove a genius to leave a high-paying, secure job in a development firm and work a low-paying blue-collar job and do this?’
We need to speak to Kearns, Lane thought. He dialled her number, she answered abruptly, ‘Yeah, Boss.’
‘Have you located anyone, anyone at all?’
‘Yeah, Boss... I’m parking now, we’ll be there in two.’ They arrived in less than two minutes. Kearns had run at full tilt, dragging the poor man with her. By the time they reached the Command Post, the man was close to suffering cardiac arrest. Kearns was unsympathetic. She whispered, ‘You need to get out more.’
They heard them and turned as one.
‘Boss, Charlie White, Senior Chemist at Stirling Development,’ she said, without breaking stride.
Taylor asked their invited guests to sit down, then introduced Mrs. Lee to him before themselves.
Lane went straight to business, ‘What happened to George Lee at Stirling Development four weeks ago?’
‘He left the Company,’ White replied.
Taylor patiently said, ‘We already know that... what we want to know is why?’
‘He was passed over for a promotion.’
Lane looked at Taylor, ‘Is that enough of a tipping point? Enough of a stressor?’
Taylor nodded his head, ‘Yes, it’s a stressor. The thing is, that doesn’t help the Steels.’
Charlie White queried, still unsure what the question had to do with Lee, ‘Who are the Steels?’
‘Our Officer, Thomas Steel... George Lee strapped a bomb to his wife’s chest.’
‘Steel,’ he repeated, wide-eyed. ‘The new boss. The one they passed him over for, for the promotion, his last name is Steel.’
Shit, they thought. That’s the tipping point.
It was another thing to hang on Thomas Steel, his perennial nail on the white wall.
7: No Joy
STEEL WORKED CAREFULLY; Bianca smiled at him, ‘What are you doing?’
‘Sorry Munchkin, I didn’t mean to ignore you. I’m looping strands of wool to the wires for colour. Just three loops. One, two, three, and I tape the ends. I could use coloured pens, but they run, I could end up with two colours. I’d look at it and wonder’, then imitating Donald Duck; he said, ‘Is this supposed to be blue or red?’
Bianca smiled, despite her nervousness.
‘This way might take a little more time, but I can be sure of the colour.’
He stopped for a moment, observing the twelve pipe bombs sewn into the vest, ‘See these pipes; that’s where the shrapnel are stored, when it goes boom glass, ball bearings, metal shards... they all go flying in all direction. That’s the one that kills a lot of people. It must be heavy,’ he said, concerned.
‘It actually isn’t as heavy as it looks,’ she said.
‘Not as heavy as it looks?’ he asked, his suspicion aroused.
‘No,’ she said again.
Jesus, he thought, his eyes widening. ‘I’ll be right back, Munchkin.’
He conferred with Martin, who raised the red flag. Maura sighted him in her bino; she turned to Kearns, who had also been watching, ‘He’s asking for his bomb kit.’
‘On it,’ Kearns replied.
She located Steel's kit, opened it to inventory its contents, just to be sure everything he could need was inside. Lee Kearns was his second for this reason. She was thorough and smart.
As she hefted the twenty-pound holdall, she noticed the bomb-suit next to it. She called Knight over, 'Get that. We'll take them all to him to save him asking for it later.' Both Officers walked over.
Steel smiled at them, ‘Thanks,’ he said.
Kearns knelt beside Bianca, cupped her face in her hands and said, ‘We’re all here, and we love you very much.’
Bianca smiled tearfully, ‘We love you guys, too.’
Steel jokingly told the women, ‘Normally; I’d tell you two to get a room, but under the circumstances, I think, Officer Kearns, you better get your big butt out of here.’
Lee Kearns got up, glared at him and said, ‘You better get her out of here, Steel, or I’ll fry your ass.’
Bianca laughed at the banter. ‘You guys are crazy,’ she said.
Knight grabbed Kearns’ collar, pulled her back, ‘One man down range.’
Steel removed a device from his kit, a hand-held gadget that functioned similarly to a CT-scanner; the X-ray capability of this device was up to 3mm thick. He scanned a pipe. It was empty. He disconnected the wire, repeating the process: X-ray. Confirm it’s empty. Disconnect.
By the end of it, he was left with a detonator, battery, blasting cap, C-4.
Curiously, there were more wires; he reckoned, just to confuse him. His conclusion was, it’s a very cruel bomb.
He squatted down and sat on his feet. His hands
on the ground, he leaned forward exhausted. ‘I need to take a breather,’ he whispered to her. She forced herself to smile, but she could tell all was not well.
