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 Content Rating Notice: Recommended for Readers 18 Years and Older Only |
| >> Static Item >> Chapter >> Crime/Gangster >> ID #1069198 |   |
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Once Upon a Midnight Dreary Chapter 01 Following another scorching summer's day, the coolness of the evening was welcome in the city some called Baghdad by the Bay. By midnight, most San Franciscans were asleep and never knew their lives might end before morning. Like most evenings at the SFPD crime lab, the first hour of the graveyard shift found the forensic agents silently interpreting evidence from recent crime scenes. They had no reason to believe this night would be any different from hundreds of others they had worked before. All was quiet throughout the building except for the soft buzz of conversations. A clock in the reception area showed one o'clock when a bearded stranger strolled in, holding a knife hidden close to his side. In his long lab jacket, he looked like any of the other employees. Unnoticed, he passed by the front desk with his head facing away from the woman working at the computer. If people had bothered to take a closer look, they would have seen cold expressionless eyes staring straight ahead, never blinking. His free hand was deep inside the jacket's pocket. Every now and then, he touched the items inside, to reassure himself they were still there. "Soon, very soon," he said in a hoarse voice. Ignoring the technicians in the DNA and ballistic labs, he kept going down the long corridor. On his way toward Supervisor Jeff Randall's empty office, the man stopped just outside the evidence room. Two of the PD's forensic agents, Mary Kenton and Angela Starkey, were checking out photographs. They were of a rape victim who died a violent death. Her killer had forced the terrified woman to pose for hours before ending her life. Angela, a slender 40-something blonde, looked over at Mary. She understood the look of disgust on the younger woman's face. I guess some of the pictures are rather explicit, she admitted to herself, and Mary probably hasn't seen many like these before. Sexual photographs found in hidden stashes at crime scenes, though disgusting, no longer shocked or even surprised her. Neither woman noticed the man standing by the doorway, silently watching them for the next half hour. Just then, Randall passed by on his way to his office and gave the stranger only a cursory look. He was thinking of an experiment he recently did concerning flash powder and a bald murder victim. The tall, dark-haired supervisor often blocked out the rest of the world when concentrating on work, and tonight was no exception. * * * Two more of Randall's experienced agents, Jake Parker and Anthony Greene, worked out in the CSI garage fuming a dilapidated car for fingerprints. Earlier, security officers found the old Buick abandoned at San Francisco Airport. On seeing bloodstains on its backseat, they notified the police, who towed the car to the garage for further examination. The men were teaching Gayle Seaver, the newest member of the PD crew, about the levels of rust. The petite brunette, fresh from the academy, listened attentively without telling them she already knew these facts. Anthony, a swarthy man in his late 30s, smiled often at the woman. Gayle was a lot more pleasant to look at than either the old car or his buddy, Jake. Suddenly, a gunshot went off. A loud explosion and scream of pain followed. As people streamed out of the various labs and offices into the corridors, thick smoke poured from the garage into the lab next door. Jake and Gayle stumbled out of the smoke coughing, wheezing, and covered with black dust. Jake impatiently waited for the smoke to clear. Looking around and seeing only Gayle, he called out to her, "Where's Anthony?" * * * In the confusion, the stranger eased away from the evidence room and toward Randall's office, once again empty. Randall raced past him toward the garage, followed closely by Mary and Angela. A slow smile crossed the stranger's face as he watched the chaos. He entered the office and casually sat in Randall's chair. After carefully placing the knife on the desk, the man almost reverently emptied the pocket of the laboratory jacket. Next to the knife, he set down a wrinkled piece of paper and a small vial filled with blue-green viscous liquid. "They will regret what they did to me, indeed they will." He stroked the side of the vial with one finger, the feel of the cold glass fueling his madness. For long minutes, the stranger swayed back and forth in the chair, muttering repeatedly to the empty room, "They will regret it. They will." The man eventually calmed down enough to go back to the door and look up and down the corridor. The noise from the garage sounded muffled, but he could hear footsteps coming toward him from the opposite direction. Ducking back into the office, he sat down again with an attitude of studied nonchalance. The footsteps from the two people came closer, and through the glass front wall of the office, he eventually saw