Chapter: 15
Author: Evidence
Rating: PG-13
Author's Notes: Thanks to D and Maple Street. Second to last chapter. Whew!
Doors closed quickly, agents with guns gathered following Jack Malone's orders and surrounding the warehouse the best they could. A SWAT member, Tammy Holstein, helped Samantha get into a bulletproof vest. Samantha listened to Tammy's encouraging words but could not stop the sickening dread in her stomach. Her eyes caught Jack's and she saw the worry etched on it. She was going to be fine she told herself, she had to be.
Franklin Podena watched the proceedings from within the darkened warehouse. The bomb was behind him on a table, just waiting to take his life and that of the pretty blond agent. He would never see the newspaper headlines or hear the radio report but he knew what they would say. His reign of terror would be discussed for years. Samantha Spade would become the poor victim who lost her life in the call of duty. Maybe there would even be a television movie. He only hoped someone famous would play him and win some award for being so evil. He wasn't scared of hell; he had already lived through it.
"Sam," Jack said touching her arm. "Are you sure about this?" His eyes looked misty.
"Yeah, I'm sure." She wanted to tell him if she didn't make it how much she loved him but she couldn't take the words from her heart.
He watched her move to the front of the building and he felt tears already beginning to fall. With a shaky voice he ordered his troops into position.
Samantha moved with jelly like legs to the warehouse door. "Franklin? It's Samantha Spade, I'm here for Thomas."
"Come in, door's open," came the response.
She looked back at the agents staring at her, she saw Vivian give her a small smile as to reassure her, she noticed Jack wiping at his eyes with the cuff of his messy shirt. And with her heart banging in her ears she opened the door.
Podena was a half visible figure standing in the middle of the room. A table seemed to be behind him. Her eyes adjusted to the dark. She scanned the room looking for her cousin.
"Where's Thomas?"
"Downstairs," he tilted his head back to show a staircase leading down.
"I want to see him." Samantha stood still close enough to the door to run back out, back into Jack's arms.
"Thomas, you're cousin's here," Podena yelled.
There was no answer.
"I hope he's not sleeping again. Golly, you give him one bottle of Vodka and he's out like a baby," Podena shook his head.
"Did you kill him?" Sam asked her mouth dry.
Podena laughed. "Wish I had but no I didn't. I swear on your life." He grinned but she couldn't see it.
"Take me to Thomas, please."
"Okay, let's go," he held up his hands, "No guns see. I like that vest. Are they in style this year?"
Sam didn't answer but proceeded foreword, her eyes trained on Podena. "Come with me," she said when she was close to him.
"Sure," he replied. "Let me first light a candle to guide us."
Her thoughts churned and then she noticed he wasn't holding a candle- he was holding a hand made bomb that now lit. A bomb that would go off in less than a minute. Less than a minute to find Tommy. Less than a minute to get to safety. Less than a minute to live.
"What's happening in there?" Jack asked. "Can anyone see?"
"No", "I can't tell" where the responses he received. He silently said a prayer. A prayer asking for Samantha to live.
Sam ran for the stairs. "Tommy!'
Podena followed. "He's not down there. Sorry Agent Spade but you'll die for nothing. When I went out this afternoon, Thomas left. I don't know where he is." He began to laugh.
Sam looked up from the bottom of the stairs. Angry enveloped her soul and she found herself charging up the metal stairs. Seconds remained until the bomb went off. Podena looked surprised when she threw herself at him. The bottle containing the bomb fell out of his grasp. His body hit the floor accompanied by Samantha's. He punched her hard in the jaw and pushed her up. In that sec she turned to see the bomb stop it's roll down the stairs and the fire to reach the core and then everything was red and yellow and then finally black.
The sound of the bomb made everyone fall to the ground. Jack lifted his head. Fire was evident in the building. "Sam!" he screamed. He found himself on autopilot running for the door, opening it, entering the building. The fire was in the corner near two…bodies. He ran swiftly finding both of them and dragging them away from the flames. He looked at the figure he knew to be Samantha. Blood was smeared down the front of her face, her hair was singed in parts and visible burns were on her left upper arm.
"You're being okay," he whispered, tears dropping from his eyes to her head.
The rest of the night became a blur. Vivian helped him get to the hospital. There was a long wait for Samantha to get out of surgery. He could remember Father Walker coming to see him and to tell him he was praying for Samantha. Jack had never felt so out of his mind. He felt like sitting forever in that cold hospital waiting room crying. Without a glimpse of Samantha Spade in his life, he wasn't sure life was worth living anymore.
"Hello, FBI headquarters, how may I help you?"
"I need to speak to Samantha Spade, please."
There was an audible pause. "May I ask whose calling?"
"Her cousin Thomas."
"Oh my God."
"Ma'am are the aliens listening? Please let me speak to my cousin."
"She's not…she's not here. She's at the hospital."
"The hospital?"
"She was in an explosion."
Thomas hung up the pay phone.
"What? What is it?" Shauna asked.
"Samantha's hurt, we need to go to the hospital."
"Okay, let's try to flag a cab, maybe we can pay when we get there."
"Yeah…" he said nodding his head. One thought came to mind. Had Samantha risked her life for him? If she died he would never forgive himself. "Taxi!" he called to an approaching yellow cab.
"Where to?" asked the older driver.
"The site of alien research," Thomas replied.
"Come again?" The driver looked bewildered.
"The hospital please," Shauna replied.
To be continued…