He raised the binoculars once more, held them in place for only a few seconds, and said, "My guy's up there. Here goes. It took me three trips to get all these charges in place. I used more explosives here than everywhere else put together."
He fingered one of the levers on the black plastic box and raised his eyes to a spot just above the horizon. Lucy tried to follow the line of his gaze.
"Three," he whispered, "two… one."
At first, Lucy didn't see anything change in her field of vision and wondered if Ramp's device had failed. Then, barely to the right of where she was focusing her attention, she glimpsed a puff of smoke, like a flare from a campfire. It had emerged from a spot close to the ground in the middle of the amusement park.
Rapidly-close by the first-another puff of smoke followed. Lucy's eyes trailed up from the source to the elaborate superstructure of a loop-the-loop thrill ride. The highest part of the metal structure started to lean, she thought, just a little.
Another puff of smoke erupted from the base of the ride-this one was slightly larger and a little higher off the ground. Lucy thought she could hear the concussion of a blast, too. But she wasn't sure that her mind wasn't just filling in the blanks.
Ramp said, "It's called The Sidewinder. Ever been on it? It's an okay ride. It was an okay ride. I don't think it's going to be too much fun anymore."
Lucy watched the single spiral of steel lean farther and farther to the west. Then it steadied and hung in the sky in defiance. She glanced over at Ramp. He touched another switch on the black plastic console.
One more puff exploded near the base of The Sidewinder, and the temporarily reluctant steel structure continued its fall to the west.
"Wow," Ramp said as the structure disappeared into the fabric of the amusement park. "I did it. It fell right where I wanted it to fall."
He stared at the empty sky and the rising cloud of dust for more than a minute before he started the truck and eased away from the bluff above the river. "The guy who was climbing the ride just then? He was the twin brother of the defense attorney who represented the man who killed my mom."
As they circled underneath the viaduct and drove past the big REI store that had been built inside the old Forney Museum, Ramp said, "Things will start to happen fast now. If they go well, you should be free in a couple of hours."
CHAPTER 49
C ozy's injuries were the most severe.
The elevator car had been ascending between the seventh and eighth floors when the explosion rocked the concrete elevator tower. The car came to an abrupt halt, throwing both Lauren and the woman who had been carrying the coffee to the floor. The woman with the coffee broke her right wrist, and Lauren's head slammed against the side of the car. Cozy somehow maintained his balance. The fact that he was still standing made him much more vulnerable when the car dropped precipitously. He flew headfirst up into the ceiling of the car and crashed back to the floor when the car jammed to a stop where I found it in between the sixth and seventh floors.
L auren's violet eyes were open as I ran to her side at the rear of the ambulance. She was strapped to a backboard, and huge cushioned cervical braces immobilized her head and upper body.
She asked, "How's Grace?"
What?
"The baby's great," I said. "How are you?"
"I'm okay," she said. They lifted her into the back of the ambulance and closed the doors.
A n hour later, Cozy was in surgery. The woman with the coffee had been released from the hospital with her arm in a cast. Lauren was in observation. My own observation was that she was looking pretty good, considering.
During our few minutes together, Lauren had told me what happened.
Bob, the building handyman who'd died in the elevator crash, had been waiting in the lobby when Cozy and Lauren walked in that morning. He'd been puzzling over a sign that had been placed on one elevator declaring it out of service for a furniture delivery. Bob complained to Lauren and Cozy that no one had permission to reserve an elevator without talking to him, certainly not at that hour of the day. He told them to go ahead and use the reserved elevator, which was waiting on the first floor. He'd take the other one and find out who was responsible for the sign.
Lauren said they stopped once on the third floor and the young woman with the coffee joined them. Moments later the explosion rocked the elevator tower.
A drienne somehow created enough of a hole in her day to sit with me while I held a cup of hospital coffee in my hand. The coffee was too foul to actually drink, but I got some comfort from holding it. Adrienne was acting unnaturally, saying pacifying things like "You know that you did everything you could." And "It's lucky you told the firefighters where to go." I think I would have actually felt better if she had just lovingly berated me like she usually did.
I said, "Based on my recent experience, I think if you have to be in the emergency room, it's easier being the patient than being the one waiting to hear news about someone you love."
Before she could respond to my comment, the phone in my pocket rang. Initially, the sound meant nothing to me. It simply didn't register. Finally, Adrienne said, "That's your phone. It may be Viv. Let's take it outside. They don't like cells in here."
I followed her out the sliding glass doors of the emergency department, hit a button on the phone, and said, "Alan Gregory." We were standing on the edge of the driveway with three people who were sucking nicotine in smoker's Siberia.
I heard music playing through the phone, a song by Everclear that Lauren liked. I'd never understood how she could like it. I said, "Hello."
The song ended; a commercial jingle started. Something about why I should buy my next car at Burt Chevrolet. Then a man's voice said, "I'm going to try and find the news." The voice was in the background, as though the speaker wasn't talking directly into the microphone.
The voice I'd heard wasn't Viv's, but it was vaguely familiar. I said, "Hello, who is this?"