He turned to May, ‘Watch Mommy for me.’
APRIL HAD GROWN INCREASINGLY tense as minutes ticked by, but Knight refused to let her off her leash. He couldn’t risk her running off to join Mom, Dad, and May.
‘Hey there, girl,’ he said as he hugged the dog. April allowed herself to be embraced.
Shortly after, though, she started to walk around, stressed. They all watched her walk in ever-tightening circles.
‘Poor thing,’ Knight muttered.
He reassured her ‘It’s going to be okay.’ The problem was April wouldn’t believe him. She knew bombs.
STEEL WALKED BEHIND the building and gave an upturned rubbish bin a good kicking; he let out the tension that was beginning to cramp his muscles. Screaming, ‘Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.’
He kicked the bin some more until he exhausted his anger. He expelled a deep breath, tried to loosen his muscles and walked slowly back.
Bianca glanced down at the timer; all this time, she never did. Now it said, 2:00:07.
He’s running out of time.
She looked at Knight and waved at him. She wondered if he was far enough away not to be collateral damage.
She reached for May, stroked her fur; she said, ‘Go to Daddy. Go, go to Daddy.’ But the darling dog must have guessed what she was thinking. May stood her ground.
The Yorkshire terrier emitted a barely perceptible cry from her belly. She visibly shook, the sound coming out of her a pitiful, ‘Er...er...er.’
She begged the canine, ‘Go on. Go.’
She heard Steel’s voice, ‘She’s not going anywhere. I love you.’
Despairing, he lifted her chin and said, ‘What were you thinking? You made me a promise. I know what to do... I’m fairly sure I got this. Trust me.’
LOGAN AND TEAM ONE arrived back at Command Post, ‘No joy,’ they said.
‘No joy,’ the others mumbled back to themselves.
8: Tortured Soul
GEORGE HAD BEEN PACING the living room floor. The clutter in the office apartment reflected the cosmic chaos inside his head. The last four weeks had been hell. His Thomas Steel fixation had turned septic; so toxic it caused his mind and emotions to combust. It was a simmering obsession that ate his very soul.
He started it. If he hadn’t been there... if he hadn’t won unfairly, my father would still be alive. And if he were alive, my life would have turned out differently. I would have been different.
Lately, he’d been hearing voices. Prominently, his father’s. It was relentless. Always asking, mocking, and nagging.
So what are you going to do about it?
You useless wimp.
You’re a waste of space.
We shouldn’t have had you.
These voices—accusing, painfully accusing voices.
He scoped Thomas Steel through high-powered binoculars. He watched with increasing agitation as the EOD specialist uncovered his deception. Anger rose in his belly as Steel removed the decoys he had devised. One by one by one, he removed them.
Perspiration trickled down his face, his fingers trembling on occasion. He shifted his sights on to Bianca. She was beautiful, he thought, even when she was worried. Lines creased her forehead and sweat marks formed maps on her neckline and under her armpits. Steel touched her lips; it annoyed him. To hell with you two, he said.
He shut his eyes and braced himself when he felt the ground sway underneath him. It was all down to thirst and hunger as all-consuming obsession took over his life. George steadied himself, walked to the kitchenette and swiped everything on the counter top onto the floor. Mildewed food mixed with rancid milk. He found his prescription medicine, emptied the pills on the bench and smashed them with a long-necked glass bottle. Pills and bottle ended up as tiny fragments on the bench.
Moments later, having exhausted his agitation, a tiny smile appeared on his face. He couldn’t wait for Steel to realise what’s coming to them.
You’ll figure it out sooner or later, won’t you, Thomas Steel? And you won’t be a happy bunny.
AT THE COMMAND POST, Sam Logan climbed on to the Truck. The rest of Team One had to wait outside. Space was at a premium. With Charlie White, Mrs. Lee, Lane, Taylor and Yamamoto inside, it was very cramped.
‘Take this,’ said the Wii One, offering her seat in front of the computer console.
‘This won’t take long,’ Logan said. ‘No joy,’ he reported. ‘We’ve checked offices in four buildings on the north side; we haven’t located him.’
‘The north side, did you say?’ asked Mrs. Lee.
‘Yes, Ma’am, do you have information that could help?’
‘My husband owned an office apartment in one of those buildings. He left it in his will to George, but he never did transfer the property title to himself.’
‘Ma’am, may I asked you to step outside and point out the building to us? Just so we’re clear.’ Mrs. Lee rose from her seat, hopped off assisted by the Sam Logan.
