Black Forest, Denver Cereal Volume 5 (13 page)

“
Four minutes,” Raz said.
“They move in four minutes.”

~~~~~~~~

Monday night — 9:25 P.M.

Sand Creek Greenway

“
I’ve gone from not liking
this to really not liking this,” Delphie said.

Seth raised an eyebrow in her direction and
turned back to watch the entrance. There was a two foot by two foot
hole where the pieces of stacked concrete created a tunnel. The
dogs had indicated that there were explosives in or around the
tunnel. No one had seen movement in or out of the chamber. The SWAT
Commander in charge forbade them from moving on the location.

But Seth was stubborn. This was his case.
Like it or not, he was going in.

“
The heat readings
indicate a person inside,” the SWAT commander said.

“
The boy is there?” Seth
asked.

“
We have no way of knowing
until we go in,” the SWAT commander said. “We can only tell you
what we see. There’s a body in there. The dogs hit on explosives.
We could send a rover but it can’t get up the steep river
embankment. I’d have to send one of our guys to the
entrance.”

Seth nodded.

“
But sir, I have to tell
you,” the SWAT commander said. “This has every hallmark of a trap.
Ma’am?”

“
It’s a trap,” Delphie
said. “Yes, that’s correct.”

Still nodding, Seth put the night vision
binoculars to his eyes.

~~~~~~~~

Monday night — 9:28 P.M.

Middle of Denver, CO

“
Heat?” Alex
asked.

Alex, Raz and Matthew leaned over the
satellite’s heat reading for the area.

“
Warm body,” Matthew
said.

“
But dead,” Raz
said.

“
Not asleep or medicated?”
Colin asked.

“
Dead,” Raz said. “Just
barely though. Within the hour.”

“
Radar?” Alex
asked.

The computer’s screen switched to a radar
reading.

“
There’s a small room
under the airplane salvage yard,” Matthew said. “It was probably a
part of the old airport. Built in the 1920s.”

“
Old bootleg storage?” Max
asked.

“
Maybe,” Matthew said.
“But probably not. There’s no indication of a secure entrance or
exit. More likely it was used in building the Stapleton
airport.”

“
NORAD?” Alex
asked.

“
They concur,” Raz said.
“Sonar confirms findings.”

“
Body is?” Alex
asked.

“
Hanging,” Raz cleared his
throat.

“
Scenarios?” Alex
asked.

“
None,” Troy said. “The
kidnapper has the upper hand in every scenario.”

“
What did you determine
from the phone call?” Raz asked.

“
Taped earlier and played
back,” Alex said.

“
You can hear the clicks
of a recording device,” Max said.

“
I doubt Charlie could
tell over his crappy disposable phone,” Alex said.

“
This is a trap,” Troy
said.

“
Make the call,” Alex
said.

~~~~~~~~

Monday evening — 9:32 P.M.

Sand Creek Greenway

“
It’s my case, God damn
it,” Seth said. “I’m going. And it’s time to move.”

Seth glared at the SWAT Team Commander and
began walking toward the river.

~~~~~~~~

Monday night — 9:30 P.M.

In Sandy’s Salon on Colfax Blvd, Denver,
CO

The children’s eyes were riveted to the
laptop screen. With the SWAT team backup, Seth began to hike toward
the river. Three SWAT team members followed in a semi-circle behind
him. They reached the river and the SWAT Team Commander ran
forward. They could hear Seth and the Commander argue.

“
I don’t like this,”
Noelle said.

“
I don’t either,” Nash
said.

“
This is a trap, isn’t
it?” Charlie asked.

“
It’s a trap,” Teddy
said.

Just then Seth screamed, “Get the fuck out
of my way.” He appeared to push the SWAT Team Commander away from
him and stepped into the river.

“
No Seth!” the children
yelled. “Stop!”

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & THIRTY

Jeepers

Monday night — 9:30 P.M.

Middle of Denver, CO

“
Wait,” Troy said. “What’s
that?”

