Chapter 8
Alora walked about the bomb scene, her hands shoved deep into the pockets of her black leather coat as she thought about all that had happened. The weather was quite gloomy to add to the solemn mood that seemed to be present on everyone's faces as they moved around her. Rain was beginning to drizzle down from the sky…a cold rain. It was a help to the firefighters who were attempting to put out the last few flames that kept popping up here and there around the building, but to the rest of them, it only made the situation worse and more uncomfortable.
She pulled a walkie-talkie from her pocket and spoke to Jelani, who was back at headquarters, trying to find out anything he could on their advanced computers. Right now he was logged into past records of the video cameras that lined the hallways.
"Do you have anything, Jelani?" Alora let go of the 'talk' button after she was done speaking and looked around at the gruesome sight. This was something she was used to seeing…but she had never quite hardened her heart toward it…even if Jamison suggested that she had.
"I got a lot of people, but finding out which one dropped the bomb could be impossible." Jelani watched the screen carefully as people walked by the video camera.
"Well, keep looking over them…look for anyone that has a big package, or anything large enough to fit a bomb in it, like a bag." She left her walkie-talkie on, but slid it back into her pocket as Lark approached her.
"Can you head back to headquarters and help Jelani with the computer side of things. I've heard you're pretty good in that area yourself, and it might go a little faster with two people." Lark waited for Alora's reaction, hoping she wouldn't object."
She didn't object, however, and simply nodded her head. "Yeah, I'll head right over there."
Lark smiled wearily. "Great."
Alora quickly got into her sleek, black car - which had been so graciously retrieved by Mo and Tim - and drove away from the bomb site. She was glad that Lark had wanted her to go to headquarters, because now she didn't need an excuse to slip away and get over to the abandoned factory. She wanted to find out if it was her terrorist organization that had planned this attack…if not, who had?
-
Jamison glanced up from his desk as he heard the main door to the office area open. He looked out his office window into the general area and saw Alora Stari walk inside. When he went out to greet her he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Allison had gotten back safely. Good.
"Jamison, did you plan the attack on that office building?" Alora perched herself on the edge of the main desk and waited for his response.
He halfway nodded, "Well, not me personally. Allison did. Why?" He gave her a curious glance.
Alora shrugged. "I was just curious. But, I'm glad you did, it takes Frankie's immediate attention off of me. I can't afford for her - or any of them - to find out who I really am."
Jamison nodded with a grin, "I can understand that." He was glad that his boss was back on their side and wasn't showing anymore signs of hesitation or weakness.
Allison looked up from her work and smiled proudly at Alora. What Alora said might not have sounded like praise to someone passing by, but everyone in the room knew that if you got her to say anything at all positive about what you had done…it was praise.
About twenty minutes later, Lark picked up her cell phone and dialed Jelani's number.
"Hello?"
Lark pressed her phone closer to her ear. It was hard to hear over all that was taking place at the bomb site. "Hey, Jelani. Can I talk to Alora?"
"Alora? I thought she was at the bomb site with you." Jelani paused what he was doing on the computers so that he could pay more attention to what Lark was saying.
"No. I sent her to help you. That was about twenty minutes ago, she should have gotten to headquarters a long time ago." Lark looked at the ground, a confused expression taking over her face.
"Well, she's not here."
Where could she have gone? Lark ran a hand through her hair and looked over at the cars in the parking lot. Alora's car was gone…hopefully she didn't have an accident or something. "Well, have her call me when she gets there."
"Sure."
Lark hung up the phone and tossed it back into the driver seat of her car. She'd have to look into the Alora situation later, but right now she didn't have time.
-
Alora finally walked into the Homeland Security headquarters. She found Colonel Atkins and Jelani gathered around a computer, watching something on the screen very closely.
"What's up?" She asked curiously as she walked up to them.
Jelani looked up. "Where have you been? Lark said she sent you over twenty-five minutes ago."
Alora grinned and shrugged. "Bad traffic." She lied. "Now, what have you come up with?"
