Lieutenant Kang was hating this temporary bump up in command as much as he loved it. The paperwork he could do without but with the challenge of doing a job he loved so much the additional paperwork was worth it. When his captain was injured in his son-in-law's murder, he was the best choice to be put into the top spot in the BDU even if it was only a temporary job.
At first, even with the degree, he had in electrical and nuclear engineering he was tested by the bad guys who wanted to show him who was the smarter man. He was the one who had won all of those battles. Since he had taken over for Rick as interim captain the mad bombers seemed to come out of the woodwork. Four major incidents required BDU's presence. The first call out involved a disgruntled ex-mechanic who worked for a school bus company. Empire State Bus Corp. had reported that they were missing a yellow school bus. But the problem was that they were not informed about the missing bus until after it had made it's run picking up school children to drop them off at P.S. 173 in Fresh Meadow. The bus never made it to the school. Instead, the ex-mechanic had picked up the children, drove the bus to the Grand Central Parkway and parked it there with all 37 children on board. Then he left the bus there after he had activated the doors, ceiling vents, and emergency exit windows with sensors tied into three pounds of C-4 explosive and if any of the brats tried to leave, they would blow the whole bus up. He had a car waiting for him to take him away and if anyone followed the bus would be destroyed remotely.
Kang, Baez, and Dave responded to the Grand Central Parkway in Queens and surveyed the situation. Their first objective was to protect the children who were on the bus. Dave being the youngest the group thought that he was easier going when he talked to younger children. They had him walk up to the bus and explain to the kids that under no circumstances were they to exit the bus from any egress point. They all understood and retook their seats until he gave them the all-clear.
Kang and Baez had set up a frequency jammer to prevent anyone from detonating the C-4 via a cell phone or a radio frequency. Then they both got to work disarming the C-4. It was child's play (no pun intended) but this mechanic had wired up the C-4 as if he just got done watching a YouTube video. The children were taken off the bus safely and into the arms of very grateful and happy parents.
The other three incidents involved only what the BDU does on an everyday basis. A concerned citizen had discovered three World War Two unexploded two hundred-and fifty-pound bombs buried deep on Coney Island. That person was using a metal detector and found them and when he dug down to get what was under the sand. Once he reached the ordnance he stopped once he realized when he had found and called the bomb squad.
The BDU dealt with the unexploded old bombs and disposed of them at their Bronx disposal facility.
Xx
Colin had been keeping tabs on Rogers's progression from his surgeries and his physical therapy. It had been about six months and he was ready to jump back into the fray. He had a new plan drawn up for Mr. Smith. His Pontiac was sitting in his garage which was unsecured. There was no way that he would be able to notice anything wrong with his car because he never looks at his surroundings. For a classic car that he had restored by himself and all by his hand, it amazes him that there is no security in place to stop anyone from stealing it whatsoever. There are no alarms on the windows, and there are no cameras either on the back porch of the house or on the garage itself. Colin knows that there is an auto show coming up soon and that he will proudly display his car in. It's in Manhattan right around Battery Park. So maybe along with "Smitty" he'll take out some other people as collateral damage as well.
His father's thinking was devious when he made coated explosive trim plastic parts of the detective's unmarked police unit removed the real ones and replace them with the explosive parts. He would be doing something very basic. The bomb he was going to construct would be attached via a magnet holder on the inside of the frame. And that's about as far as he goes traditionally. The way it would be wired would be with the times and technology that exist today. He would use a tilt switch filled with mercury and a two-hour delay. The reason for the two-hour delay is so he can get Smitty from Brooklyn to Manhattan and get his car set up at the stall that he was going to be showing his car at. He also had another surprise for those who were standing around ogling his classic car. He would have somewhere in the neighborhood of 10,000 ΒΌ inch ball bearings packed into the frame of the car on both sides. This with the amount of Semtex he decides on will make for a pretty large kill zone.
He had some planning to complete and when he was finished, he'd be rid of one less pain in his ass. "Smitty" could talk Rodgers into doing anything and this fact is what had him worried. His goal was to take out Rodgers and if Smitty was still alive he'd be sure that Rodgers would listen to what he was telling him about who could be trying to kill him and this could not be allowed to happen.
He had been to car shows in Ireland when he was younger and if they are similar here, he would be successful in his plan. Here in the States, the car owners would set up a small tent to shade themselves from the weather right next to their car. They would sit in lawn chairs and if a passerby had a question about their car the car owner would answer them. But mostly it was just people who loved to talk about cars from that decade or century and the memories they had with them.
Xx
Her daughter was spot on with her prediction of the loft being a touch louder than ever before. Kate was blessed with delivering her babies first and this upset Alexis only because she was now two and a half weeks past her due own date. They came into the world with no problems at all. Faith was born first at 11:48 pm on May 17th and Hope was born at 11:54 on the same day.
They had all been in the hospital two days later when Kate was being checked in on by her doctor when the inevitable happened.
She knocked on her mother's hospital door just to give her a slight warning before Alex could barge into the room. She had Alex with her and he was anxious to see his new sisters. Her father was on the third floor busy with his physical therapy and would be coming up when he was done.
