One lone truck made its way across the dead parking lot, carrying the Boston Bomb Squad, two FBI agents, three SWAT officers, one Karen Watson, and a very happy Larry Turner. Due to the urgent nature of the threat, the robotic bomb unit had been shelved in favor of a team that could work quickly to locate and dismantle the bomb.
Working from information in the Geo Cache, and evidence that the bomb could still be in the U-Haul truck, the team headed toward the far side of the mall. A U-Haul had recently been sighted entering a storage garage in that area. The SWAT team filed out and set up a perimeter around the garage, and the Bomb Squad began testing the area for radiation. The bomb was in the U-haul as they had suspected, and radiation levels were low, so the all-clear was given. The Bomb Squad began their work.
Karen was busy asking questions while Larry set up the portable satellite box near the Bomb Squad truck. He fired it up, got the sat-lock, and plugged his camera into the side. He waved to get Karen's attention. “Ready when you are, hon.”
Karen listened through her earpiece to the news director in master control. “Are you set up, Karen?”
“Yeah, Jim. Ready when you are.”
“Cindy’s getting set in the chair. Hold on a sec.”
Karen adjusted the suit coat Larry had brought her and checked her face one last time. She was not looking her best by any means, but it would have to do.
“Alright,” said Jim, “look alive. We’re going to camera one on Cindy in five, four, three, two.”
Karen could hear Cindy talking through her earbud. She gave Larry a nod, and he brought his camera up onto his shoulder.
“We now go live to Karen Watson at the bomb site.”
“Thank you, Cindy. Behind me, as you can see, the Boston Bomb Squad is assessing the situation. We have been told that the bomb has been deactivated, but the threat is still high. These men need to determine if the bomb can be dismantled and whether or not it has been rigged to explode if tampered with. The nuclear material is another hazard; a specialist is on site working closely with the team to handle the added danger. It is a grueling job, a job these brave men handle with professionalism and dedication. Earlier this morning authorities uncovered, through an anonymous source, information linking a Harvard Chemist named Jerry Cook to the construction of the bomb. His full involvement is unknown, and his whereabouts are also unknown at this time. This afternoon, FBI stormed the hostage house containing Brad Knight. He is said to have been recovered uninjured. Police and Federal agents have linked the money to a man named Afif Al-Qadir. Qadir is currently at large and is considered armed and dangerous. If you have any information about this man, or about Jerry Cook, please contact the Boston PD. Things are still tense here, as you can imagine, but authorities are at work, and the outlook is hopeful. –Back to you, Cindy.”
She heard Cindy take over, and Jim’s voice came on her earbud. “Excellent job, Karen. Have Larry get some live footage of the Bomb Squad. We’ll go back to it a few times over the next few minutes and wrap up with you at the end. Kay?”
Karen spoke into her mic. “Sure thing, Jim.”
She relayed the information to Larry, and he repositioned beside the truck.
A tall Arab man came up behind Karen. “Excuse me, miss.”
She looked at him blankly.
“I have information about your Brad Knight.”
Her face came alive. “Yes?”
“I was told to give Mr. Knight anything he wanted, and against my advice, he wanted to come here––to see you.”
She turned and saw him, standing by a black Humvee. He looked like he had been through hell and back. A blanket was thrown over his hunched shoulders. His hair and pants were covered in blood––and yet his face––his beautiful face was strong and confident.
Her eyes filled with tears. “Brad!” She ran across the parking lot and wrapped her good arm around him. Her face pressed into his neck. He pulled her in tight. “I was so worried... I… I… ” Her voice gave out and she began to weep quietly in his arms.
His fingers caressed her hair in gentle swirls. “It’s over, Karen. It’s over. Shhh. I’m alright.”
She continued to cry. Was it over? Had they stopped the terrorists completely? Was this the end of the story? The end of the threat? She rubbed her cheek on his chest.
“I had some time to think.” His voice sounded dry.