an older woman holding the hand of a young child. The woman told the little boy to wait inside while she looked for his mother. Seeing the man in the dimly lit room, she called out, "Mr. Randall, you remember me, don’t you? Billy Starkey’s nanny? Would you mind watching him for a few minutes? I have to let Mrs. Starkey know I have a family emergency and need to get to the airport within the hour. Thank you." With this short request, she left Billy inside the office and hurried away from the office to look for Angela. After she disappeared from view down the corridor, the man stood and slowly circled around Billy, not once but twice. "Well," he finally said, a sneer on his face that made Billy feel uneasy, "what have we here? You ready to help me with my plan?" Before Billy could return to the corridor, the man quickly went to the door and locked it. He then grabbed the boy by the shoulders and started whispering, "You will have a front seat, little one." Spittle gathered at the corners of his mouth, and his voice became harsher in his frenzied excitement. "I am going to let you be the first to share in my revenge." Chapter 02 What happened next startled everyone standing around the open door to the garage. As Randall raced up with Angela and Mary not far behind him, a bruised and bloodied Anthony suddenly stumbled out of the dark thick smoke. His clothes, torn to shreds and hanging off his muscular body, revealed a large jagged open wound in his chest and deep lacerations on both naked thighs. Jake caught him as he fell to the ground, unconscious. He looked up at Randall in agony, fearing for the life of his friend. "He's dying. Don't let him die, Randall. Do something, please." Mary knelt down to cradle Anthony's head as Randall felt for his pulse. "He's alive but barely! Someone, call for an ambulance, NOW!" he shouted. Hearing his command, Angela disappeared to make the call in a nearby office. Nanny Andrews soon joined the group standing around the bleeding man on the floor. Not seeing her employerlea, she noticed for the first time Randall was here and not back in his office. A feeling of dread came over her as she remembered leaving her young charge in the company of a man unknown to her. Turning around to head back to the office, she saw Angela coming out of the office after making the phone call and looking at her quizzically. Angela's puzzlement quickly changed to panic when the nanny asked, "What is your boss doing here? I thought the man back in his office was Mr. Randall and left Billy with him." Hearing this, Angela felt almost instinctively her son was in danger. As Randall stood up from Anthony's still unconscious body, he looked over and saw the fright on Angela's face. From long association with his fellow agent, he immediately knew it involved Billy. Without any hesitation, Randall went over to the two women, who interrupted each other telling him the situation. Leaving Anthony in the capable hands of Jake and Mary, he motioned Gayle over, and the four of them hurried back toward his office. Chapter 03 At the locked door, they stopped and helplessly looked in at Billy. A stranger held the child tightly at the shoulders, while Billy tried to squirm out of the man's grasp. Those on the other side of the glass wall could hear his muffled screams of fright. The wild-appearing man was a stranger to everyone except Gayle. When she gave a gasp of recognition, Randall swung toward her, but caught himself before speaking when Gayle angrily slammed her fists against the glass wall. This caught the attention of the stranger, who shoved Billy away from him. As the boy ran to the wall where his mother stood crying on the other side, the man reached out to Randall's desk and grabbed the vial of liquid he had placed there earlier. The blood drained from Gayle's face as she realized what the liquid must be. "Talk to me, Gayle," she heard Randall plead through a haze of terror. "Who is this man? What is he doing here?" Gayle did not answer and turned to him as a child would to a parent. She hoped Randall would fix this. Even though she was new to the lab, she'd already learned to depend on him in a crisis. Deep down in her heart, however, she knew even Randall might not be able to get them out of this. The stranger walked slowly toward Gayle, casually tossing the vial in the air, and then catching it. The only sound on either side of the glass wall was the muffled crying of Billy, as his mother tried frantically to calm him. Nanny Andrews, filled with guilt, kept trying to apologize to Angela. When Angela ignored the woman, Mary, who had come up to the small group unobserved, led her away while offering comforting words. Before leaving, Mary noticed Randall giving her a questioning look. "Jake is with Anthony on the way to Memorial Hospital," she called out. "He's going to call when he gets there." Even though worried about Anthony, Randall knew he had a more immediate problem here, more than one in fact. His mind jumped from one question to another. What's the mysterious blue-green liquid in the vial? Who's the man with Billy? What is his