I was about to hang up when the same voice sounded again. Clearly. "I need to find out if they sent the bomb squad to Red Rocks. I don't think they have two mobile X-ray units. And I don't think they have two robots."
Adrienne asked, "Is it Viv?"
I shook my head. The sound in my ear was of stations changing quickly on a radio. Music, commercial, talk. The channel lottery stopped abruptly with a perky female voice prattling on about the explosion earlier that morning at Elitch's. I wouldn't exactly call what she was doing "news."
Adrienne said, "Who is it?"
I held up a finger, asking for her patience. She squished up one eye and shook her head at me to remind me that patience wasn't one of her best things.
As though I might have forgotten.
I covered the mouthpiece again. "Nobody's talking to me, but I hear a voice talking about the bomb at Red Rocks."
"What?"
That's when I heard a muffled sound of protest. Oddly, it was the most distinct sound that had yet come through the phone.
Again I covered the mouthpiece. "Adrienne, you have your phone with you?"
It was clear from her expression that it was like asking her whether she had her nose with her.
"Call Sam Purdy. I need to keep this call going." Even Adrienne could recognize the urgency in my voice when I told her the number.
She yanked her phone from her belt and punched at the buttons.
I handed her my phone and took hers. "Adrienne?" I spoke her name to see if she was on my wavelength. She was. "Keep the microphone covered," I told her. "I don't want whoever is on the other end of that call to hear anything from us. Is that clear? If you hear anything interesting, let me know."
She made a face to communicate how unhappy she was about how perplexed she was, but she placed her index finger over the microphone, leaned her head to the side, and slid the phone below her hair.
I waited until I heard Sam's bored voice before I turned my back on Adrienne and spoke. "Sam, it's Alan. Listen-my cell phone just rang. Nob
ody's actually talking to me but the line is live and I can hear part of a conversation going on in the background. Somebody is talking about the bomb that they found at Red Rocks. I don't know what to make of it."
I counted to three before he responded. "What exactly did you hear?"
"It's a guy talking. He's in a car, I think. He said something to someone about needing to find out whether they sent the bomb squad to Red Rocks. And I'm pretty sure he said that he thought the Denver Bomb Squad only had one mobile X-ray unit and one robot."
"Really? He said that? He talked about mobile X-rays and robots?"
"Yes."
"And this is all just like conversation in the background? He's not talking to you?"
"That's right."
"What else?"
"He's punching buttons on a radio, trying to find the news."
"That's it?"
"And there was a muffled sound like a groan."
"Muffled?"
"Yeah."
"A groan?"
"Yeah."
"The call's still going?"
"Just a sec." I turned to Adrienne. "It's still going?"
She nodded. I saw some magic flicker like a jewel in the corner of her eyes. I knew she wasn't bored.
"Still going, Sam."
"Where are you?"
"Outside the ER entrance at Community."
"I'll be there in three minutes."
I ended the call. When I looked up again, Adrienne's eyes were as big and bright as marbles.
She was almost breathless. "The guy? He just said he would take that off if somebody promised not to scream."
"Take what off?"
"I don't know. There was some funny moaning noise. Then he went, 'I'll take that off if you promise not to scream.' That's all he said. Jesus, Alan, do you really think-"
"Yes," I said. "I really do."
CHAPTER 50
T he route into Lower Downtown was familiar to Lucy for two reasons. She was a Rockies fan and she was a young single woman. Being a Rockies fan meant Coors Field. Being a single woman meant way too many regrettable first dates in the clubs and restaurants of LoDo.
After Ramp circled along the Platte past the REI store, he went down Fifteenth Street to Wynkoop, turned left past Union Station, and then made a loop that brought the truck to the corner that was opposite the old Student Movers Building that had been incorporated into the structure of Coors Field. The ground floor of the renovated building was used for the Sandlot Brewery.
"This will work. We can park here for a while," he said. "But you need to stay down." He displayed his wrist, the one with the transmitter button taped to it.
She wondered if he was planning on trying to bring down the baseball stadium and immediately decided that it was impossible. She protested loudly into her gag. He ignored her.
They sat. She couldn't see a clock but she guessed that they sat for at least half an hour.
Finally, he said, "There she is."
Lucy had no idea which woman Ramp was identifying.
He started the truck and turned and circled back around until they came out a block away at the corner of Twentieth and Blake, directly across from the main entrance to the ballpark. Again, Ramp parked the truck on the street. This time, he hopped out of the cab and fed the meter.
When he climbed back into the truck, he said, "I'm going to try and find the news."
Lucy tried to talk into her gag. She couldn't even understand herself. The effort was futile.
Ramp said, "I need to find out if they sent the bomb squad to Red Rocks. I don't think they have two mobile X-ray units. And I don't think they have two robots." He reached out and started punching buttons on the radio.
Lucy tried to understand what was going on. Why did it matter to Ramp what was happening up at Red Rocks? Why was it important how many mobile X-ray units and robots the Denver Bomb Squad had?
She screamed into the gag.
Ramp raised his wrist and lifted an index finger to his lips to warn her to be quiet.
A minute or so passed. He said, "I'll take that off if you promise not to scream."
