Revelations

Chapter Nine

A bit wide-eyed, Frank continued to stare at his profiler. How did she know? What made her suspect? Of course, of anybody on his team, he should have known that she would put the pieces together.

"What makes you think….."

She cut him off before he could continue. "Come on Donovan. We've all seen the way you look at her…..the way you relate differently to her…..the way she talks to you and gets away with it." She paused when she saw that he looked slightly uneasy with the course of the conversation. "So you're going to tell me I'm wrong?"

"No….you're not wrong. I just don't think this is the time to discuss it, that's all." She regarded him for a few seconds more and decided to drop it.

"So what do you think this guy's going to say?" she asked changing the subject.

"I don't know," he replied, getting up from his seat. "Actually, we're not sure this guy's the real deal."

"True…..but I have a feeling he is."

"I do too." Sighing he tried to focus on the upcoming phone call. This could be a major break in their case or it could spell disaster, and quite a bit of the pressure of determining how it went rested on his shoulders. He resumed his pacing and the two didn't say anything else.

A few minutes before 2:00 the phone rang in the office. Knowing that they were recording and trying to trace the call, he took his time answering. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he lifted the receiver.

"This is Frank Donovan. Who am I speaking with?"

"Ahhh……Mr. Donovan or shall I call you Special Agent Donovan?"

"How about Frank. And you haven't answered my question."

The man on the other end of the line laughed at that. "No….I suppose I didn't. The name's Henry Sumner, but then you already knew that didn't you?"

"How can we be sure that you're the man we're looking for and not some crackpot looking for a laugh?"

"Good point, Frank! I suppose you can't, but I think you at least suspect that I am who I say I am."

"Going on the assumption that you are the real Henry Sumner, what is your purpose for calling?"

"All business, aren't you, Frank? I like that. It probably makes you a good commander and no doubt that's why you were put in charge of this case."

"In case you've forgotten what I asked you, why are you calling? What is it you want?"

"Oh Frank…..why I'm calling and what I want are two entirely different things."

"And how is that?"

"What I want is for the people responsible to pay for what they've done."

"What people? And what are they responsible for?" Frank asked, trying to get to the root of the man's problem. "If you tell me who you're talking about, then maybe I can help you."

Frank heard laughter on the other end of the line. "Frank…Frank…Frank…..you're part of the problem, at least indirectly, but we'll get to all of that later."

Frank glanced over at Monica and noticed that she'd been timing the call. She indicated with her hands that they'd only need 30 more seconds to complete the trace. Frank nodded.

"So if you don't want to tell me about the problem, then how can I help you?"

"That's the easy part. I want you to come to pick me up."

Frank froze. Had he just heard the man correctly? "Are you asking me to meet you somewhere in person?"

"Sure….we can meet and then you can arrest me."

"Are you surrendering yourself?"

"Absolutely. I'm sure by now, your people have been able to trace my call, but in case they haven't, I'm back at that same motel where your picture was taken the other day. Room 126. I'll be waiting patiently for you to arrive."

"Why are you doing this?" Frank asked perplexed, since it wasn't every day that a suspect called to hand himself over.

"My work is almost done, Frank. I've made my point, or at least I shall soon."

"What is that supposed to mean?" Frank asked, suddenly feeling uneasy about the conversation.

"I think this is a discussion best left for in person. Come and get me Frank. Bring all of the personnel you think you'll need, but I do expect you to be there. You won't disappoint me now, will you? Believe me….that might be a bad idea."

Before Frank could ask the man what he'd meant by that last statement, the line went dead. Pulling the phone away from his ear, he gently put the handset back in it's cradle. Something about those last words sent shivers down his spine. Maybe it was just the unusual request that was making him feel edgy. Whatever it was, he didn't like it.

He turned to Monica, who'd been listening in, "So what do you think?"

"I think it may very well be a trap. He was very specific in making sure that you'd be there."

