‘Chief Shaw speaking’
A clicking sound pops into Chief Shaw’s ear as he speaks; the recording equipment is doing its job.
‘Hello Mr Shaw. It’s Connor Chase here. I’d like to speak to your esteemed Detective, Mr Frank McKenzie if possible.’
Shaw begins pacing once more, this time slow and methodical as if the way he walks helps him stand his ground. By now the incident room is full again with officers taking seats around desks. They are all wearing head phones and listening into the phone call. Standard procedure when it comes to terrorism. Chief Shaw starts to bite his nails as he continues to talk to Chase.
‘I’m sorry Connor, that won’t be possible.’
There is a long silence, the only audible sounds in the whole room is the deep breathing coming from the other end of the phone.
‘Why won’t my request to speak with Frank be possible?’
‘The thing is we fired him after coming to know about some of his questionable decisions’
‘Oh, what sort of bad decisions did he make Chief, was it anything to do with the fact that he behaved unprofessionally and slept with a so called key witness or did he, I don’t know, just shoot up a down town storage facility?’
The room bursts into sinister chatter as officers start dialling in calls.
‘What are you talking about?’ Asks Shaw
The line goes dead.
‘Shit, he’s gone sir’ says a technician from across the analysis desk.
‘I can see that!’ Shouts the Chief in frustration
He turns around to face his men.
‘Okay, you all heard what Chase had to say, and for those of you that did not hear what he said, I’ll make that clear right now. Chase just told me that Frank was down town in some storage area shooting the place up. Obviously we don’t know if that’s true but unfortunately giving the situation, we need to find McKenzie and bring him in. I have a feeling that this cock sucker chase is going to ride this out for as long as possible so we need to get Frank in just in case he demands to speak with him and use him as another reason to kill more civilians. I need people to look into all the storage facilities in down town Boston and make sure we find the building and Frank. I’m going to send out a combing party of officers to surround the area and sweep it for McKenzie. When we find him, I need him arrested and taken back to custody, right here. Is that understood?’
Agreeing silence fills the room.
‘Good get going people!’
Fifty Four
Frank is leaning his weight against a brick wall, looking up at the sun; he covers his eyes from its rays. Sweat is pouring down his brow as he wipes it away, smearing blood on his temple. He looks down at his feet, his shoes once black are now covered in mud and muck. His clothes are torn and worn out. Blood stains his clothing and dirty blonde hair, his muscles ripping through his lacerated apparel, showing more than veins and scars. His marine core tattoo is visible; it’s plastered on his right shoulder. He looks down at the marine insignia and shakes his head. Fear and loathing are not feelings Frank feels often, but at this moment both of them are running through his body quite like the blood that once ran through the guard he beat to death a short while ago. The voices start talking.
‘Fear is for the weak frank, knuckle up you pussy’ Says the briskly voice. At that moment Frank darts his head from right to left, trying to pin point the voice’s location. He looks around, nothing but open woodland and concrete tanks surround him. He looks up at the sun again and goes down to his knees. He reaches into his ripped shirt pocket and pulls out his empty pill container. He starts sobbing and moaning, visibly in pain. He holds his hands out in front of him, as if he doesn’t recognise himself.
‘Man up!’ Shouts the voice in his head
‘Don’t be weak, you don’t need those pills my boy, you have me!’ Snarls the voice
Frank turns his hands over and looks at his palms. The lines on his hands contour much like his life. He never believed in psychics or palm readings, but he could tell how someone could read some one’s life through his. Busted fingers and broken knuckles are few of the things that serve as a footnote for his life. Frank stops looking at his hands, as he pulls himself back up using the railing attached to the wall. He brushes himself down and looks back up at the sun, and then to his front. He sees the gate that he entered a few hours earlier. The guard that let him in is in his booth watching the CCTV. Frank takes out his gun and slowly pulls the hammer back.
‘Forgive me’ Says Frank as he reaches the window of the booth and takes aim.
Fifty Five
Officer Mullins walks into the foyer of the incident room in midtown Boston. He is greeted with a buzzing of chatter as he stands still and witnesses the chaotic poetry of the building. Masses of officers are walking and running around urgently as they scramble for offices and phones. He turns around to his partner and throws him a cautious blink. Mullins carries on walking with his partner towards the incident rooms’ central operations area which is boarded up with plaster wood. He is met by a few smiles and nods from his co-workers. Mullins notices the people acknowledging him are doing so in politeness rather than need. He looks out of place in the building as he is a street officer who walks a beat; most of the people in the incident room are decorated members of the police force, not to mention the ever growing presence of the FBI and CIA. He suddenly jumps as some one’s hand pats him on the shoulder, jolting him out of his haze. It’s the DA, Eddie Smith.
‘Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you there’ laughs the DA
Mullins nods his head in relief, happy to see a familiar face
‘No problem sir. What’s going on here then?’
‘Chase has been in contact with us and it seems he has taken a liking to Frank McKenzie. He wants to talk with Frank on the phone, but obviously that’s slightly impossible since he is MIA. We need to locate Frank as soon as possible, or I fear Connor might start killing more hostages.’
Mullins glances at his partner and back at Eddie; worry washing all over his face
‘Don’t worry kid, everything will work out. Just worry about keeping the streets safe and doing your part in the case.’
‘The thing is sir; I’m finding it hard to sit around. I want to do more, and I feel that I could do more to help the investigation.’
Eddie nods at Mullins sympathetically
‘I understand kid; we all want to do more. How do you think I feel being cooped up in this office all day? We all want to be the guy to take this sucker down. Truth is we can, we all play an integral part in the success of this case. My job is to run the ship; your job is to be the much needed man on the streets. There’s a lot more going on in Boston then what’s happening down in the M.I.T Building, we need people like you to man the streets and make sure the city doesn’t turn into a playground for chase and his so called followers, is that clear?’
Mullins nods
‘Good, now I want you to go down to the garage and meet your team. We want you to lead them on point, and search down town for any signs of Frank. You will be leading them into possible hostile areas, if there is any form of resistance from Frank or any of Chase’s men on the streets then plant a couple of bullets into their legs, I want them alive and able to talk. I’m trusting you kid, you have shown initiative, if you play your cards right you could be bumped up to Homicide after this is all over.’