CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
The airport was in chaos when they arrived.
Passengers were being held inside the parking garages but weren’t allowed out of the airport due to the roads being blocked by police vehicles.
Faith couldn’t tell if the passengers were okay with this or frustrated that they couldn’t leave, but she didn’t have time to assess that situation.
Jessica parked their vehicle just outside the police blockade on the southern end of the scene. Turk hopped out and sniffed the air. His nose pointed directly at the TSA checkpoint building, and he started to growl.
“Hold on a second, boy,” Faith said. “Let’s get a handle on the situation before we jump inside.”
An older man with a prodigious gut and curly red-blond hair met them at a command vehicle parked a few yards up the road. He extended a hand and introduced himself. “Captain Grandal.”
“Faith Bold,” Faith replied. “Good to meet you.”
He chuckled. “Yeah, I guess. Shitty circumstances, though.”
“Agreed,” Faith said. “Any updates?”
“Well, he’s getting impatient. He said if we’re lying to him, he’s willing to kill himself.
He doesn’t want to, doesn’t deserve it, the Great Incompetent is the one who deserves it, yadda yadda, but he’ll kill both of them if we don’t give him a way out.
Says he doesn’t want to kill innocent people either, but he’ll do it if we jerk him around. ”
“Are there still people inside?” Jessica asked.
“No, we got everyone out.”
Faith whistled with relief. “Okay, good. That’s good. And no more luck tracing him?”
Grandal lifted two meaty hands and let them fall to his sides. “Nope. He’s in the southern half of Terminal 2. That’s the best I can tell you.”
A voice, older, calm, understanding, came to their ears from the other side of the command vehicle. “The car’s almost here, Mr. Stevenson. I just spoke to the driver, and they’ll be arriving any minute.”
Faith led Jessica and Turk to the negotiator, a kind-faced woman in her fifties wearing a bulletproof vest and the epaulettes of a lieutenant. She looked at the agents and lifted a finger to her lips. Faith gave her a thumbs up and listened to the conversation.
“You said that five minutes ago!” a hoarse male voice replied over the cell phone a uniformed officer held in her hand in front of the negotiator.
“I know, I’m sorry for the delay. You know how traffic is in the Beltway.”
“Fuck traffic! Stop traffic! Do you not care about the innocent people who are going to die?”
“We do care about them. We care about you too. I know you don’t think we do, but we do. We want everyone to walk out of this alive.”
“No! Not everyone! The Great Incompetent has to die!”
The negotiator sighed. “Well, we can’t do that, Robert. You know we can’t. The car’s almost here, but it won’t take you anywhere as long as Hartford’s life is in danger.”
“You’d risk thousands of innocent people for the Great Incompetent?”
“No, we wouldn’t. That’s why we’re evacuating everyone. But we’re not going to let you kill him either.”
Stevenson squealed, “Yes, you would! I will kill him! Do you understand? He will fucking die!”
“Hold on,” the negotiator said. “The driver is calling me.”
She clicked the mute button on the phone and turned to Faith. “This guy’s gone. He’s not gonna budge. We’ve got maybe five, ten more minutes before he just gives up and blows the bomb.”
Faith nodded. “Okay, I’m going in.”
“Whoa, whoa, whoa. The hell you are.”
That voice belonged to a third officer, a short, barrel-chested bulldog of a man wearing thick armor around his entire body and carrying an equally thick helmet in one hand. “You’re the EOD tech?” Faith guessed.
“I’m the EOD squad sergeant,” he replied. “And I apologize for my tone, Special Agent, but no one who isn’t part of our team is entering that terminal until we say it’s okay.”
Faith looked at the terminal. They didn’t have time to wait.
Stevenson was on edge and his panic would make him lose control.
The police were following their instincts to achieve control of the situation before risking anyone else, but the problem was that they wouldn’t achieve control without taking a risk.
Faith wouldn’t ask them to take that risk, though. This was her case.
“Then say it’s okay,” she said, unbuttoning her vest. “Because I’m going in.”
“Is there a reason you’re taking your vest off?” Jessica asked.
“Because I’m the driver.”
Both the EOD sergeant and the negotiator said “What?” at the same time.
“I’m the driver,” Faith repeated. “I’m going to get him out of there.
I’m going to tell him that we need to be at least three miles away before we’re far enough that law enforcement can’t snatch him.
Then I’m going to get him out of the building and grab his hand.
I’ll keep his thumb pressed on the detonator while my partner holds him still.
Then you guys will evacuate Hartford and disarm the bomb. ”
“Jesus, Faith,” Jessica breathed. “That’s ambitious.”
“Yeah, well,” Faith said, dropping her vest. “It’s the best plan I can think of off the top of my head.”
“But people know you,” Jessica said. “He’ll recognize you.”
“If he does, then we’ll play on that. We’ll say I have authority to tell people to let me take him wherever he wants to go.”
“How about this plan?” the EOD sergeant said. “You stay out here, and we go in, and when we say it’s safe, you come in?”
“Stevenson won’t surrender,” Faith said, removing her service weapon and FBI ID. “He’s going to blow that bomb in minutes if we don’t convince him he’s won.”
