The streets were almost impassable as Max and the Feds wound their way
to the Mackinaw City Police station. They arrived and found a throng of well wishers and admirers around Manny as he was relating to them the whole terrifying experience of taking on single-handedly the bank robbers. The Feds pushed their way through the crowd and identified themselves and grabbed Manny and took him inside his station as Maxwell followed. “Where is the guy you caught’ asked Hawken. Manny, flushed with awe and pride at the same time because the FBI wanting to talk to him. “Do you want a drink or something? “ he asked. The agents, used to being semi fawned over simply did not have time to partake in the admiration society of one. Hawken again asked Manny where was the crook? Manny told them the whole story finishing it with a flourish of, “so I drove him headfirst into the vehicle and he is on the way to the hospital, he’s not going anywhere. The EMTs said he has a concussion and probably won’t come out of it for a while.” Manny finally noticed Max and asked him what the hell he was doing there and he advised he was just there to lend a hand but he saw Manny had all under control. Hawken jerked Manny back on track, “Do you know anything about the robber, what did he look like, a foreign national, an Arab, describe him.”
Manny responded, “I can do better than that, he is one of our locals, named Wilson Wiseman, but everyone calls him Whizzy.” Hawken then asked “Do you think he would have any connection to the bridge, like using the truck as a diversion so he could do the bank job?” Maxwell, who also knew Whizzy broke out in laughter at the thought. As the agents were looking at Maxwell, Manny flashed on an inspiration. “Agents, I believe you are right, I do think that it was all a hoax to draw law enforcement away from the downtown so the robbery could be committed.” Maxwell spoke out, “Are you ****ing nuts?”. Not known for his tact he continued, “Whizzy can barely blow his nose with help and you are giving him credit for being able to rig what we have seen up on the bridge. Then, after all this brilliant work, hit a bank with no money in it and get caught by you?” Manny, these people don’t have a clue who that idiot is, don’t lead them down the wrong path.” Max then addressed the agents, “Look, this guy Whizzy is about as dumb as they come. He once tried to siphon gas out of one of the tourist motor homes and put the siphon hose in the waste holding tank and sucked on it until he got a mouthful of ****, does this sound like a guy who could set this all up?”
Hawken and Edmore started to reply and Manny knew he would lose them if he let the conversation continue. Manny had his course set, He looked at Max and said “Chief, I don’t believe you work this side of the bridge, you should probably return home. I will take care of getting the agents around and also fill them in on the tendencies of our local criminals” Maxwell never being one to stay where fools tread started to leave, stopped and then turned back to Manny and asked, “Manny what happened, did you **** yourself, what gives with the black streak up the ass of your pants?” The agents, had also seen the black streak up Manny’s pants had been dying to ask but knew better than to aggravate a situation. They couldn’t help themselves and started chuckling under their breath.
Max returned to his side of the bridge and while doing so stopped to see how things were going at the truck. Greg Mack was in conversation with the FBI bomb technician as well as Palmer. They were engaged in a conversation about hybrid nitrogen based explosives that could be purified through a filter process that would have a ten fold force multiplier effect on the explosive if the temperature and consistency of the mixture could be maintained. This all revolved around the chemicals on the list provided by the terrorists and the capability of the containers on the truck to hold such a mixture. Having heard enough that even he was totally confused he returned to the post and called his office to check in on how his officers were handling the situation.
Maxwell started to report the happenings on the other side of the bridge to Phelps when Abbott walked up and demanded that Max report to him. Responding “whatever”, he kept on while looking at Phelps and not Abbott. He advised that Whizzy, the guy Manny caught could not in any way be involved with the bridge situation. He probably figured that with all the area officers so tied up with traffic, there would be no one who could respond to the robbery. Abbott demanded to know why. Maxwell explained that Whizzy was dumb as a box of rocks and was never successful at any crime in his life.