"That occurred to me too. It bothered me when he said that his work was almost done or at least it would be soon. Does that mean that he has something else hidden somewhere waiting to go off, or does it mean, like you said, that we'd be heading into a trap?"

"I don't know. But either way, I don't like it."

"I have to agree with you there."

"David?" Frank spoke, alerting his awaiting tech-op.

"Yeah boss."

"Notify the other two teams that we're heading to the Woodcrest Motel on Sawmill Rd. Our suspect has indicated that he's willing to turn himself in and that this is where he'll be."

"Right. Do you want them to meet you there or continue where they are?"

"Find out their status and then get back to me."

"You got it."

Turning to Monica, he said, "Are you ready to head out?"

"Ready as I'll ever be, but are you sure that this is a good idea?" she asked in return, indicating that they may be making a huge mistake by walking right into whatever the man had planned.

"I think in this instance our hands are tied. He more than hinted that if I didn't make an appearance that something else might happen. I want to avoid that if possible."

Nodding her head in acceptance, she followed her boss out of the office. They made a brief stop in the Chief of Police's office to request what they needed as far as back-up. Then with 10 cruisers and a SWAT team in tow, they made their way to the motel on the outskirts of town.

Along the way, Frank got updates from David and the other teams.

"Jake?" Frank asked through his earpiece microphone.

"Yeah. We've just finished with the convenience store and we're about to head out to some apartment complex near here. What's up? How did the phone call go?" Jake asked, anxious to hear what their suspect had to say.

"He's turning himself in."

"He what??" Jake asked incredulously. "He actually said that?"

"He did. Monica and I are on our way now to pick him up."

"Do you want us to continue on or meet you there?"

Frank thought about it for a few more seconds. If this man was indeed turning himself in, then there may no longer be any point in investigating these packages left behind. "Meet us there. The Woodcrest Motel on Sawmill. Just in case he doesn't surrender as easily as he indicated he would."

"You got it. We're leaving right now. We should be there in about 15 to 20 minutes."

"Monica and I will probably already be there. In case we're not, don't make a move. Sumner said that he wanted to make sure I was the one to bring him in. If he sees someone else first, he may not be as cooperative."

"Understood. We'll see you in a few."

"Alex? Laura? What's your status?"

"We've just arrived at a manufacturing plant. The bomb squad finished up a few minutes before we arrived. We've just started our sweep of the area. What's up? How did it go?" she inquired, also interested in knowing the outcome of Frank's phone call.

"We're on our way to pick up Sumner. He's turning himself in," he replied.

"Really? That's a little unexpected, isn't it?"

"I'll agree with you. We'll see how co-operative he is when we arrive there. In the mean time, how long will it take you to complete your sweep?"

"Ummm……maybe 45 minutes or so…..maybe a little longer. This place is rather large. Bigger than the other locations we've investigated."

Frank considered pulling them out and having them join the others, but thought better of it. "All right. Continue your investigation and then check back in. If we're having a difficult time with Sumner, I'll have you join us."

"You got it."

Having checked in with the other teams, Frank and Monica continued on in relative silence, both of their minds wandering to other subjects. Monica glanced at her boss through the corner of her eyes. There were so many questions she wanted to ask, but only one that really bothered her.

"Why did you introduce this Lisa as your wife?"

Frank's eyes darted quickly in her direction and then returned just as swiftly to the road in front of him. "Monica…."

"Come on, Donovan. It's going to take us at least another ten minutes to get to the motel. We might as well put the time to some use. Why the ruse? What point was there in making us believe you were married to that girl? And who is she really, by the way?"

Sighing heavily and looking out the side window, he knew he was trapped and might as well answer her questions. "Which do you want me to answer first?" he asked almost snidely.

"You pick…..just answer one," she replied folding her arms in front of her, getting a little irritated at his tone.

"All right…..the ruse as you called it, wasn't for your benefit. I don't trust Casey. I'm not sure what's going on with him, and I wanted to protect my family as much as possible. The kids and my mother are now securely tucked away in a safe house, but Laura's still out in the field. Not knowing what the man was going to pull next, I wanted him to think that my wife was out of reach as well."