connection to Gayle? What caused the explosion leaving Anthony with possibly fatal injuries? Chapter 04 Taking a deep calming breath, Randall started to reach into his pocket to draw out the key to his office door. Angela rushed forward to try to pass him once the door opened, but Randall caught her arm and quickly twisted her away, almost brutally. As Angela fought him to get to her child, the strong muscular man pulled her across the corridor to the opposite side, away from the hearing of the others. Knowing this was the only way to get the hysterical woman's attention, Randall grabbed her around her waist, swinging her around to pin both arms tightly between their bodies. Despite her screams of frustration, he refused to let go as she struggled to break free. "Stop it, Angie, you'll just get Billy killed." He winced when she managed to kick his shin, making pain shoot up his entire leg. "Damn it, woman," he shouted, "stop biting me. I'm not going to let you go." Finally giving up, when twisting, kicking, and biting did not work, Angela went limp and slipped out of his grasp. She fell to the floor at his feet, crying softly, but with her emotions again under control. He stood there looking down at his longtime friend then quietly lifted her to her feet, wiping the tears away with a compassionate and gentle hand. They stood there for a minute or two, the slender blonde holding on tightly to the taller man, not wanting to leave the comfort of his arms, the man softly smoothing the woman's hair in a familiar tender way. The sound of Randall's cell phone going off harshly broke this moment away from the rest of the world. As he placed the phone to his ear, Angela leaned over softly kissing his cheek. "Thank you, Jeff," she whispered, before walking slowly back to be near her son. Speaking into his phone with his back to the rest of the group, he failed to notice Captain Steele and Mary coming up the corridor from the front area. Mary quickly told Angela she had calmed down Nanny Andrews and seen her off to what turned out to be a minor family emergency. The two women, often rivals for Randall's attention, for once felt united in tragedy. They turned around to see what the phone call to him was about, hoping against hope it was good news about their severely injured friend. The stocky captain had walked over to Gayle, who had not moved from the glass wall, but continued to stare in at the stranger. Not saying a word, just observing the man inside the office, Steele finally looked at Randall. He waited until Randall closed his cell phone and returned to stand by the window with the others. "Was that about Anthony? How is he doing?" he asked. Not waiting for an answer, he spoke to his suddenly tired-appearing friend, "Jeff, you have to get everyone out of the building. I know this man, and everyone here is in danger. If we don't stop him, even San Francisco could be in terrible danger!" Randall looked at him, thinking, What else can go wrong tonight? Chapter 05 "All right," sighed Randall, "who is he and why are we in danger?" At hearing Randall's question to Steele, Gayle finally broke her deathlike trance. She turned toward the two men. "It's Professor Mitchell. He taught advanced biology at the police academy. Recently, when he became too mentally unstable to be around us, the Board of Regents fired him." Gayle whispered as though afraid the man would hear her and turn violent. "If what I think it is in that vial, we are all infected if he drops it." Steele nodded in confirmation before taking a step away from Randall's office. "Our department just got notification someone stole a vial of Marburg Virus from a Class 4 containment unit nearby. The authorities gave us a description matching Professor Mitchell in there." He continued, "No one knows how he breached security or got the vial out. However, there is an investigation going on." "It's worse than I thought," Gayle moaned. "I was hoping it was just an influenza virus, but with Marburg there is no vaccine, no cure, no hope." She moved closer to a stunned Randall, looking toward her supervisor for a miracle. Gayle's words reverberated through Randall's mind, "No vaccine, no cure, no hope!" This evening's events would have broken a lesser man, but Randall was never one to weaken under pressure. As he glanced into his office at the maniac who held their lives in his hand, and then at the 12-year-old boy he often thought of as family, an idea started to come to him. Randall quickly looked at Angela, but did not dare catch her pleading eyes with his. His recent treatment of her, though necessary in his mind, still filled him with guilt. He knew, however, this was not the time to dwell on past actions. Time was something they might not have much of if his plan did not work. To give himself a chance to work it out, he turned to Mary. There was still the incident in the garage puzzling him, and he needed her analytical mind to track down what had happened to put Anthony in the hospital. Only Randall knew how tenuous his guy's hold on life was at the moment because of Jake's recent phone call, and he