He told them about one of Whizzy's other adventures in crime when he saw a rather large safe sitting outside of a local pharmacy being renovated. It didn't dawn on Whizzy that there might be a reason why the safe was on the outside of the building and not the inside. Whizz and Ren and a couple of his other members of his crew got together and planned how they were going to steal the safe in the middle of the night. They showed up with a pickup and some 2X4s to try to slide the safe up onto the truck bed. The timbers were not strong enough to take the safe's weight and when the boards broke the safe crashed down on the leg of one of the crew members breaking it in three places. They took the guy to the hospital then came back with a couple of hydraulic jacks to jack it up. The jacks didn't have enough lift to get the safe up into the truck so they tried to tilt the safe over into the bed. When the safe was tilted the weight and center of gravity was still below the tailgate and when the steel safe made contact with the steel tailgate, it started to slide. Ren tried to stop it sliding by jamming his foot against the base to stop the motion, promptly causing him to have his foot crushed as the safe slid over it and then it crashed to the parking lot. With Ren in agony they tried one more quick bit. They threw a chain around it with the idea of dragging it to a place away from where they were so they could open it or get it loaded. With the chain attached to the bumper of the truck they tried to drive off, but the bumper came off the vehicle. A patrol car came around the corner and they left. The officers retrieved the bumper along with Whizzy's license plate attached to it and they went and found him at the hospital as he was there waiting for Ren to get treated for his crushed foot. Nothing came out of it though because the store owner was trying to get rid of the safe anyway and would have given it to them if they had just asked." Maxwell finished with "Does that sound like a guy who could orchestrate something this sophisticated?"
Abbott, exuding his confidence in the situation advised that he had been in touch with his agents who were talking to Robelli and the Chief of Mackinaw City was positive that the truck was part of an elaborate hoax so they could pull off the bank job. Abbott went on further that he was going to tell his bomb technicians to pop open the trailer.
Phelps thought what Maxwell said” Are you ****ing nuts?” You don’t have any idea who that idiot is across the bridge. I do. You open that trailer you will probably kill every one on the bridge and send it into the Straits. You might also kill us all. We have no idea just how powerful that bomb really is. That bridge and all that steel and concrete is under a lot of stress and tension. If it lets go it could send pieces of steel and tons of concrete and miles of cable in God knows what directions and for how far.” Abbott was taken back by the ferocity of Maxwell’s adamancy as well as the fact he could be killed. It was something he never thought of. He didn’t mind sending others into bad situations, that is what they get paid for, but, not him, he was too important and he also was going to save the day. “I am going to contact the President and tell him not to pay. When the time runs out and nothing happens you will be sorry you ever talked to me like that. Now get the **** out of here before I have you arrested for ****ing with my investigation. All I am waiting for is confirmation from the technicians that there is no bomb on the trailer and then we shall see just who is the nut case here."
Phelps believed Maxwell and was trying to figure out a way to keep Abbott and Maxwell from killing each other although he would place his money on Maxwell. Phelps started “Remember how the guy on the phone said we could initiate contact if we wanted to by having the reporter appear and make the request. Let’s do it. If it as you say then there won’t be anyone to call us or he won’t call us because the game is over. If he does call see what he says about the tie in to the robbery. It can’t hurt. Besides, what if Chief Maxwell is correct and it really is a bomb, wouldn't you rather be safe than sorry. All we are talking about is time, and we still have some of it left, let's use it to our advantage."
Abbott thought it over, and as much as he hated to admit it, it would be better to be safe than sorry. Besides if something went wrong, he could always claim it was in the spirit of cooperation that things got screwed up by the State Police. Maxwell said he was going out for some fresh air and left.
CHAPTER 30
Tre sat speechless in the chair. She finally knew why she was there at the post. She was to get on TV and tell the terrorists to call in. She didn’t know who they were but she hoped they would never be caught after this one. She would be a direct line to the terrorists. New York or Los Angeles, she would just have to choose. Tre raised the news helicopter and told it to come back to the post for the broadcast of a lifetime.