Upon spotting her, Alex and Toby looked at each other. Hairs on their arms stood on end. Toby spoke first. ‘Does she remind you of someone?’
Alex said, ‘Shit, the old guy... he looks like he could be related to her.’
Unkempt, gaunt, and stooped, the thirty-five-year-old scientist looked far older than his actual age, but he and Mrs. Lee shared the same facial structure: oval-shaped face, high cheekbones, and the eyes - they simultaneously thought: the colour of the iris.
Toby hurried over to Logan, concern written on his face. ‘Sam, we met George Lee. It’s just that he didn’t look the same to the photo. I’m so sorry.’
Alex butted in, ‘Toby, I was there, too. I was with you. It’s not our fault. We couldn’t have been able to tell it was the same man.’
Logan turned to Mrs. Lee, ‘It’s okay, ma’am. Go back to the Truck.’
But Mrs. Lee remained standing on the spot. She eyed every member of Team One, who were still wearing their workmen’s disguise.
She looked at Logan with pleading eyes, ‘Please promise me you’ll do everything you can to bring him back to me.’
Officer Sam Logan was put on the spot.
How could I make such a promise?
He held her hands as if she were his mother, ‘Ma’am,’ he said truthfully, ‘I can’t guarantee anything, but we will try our best to bring him home.’
Then he hugged the woman, who for years had lived with anguish, unanswered prayers and sorrow for her son’s tortured life—a life unfulfilled for all its potentials and gifts.
Dylan Lane went down to get her back in the truck, mouthed ‘Good luck’ to Team One as they prepared to formulate a tactical approach.
LOGAN GATHERED HIS men for a huddle, ‘One thing is sure, this won’t be easy.’
Toby was far more optimistic. ‘Sam, with the jammers still in play, he couldn’t pull off a remote detonation, at least, not on Bianca and Steel.’
‘It didn’t stop him blasting one outside the perimeter earlier today,’ countered Jess. ‘We have to assume he planted others.’
‘You know what else, guys? He could be wearing the dead man’s switch?’ said Bill.
‘Guys, are you thinking what I’m thinking?’ asked Philip.
Logan nodded. ‘If Steel successfully disarms the bomb, they’re still not safe if we don’t find George Lee; he’s gonna take them out one way or another.’
He studied the building with his bino. Turning back to his Team, he gave a detailed tactical plan which involved a lot of risks and no protection, not even a Kevlar vest.
‘We can’t knock on his door dressed in gear. Doing so could get a lot of people killed. So, this is entirely voluntary. If you don’t want to do it, I’d understand, and I won’t think any less of you.’
‘I’m not going anywhere,’ said Bill. The rest said pretty much the same thing. So, it was a situation of one
in, all in.
Logan gave his instruction. ‘Jess and Philip, tell the patrol officers to extend the perimeter. Push everyone back. Check every bin.’
‘Bill, you and I will rappel down and enter through the balcony. Toby and Alex, front door, hard and fast entry. Stealth and surprise.
‘As soon as we’re in, we cover him with the chemical foam. We have to assume he’s wearing the dead man’s switch. Assume the worse.’
The men nodded, fully comprehending the tactical plan. So, armed with just rappelling ropes, chemical spray, and earwigs, Logan, Bill, Alex, and Toby ran towards the building buoyed by the hope that they’d got a bead on their man.
But George had seen them.
He had focused his binocular towards the Command Truck just as his mother was stepping out with Sam Logan.
He saw it all!
His mother, the bitch, in cahoots with the police.
He was infuriated. Angered that she was always valuing other people’s opinion over his. Taking the doctor’s advice, the teacher’s assessment, and his fair-weathered friends’ gossips.
They will all pay, he said to himself.
Thinking of his mother, he thought, if I had any sense, I should have killed you first.
Just you watch.
9: Horror Day
THEY SPRINTED TOWARDS THE BUILDING.
Inside, it was eerily quiet. Everyone had been evacuated in a rush. The building had an apocalyptic ambience. Papers scattered on the floor, a woman’s shoe lying on its side, and paper cups crushed in the rush; signs of having been abandoned hastily.
They took the elevator, Toby and Alex got off at the twelfth floor.
‘On my go —’ Logan reminded them although it was unnecessary.
The elevator doors closed. Logan and Bill continued to the roof which had been converted into a garden.
Bill found some window wipers, ‘These would come in handy.’ He pocketed them, window cleaners would be the perfect disguise.
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