Chapter 28
Chase had been trying to get in touch with the victim’s mother since that morning when the boss stuck his head in the door of his office.
“You’d better get out to the police academy, buddy,” said the chief. “There have been sounds of explosions.”
Instantly, he was on his feet. “Is anybody hurt?”
“Not sure,” said Alec. “The reports coming in are a little sketchy. There’s talk of several wounded, so I’ve already sent word out for emergency services to get there as soon as possible, and the bomb squad is also on their way.”
“Christ,” said Chase. “I hope that Odelia…” He didn’t finish the sentence, as a look from his boss told him that Alec felt exactly the same way and was harboring the same fear.
“Take Marva,” said Alec. “I’ll stay here to coordinate things.”
“You need to come with us,” said Chase.
“And who’s going to man the fort? No, I’m staying put.” He placed a hand on Chase’s shoulder. “The moment you know more, you call me, all right?”
“Absolutely,” he said, and as he moved through the main room of the police station, he passed by Marva’s desk and said curtly, “With me, Marva.”
“What’s going on, boss?” asked the woman.
“There have been explosions at the police academy. Not sure what’s going on, but ambulances and the bomb squad are on their way.”
“Oh, no,” said Marva. “And Odelia is out there.”
“Tell me about it,” he said grimly.
As they hurried out of the police station, Dolores halted them in their tracks before they could slam through the doors and hit the parking lot.
“A call just came in, Chase,” she said. “A tank has apparently been seen attacking people. They say it must be a terrorist attack for sure.”
“A tank?” asked Chase. Explosions and a tank? What was going on?
“Yeah, it was mowing down people. And when it didn’t succeed, since people all jumped to safety, it tried to run them over again. Clearly a terrorist attack, so if I were you, I’d be careful.”
“Maybe we should call in the army,” said Marva. “Or the National Guard. Or the FBI. Or all of them.”
“Alec will take care of that,” said Chase as he held up a hand in thanks to Dolores, then they both hurried out the door and to their squad car. “He’ll know who to call if this turns into a hostage situation or a siege.”
“I hope they haven’t killed all of them,” said Marva the moment they were both in the car and speeding out of the parking lot. “Terrorists sometimes do that, don’t they? They shoot everyone on sight and keep on shooting until there’s nobody left.”
Chase didn’t respond to that. The thought of Odelia out there, under siege by those terrorists, trying to mow her down with their tank, was too much for him to contemplate. If anything happened to her, he’d…
Well, he didn’t know what he’d do. He couldn’t imagine anything having happened to the love of his life. And so, for possibly the first time in his life, he actually started praying.
“Terrorists shot up a 7-Eleven last month,” said Marva as she placed her feet on the dash.
“I wish you wouldn’t do that,” said Chase as he cut a quick glance at those offending feet.
“Oh, right,” said Marva, and removed her feet from the dash again.
“It’s a bad look,” he explained, even though he didn’t have to explain, as it was against regulations.
“They shot three people,” she said. “And when the police arrived, they started shooting at them, too. So we’d better get some bulletproof vests, boss.”
He nodded. The last thing he had thought when he had set out for his day that morning, and Odelia had set out for hers, was that he would need to wear a bulletproof vest.
“Have you managed to get in touch with Mercedes Saggers yet?” asked Marva.
“Not yet. She’s not picking up her phone.”
He wanted to talk some more about the woman’s son. Whether Harley had any enemies she could think of, or someone apart from this guitar-loving Turbo Heartthrob fan who might have had it in for him.
They had asked around, and as far as he could tell, none of the members of Turbo Heartthrob were in town at the moment, so the theory that the guitar player of the band had somehow become aware that his beloved guitar was circulating amongst fans of the band and had decided to get it back was null and void as far as he was concerned.
“Let’s put a pin in the Harley Glad investigation for now,” he suggested. “We’ve got bigger fish to fry.”
“You can say that again, boss,” said Marva.
He noticed, as he checked his right for any oncoming traffic, that she had unbuttoned the top button of her blouse. Possibly she was too hot, he figured. But since it was against regulations also, he gestured to her blouse and said, “Can you button up, Marva?”
“Oh, I’m sorry, boss. It’s just so hot in here, you know.” She took her time to button up again, and he would have turned on the AC if a call hadn’t come in at that moment.
“Chase?” asked the voice of his boss and chief of police. “Are you close?”
“Almost there,” he said.
“More reports have been trickling in. About a tank the terrorists are using to mow down personnel at the academy. And the same tank has crashed into the building where the ammo is being stored. Possibly they have managed to get away with some of it, so they’re considered extremely dangerous.
” He paused, then said, in a more hesitant tone, “Son?”
“Yes, boss?”
“Maybe you should sit this one out?”
“Fat chance, chief,” he grunted. “Odelia is in there, so I’m going in.”
The chief didn’t respond for a moment, and just when Chase figured the line had gone dead, he said, “Be careful, son. And please, whatever you do, don’t play the hero, all right?”
“Got it, boss,” he said curtly.
They were nearing the compound now, and as they did, the ambulances that Alec had called up were also on approach, several of them forming a conga line along the main road.
And since Chase didn’t feel like getting into any heroics, and in spite of his desire to get to Odelia as fast as he could, he decided to stay behind them.
As it was, they were going as fast as they could, their lights flashing and the sirens blaring out their penetrating noise.
And as Marva lapsed into silence, he resumed his prayers.
Let Odelia be all right, he silently intoned.
Let her be alive and not hurt by these maniacs.