She pulled away and looked up at him. The tears were still flowing. “–About what?”
“Us.”
The world seemed to slow as her mind attempted to decipher the implication of the word.
“Karen, I know this is unexpected, and probably the worst time in the history of worst times, but I don’t want to ever have to face something like this again and regret that I never asked you to marry me.”
She stepped back. A look of shock crossed her features. Did he just... Her eyes grew wide, then questioning. “Did you just...”
“Karen.” He got down on one knee. “Will you marry me?”
She didn’t see the blanket, or the blood, or the toll the drugs had taken on his features. His soul was speaking to her. His strong, gentle, compassionate, wonderful, loving soul.
Her heart filled with joy. “Yes! YES I’ll marry you!” She pulled him up, wrapped her arm around his neck, and kissed him passionately.
Larry hollered across the parking lot. “Hey! You love birds mind? We got work to do!”
She glanced back at Larry, then up at Brad. “I’d like to thank you.”
He gave her a confused look.
“For choosing Larry as your cameraman. I was wrong about him.” She looked again at the big Texan tapping his watch with a meaty finger. “–But don’t tell him I said so.”
“Whatever you say, little darlin’.”
She punched him on the arm. “Honestly, I don’t think I would have made it through without him. I guess I just needed someone to be angry at.”
“Well now you have me back and you can be angry at me every day.” He pulled her in and kissed her.
“If y’all are gonna stand there kissin’ all day I might’s well get in front of the camera myself!”
Karen pulled away and bolted across the lot.
Chapter 50
David pulled off to the side of the road, put the car in neutral, and started punching the steering wheel. “HOW! COULD! YOU! LET! THIS! HAPPEN! TO! ME!” He gripped the wheel with both hands and shook it violently. Rage burned hot in every cell of his body. “WWHHYYY!” He pressed his forehead against the steering wheel. His best friend was dead. And for all he knew his family was too. Hate boiled in his heart. Hate for God. Hate for Jerry. Hate for the evil he had caused. And for WHAT, Jerry? For some IDIOTIC political belief? Was it worth sacrificing the only family you had left on this earth?! Was it really worth it?!
Several seconds passed, and David lifted his head.
His grip loosened.
No. It wasn’t worth it. Jerry wouldn’t have made that choice. David’s eyes grew wide. It was another bluff; it had to be. But why? Why would Jerry want him to think his family was dead? Was it a vindictive stab, meant to hurt him for stopping the bomb? No. The voicemail was left before he stopped the bomb. It was another scare tactic. David clutched for his phone. They’re still alive. They have to be! He hit recall on the number for the voicemail. The phone rang and rang, but no one answered. He waited. Still nothing. The phone just kept ringing. What now?
He pressed the off button and immediately the phone buzzed in his hand. He flipped it open. Go to the Internet Cafe on Brown Street and open a Google chat with me. Jerry.
Jerry? He stared at the message, then slammed the car back into gear. The tires screeched into a u-turn, and he headed back toward the mall. Brown Street was only a few minutes away.
The car skidded to a stop on the grass next to the cafe. The evacuation from the mall had created a frenzy of activity in the little Internet cafe, and there were no spaces left anywhere. He ran in and pushed through the
crowd. All eyes were glued to a large television on the wall. David came to a standstill and looked up at the screen. Brad! Brad Knight was reporting live from the mall! Hamid had told the truth! The image sparked a seed of hope in David’s soul. If Brad was okay, maybe his family was okay too!
He grabbed a computer pass and called up gmail on a computer near the front window. “I’m here,” he typed.
The curser blinked, but there was no response.
“I’m here! Jerry, answer me!”
Nothing.
What is he doing? Why doesn’t he answer?
David’s phone went off in his pocket. He pulled it out and flipped it open. “Hello!”
“David. It’s Alex.”
Alex? His brain tried to process what he was hearing. It sounded like Alex. “Wh- who?”