"Ahhhh….I guess that makes sense. So who is Lisa anyway?"

"She's another agent. When I called in to have my family picked up, I asked to have a woman assigned to the case. Someone who could pose as my wife, at least while she was in Casey's presence."

Nodding her head in understanding, Monica asked another question, "So why didn't you just tell us who Laura really is?" Seeing Frank's reaction to her question, which was something close to rolling his eyes, she added, "Jeez Donovan, you've spilled your guts so far, might as well go for broke."

Shaking his head and smiling slightly, he responded, "You know why. You're the profiler….why would I keep something like that a secret?"

Smiling in return, she answered, "Well…..if I were to hazard a guess, I'd say that you were concerned how the rest of us would react to her if we knew the two of you were married. Would we treat her any differently? Would we analyze every single thing the two of you said to each other? So…..am I close?"

In lieu of a verbal answer, he just smiled at her, as if to say 'so why did you ask me the question when you already knew the answer'.

"You never answered my original question," she stated.

He looked at her for a second with a confused look on his face. "What question?"

"How long have the two of you been married?"

"It's been almost ten years."

"Wow……" she responded a little shocked. Not that he'd been married, but that he'd been living this kind of double life for so long. It gave her something of a new found respect for the man. The work they did wasn't easy by any stretch of the imagination, but to think that for the past ten years he'd been able to reach the levels he had in the Bureau, and maintain a happy (or supposedly happy) home life somehow amazed her. And to think that I have a hard time dating anyone for more than a week or two at a time!

A short time later, Frank and Monica pulled up to the Woodcrest Motel. Exiting the car, they both regarded the scene with some trepidation. The place was almost completely calm and serene.

Pausing before going any further, Frank decided he needed some more information first.

"David?"

"Here…..go ahead."

"Have you finished cross referencing today's targets yet?" Earlier in the day, Frank had asked David to try to find a connection between the bombing sites found around town.

"Not yet…..and from what I've found so far, there is no connection between any of the businesses or residences."

Sighing, Frank looked around, knowing deep down inside that there had to be some reason that Sumner had picked those specific locations. The man was on a mission. He'd said that his work was almost completed and that the people responsible would pay for what they'd done.

"Keep digging. The man used to work for Chicago Steel. See if there's any connection between the employees, board of directors, owners, investors and these sites."

"I'm on it. I'll get back to you on that as soon as I can."

"Good. In the mean time, where are Jake and Cody?"

"They just checked in. They should be to you in less than five minutes."

"All right. Patch them through. I want them to be able to listen in to what goes on with Sumner."

"Patching them through now."

"Monica……" he motioned for her to join him at the back of the vehicle. There, he opened up the trunk and the two donned their Kevlar vests. Now looking around, he saw that the police had positioned themselves around the area and the SWAT team was ready and had several snipers in position.

Approaching the head of the SWAT unit, he instructed the man to wait for his go ahead before doing anything, since they still were not 100% sure that the suspect hadn't wired himself or the building to blow.

That done, he returned to Monica. "Stay here," he commanded her. "You'll be able to listen in, and I want you to listen for anything that I may not be picking up on. If you're out here, away from the actual scene, then you can speak freely about anything that comes to mind."

"Got it. And Donovan……good luck." Nodding in her direction, he began his approach flanked by 10 or so police officers with guns drawn. Much to their surprise, when they were still some ten paces away, the door to the motel room slowly opened.

Stopping immediately, and pointing his own weapon at the open doorway, Frank saw Henry Sumner exiting the room with his hands held up in a surrendering gesture. From what he could see, the suspect didn't seem to be carrying anything, either in his hands or on his person.

"Hello, Frank. I'm glad you could make it," Sumner said calmly.

"I told you I'd be here, didn't I?" Frank stated, still pointing his gun at the suspect.