would do his best to keep this news from the rest for as long as possible. After explaining to Mary what he wanted her to do and suggesting possible leads for her to follow up on, he sent her down to the garage. He then turned to the remaining group waiting for him to pull Gayle's hoped for miracle out of thin air. Not for one moment did they doubt he could do this. Their complete faith in his abilities caused Randall to straighten his shoulders, dreading what he must tell them. * * * Inside the locked office, Professor Mitchell once again checked his wristwatch and saw another hour had gone by, the time being a few minutes past 3 a.m. "Soon, soon," he whispered to himself. Coming close to the people watching through the glass wall, he yelled out, "Soon you'll all feel my wrath. I will have my revenge. You can't take away my job, my life, and not suffer for it." His demented laughter followed this threat showed his already unstable state of mind was rapidly deteriorating. Seeing Billy trying to talk to his mother through the glass, he grabbed the boy by his shirt collar and dragged him back to Randall's desk. "No, you don't. You'll be with her in two more hours, but until then you are mine, all mine." * * * Watching the Professor roughly manhandling the child, Randall did not know whether he could endure his friends’ hatred if his plan failed. To give himself some breathing room before facing them, he did what was natural for him and walked away down the corridor without another word. For some odd reason, this gave a sense of reassurance to the people he left behind. They had seen him going outside to untangle a difficult case this way countless times. They knew, they just knew he would return with what was bothering him thought out to its perfect conclusion. For the first time in hours, most of them breathed a shallow sigh of relief, everyone except Angela, who had not missed Randall's glance at her son. A frisson of dread ran through her as she suddenly guessed what Randall might be planning. The memories of the many afternoons when Randall and Billy huddled together at her house, making up their own private hand-signal language while she watched on in amusement no longer seemed as enjoyable. Oh, how she wished she could be holding her child safely at home, far away from the men, one threatening her son's life and the other possibly about to put him in harm's way. She did not know which man she feared most. Chapter 06 Randall stayed outside for another hour breathing in the freshness of the early morning air. He paced back and forth, trying to come up with another plan. One by one, he rejected each idea as too dangerous to those around him or too foolhardy with absolutely no chance of working. By 4 o'clock, with dawn fast approaching, he realized there was only one option left for him, to go with his original plan. The sound of his cell phone ringing startled Randall out of his dark pensive thoughts. Opening it and hearing Jake's voice, he crashed back to reality and braced himself for the bad news he was about to hear. "He made it," shouted Jake, jubilance filling his young voice as his Georgia accent disappeared in his excitement. "He made it through the operation, and he's in recovery. Randall, when I told you last time his heart had stopped twice during the surgery, the doctors had given up hope, but Anthony, that ugly SOB, wouldn't let them have the last word!" His voice softening and breaking with emotion, Jake whispered, "Can I come back to the lab now?" Unable to speak from overpowering relief, Randall nodded his head in response to Jake's question then started laughing from pure joy at the realization Jake could not see his nod. "Yes, come home, Jake," he finally got out. "Come back home." With a lighter heart, Randall started back to give the good news to the rest of his crew. He stopped short when what he had to tell them ruined his good mood. He had no choice, however, and hoped they would survive until Jake returned. Walking slowly back to his office, Randall tried to gather his thoughts before having to face Angela and what he would be asking of her. Almost eagerly, he walked faster as he saw Mary returning from the demolished garage, a large smile on her face. "Tell me you have some good news. Did you check out the lab as I suggested?" Knowing Mary as he did, Randall already knew the answer. "Sure, Will said nothing was wrong there. However," Mary paused for emphasis, "I checked out the remains of the Buick and found something interesting." Nearing the end of his inner resources and suddenly wanting to have this evening over with, he said in a sharp voice, "Well?" Brought to attention by his tone, Mary quickly continued with her explanation. A look of utter disbelief crossed Randall's face, and for the second time in an hour, he started laughing. This time, his laugh made an angry humorless sound at how close his friend had come to dying because of the stupidity of another. "Sometimes I hate this job!" he muttered to no one in particular. Deciding to put the matter of the garage on the back burner, Randall motioned for Mary