The little Hughes settled in gently next to the giant helicopters. The cameraman got out the equipment, set up the remote link and camera then Tre went live. The broadcast went from the local, to the network affiliate in Detroit then to the National Network. It was then piggybacked with credit to every network covering the bridge. It was even covered real time by Fox News and CNN. No matter what channel you turned to in the regular broadcast medium, she was on it. The whole world would now know what was going on as opposed to just a couple hundred million. Live, she was going to be talking to the terrorists who were responsible for the Mackinaw bridge incident. She went on the air and identified herself then said”, This is for the people responsible for the truck on the Mackinaw Bridge. The FBI wants you to make contact as you have before. They want you to call. This is Tre Lee live from the Mackinaw Bridge, “ and then signed off.
A senior supervisor had been called in to assist Henson monitor the situation to the North and help feed the information to the Director who was now sitting at the right hand of the President. Henson would receive the raw information from whatever source he was using and then hand off the main points for the Director. The senior, Jeff Tsar, had not been informed of the Protocol 2 in the GOD complex. In fact, he was just barely aware of the existence of Level 13. He was pretty sure the information was coming from the NSA’s own version of the “skunk works” but without proof it was just conjecture. To him it was one of those shadowy fiction facts that permeated the Agency. He just knew though, that the NSA seemed to be really quick at reading somebody's mail as they were receiving it almost in real time from what he was seeing on CNN. Everything the President had learned about the situation except for a brief note had come from intelligence developed by them.
A small alarm bell started to chime to advise that a new anomaly had been discovered. Bill Watson punched in the playback to hear what was going on. Somewhere up by the bridge there was some serious equipment being used. With access to the most modern of decoding and de-scrambling equipment in the world, the computers could not break the encrypted message they were picking up. There was a conversation taking place using very sophisticated digitized equipment capable of scrambling the communication using almost limitless code key possibilities. The system was probably a Motorola third generation Saber series radio, very new and very restricted in sales. The system used a built in number generator relating to a scramble or encryption key and the transmitting unit sent it before the actual transmission to the receiving unit. The sending unit operator and receiving unit operator would key in the same known multi-digit number on a key pad before the communications started. The number on the receiving unit would have to correspond to the first number it received from the sending unit to be able to read the message. The sending unit of its own volition could switch numbers in mid-word and send in the new key number to the receiving unit.
This happened so fast, literally in milliseconds, that the sending and receiving parties would never notice the switch or any interruption in communication. The real genius to the system was even if you had the exact same equipment, you could never stumble onto and intercept the message because the units both started with a predetermined number established by the operators of the radios. This would enable the units to be in “synch” for the duration of the transmissions. The first number is set in the system to start the number sequencer and if you didn’t start with the proper number keyed into the unit at the first transmission you could never acquire synchronization. Even though your unit may be on the same number later, the number itself had a different value ascribed to it by the number generator. In other words, if you weren’t there for the start you could never catch up. Since there were approximately one billion number combinations available to the operators, it was almost impossible to capture without having one billion radios all set up with different lead numbers, or one very lucky guess. None of the communications intercepted up until this time had any sophistication to them. They were straight forward telephone, radio or fax type transmissions. What was going on now was some very serious **** by some very sophisticated people. What they were picking up now was state of the art technology that cost someone a bunch of money to get their hands on.
The DD went to his direct access to the Director and got him on the line. “Sir, we have encrypted communications taking place up in the Mackinaw area, very sophisticated encryption of a totally unbreakable matrix. Whoever is up there is not to be taken lightly. If they are terrorists they are really good. Quite honestly it’s looking more and more like someone’s agency op. When Gibson asked him “What do you mean?” Henson responded, “No one is supposed to have that equipment but the government. That transmission was broken off before we could get any more of a proximity fix than 50 miles of the bridge.” Gibson thanked Henson and turned to the President and told him of the new development. He did not mention Henson’s guess about another agency running the show, it may be the strongest possibility, but, to make a statement like that in the atmosphere at the time would require more than hunches.