“Special Agent, with all due respect, you don’t have training in this,” the negotiator insisted.
“You do,” Faith said, meeting her eyes. “And in your own words, we have five, maybe ten minutes before gives up and blows the bomb, right?”
The negotiator sighed heavily, then nodded.
“Okay. Then we’re going in.”
The cry of another voice reached them. “Let me through! Damn it, I’m not going to be in the way! I’m just… Faith! Faith!”
Faith’s lips thinned. She shared a look with Jessica, then turned to the negotiator. “Tell him the car’s here, and the driver’s on her way in. Ask him where he is.”
While the negotiator complied, Faith walked to the edge of the cordon where Bridgette waited. She grinned at Faith and stuck her microphone out. “Special Agent Bold—”
“Hush,” Faith said, her voice low and dangerous. To her amazement, Bridgette hushed. “I said you could have an exclusive, and you will, but you will not endanger innocent lives. Back off, let us do our jobs, and I’ll talk to you when this is over.”
Bridgette recovered quickly. “Of course, Special Agent,” she replied. “Can you at least share what your plan is?”
“Do not broadcast this,” Faith instructed. “Cut the feed now.”
Bridgette blinked. “Well, my cameraman’s still getting us set up for air, so I can cut this part if you need me to, but—”
“I need you to. The suspect has a cell phone, and if he watches the news, seeing this could lead to innocent lives lost. Go back with the other news reporters and wait.”
She left Bridgette without waiting for an answer, but as she returned, she heard Bridgette telling her cameraman to back up and not air the footage, so for now, at least, the problem was dealt with.
She rejoined Jessica and Turk and the negotiator informed her, “Okay, we told him we’re sending someone in.
He’s in the maintenance restroom on the basement level.
You’ll have to go alone. He said if he sees anyone but the driver, he’s letting go of the button. ”
Faith nodded. She took a deep breath and turned to the EOD sergeant. “Bring your team with us. We’ll all go to the basement level, but only I enter the restroom.”
“All right,” the sergeant replied with grudging admiration. “Gotta hand it to you. You’re one brave girl.”
Faith gave him a half smile. “We all do our best.”
She hooked her head toward the terminal, and the group headed inside. A cheer started from the crowd, but Faith spun around and chopped her hand, and the cheer stopped. Jesus, guys, subtle. Be subtle.
They entered the terminal. Empty of passengers, the building looked like a scene from a post-apocalyptic movie.
The cordons for the ticket counters and baggage check counters crisscrossed like snakes across the vast floor.
Escalators hummed but transported no one to the upper or lower concourses.
LCD notifications slid across narrow strips above the counters, informing passengers that all flights were currently delayed.
It occurred to Faith that she hadn’t seen a single aircraft take off or land since arriving here.
Hundreds of flights and tens of thousands of people all brought to a grinding halt because of the anger of one man.
Or, depending on how you looked at it, the selfishness and irresponsibility of a few others.
Faith called the group to a halt at the top of the escalator.
"Everyone needs to be quiet. Sergeant, I want your team to wait at the foot of the escalator.
Jessica, you take Turk and attack on my command.
Turk, listen to Jessica, okay?" Turk dipped his head in acknowledgment.
"I'm going to go into the restroom and lead him out.
I'll secure the detonator and Jessica and Turk will assist me in holding him.
Then the EOD team will disarm the bomb. We'll let Hartford find his own way upstairs and out of the terminal. Any questions?"
“Yeah,” one of the EOD techs asked. “What if you don’t grab the detonator?”
Faith nodded. “This is your chance to back out of this. I won’t pretend that we’re not risking our lives. If that’s not something you’re all comfortable with, then I’ll understand if you want to get out of here.”
The others looked at each other. The EOD tech who asked the question shook his head. “Hell no. We’re in this all the way.”
The others echoed that sentiment. Faith nodded again, then said, “Okay. Showtime.”
They descended the escalators in silence. Turk bared his teeth and tensed as they descended and Stevenson’s scent reached his nostrils, but he kept quiet. Jessica’s face was ashen, but her eyes were just as determined as Faith’s.
The maintenance basement was quieter than the terminal above.
No noise from the outside filtered down, and the lack of windows on the walls of the underground floor contributed to the feeling of stepping into an alternate universe, or an alternate time, somewhere humanity had died off suddenly and completely, leaving behind only the bleak relics of its existence and the monsters that took its place lurking in the shadows.
The EOD sergeant clapped Faith on the shoulder and nodded.
Faith squeezed his shoulder, and he, Jessica, and Turk proceeded forward.
Turk’s feet padded soundlessly across the tile floor while Jessica matched Faith’s steps to keep from giving the slightest indication that there was more than one person approaching.
They stopped just outside the restroom. Faith squeezed Jessica’s shoulder, keenly aware of her lack of vest, gun, taser, and pepper spray.
She was completely defenseless other than her own fighting skill.
If that bomb went off… Well, if the bomb went off, her vest wouldn’t help her at all, so she supposed it didn’t make a difference.
She took a deep breath and entered the restroom.