to follow him, and they headed back toward his office. This is it, he thought, as the group in the corridor ahead of them came into view. No more stalling, time to fish or cut bait! * * * All during the time Randall was outside, Professor Mitchell forced Billy to stay by the glass wall at a distance from the people on the other side. The one time the child started moving toward his mother, the man became even more irrational and screamed. "Stay put, or I'll kill everybody now and not wait until dawn." To emphasis his point, he swept his free hand across the desk causing everything on it to crash onto the floor. Never once, though, during all his frenzied actions did he let go of the vial in his tightly clenched hand. Chapter 07 As he reached his office, Randall saw his friends looking toward him. The responsibility resting only on him and knowledge of their belief in him almost made him turn and run. Besides these people and the child inside his office, he knew people in San Francisco, and possibly those beyond, were counting on him. Their lives depended on his plan. With this in mind, he smiled confidently at them. Randall quietly guided Angela to the other side of the corridor, out of the earshot of the others. "Angie, I wanted to talk in private, without anyone else influencing your decision." Angela unconsciously took a step away from Randall, already dreading what was coming next. "My decision?" "Yes, I've come up with a plan. It's all I could think of to get Billy safely out of the office." Randall reached out and pulled Angela back closer to him. He looked over her shoulder to make sure no one could hear them, and continued, "It depends on Billy standing very still once I get inside. Do you think he'll be able to do that? His life and ours depend on staying put and not running out when I unlock the door." When Mary joined Gayle and Captain Steele at the glass wall of the office, she noticed Billy was leaning in exhaustion against the wall on the other side. This terror was too much for a young child to have experienced. She tried, without success, to feel what Angela must have been going through these long hours. Envy at what the mother and child had and relief it was not her child swiftly went through her. Feeling shame for the second emotion, Mary looked over to where Randall and Angela were talking, though she could not hear the words. "Do you trust me?" asked Randall in a soft, firm voice. "Angie, do you trust me?" Unable to speak from the fear in her heart, all Angela could do was nod. This man, who had been a part of her life for years, in her mind husband, lover, brother, friend, was a man into whose hands she would willingly trust her life. What he was asking of her, though, was to risk the life of her child on something dangerous with only a slim chance of success. Randall stood silently watching the various emotions cross her face, knowing the next step was hers and only hers. He had explained the rest of his plan, such as it was, and could only wait for her decision. The minutes ticked by. Still Angela hesitated, tears streaming down her face unnoticed as she realized she only had one choice. "Yes, Jeff. Do it," she whispered, not looking at the silently waiting man. At that moment, Jake walked down the corridor. He had raced back from the hospital, driving through at least one red light to get to the lab. Jake joined his two fellow agents and Captain Steele to wait for what Randall would do next. At the sight of the returning young man, it suddenly dawned on Randall he had not passed on the good news about Anthony to the others. This distraction, though, would give him time to set his plan in motion without them stopping him. Chapter 08 The delusional person inside the office walked frantically back and forth, screaming incoherently at the people outside the office. Minute by minute, the terrified onlookers watched him sinking deeper into insanity. When he spotted someone in the corridor coming toward the locked door, he suddenly stopped. He watched as the large man on the other side of the glass wall knelt down on one knee and tapped on the glass to get the little boy's attention. Seeing nothing that would interfere with his plan, Professor Mitchell returned to pacing and muttering under his breath about how he would get back at the people who had fired him. Hearing the almost inaudible tapping behind him, Billy turned around and smiled as he caught sight of the one person other than his mother he loved. He could not hear Randall, but noticed his hands were using their special language, telling him to be still and just watch. If Billy would just do as asked and stay calm, Randall would try to get him out of there and back to his mother. As Randall's graceful hands moved to say this, Billy kept both sets of hands hidden from the man behind him. Randall quickly and clearly explained his plan after which Billy gave his "Okay" to follow instructions. Randall signed his approval then stood up. He turned around to face the one person who had not gathered a distance away around Jake. "Are you sure?" he asked, giving her one last