1 hour 30 minutes to 00:00
The post phone rang, Phelps went over and answered it, it was the voice. “Are you gentlemen ready to pay up?” it asked. Abbott snatched the telephone away from Phelps. “This is Deputy Director Abbott of the FBI and we aren’t paying you ****. your game is up. We caught one of your bank robber buddies and we will have you before long. What the **** do you say to that *******?” the line went dead...” showed him” thought Abbott. “I am right, I am going to be the ****ing hero of this mess.”
The phone rang again, this time Abbott answered it, “Abbott”. The voice asked “ Mr. Abbott, how do I convince you that there is a bomb and we are serious unless I blow it up?” Abbott thought about that and said let us look in the trailer” “Not acceptable, and I guarantee you that if you attempt to do so the consequences for you and your country will be dire.” was the reply, “however a demonstration might be in order and as fortune would have it one was going to be inevitable as well. I will get back to you, don’t want to stay on the line too long you know” then he was gone.
The bomb and radio technicians reported to Abbott. Abbott asked how hard would it be to break off all radio traffic to and from the trailer. What Abbott was proposing would be to place explosive charges on the line running between the tractor and trailer as well as small charges at the base of all the antennas, thereby severing the communications link and capability of whoever was left out there after the robbery. They could all be detonated at the same time effectively removing the eyes and ears of the terrorists. The response was not heartening. Howell explained that in order to do that they would have to crawl all over the trailer and with the built in cameras plus the helicopters flying overhead beaming out to every one with a TV there is a real problem of doing it quickly. The other problem was they still could not isolate the location of the antennas carrying the UHF signals and until they could it was a moot point.
Another problem was raised by the radio man. “Look, we’ve never dealt with anything like this before. The complexity of the system from just what we know is far greater than any other terrorist group ever used. We really don’t have any idea what all the wiring and rigging is for. Now let’s suppose that as part of the auto destruct, if there is one, part of the system is one of the roof antennas sending a signal to another antenna just a few feet away. We know several of the radios are in constant transmit. What if the receiving unit is also on the truck. If we try to shut down the transmitters, it wouldn’t need a remote signal from a distant location. Maybe the only thing keeping it from going off is the radio transmission from just a few feet away. That is a very real possibility. We just don’t know and we have no way to figure it out until we cut off the communications. They seem to have planned for everything else so far. Why should we assume they didn’t plan for that? These people have anticipated just about every counter capability we have. It’s like they have read our own response books and then said OK to counter their counter we need to do this. Quite frankly there is nothing we can do right now that will solve this in a timely fashion if everything is as it appears, and so far it has been. If I was the President I would fork over the money and try to catch them when they cashed the check” Abbott didn’t like the sound of that at all. He instructed them to keep working on the solution.
By now all the access ports had been drilled and the report on what was discovered through them was not heart warming either. The FBI bomb technicians had been dealing with Palmer all day and they had both come to the agreement that there was just too much to the whole situation to be some kind of camouflage to cover for a bank heist. There were trips and booby traps everywhere from what could be seen through the little optic fiber camera. They tried fluoroscopy on the sides and from the top but the lead sheathing rendered it impossible to see on the inside except by the pictures and the camera. Every where they put the “sniffer” the meter was pegged with an explosives reading. There was no question that the bottom line was that the truck was a bomb. Then the crew chief caught himself, “Let me clarify. There is a tremendous amount of explosives on that truck. We have seen hundreds of feet of wiring running around the interior. We have discussed the juxtaposition of both and have come to the conclusion the two elements put together have the makings of one of the biggest bombs we have ever seen outside of military application. You will have to decide if it is really a bomb.”