Jumping up from the table, Troy ran toward
the big screen television.

“
What is that?” Alex and
Max followed Troy toward the screen. “Raz?”

Raz clicked the satellite to zoom in.

“
That’s a person,” Troy
said.

“
Blackened face, clothing,
just hanging out in that tree,” Max said.

“
He must have to trigger
the explosion,” Cian said. “He’s got to watch for the right
moment.”

The ex-PIRA explosive expert, Cian Kelly,
walked to the screen. He pointed to an object in the person’s
hand.

“
This explosion must be
big,” Cian said. “He wants to blow the whole thing at once. He
wouldn’t want motion to set off one part and have to wait for the
next. This is going to be a blood bath.”

“
He’s built a little
platform,” Matthew said. “He’s probably been there for
hours.”

“
He’s far enough upstream
to avoid detection,” Alex said. “Did you get the phone numbers of
the guys we know?”

“
Dialing now,” Raz
said.

“
Colin, I need an
assessment of damage and medical response,” Alex said.

“
On it,” Colin
said.

“
There’s a motor bike
under the tree,” John said.

“
Where?” Alex
asked.

“
There,” John said. “You
can barely see it.”

“
That’s a dirt bike,” Troy
said. “Trip the explosion, slide down the tree and escape on the
bike. Clever. He’s been planning and preparing this adventure for a
while.”

Everyone turned their attention to Raz.

“
I can’t get through,” Raz
said. “Cell access is blocked.”

“
Let’s unblock it,” Alex
said.

Max nodded to Alex and went to work on
Troy’s laptop.

“
We can do that?” Troy
asked.

“
We can try,” Alex
said.

“
Got it,” Max
said.

“
Yes sir, I have a
priority message from a friend for a man who wears an F. Yes sir,
I’m aware of that,” Raz said. “The perpetrator is in the trees
about a half mile northeast of your location. Please relay the
information. Yes sir, I’ll hold the line.”

Covering the mouth piece, Raz nodded to
Alex.

“
Excellent,” Raz said.
“Also, we believe the entire region is lit with explosives. Yes.
And sir? This conversation never happened. Thank you.”

Raz listened to the SWAT officer for a
moment, nodded and hung up.

“
They have him in their
sites,” Raz said.

The SWAT Commander ran into the river to
speak with Seth. The two men began to argue. Seth pushed the
Commander. The Commander grabbed Seth’s arm.