"So you did. And now that you're here, perhaps we can get down to business."

"Of course. But first things first. Put your hands behind your head and stay exactly where you are."

"Certainly. I'm sorry. I should have assumed that you'd want to cuff me first." He then did as Frank had instructed him, after which Frank approached him slowly, circling around behind the man. As he did so, several of the members of the SWAT team cautiously entered the motel room in order to insure that Sumner was indeed alone.

Once behind Sumner, Frank took out his handcuffs and carefully placed the man's hands in them one by one. That done, he walked back around him so that he was facing him once more. He took a few moments to really look at Sumner. He saw in his eyes a steely determination and a hint of……..something else. Something he couldn't quite name yet. Anger? Resentment? Neither really, but he knew it wasn't far off.

"Now….do you have a statement to make?" Frank asked.

"Frank…..you make it sound like I'm preparing for a speech or something." Getting no reaction from Frank except a continuing hard edged glare, the man sighed and relented. "Very well…..if you insist. By all means, let's get to the heart of the matter." Pausing briefly, as if trying to find the right words, the man finally continued.

"Do you feel secure in your job, Frank?" Sumner asked suddenly. Frank frowned at the question.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Frank responded still frowning.

Sumner chuckled slightly, "I suppose that's not a fair question to ask an FBI agent. After all, your job is always somewhat dangerous I would suspect. No….what I should have asked was, what do you expect from an employer? Fair pay? To be treated with respect? That's not too much to ask. Am I right?"

"I suppose not, but what's that got to do……"

Sumner interrupted before Frank could continue. "I'm getting there, Frank. But in answer to my question, of course, it's not too much to ask. In fact it's the basis of good business. You give your life over to a company and in return you expect that fair treatment….you expect that they'll take care of you in return for your loyalty. And that…….that's where everyone is wrong. There is no real job security. What a company promises is something intangible. Something they cannot necessarily deliver. Do you follow me?"

"Go on," Frank stated, still trying to figure out where this was all leading.

"Yes….well…..nothing is safe, Frank. That's my point. I gave a very large portion of my life to Chicago Steel. I worked there for over twenty years. Twenty years, Frank! And in return, I was promised many things. Job security……a healthy pension…….so many things, but then the unexpected happened. A fire started in one of the buildings and spread quickly. By the next morning, the place was unrecognizable, and so was my future."

Sumner again paused before continuing. "The plant had been operating for decades, Frank, and we, the employees, had every reason to believe that once the place was rebuilt, it would again open. Things would be tight until then, but we were loyal employees and of course, we were willing to wait. Weeks stretched into months, and we were continually told that things were happening, but that it was just taking longer than expected. After six or more months went by, I started to do a little digging. Do you know what I found out Frank?"

Frank knew that the man didn't really expect an answer so he just continued to stare at him with a concerned look on his face, but in reality, the tension he felt was spiraling upward. He now had a fair idea what this man's real mission was, but somehow he hoped he was wrong.

"There was no progress, Frank. None at all. After checking with some contacts I had at City Hall, I found out that there were no plans to rebuild the plant. But the real kicker was, not only were they not intending to rebuild, but the US government was paying the owners NOT to rebuild! Don't you just love that?!"

Sumner looked at Frank with wildness in his eyes, and that's when Frank was finally able to name that mystery look that he'd witnessed earlier. The man was insane. Pure and simple. This anger that he'd been carrying around for so long had finally warped his sense of good and bad, his sense of reality. The man truly believed that what he was doing was somehow justified. The only question on Frank's mind at the moment was, what was his final trap? What was the last card in his hand?

"I'm fairly sure that the government wasn't paying the company not to rebuild," Frank stated calmly.