“David. It’s me. Alex.”
“But––Alex? Sharon, said you were dead.”
“I’m not dead. I’m in a lot of pain, but I’m not dead.”
David was speechless.
“I had my vest on. The bullets embedded in the center plate, I lost consciousness for awhile, but I’m okay.”
“Oh, thank God, Alex, I thought...” His throat constricted with emotion. “Wh- where’s Sharon and the kids?”
“I don’t know. When I woke up, they were gone. It all happened so fast! We thought Jerry was at the door, but it was one of the terrorists. I’m so sorry.”
“Jerry? He came to the house?”
“Yeah. To pick up Sharon and the kids and bring them someplace safe. Based on your tone, I’m thinking you know about him.”
“Yeah. I found out from Karen.”
“I just heard it on the radio. I had no idea. I thought the terrorist had followed him or something. If I’d known he was involved in all this I never would have let him through the gate.”
“How could you possibly have known? Jerry’s the last person anyone would expect to be involved in all this.”
“I know. It’s crazy!”
“So you have no idea where he took them?”
“Not at the moment. But I have friends who are plugged in to everything that happens in this city. We’ll find them.”
David looked down at the computer monitor. A message sat waiting in the chat box. “Are you there?”
“Where are you? I’ll come and we can figure out the next move,” said Alex.
David pulled his eyes from the screen. “I’m––at the Internet Café on Brown Street. You know the place?”
“Yeah. I’ll be right there.”
David closed the phone, set it on the table, and typed an answer.
“Yes. I’m here.”
“I’m very angry with you.”
“Who am I speaking with?” typed David.
“Who do you think?” The words sat silent on the cold screen.
“Jerry?”
“This didn’t have to happen this way. I did everything I could to deter you. But you wouldn’t stop.”
“Jerry. Why are you doing this?”
“You have forced my hand. Now I have to do something drastic. Something horrible.”
“Why?”
There was a long pause. Then another message popped up. “Because this country needs a wake up call. We can’t continue to export war and violence all over the world, and expect to live in peace and prosperity. This country needs to know that it is fueling hatred in Muslim countries, and that that hatred will bring our extinction.”
David poked in a response. “They would hate us no matter what. They hate us simply because we’re not Muslim.”
“We never intended to detonate the bomb, David. It was to show what could happen if we continue down this road. But you've ruined everything. Now I will have to do something horrible, so something more horrible can be avoided. I’ve seen what they’re planning. It’s nothing less than the total economic destruction of our country.”
David’s eyes flew over the words “How will any of this help your cause?” he typed back.
“Our government will have to make a statement to the world community, promising to bring all of our troops home. That is the only thing that will stop this.”
“You’re mad.”
“If you use your messages to stop me, I swear to you, David, I will allow my sister and her children to starve to death in the hole I have put them in, their deaths will be on your head.”
The chat terminated.
They’re still alive! David’s heart surged. I KNEW it! He rolled back and stared at the screen. Was it possible that Jerry was bluffing? It certainly didn’t sound like it. Even if he was serious, was he capable of following through with his threats? He could believe that Jerry had something to do with the bomb plot, IF he stretched his imagination. Really stretched it. But to let his sister and her children die of starvation? There was no way. He simply wasn’t capable of such a thing. And it didn’t match up with the conversation on the screen either. In Jerry’s mind, he was doing all this for the greater good of the country. A man sensitive enough to be driven by civic responsibility was not the kind of man who would allow harm to come to those closest to him. If he cared so much about people he didn’t even know, then how much more would he care about his own family? Having Alex killed was understandable. He never liked Alex much anyway. But letting his own family die? It would never happen. He had to be bluffing. Okay, Jerry. You want to play hard ball? Bring it on! Only this time, we’re going to play by MY rules!
Chapter 51
David watched the hostage rescue play out on the large HDTV screen for about the hundredth time, but there was still no sign of Alex. It was dark now, and the evacuees from the mall had cleared out. David sipped his orange soda.