“
This is exciting,” Alex
picked up a bowl of popcorn.

~~~~~~~~

Monday night — 9:35 P.M.

In Sandy’s Salon on Colfax Blvd, Denver,
CO

The children’s voices brought Pete down from
the apartment above.

“
What’s going on?” Pete
ran down the stairs.

“
Seth’s going to die!”
Noelle said.

Noelle began to cry. She threw her arms
around Teddy’s neck. Overwhelmed and unsure of what to do, Teddy
attempted to comfort her. Charlie moved his hands away from
Noelle’s behind.

“
I can’t watch,” Noelle
said.

“
Look, that guy stopped
him,” Nash said.

“
Grabbed his arm,” Charlie
said.

The men continued to argue. From the bank,
Delphie began to run toward Seth. The uniformed police officers
tried to stop her but she managed to slip their grasp. She had just
stepped into the river when they heard a muffled crack.

“
What’s that?” Nash asked.
“It sounded like…”

“
A gunshot,” Pete said.
“Probably silenced.”

The shooter fired again. Then once more.
There was a sharp boom and Seth fell into the river. Delphie ran to
him. Riveted to the screen, they watched Delphie hold Seth’s head
out of the water. They saw her laugh and pat Seth’s chest.

At that moment, the whole area erupted with
activity. The uniformed police officers ran up the river. The SWAT
team on the North side of the location ran north. In the distance,
they heard the sharp whine of a dirt bike starting.

“
That’s a dirt bike,”
Teddy said.

“
Or an ATV,” Nash
said.

The SWAT team began to fire. Outside of
Nash’s control, the satellite picture moved back to be able to
watch the entire field. They saw twenty or more men and women
moving northeast up the river.

“
Looks like it’s all
over,” Pete said.

“
What happened to Seth?”
Noelle asked.

Her tears still streaming, she leaned
forward to look at the laptop. She pointed to where Seth and
Delphie were lying in the river. From the position of the image,
they couldn’t see them.

“
Can’t tell,” Nash
said.

“
I think that’s enough,”
Pete said. “You’ve seen the main event. It’s time to turn it
off.”

“
Pete!” Nash and Teddy
whined at the same time. “That’s not fair.”

“
I agree with Pete,”
Charlie said. “Plus, if we turn it off now, we still might not get
noticed.”

“
That’s unlikely,” Pete
said. “Turn it off. Now.”

Nash glared at Pete but did what he was
told. Pete picked up the laptop from the table.

“
Hey! That’s mine,” Nash
said.

“
Do you think I’m stupid?”
Pete asked. “You’re going to turn it back on the moment I’m not
looking. Right?”

Nash glared.

“
Right?” Pete
asked.

Nash nodded.

“
Good boy,” Pete said.
“I’ll hold onto this. It’s way past your bedtimes, but I promised
you could stay up until Seth or Delphie came back.”

“
I think we should stay
here tonight,” Teddy said.

“
Me too,” Nash smiled his
most manipulative smile.

Unwilling to respond, Pete shook his head
and began walking up the stairs.

“
The Xbox 360 is set up on
the TV there,” Pete said. “If I were you, I’d be playing it when
they arrive.”

Stunned, the kids’ eyes followed Pete up the
stairwell.

“
Now,” Pete
said.

Charlie ran to the television to turn it on.
Nash turned on the X-Box and began looking at the available
games.

“
Where did this come
from?” Nash asked.

“
It was a present. To me,”
Charlie said. “You have Play Station at the house.”

“
From whom?” Teddy
asked.

“
Sandy,” Charlie said.
“For getting glasses and…you know.”

Teddy and Nash nodded. They had been helping
Charlie with his reading.

“
What games did you get?”
Nash asked.

“
Halo, Madden NFL, Batman:
Arkham Asylum…” Charlie said. “Noelle and I played Fable III after
school today.”

“
It’s very fun,” Noelle
said. “Charlie let me beat him.”

“
Do you have Call to
Duty?” Teddy asked.

Charlie nodded.

“
Black Ops?” Nash asked.
“That just came out.”

Charlie nodded.

“
How…?” Teddy started.
Nash hit him to stop him from talking. They shared a look that
could only mean Charlie stole it.

“
I didn’t steal it,”
Charlie said. “Aden bought it for me.”

“
Dad did?” Nash asked. “I
didn’t get anything!”

“
Horseback riding,
archery… You went to Elitch’s today. Noelle got some fancy art
thing…”

“
A new easel,” Noelle
nodded.

“
It’s my Rachel gift,”
Charlie shrugged.

“
You need to guilt that
man into getting us more cool stuff,” Teddy said.

“
Indeed,” Charlie
said.

“
Who’s playing?” Nash
said.

Teddy grabbed a controller and sat down.
Charlie plopped down next to Nash and snatched Nash’s controller
from him. Nash got up to get another one.

“
Noelle?” Nash
asked.

“
Is it violent and awful?”
Noelle asked.

“
Yes,” Nash
said.

“
Oh,” Noelle said. “Maybe
I’ll draw for a while.”

Nash smiled to encourage Noelle. She nodded
and got her bag. Sitting down next to Teddy, she took out her
sketchpad while the boys started their game. When Noelle looked up
again, the boys were engrossed in the game.

~~~~~~~~

Monday night — 9:48 P.M.

Downtown Denver Police Station

Ava loved working the night shift. She had
the lab mostly to herself and uninterrupted time to explore
whatever treasure the Crime Scene Investigators left for her. Her
little corner of heaven included her hip hop music streaming from
Pandora, and a couple of lab techs to keep her company.