chance to stop him. A quick nod of her head before she closed her eyes in pain set his plan in motion. Slowly Randall pulled the key to his office out of his pocket and unlocked the door. Trying to appear as unthreatening as possible, he eased into the room with hands outstretched to show he had no weapons on him. He did not even glance at the child who was standing as still as a statue a few feet from Professor Mitchell. One false move and the deranged man could reach Billy before Randall could get to him. Everything depended on the ability of the boy to remain calm and follow his lead. Outside, Angela forced her eyes open. She followed Randall's slow, steady progress as he crossed the floor to get closer to the maniac. For hours, the man had threatened her son. He taunted the helpless people on the other side of the wall by tossing the vial of Marburg Virus from hand to hand. If she could, she would run into the room, grab her child and take him to safety. Knowing this was impossible with the man still holding a deadly virus, she could only stand there and hope Randall could pull this off. Without taking her eyes off what was happening inside, she felt the presence of her fellow PD agents coming to stand behind her. Hands reached out to touch her shoulders in comfort, simply to let her know they were there for her. Steele, meanwhile, had left to admit some government scientists into the building. If Randall succeeded, they would take the vial back to the containment unit and away from where it could kill innocent people. Steele knew it was a big "if" and tried not to think of his friend who was putting his life on the line for them. He walked with the two scientists back to wait with the others outside Randall's office. The only sound heard was a muffled clanging from the garage area. No one, not PD agent, police officer, or scientist, spoke while watching, mesmerized by the slow-motion action inside the office. What happened next startled them into motion. As one, they stepped backwards in shock after witnessing what Randall had just done, all except for Angela and Steele. Chapter 09 As Randall maneuvered around to the left of Professor Mitchell, while keeping Billy on the man's right side, he talked softly to the agitated man. "Professor, why don't you let me have the vial? Why would you want to hurt these innocent people?" He kept lowering his voice, ever so slowly. "I'm sure we can work something out." By speaking like this, he caused the other man to lean forward, slightly off balance, to hear him more clearly. When the professor had his back to Billy, he saw what Randall had done, but it was too late. Randall suddenly reached out to the man who was only inches from him at this point, grabbed the hand wrapped around the vial, and fiercely wrestled him to the floor. They rolled back and forth, crashing into shelves, first one man on top and then the other. Book after book fell from the shelves to land heavily on the two men. Glass bottles crashed into hundreds of sharp splinters, cutting into tender human flesh. Water from one of the containers joined the debris on the floor to mix with the blood dripping from both men. For what seemed like hours to the horrified onlookers, the two men fought for possession of the vial. Randall, as never before in his life, used all his strength to pin the man down. At the same time, he twisted the professor's clenched fist to loosen his grasp on the vial. Out in the corridor, the people heard grunts of pain from Randall and winced helplessly at each brutal blow. Spittle gathered at Professor Mitchell's mouth, and he screamed repeatedly, "I'll kill all you bastards. You won't get away with it." * * * Out in the corridor, Captain Steele was also fighting with Jake, only this fight was verbal. "Jake, you have to stay out of there. If you go in and that vial is smashed, these guys will have to seal the office. You'll die with Randall and the other two." One of the scientists nodded at his words and pointed to the equipment they had brought with them. "I'm sorry, but what the Captain says is true. If your friend fails, we'll have to move quickly to give the rest of you a few minutes to escape." He shared a sad look with his partner, "Eventually, I'm afraid, even these few minutes won't save any of us, and probably most of the people in the city will also die." Jake cried out when he saw Professor Mitchell aim one particularly vicious punch at the side of Randall's head. "I can't just stay here letting him get the crap beat out of him." He whirled around to face the three men silently watching to see what Jake would do next. "Captain, you know Randall's no match for that insane man in there. I bet he's never even been in a fight in his whole life." Jake knew the men were right, however and once again turned to watch the unevenly matched fighters. Seeing Randall's bloody condition after just 15 minutes of fighting, he had one last distressed thought, He's a scientist, for God's sake, not a fighter. * * * Sweat covered the bodies of the two men struggling on the floor, one ready to kill everyone around him in