A picture of the President appeared on the screen behind the newscaster. “We have news from the White House that the President has decided to continue on with his scheduled appearance at the airbase in Bangor, Maine, an event he had canceled earlier due to terrorist activity in the Boston area. The President says he hopes to quell fears of more bomb threats by demonstrating his trust in the outstanding work of Homeland Security. With the recent capture of key suspects, and the apprehension of two dirty bombs, the President says he feels confident to move forward with his appearance.”
David’s mouth hung open. If the President was going to be at the airbase, he would be open to attack. Would Jerry try to kill him? Was that the horrible thing he had hinted at?
David felt a tap on his shoulder and looked up. Alex hovered over him. “Alex!” He jumped up and wrapped his arms around him.
“It’s good to see you too, man.” Alex laughed.
“Did you see what I just saw?” David let go and gestured toward the television.
“What?”
“The newscast about the President?”
“The radio said something about him giving a speech up in Maine, is that what you’re talking about?”
David gripped Alex by the arm and pulled him down into the seat next to him. “I think Jerry is going to try to assassinate the President just like the message said. It’s the only thing that makes sense.”
“Where? At the speech? Are you crazy? That airport is going to be locked up tighter than Fort Knox. How would he do it?”
“I don’t know, but it’s going to happen. The messages said it would.”
“Do you know when?”
“It said on the news last night that he was scheduled to appear at 11:00 a.m. tomorrow, but I can check on the Internet to make sure.”
“Well, let’s do it.”
David raised his brows. “What? No riot act? No long oration about how I need to rescue my family?”
Alex gave him a dirty look. “Where’s your family, David? Jerry has them. Right? And where's Jerry? We don’t know, do we? But we do know where he’ll be tomorrow. And to rescue Sharon and the kids, we have to stop Jerry. Plain and simple.”
“Yes.” He grabbed Alex’s arm. “That’s true.”
“And you know what e
lse? If you’d listened to me in the first place, Jerry wouldn’t have your family, would he?”
David pressed his lips together. He was right. This was all his fault. If he hadn’t gone chasing after the messages, he and his family would be far away from all this right now. But instead, the Feds were surely looking for him, and his family was being held hostage. He shook his head in disgust. “The thought of my family being with him for the whole night turns my stomach.”
Alex put his hand on David’s shoulder. “Look, I have friends in the police department. I’ll go do the rounds and see if I can turn up some information on where they think Jerry is. If nothing shakes loose, we’ll head up to Maine.”
David thought for a moment. “Okay. I’ll go back to the motel and lay low. The last thing I want to do right now is run into Homeland Security. They’re going to have questions for me––questions I can’t answer.”
Alex nodded. “Good. I’ll get back to you as soon as I can.”
David reached up and rubbed his neck. He was completely and utterly exhausted, it would be good to let Alex take over for awhile. If anyone could dig up the location of Jerry and his family, it was Alex.
Chapter 52
The hollow din of the celebration in the newsroom could be heard all the way down in Nerd’s office. But he tried to block it out. He was excited about Brad’s rescue, and the finding of the bomb, and the announcement about Karen and Brad’s wedding plans. But the video clip flickering on his screen kept him from the festivities. It was paused on a close up of the detonator housing. Although the serial number had been scraped off, there were still identifying marks he was sure his hacker friend Canary could track down. Canary is an odd bird––Nerd snickered to himself at the pun. The name said much about the man behind the alias. It was an anagram for anarcy, a purposeful misspelling, to symbolize the man’s hatred for society, and anything else to do with organized civilization. At least that’s what he claimed. But as far as Nerd was concerned, it was probably just a lame attempt to play off the fact that he couldn’t spell. Nerd dragged the image he had captured from the video to the email directed to Canary, and pressed send. It would probably turn up as a dead lead, but it was worth a try.
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