The on looking crowd of officers quickly fall into silence as Frank gages his eyes at them. He slowly turns to face Officer Mullins and plants a stiff right jab on his jaw. Mullins falls back against the van behind him. A few officers come to his aid and break the fight up. Chief Shaw enters the car park to see the ruckus. He puts two fingers in his mouth and whistles. The noise echoes off the granite walls and pings the attention of the men in the parking structure.
‘What’s going on here?’ Screams Shaw as he approaches Frank and Mullins.
‘Nothing sir’ Says Frank
Shaw looks at Mullins whose nose is bleeding.
‘What happened to your nose?’ Asks Shaw
‘I get nose bleeds sometimes’
‘Whatever, that’s besides point. Something big just went down. The president was assassinated a few minutes ago in Washington outside some posh hotel. It was a professional job; the shot went clean through his skull, instant death. Washington fears that the events here are connected. They have called off the extraction mission until they know more.’
The room goes quiet for a long moment.
‘Did they catch the guy who did it?’ asks Frank
‘No, but whoever did it is now Washington’s number one priority.’
Eighty One
Sandra and Mike are stood at the train station overlooking the tracks. The station is nearly empty as passengers and workers have boarded trains and finished shifts. Mike sits down on a bench. Sandra joins him. He turns to her, his face glum and depressed.
‘This must be one of the worst days of my life. It’s minus three degrees and I’m stuck at a train station that is about as exciting as sucking on lemons. Not to mention me and you aren’t on our way to Washington to cover the assassination.’
Sandra cups her head in frustration.
‘God Mike give it a rest. This is our job, show a little decorum. We go where we are told to go. All I’ve heard from you today is you pissing and moaning about the situation. The president has just been killed and all you care about is the fact that you’re not filming the aftermath. Fuck sake just shut the hell up!’
‘You’ve been my cameraman for a long time and its only today that I have realized what a selfish prick you are.’
‘Have you finished?’ asks Mike
Sandra exhales and nods. She sits down next to him. Her breath is visible in the cold Boston air. ‘Look, I’m sorry Mike. I know it’s a shitty day. We just have to suck it up. You never know, we could catch a break. Maybe someone interesting is going to come off the train. And we will be the first on the scene.’
‘Maybe we’re just here because Bob wants us out of the studio and out on the field, waiting for some B list celebrity to give his take on the day’s events. I do know one thing, I’m done after this.’
Eighty Two
Connor Chase is sitting down in his makeshift office. He flicks his zippo lighter on and off, intently looking at the flame as he does so. He slams his fist hard on the desk.
‘Someone get the hell in here’ He shouts.
The door bursts open and two of his goons walk in. Both men are strapped with automatic weapons. Their heavy bulk fills the room as they stare at their boss who’s playing with the flame coming off his lighter. Connor runs his finger through the naked flame, his knuckles singe at contact. He smiles a sadistic grin. He looks up at his two employees. His smile washes off his face immediately.
‘How the hell did this happen?’ He shouts
The two men look at each other in confusion.
‘How did what happen sir?’ Asks one of the men
‘I don’t know, maybe the whole president getting assassinated on the same day I call for a 28 amendment, it’s a bit counterproductive don’t you think?’
Both men remain confused. One of them nudges the other to speak up.
‘I don’t know sir. Your guess is as good as mine.’
Connor gets up from his seat and swipes off the contents of his desk with his arm. The sound of breaking glass echoes through the room as the contents of Connor’s desk hits the floor.
‘That’s not good enough. I want answers. Find out who killed the president and report back to me. Whilst you’re at it, one of you get Jason on the phone. We need to get this situation under control. It’s time to sop fucking around. Get the camera back online and get twenty five hostages bagged up. I’m going to make sure that they regret keeping me in the dark.’
Eighty Three
‘Understood’ Says Jason as he hangs up the mobile phone; he snaps the LED screen into place and turns to face the terrified passengers.
‘Okay here’s the deal. I’m splitting the passengers up. I’ll randomly select people to move and sit near me. After that, every one of you will help me tie the remaining passengers up. Then I will take you to the back of the train and you will be free to go. The train will stop five miles before the station. The remainder of the passengers will stay on. I will escort you guys out to the wooded area before the station and tie you up. You will remain there until the police find you. The passengers that remain on the train will be picked up by the police at the station.’
The crowd of hostages mumble in confusion. One of the passengers puts his hand up. Jason smiles and nods at him.
‘Why don’t you just let all of us go?’ The man asks
‘Because by splitting both groups up it takes the police longer to find me because they are too busy being heroes and saving you guys.’
The hooded man looks on as Jason eyeballs him.
‘You got something to say?’ Asks Jason
The hooded man shakes his head calmly.
‘Good. Anyone that declines to either help out or do as I say will get a bullet in their heads. I hope that’s clear.’
Jason starts pulling random passengers up by their arms. He pushes them to one side as he makes his way through the first row. The hooded man looks on as he clenches his fist. The dark woman next to him holds his clenched fist and shakes her head. Jason reaches the second row as the hooded man continues to watch and wait biding his time. Waiting for the right moment to strike.
Eighty Four
‘What do we do now?’ Asks Frank as he rattles the ice at the bottom of his glass.
Shaw looks on as he lights his cigar.
‘There’s nothing we can do. The president is dead and the folks down at Washington don’t want any attention taken away from the assassination.’
‘That’s BS, we can’t let one mad man risk the capture of another. Sorry to be so blunt here but at the end of the day the president is one guy. One guy killed. Connor has killed a lot more people in the past two days then one single guy, no matter how important the president is, we owe it to the hundreds of people still being held hostage to make sure they don’t end up swallowing a mouth full of lead live on television.’
‘Your right Frank, but we still can’t go over their heads. This is Washington for Christ’s sake. I sure as hell don’t want to be stacking papers for the rest of my life because I didn’t follow orders.’ Interrupts Eddie as he hands Shaw a coffee
‘You want a coffee Frank?’
Frank looks down at his whisky and shakes his head. He starts pacing the room as both Shaw and Smith talk about the situation. Frank zones out as his eyes glaze over. He is interrupted by a pat on the shoulder. He turns around to see Eddie talking. He can’t hear what he is saying. He can only see that DA’s lips move. The sound snaps back in.
‘You okay Frank?’ Asks Eddie
Frank’s head is doused in sweat.
‘Look I need to get some air. I’ll be back in twenty minutes or so.’