Jelani swiveled in his chair. "Well, I've narrowed it down to five possible suspects. There could be more, but these are the only people that were in the building around 5:20 and after that have been carrying anything big enough to hold a bomb." Jelani switched the video tape so that it showed a man carrying a gift bag. The camera followed the man as he walked down the hallway. "Now, he could have been delivering that gift to someone…or it could contain the bomb."
Alora nodded, watching the screen intently. Her breath nearly caught in her throat, however, when Allison passed in front of the camera carrying a large briefcase and a large purse.
"Who's that?" Colonel Atkins asked Jelani.
Jelani immediately paused the camera and zoomed in on Allison's face. He ran it through the tracer and a complete profile immediately popped up on the screen. "Her name is Allison Solis. Right now she works as a secretary for an insurance company."
"Then what was she doing at this office building?" Alora asked, pretending to know nothing about Allison, and pretending to be curious as to why Allison was in the building.
Jelani shrugged. "Could be hundreds of reasons. She could have been interviewing someone for a job…or she could have been the one being interviewed. Her insurance company might even have had a small office set up in there…there's too many possibilities to count."
Colonel Atkins' face fell. He thought they finally had a lead, but it just turned out to be a dead end.
"How do we even know what time the bomb was planted?" Alora asked, trying to take the attention away from Allison for the moment.
Jelani sighed. "We don't."
Alora shook her head. "This case is just one dead end after another."
"Just like John's case." Colonel Atkins seemed to have suddenly gotten an idea. "Could John begin shot somehow tie into this bombing?"
Alora nodded, contemplating. "I suppose it's possible. They both seem to have an invisible guilty party."
Colonel Atkins glanced at Jelani, glad they had an idea to work from now. "Alora, I want you to look into this. See if you can find any connections between the two cases."
"Yes, Sir." She paused. "Am I doing this on my own?"
"No." Colonel Atkins shook his head. "I'll have Tim work on this with you." Colonel Atkins ran one hand gently over his graying hair and disappeared around the corner.
Jelani glanced up at Alora who seemed to be thinking about something. "I just hope we find the answer to this soon, for all of our sakes but especially John's."
Alora nodded and smiled at Jelani gently. She paused briefly before she too exited the room. What was she supposed to do now? She didn't know how the cases were connected. Well, of course she did, but she didn't know who gave Jamison the order to have John shot. That was the real mystery in this case. "I think it's time to go visit John in the hospital." She whispered to herself even though there was no one to hear.
-
Alora Stari walked briskly into the sterilized building. She never liked this place…it always smelled of antiseptics and latex gloves. But she supposed it couldn't be helped. She pushed the smells and sights out of her mind as she made her way down the hallway toward the main desk.
"I'm here to see John Kilmer, where's his room?" Alora had one hand in her pocket resting on her badge incase she needed to pull it out and tell the lady that she was on government business.
"514." The lady motioned down the hall with a wave of her hand and returned to what she had been doing before Alora interrupted her.
Friendly folk. Alora thought to herself with sarcasm as she headed down the hall. At least the nurse didn't tell her that she couldn't visit him. She only hoped that John was awake so that she could talk to him. She pushed open the heavy wooden door and found that John was quite awake. He was watching the news on a TV that had been mounted very close to the ceiling. Right now, they were showing a picture of the bombing that had taken place earlier that evening.
"Hey." John spoke weakly as he heard Alora enter.
"Hi." Alora kept her voice low, not really meaning too…she just seemed to want to speak quietly when she was in a hospital.
"Who did it?" John asked.
He didn't give any indication as to what he was talking about, but Alora knew from experience that he was referring to the bombing that he had been watching on the television.
"They don't know yet. We weren't able to prevent it…we didn't get a lead before hand." Alora shook her head and sat down in a chair along one of the room's four walls.
John nodded, understanding. "Was it the same people that shot me?"
Alora returned his nod. "We think so…at least that's what Tim and I are looking into."
"You guys better watch your backs…there will probably be more attacks than this since you haven't caught anyone yet." John spoke more strongly now, apparently coming out of his tired mood.
Alora thought through this. "Yeah…we'll keep a better eye out from now on."
John nodded. "Good."