They approached Abbott. "Sir", the FBI technician started, "I know that you think the truck is a ruse and only there for the purpose of the robbery, and maybe it might be, BUT, from what we have been able to surmise, there are in all probability literally tons of explosives on that truck. Now, if it was just there for a distraction, there would be no reason to go to the extent that someone went to. There is no question that the vehicle on the bridge is carrying enough explosives to destroy it." Abbott looked at them both and asked "Are you willing to stake your job on it, because if you are wrong and you make me look bad that is exactly what it will cost you." They both looked at each other and said, "No question, it is a real bomb. Further if the bridge engineer’s figures and ours are correct, the explosive force will be such that the collapsing of the center span will be the least of the worries if it goes." Abbott looked at him and asked “What do you mean?” The technician continued, “From the appearance of the construction, the size and sheer weight of the explosives involved along with the hundreds of tons of stress a suspension bridge is under from the cable lines, there is a very real possibility the release of the pressure will throw debris of substantial size for miles. When I say substantial size I mean several hundred pound chunks of concrete and steel carrying up to 2 miles at better than 100 miles an hour. The injuries and death would be catastrophic unless we managed to evacuate all those people.” Everything this side of the hill behind us will be probably be destroyed, including this building. I just want you to understand the immensity of what we are dealing with here. Whoever put this thing together has really outdone themselves as far as home made contraptions. What I am reporting to you is simply this, there is no possible way to disarm or defuse whatever it is in the time indicated by the clock. If we try and fail and it detonates, probably no one within a mile to maybe a two mile radius of the blast will survive.”
Abbot now started to lose his confidence in what he was sure was the solution to his problems. This report with what happened at the farm plus everything else started him thinking maybe he had better leave the real police work to the police. He reflected back on the file he had reviewed on the flight up and throughout the day. The Black Eagle Group had never been bested yet. What were the odds he could defeat them and live through the day? He also did not like the idea that even according to his own people the post was not safe if the bomb went off.
CHAPTER 31
The late afternoon sun was beating heavily on all the boats on the bay just idling around waiting to see what was going to happen. The sky was still cloudless and the temperature had made it into the high 80s. It would have been extremely uncomfortable outside except for the cool breeze that was result of the meeting of two huge bodies of water. Commander Allen had been pounding the water with his boat fighting a never ending battle of keeping people what he hoped was a safe distance away. There had to be better than a 1000 boats on the Lake Michigan side alone. He had just chased down another day sailor for about the hundredth time when his signalman called him to the maritime radio. The commander asked what was up and was advised someone was asking for him by name. He answered the radio and he was called by name by a gravelly voice.
“Commander Allen, The FBI has taken a very bad attitude and now a demonstration is in order. Please be sure that the area is clear of all water traffic off of Gros Cap for at least 1 mile to the south from the point. We would not want innocents getting injured, but if they are not out of the area the demonstration will continue just the same. If you have any questions you can direct them to Deputy Director Abbott of the FBI at the Michigan State Police post. Also, there is a 36 foot Chris Craft with a bright vertical stripe on it anchored off Gros Cap. It is unoccupied and is going to be part of what will happen next. Do not approach it and be sure no other water craft are within a mile of it. You also might want to be sure the helicopters flying about are out of the way. It will be impressive.“
Gros Cap was just a spit of land settlement on the Straits just on the northern side. There had to be 300-400 boats prowling the area. Allen told his crew to head flank speed to the area and get this guy Abbott on the phone.
Allen had just cleared the radio when the post phone rang and it was the terrorist on the other end. Phelps had answered the phone. “Put Abbott on the line” Phelps handed the phone to Abbott. “Mr. Abbott, we were not any part of any robbery and in order to demonstrate what we are capable of, as I indicated a demonstration is in order. I have just told Commander Allen of the Coast Guard to clear an area of Lake Michigan for my demonstration. I will be calling you in approximately 20 minutes. When I call you I want you, your bomb technicians, the State expert and your bridge engineer to go to the truck and retrieve the contents of box 3. Your technician will immediately follow the instructions contained in Box 3 and use the appropriate equipment you will find there. You may also take anyone else you wish but you specified people must go. You will not try to open box 4 until after you have seen the demonstration. If you try to retrieve the contents of number 4 before the demonstration, you will trigger the bomb and die. You will not send minions or someone dressed like you. As you are aware by now there are cameras on the truck and we will know if you are there or not. If you do not go, the bomb will be blown and you will have lost. If you go you may still be a hero. If it is as you propose and all a ruse you will have nothing to fear any way. Can you afford not to go? We have not caused anyone to die yet, because we know you would never give in to our demands if we shed blood. Now you are forcing our hand. Be most assured, everyone within sight of the bridge is in peril if you do not follow our instructions exactly. I will call you back when it is time for you to go out to the truck.” then he was gone. Once again Phelps looked at the communications tech and again the trace could not be completed.
