Chapter 10
A LITTLE LATER, after the younger kids had gone to bed, I sat at the dining room table with Mary Catherine, Juliana, and my oldest son, Brian.
Brian still wore his uniform shirt from All City Air-Conditioning and Heating.
He’d gotten home after me, as he usually did these days.
It was a rare moment the four of us could share without the inquisitive ears of younger siblings.
They were all interested in the bombing, which had been on the news constantly since this morning. I answered what questions I could, but it made me realize how little I still knew about the case.
Mary Catherine said, “So do you think it’s related to that car bombing in Queens over the summer?”
“Possibly. There are similarities, but one big difference is that I’m told the bomb used on Sergeant Vega’s car was very crude.
The bomb used at the Office of Technology and Innovation was quite sophisticated, despite the glitter.
An unnamed group claimed responsibility for the bomb that killed Sergeant Vega, but no one’s come forward on this one yet.
If we knew, that might give us a little more to go on.
We can’t even count on the fact that it’s really an organized group.
The earlier message could’ve been a hoax and nothing but a waste of our time. ”
Mary Catherine asked, “Why the glitter?”
“Maybe they were showing off,” Juliana suggested. “Trying to show that they’re not afraid of anything.”
I looked at Juliana and said, “I can see those psychology classes at City College are really paying off.”
“Why the different bomb designs?” Mary Catherine continued. “If it is the same people, could they have gotten better at bomb making?”
“Sure they could.” This time it was Brian who had chimed in.
“Just go on YouTube. There are a whole bunch of videos about how to make bombs. They get tons of views too. I see all kinds of videos of people blowing up cars and old refrigerators and even things like storage sheds. I’ve heard that you can find plans online for making a nuclear weapon if you know where to look. ”
“That’s a pretty sharp take, Brian,” I said.
We had seen ups and downs as a family. Especially Brian.
He’d made some poor decisions in the past and paid the price with a stint in prison.
But it looked like he’d straightened out his life, and I wasn’t worried about him like I used to be.
“I was thinking about YouTube already. Even in training they use videos from YouTube to make a point. That’s something we’ll take a little more seriously. ”
I was impressed by both of my very intelligent children. “It sounds like I could put you both on the payroll at the PD.”
Their smiles told me that they weren’t too old to get praise from their dad. No one ever is.