Alora walked about the bomb scene, her hands shoved deep into the pockets of her black leather coat as she thought about all that had happened. The weather was quite gloomy to add to the solemn mood that seemed to be present on everyone's faces as they moved around her. Rain was beginning to drizzle down from the sky…a cold rain. It was a help to the firefighters who were attempting to put out the last few flames that kept popping up here and there around the building, but to the rest of them, it only made the situation worse and more uncomfortable.
She pulled a walkie-talkie from her pocket and spoke to Jelani, who was back at headquarters, trying to find out anything he could on their advanced computers. Right now he was logged into past records of the video cameras that lined the hallways.
"Do you have anything, Jelani?" Alora let go of the 'talk' button after she was done speaking and looked around at the gruesome sight. This was something she was used to seeing…but she had never quite hardened her heart toward it…even if Jamison suggested that she had.
"I got a lot of people, but finding out which one dropped the bomb could be impossible." Jelani watched the screen carefully as people walked by the video camera.
"Well, keep looking over them…look for anyone that has a big package, or anything large enough to fit a bomb in it, like a bag." She left her walkie-talkie on, but slid it back into her pocket as Lark approached her.
"Can you head back to headquarters and help Jelani with the computer side of things. I've heard you're pretty good in that area yourself, and it might go a little faster with two people." Lark waited for Alora's reaction, hoping she wouldn't object."
She didn't object, however, and simply nodded her head. "Yeah, I'll head right over there."
Lark smiled wearily. "Great."
Alora quickly got into her sleek, black car - which had been so graciously retrieved by Mo and Tim - and drove away from the bomb site. She was glad that Lark had wanted her to go to headquarters, because now she didn't need an excuse to slip away and get over to the abandoned factory. She wanted to find out if it was her terrorist organization that had planned this attack…if not, who had?
-
Jamison glanced up from his desk as he heard the main door to the office area open. He looked out his office window into the general area and saw Alora Stari walk inside. When he went out to greet her he noticed out of the corner of his eye that Allison had gotten back safely. Good.
"Jamison, did you plan the attack on that office building?" Alora perched herself on the edge of the main desk and waited for his response.
He halfway nodded, "Well, not me personally. Allison did. Why?" He gave her a curious glance.
Alora shrugged. "I was just curious. But, I'm glad you did, it takes Frankie's immediate attention off of me. I can't afford for her - or any of them - to find out who I really am."
Jamison nodded with a grin, "I can understand that." He was glad that his boss was back on their side and wasn't showing anymore signs of hesitation or weakness.
Allison looked up from her work and smiled proudly at Alora. What Alora said might not have sounded like praise to someone passing by, but everyone in the room knew that if you got her to say anything at all positive about what you had done…it was praise.
About twenty minutes later, Lark picked up her cell phone and dialed Jelani's number.
"Hello?"
Lark pressed her phone closer to her ear. It was hard to hear over all that was taking place at the bomb site. "Hey, Jelani. Can I talk to Alora?"
"Alora? I thought she was at the bomb site with you." Jelani paused what he was doing on the computers so that he could pay more attention to what Lark was saying.
"No. I sent her to help you. That was about twenty minutes ago, she should have gotten to headquarters a long time ago." Lark looked at the ground, a confused expression taking over her face.
"Well, she's not here."
Where could she have gone? Lark ran a hand through her hair and looked over at the cars in the parking lot. Alora's car was gone…hopefully she didn't have an accident or something. "Well, have her call me when she gets there."
"Sure."
Lark hung up the phone and tossed it back into the driver seat of her car. She'd have to look into the Alora situation later, but right now she didn't have time.
-
Alora finally walked into the Homeland Security headquarters. She found Colonel Atkins and Jelani gathered around a computer, watching something on the screen very closely.
"What's up?" She asked curiously as she walked up to them.
Jelani looked up. "Where have you been? Lark said she sent you over twenty-five minutes ago."
Alora grinned and shrugged. "Bad traffic." She lied. "Now, what have you come up with?"