The President had just been briefed on the communications traffic that had just taken place between the Coast Guard, Abbott and the terrorist. “What the **** was going to happen now” wondered the President as he told his FBI director to get Abbott on the line. Abbott walked over and picked up his special phone and answered, relieved to hear only the Director on the line for a change. He was told hold on for the President. By now Abbott had figured out either the President had a mole in the post reporting everything or the NSA was really working overtime on this one hard. “Abbott”, the President spoke, “What are you going to do?” Abbott replied, “I am going to call his bluff and just ride it out. I’m not going anywhere.” The President simply stated to Abbott, “Remember what I said about that bridge and that if it comes down you had better be under it? I’ve been told by everyone here that there is too much sophistication to what has been going on to be these bumbling idiots that pulled the robbery. We have to take every step we can to buy time to get this resolved without losing the bridge. If that means they want you out on the bridge, you go out and do the dog and pony show until I say otherwise. And if you still are planning on not going out onto that bridge to see what the hell is going on I am going to direct your guard contingent to drag you in chains behind a car if they have to, but you will be on that bridge. Do you understand that?” Abbott knew he was serious, even if he quit on the spot, the 2 agents with him would still drag him behind a car if told to do it. He really had no choice at all, “Mr. President, I will do as you request, but I am right on this and we are just playing into their hands. We should end this right now and just refuse to do anything any more.” The President told Abbott,” Then it shouldn’t make any difference if we play it out should it?”
All was not rosy at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue. It was coming up on crunch time and the key to it all was sitting right in the lap of a president who had managed to take the blame for nothing for his years in office. There was no hiding on this one and no one to pass the buck to. The President had his aide get the Treasury Secretary on the line. The conversation was quite short and simple, how much money could be wire transferred in minutes if it became necessary and how was it to be accomplished if the United States did have to give in to this terrorist group. The answer was short and to the point. In about
10-15 minutes the Treasury could transfer a billion dollars to anywhere in the world they had a phone. The only action required was for the President to declare a National Emergency and give him the word. The paperwork of an Executive Order could follow up later on. Just that simple. The President thought about it for a while. The US had never openly conceded to terrorists, Of course there were always back room secret deals between countries and groups all the time. It’s just that they were just that, secret. The people didn’t need to know of the cooperation that took place between very strange bedfellows around the world. In this case there would be no keeping it secret, no hiding the losses with slush funds. No, $300,000,000.00 was too much for any Department to be keeping quietly in their sock drawer for a rainy day. If he paid it would be right out on front street and on the front page of every newspaper in the world. If he didn’t pay and the threat was real, the loss to the economy of the State of Michigan and the giant auto industries would have a ripple effect across the entire country to a point where a billion dollars would be a bargain. Besides there was something the Director of NSA mentioned about tracking wire transfer funds that he needed to check on further.
Messler had been slowly working his way back to the post. He had returned with the EST and HRTs on the Johnson bus tour through crowds of high tens of thousands of people now and thousands of cars. The tourists realized that they could be part of history in some perverse way and instead of heading back south to another way of traveling they were staying and taking up every where there was a parking spot or a place to stand and watch the bridge.