a warped version of revenge, the other fighting for the lives of those he held dear. Biting, kicking, and slamming his free fist into Randall's face, the professor slowly was getting the upper hand since the other usually gentle man hesitated about fighting dirty. Through the blood streaming down into his eyes, nearly blinding him, Randall caught a glimpse of his friend's young child. Billy stood motionless nearby as he waited for his moment to help. With one last burst of energy, Randall pulled his leg back and furiously kneed the man in the crotch. With a scream of anger and pain, Professor Mitchell opened his hand, causing the vial to roll out onto the floor. Quickly, as though he'd trained for this his entire life, Billy reached down to grab hold of the vial. He then walked calmly to the door where his mother and Steele were waiting. After handing it to Steele, the little boy finally broke down and held on to his mother who had dropped to her knees in relief at seeing Billy safe. Steele quickly handed the vial over to the waiting scientists. With his gun drawn, Jake raced past the small trio at the door and went to help an exhausted Randall to his feet. Steele easily handcuffed the now-subdued terrorist, still in major discomfort and unable to stand on his own. Steele dragged the Professor to his feet with Mary's help after she and Gayle followed Jake into the office. Randall, weaving on his feet from the pain shooting throughout his body, moved to his desk and picked up the old piece of paper the professor had placed there when this had started. He silently passed it to Gayle, and then sat down heavily in his chair, exhausted. "It's his notice of termination from the academy," Gayle noted. "Why did he come here for revenge?" "Right now, Gayle, I honestly don't care. We can leave it up to Captain Steele to find out, Gayle, so don't even try. Just be thankful it's over." Randall slowly, and with the weight of the world off his back, walked out of his office to where his colleagues and young Billy waited to embrace him. Steele soon left with his prisoner, followed closely behind by the scientists. Chapter 10 A week later, everyone sat in Randall's office waiting to welcome Anthony back for his first visit since leaving the hospital. Suddenly, Jake had a thought. "Randall, did you ever find out what caused the explosion in the garage? We forgot about it in the commotion afterwards." His supervisor started to answer, but stopped when he saw Anthony coming toward them walking even slower than usual on his crutches. It delighted Randall to note he still had his swagger. Jake jumped up and gave his chair to his buddy before everyone smothered Anthony with hugs. "I hear I missed some excitement," laughed Anthony. "Can't leave you guys alone for a minute without you getting into trouble." He looked toward Randall with admiration in his eyes for what his boss had done. Never in his wildest dreams would he have imagined this man, whom he had always considered too gentle for this work, could resort to dirty street fighting as Jake reported he had. I'm rubbing off on him, he thought, with amusement. "Well, Jeff, what did you find out?" reminded Angela from a chair nearby. When Randall nodded at Mary, the younger woman got the hint and could not keep a smile from her face. "You're not going to believe it. Anthony, an old revolver going off caused your injuries. As you know, they had the firing pin integrated into the hammer itself; when the hammer falls forward, the firing pin on the front of the hammer strikes the primer of the cartridge in the chamber. For some reason, known only to the owner of the Buick, he attached it to the undercarriage of the car with old duct tape, without even removing the bullets." She continued, "You might remember the temperature during that day in the Bay Area was in the high 90s and not much cooler inside the garage. Do you want me to go on, or can you figure out the rest?" Without waiting for an answer, Mary continued. "The heat finally loosened the duct tape, and the weapon fell and slammed onto the concrete floor of the garage, directly on the hammer. Since there was a live cartridge in the chamber, the gun discharged, taking the gas tank with it. You, Anthony, just were unlucky enough to be standing nearer to the back of the car when it exploded." Randall jumped in with the rest of the story. "After the police tracked down the registered owner of the car, they brought him in for questioning. They couldn't connect him to the blood initially found in the backseat of the car, and the case is still open and unsolved. They could only hold him on various charges related to the hidden gun and the resulting injuries to Anthony." With that, Randall and his men (and women) settled back to relax and enjoy the sweet pleasure of being alive and, just as important, again being together.
© Copyright 2006 J. A. Buxton (UN: judity at Writing.Com).
All rights reserved.
J. A. Buxton has granted Writing.Com, its affiliates and syndicates non-exclusive rights to display this work. |
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