Jelani swiveled in his chair. "Well, I've narrowed it down to five possible suspects. There could be more, but these are the only people that were in the building around 5:20 and after that have been carrying anything big enough to hold a bomb." Jelani switched the video tape so that it showed a man carrying a gift bag. The camera followed the man as he walked down the hallway. "Now, he could have been delivering that gift to someone…or it could contain the bomb."
Alora nodded, watching the screen intently. Her breath nearly caught in her throat, however, when Allison passed in front of the camera carrying a large briefcase and a large purse.
"Who's that?" Colonel Atkins asked Jelani.
Jelani immediately paused the camera and zoomed in on Allison's face. He ran it through the tracer and a complete profile immediately popped up on the screen. "Her name is Allison Solis. Right now she works as a secretary for an insurance company."
"Then what was she doing at this office building?" Alora asked, pretending to know nothing about Allison, and pretending to be curious as to why Allison was in the building.
Jelani shrugged. "Could be hundreds of reasons. She could have been interviewing someone for a job…or she could have been the one being interviewed. Her insurance company might even have had a small office set up in there…there's too many possibilities to count."
Colonel Atkins' face fell. He thought they finally had a lead, but it just turned out to be a dead end.
"How do we even know what time the bomb was planted?" Alora asked, trying to take the attention away from Allison for the moment.
Jelani sighed. "We don't."
Alora shook her head. "This case is just one dead end after another."
"Just like John's case." Colonel Atkins seemed to have suddenly gotten an idea. "Could John begin shot somehow tie into this bombing?"
Alora nodded, contemplating. "I suppose it's possible. They both seem to have an invisible guilty party."
Colonel Atkins glanced at Jelani, glad they had an idea to work from now. "Alora, I want you to look into this. See if you can find any connections between the two cases."
"Yes, Sir." She paused. "Am I doing this on my own?"
"No." Colonel Atkins shook his head. "I'll have Tim work on this with you." Colonel Atkins ran one hand gently over his graying hair and disappeared around the corner.
Jelani glanced up at Alora who seemed to be thinking about something. "I just hope we find the answer to this soon, for all of our sakes but especially John's."
Alora nodded and smiled at Jelani gently. She paused briefly before she too exited the room. What was she supposed to do now? She didn't know how the cases were connected. Well, of course she did, but she didn't know who gave Jamison the order to have John shot. That was the real mystery in this case. "I think it's time to go visit John in the hospital." She whispered to herself even though there was no one to hear.
-
Alora Stari walked briskly into the sterilized building. She never liked this place…it always smelled of antiseptics and latex gloves. But she supposed it couldn't be helped. She pushed the smells and sights out of her mind as she made her way down the hallway toward the main desk.
"I'm here to see John Kilmer, where's his room?" Alora had one hand in her pocket resting on her badge incase she needed to pull it out and tell the lady that she was on government business.
"514." The lady motioned down the hall with a wave of her hand and returned to what she had been doing before Alora interrupted her.
Friendly folk. Alora thought to herself with sarcasm as she headed down the hall. At least the nurse didn't tell her that she couldn't visit him. She only hoped that John was awake so that she could talk to him. She pushed open the heavy wooden door and found that John was quite awake. He was watching the news on a TV that had been mounted very close to the ceiling. Right now, they were showing a picture of the bombing that had taken place earlier that evening.
"Hey." John spoke weakly as he heard Alora enter.
"Hi." Alora kept her voice low, not really meaning too…she just seemed to want to speak quietly when she was in a hospital.
"Who did it?" John asked.
He didn't give any indication as to what he was talking about, but Alora knew from experience that he was referring to the bombing that he had been watching on the television.
"They don't know yet. We weren't able to prevent it…we didn't get a lead before hand." Alora shook her head and sat down in a chair along one of the room's four walls.
John nodded, understanding. "Was it the same people that shot me?"
Alora returned his nod. "We think so…at least that's what Tim and I are looking into."
"You guys better watch your backs…there will probably be more attacks than this since you haven't caught anyone yet." John spoke more strongly now, apparently coming out of his tired mood.
Alora thought through this. "Yeah…we'll keep a better eye out from now on."
John nodded. "Good."