"Lexi, can we go in now?" Alex asked.
"Just give mommy a second to get ready. She'll tell us when it's okay to come in. The twins can be a handful."
"Oh okay."
Alexis knocked on the door once again and her mother told her to enter.
"Hi mom," Alexis said as Alex pushed his way through the door.
"Mommy!" Alex shouted as he ran over to her bedside. He looked around and didn't see his sisters anywhere.
"Where are the babies mommy?"
"First peanut we need to be just a little quieter when we come into a room where your sisters might be. But right now, they are in the nursery taking a nap."
"Oh, I thought they might be with you. I really wanted to see them." Alex told her.
"They will be back soon because they need to be fed. You will get to see them. But you need to use your inside voice alright?"
"Yes, mommy."
"So how are you feeling daughter?" Kate asked Alexis.
"I don't want to be pregnant anymore mother. I think they don't want to be born anymore and would rather spend the rest of their lives in my womb."
"Sweetie, I'm sure that your bundles of joy will be here very soon. But for now, I see that your sisters are making an entrance into my room. They're probably starving by now. So, if you would like you can hold one while I feed one and then we'll switch." Kate said as the nurses rolled two bassinets into her room.
Alex watched as his mother as she started to nurse one of his sisters. It wasn't until his older sister asked if he would like to see the sister that she was holding that he looked away and nodded his head yes. When he looked at her, he noticed that she was so very small. Her eyes are open and she was looking all around. That's when his sister started to cry. He asked if he could hold her and his big sister said as long as he sat in the chair next to his mom's bed, she would let him hold her after she calmed her down. Kate looked on as Alex got in the chair and Alexis gently placed Faith in his arms after instructing him how to hold his sister the right way. He held there for about two minutes and that's when she started to fuss a little more. The look of shock on his face as if he did something wrong was priceless. Alexis had explained to him that she was hungry and she was only fussing because she was hungry. Kate had just finished up feeding Hope and was going to start feeding Faith. Alexis took Hope and gave Kate Faith and then she started feeding her. Alex wanted to hold his other sister now and since he had just dealt with a fussy Faith, he thought that Hope would be easier to handle because she had already eaten. And that was the case because Hope fell asleep in his arms. About five minutes later Alexis took back Hope and placed her back in the bassinet.
Alexis turned back to her mother to see if she was finished with feeding Faith and that's when it happened. At first, she thought she was imagining things. But as she looked down to her maternity pants all he can see was wet everywhere. It was mostly on the floor and the second she looked up and her mother was already pushing the nurse call button. Alex was unsure of what was happening now because he saw a big puddle on the floor right where his sister was standing.
"Mommy, what's wrong with Lexis? Is she okay?"
"Peanut she will be fine. She is going to have her own babies very quickly. I think she's in labor right now."
It was then when they when a very painful contraction hit Alexis almost doubling her over where she stood. The fact that she didn't have any warning probably meant that she had already been in labor for the past couple of hours and didn't realize it. The nurse came into the room and they quickly explained what was happening. The nurse sent an orderly to get a wheelchair to admit Alexis into the hospital. After returning with the wheelchair she said goodbye to her mother and Alex.
Xx
Rick had finished his physical therapy and was heading towards the fourth floor when he stepped in the elevator. The car rose to the fourth floor and when the doors opened he almost ran into his daughter who was being pushed down the hallway in a wheelchair and towards the birthing suites.
"Alexis, what's going on? Why are you in a wheelchair?
"Dad, my twins are coming now. I need someone with me so if you're available I'd appreciate you being there with me when they are born."
"Pumpkin there's nowhere I'd rather be then with you. Let me tell your mother where I'll be and I'll see you in a minute or two."
Rick was true to his word. He went to see Faith and Hope and held them each for a little bit and kissed his wife before leaving to help Alexis deliver her new sons.
"Just one more push Alexis then I promise it will all be over." Doctor Toni Acosta told her.
"I am really tired. I don't think that I have one more push left in me to give you."
"You do. I know it hurts but the second you are finished your second son will be here, I promise."
Alexis gathered all the strength she had left in her and gave the doctor one good last push. Five seconds later she gave birth to her second son Kyle.
She fell back on the bed and took in a very large breath and exhaled slowly. She was sore but it was worth it since her sons were both here and healthy. When she looked up at her father all she could see was the awe he held for her. He was very misty-eyed and if she guessed right, he was crying a little.
"Alexis you did great. What are you going to name your other son?" Rick asked.
"I was thinking about the name Robert Michael. What do you think dad?"
Rick thought about it for a minute and concluded that this name was probably very good. So he told her so.
"That's a very strong name honey. I like it. Can I be released of my birthing duties to go tell your mother what you did here today?"
"Sure dad." His daughter smiled at him because she had made him a grandfather and he was a father once again.
TBC
A/N: To the guest reviewers I can not reply directly to:
Guest # 1: Rick is in his early to mid-fifties.
Guest # 2: There might be a mole or maybe there isn't. Maybe he can do his homework and figure things out. Only Colin knows. But thanks for your review.