She nodded urgently.
He reached down and lowered the sock so that it was resting on her chin, not her mouth. Almost involuntarily she said, "Thank you." It came out in a cotton-mouthed whisper.
He was looking out the windshield.
"You're welcome. It's time." He reached down to the floor in front of his seat and lifted a device that looked like a controller for a child's electronic toy. "I thought you wanted to say something."
"Ramp, stop. Please. Don't do it. Don't set off any more bombs."
"That's it? That's all you wanted to say?" He reached over and lifted the sock back into place in Lucy's mouth.
She closed her eyes and shook her head in despair. She tugged at her wrist restraints until the plastic bit into her flesh. It was futile.
"I'll be back in a minute. I need to get closer for this thing to work. It doesn't have great range. Stay down or things will get worse for you. I'll be in sight of you the whole time. Do you understand?"
She didn't look at him.
"I'm telling you that you'll be within range." He raised his arm, the one with the transmitter taped to it.
She nodded.
His voice still even, he said, "I know this isn't any fun. But tell me you understand."
She nodded again.
Twenty or thirty seconds after Ramp exited the car, Lucy heard the reverberation of an explosion. It wasn't loud, or sharp. If she didn't know he was setting off a bomb, she would have believed the sound was caused by something else, something less sinister.
She started to cry.
It wasn't long before Ramp climbed back into the truck. A distant peal of sirens began to pierce through the benign blanket of sounds that covered the city in the morning.
"In case you're wondering, that was for a woman who worked for the Rockies-she was the wife of the judge who approved the sentence of the man who killed my mom. Time to go," he said. "Time to go."
CHAPTER 51
S am pulled down Balsam from the east. I imagined that he was still at the Colorado Building when I called him, and guessed that he must have come across town on Thirteenth, avoiding Broadway. He was driving his city car, not his old Cherokee, and I didn't recognize him until he turned into the entry drive for the ER. I waved at him, careful to keep one finger planted on the mouthpiece of the phone.
As he pulled into the ambulance-only zone, I ran to his car, pointing to the phone at my ear. "I think I just heard a woman's voice."
"You're sure?"
"The guy said, 'I thought you wanted to say something.' Then the woman's voice said, 'Ramp, stop, please don't do it. Don't set off any more bombs.' Then the guy said, 'That's it?' "
"Anything else?"
"A car door slammed."
"And now?"
"Nothing."
Sam sighed.
Under my breath, I said, "Oh no. Oh my God!"
Sam threw open the door to his car and started to climb out. He barked, "What? What?"
"I think I just heard an explosion, Sam. A bang. No, more like a deep rumble. Now nothing."
"You're not imagining this? You're sure it wasn't like a car backfiring or something?"
"I don't think so."
Sam fell back down onto the seat and pulled his radio to his lips. He asked the dispatcher to check to see if there were any reports of an explosion in Denver in the last couple of minutes.
"Sam? The car door slammed shut again. Then the guy said, 'Time to go. Time to go.' "
Sam nodded at me. Into the radio, he said, "It's okay, I'll wait as long as I have to wait."
Half a minute passed, then a minute. I couldn't understand the reply when it finally squawked back to him through the radio.
"What?" I asked.
"A bomb just went off at Coors Field. There are casualties. The half of the Denver Police force that isn't at Elitch's is responding
right now."
"I can hear the sirens," I said, for the first time realizing that I'd heard the explosion live. I pointed at the phone. "I'm listening to Ramp, Sam. He has Lucy with him."
"Let me have the phone."
He listened for maybe fifteen seconds. "I don't hear anything. You sure it's still live?"
I nodded. "It was a few seconds ago."
He handed the phone back to me. "Keep listening. I have to get the location of this call identified somehow. There's no reason to think this kid is done blowing things up."
An out-of-tune diesel delivery truck plowed up Balsam. I turned away from Sam to escape the noise. The call went dead.
I checked the screen of my phone to be sure. I even shook the handset as though that would restore the connection.
"Sam, we lost it."
"Don't tell me that."
"It's gone."
"Check your caller ID. Find out who the hell called you."
I did. Lucy's cell phone number popped up on the little screen. "It was Lucy, Sam."
He buried his lower lip in his mustache and pondered the cards in his hand. "Here's what I think's happening: She speed-dialed you and Ramp doesn't know that her phone is on. She can't risk saying anything but she wants us to hear everything that's going on. When she realizes that the call got dropped, she'll do it all again. Let's be ready."
I asked, "How do we get ready?"
"I don't know." Sam looked exhausted. "How's Lauren doing?"
"It looks like she'll be okay. She sprained her wrist and she banged her head pretty good. They have her in observation now. Cozy broke a bone in his neck. He's in surgery."
"Damn. Fusion?"
"I don't know, maybe."
"The other girl?"
"Broke her wrist, got burned a little from the coffee. She's home already. Is Marin talking?"
"Not yet. She said she'll tell us whatever we want later in the day. Believe it or not, she lawyered up. Is that ironic or what?"
I didn't want to get lost thinking about the Biggs. "What do we do about Lucy, Sam?"
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