"Maybe that wasn't their original intention, but that was the outcome. Yes, yes, yes….of course the money was some sort of aid, but the owners took that money and made up some sort of sob story about how it just wasn't enough, blah….blah….blah. Poor them, millions of dollars in their pockets and that was all," he told Frank, feigning sympathy. "And where did that get us? I can tell you……for the first time in my life, I was in the unemployment line. I was over 40 and had had only one job in my life. I'd been making pretty good money and now they were asking me to take jobs that could hardly support a teenager. I tried to…….." Sumner stopped when he heard a distant rumbling sound.

Frank heard the sound too. Looking at the others present, he could tell that no one knew what it was that they had just heard. Somewhere in the back of his mind, Frank had a sinking feeling that he really did know the source of the noise.

Speaking into the microphone attached to his ear piece, Frank called to his waiting tech-op. "David. We just heard some sort of noise. Check with the police and see what you can find out. It sounded like a deep rumbling sound."

"I heard it too," came the reply. "Hold on……."

While he was waiting for the report to come back, he looked at Sumner and saw the man smiling proudly. "What have you done?" he asked in low tones, almost afraid of the answer.

"Well, what I set out to do, of course. No one is safe, Frank. I told you that. Everything may seem to be, but we both know that looks can be deceiving."

As Frank opened his mouth to ask the man further questions, David came back on the line. "I just heard from the police. There was an explosion at that same convenience store where Jake and Cody were just a short time ago."

"How bad was it?" Frank asked quickly not liking the feeling of dread residing deep inside of him. "Was anyone injured?"

"From first reports, the building is in ruins, but no word yet on injuries."

Turning back to the madman in front of him, he again saw the smile on the man's face only this time it was taking on a decidedly wicked twist. Sumner looked at Frank and said, "They never really check over the whole building, do they? It's a shame really…….how easy it is to hide a bomb on a roof, or in a chimney. So many places Frank." And at that second, another explosion could be heard not so far away. Close enough so that this time Frank could actually feel part of the force of it.

Turning away quickly, he began to walk back toward the car. He needed to reach Laura and Alex. He needed to pull them out of the building where they were probably still searching for clues. Just as he was about to call for David, he heard Sumner's calm voice behind him.

"Where is that pretty blond that was with you the other day?" Frank froze when he heard the question. Pivoting slowly on his heel, he once again faced the man speaking. "Such a lovely thing…..I surely do hope that you don't have her poking around where she doesn't belong. It would be such a shame if something happened to her. Wouldn't you agree?"

Something close to a growl escaped Frank's lips. He wanted nothing more than to go back and pound the man's skull in until it was an unrecognizable mess, but he didn't have that kind of time. Precious seconds were ticking away. Heading back toward the car once more, he called over his mic.

"David! Get me Alex and Laura….now!"

Without even bothering to acknowledge, the tech-op did just that. Something in his boss' tone spelled trouble.

"They're on the line now."

"Alex! Laura! Leave the building now! Wherever you are, whatever you're doing stop now and leave! Do you hear me?!?"

"We're on the bottom floor now…..we're heading out," Alex responded, not asking the question that was on her mind. What the hell is wrong?

A few seconds went by and during that time all Frank could hear was the sound of their breathing as they quickly exited the building.

Once outside, Laura finally asked, "Frank….what's wrong? What happened?"

"The buildings are still wired to blow. I don't know how and I don't know when they're set to go off, but you need to get as far away as possible. If you can get to your car then do that and get the hell out of there. If you can't, then run as far away from the structure as possible. We have no way of knowing how strong the blast will be."

"All right. We're out of the building. We went out the nearest door and we're heading through the parking garage now."

Parking garage! Suddenly Frank's mind was flooded with snippets of the nightmare that he had had just days before. The uneasiness and anxiety within him suddenly became terminal.

"Laura!! Alex!! Get out of there!! Now!! Do you hear……." His last words were cut off by an excruciatingly loud sound over the receiver in his ear. Pulling it away from his head and cringing from the pain, he whirled around and saw Monica, Cody and Jake doing the same thing. They'd heard it too.

Oh dear God no!!!!!!!!!!! Frank ran straight to the car. He needed to find her and quickly. Please God…..please?!

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