Messler had worked his way back to the truck where the FBI technicians were pulling out their bag of tricks for exploring the vehicle but nothing worked. The lead shielding on the walls of the trailer kept the x-ray and fluoroscope from penetrating any part of the trailer. The tractor had been examined over every inch without touching it. Finally one of the techs put an electrical meter on the metal of the truck and at first the reading was zero, then the voltage jumped to approximately 500,000 volts. Somewhere inside was the electric fence unit running off of a bank of batteries kept freshly charged by the diesel tractor. It was still too hot to get onto even if they were allowed to. Anyone trying to get into the tractor had better be encased in heavy rubber. The other situation that was discovered was that the tractor itself was the home to at least 12 motion and tremble sensitive switches that had been placed in various nooks and crannies of the body and frame. The wiring was all shielded running back to the main wire run that connected to the trailer. And the really bad news was those 12 were only the ones they discovered. Who knew how many others were lurking behind panels or in compartments. There was just no way to figure how many trap switches there were or what they did.
The trailer itself was the epitome of tough nuts to crack. The only information actually developed from it was by means of the mini-cameras. The trailer had been entered through the orange hatches and after the interior was observed. The technicians had decided that the pictures were accurate as to the construction and materials. Everywhere they scanned outside of the plate access areas they could see wires and sensors that appeared to be part of a complex of booby traps that simply could not be circumvented by any means they could come up with outside of a controlled laboratory and certainly not in the time frame they were dealing with. Through a computer assisted digital enhancement program a long shot of the rear doors of the trailer showed at least four contact switches that would break contact when the doors were opened. All the people at the trailer who were in the bomb building business figured that given enough time anything is capable of being penetrated and negated, but if the clock was right, they were screwed. Either it would blow or the government would pay. Disarming would not be an option.
Messler was talking to Greg Mack and Palmer and looking out over the sea of watercraft that had slowly filled the Straits. Off to the far East and West they could see the Great Lakes freighters running slow loops around the islands to keep up a head of steam as they waited for clearance to cross under the bridge. They had been comparing notes of the day when the portable radio Palmer was carrying came to life. The 3 of them were being called into the post for some reason.
They all arrived back at the Post and Poloski approached Messler. Poloski had been relegated to being a desk sergeant since his last dressing down from Phelps and he had been kept out of the critical information loop. He stepped in front of Messler as he came around the corner headed towards the conference room. He looked at the detective and demanded to know what he had been doing. Messler had been dealing with his sniping at him throughout the day. He had simply ignored him as he went about his activities. This time he had had enough of the sycophant pain in his ass. He looked a Poloski and said “If you were important enough or competent enough to know then the Lt. Col would have you involved. You want to know what is really going on, maybe you should ask yourself that question while looking in the mirror. As for what is happening regarding the threat, you should ask Phelps, now get off my ass.” He stepped around the open mouthed man and continued to the rear of the post. Polski turned and realized that the room had grown fairly quiet as the people at the desk area witnessed the dressing down of the Inspector. To the State personnel watching the incident he growled, ”What are you looking at, get back to work.” Under his breath he could be heard cursing Messler and swearing revenge and departmental charges.
They entered the conference room and were filled in on the situation as it had developed to that point. Messler, Mack, Palmer, and anyone else who felt the urge would be going out to the truck to witness some kind of demonstration that the robber/terrorists were going to provide to convince everyone that the threat was real. Abbott had continued his posturing that there was no bomb and that it was all tied into the robbery. He was adamant of his position, but he didn’t want to go out onto the bridge. He still could not bring himself to believe in the incident being the work of the BEG, to do so meant his defeat. But, at the same time his resolve was being crushed by the reports of his own technicians. He was still waiting for Hawken and Edmore to call in but it would make no difference. Whatever the results he had to go out on the bridge and he had grave forebodings of what would be the result.
Commander Allen’s crew had been broadcasting on any frequency they had available to their radios to try to get the area of the so called demonstration cleared of the boat traffic. After about 20 minutes of running, calling and sometimes threatening he managed to get the Pointe cleared. Interesting place he thought. No homes or anything for a good mile to two miles. He was summoned back to the radio again. It was the man he had talked to earlier. “Well done Commander. Did you see the boat at anchor I advised you about? Do not approach it. It is laden with explosives and is under surveillance. Any approach will result in your people getting killed for nothing.” then the transmission stopped.
STRAITS RED chapters 29-31
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