A/N: First of all, my thanks goes to the reviewers... its
great to hear from you! Glad you like the story so far. Now...let's get
on with it.
Part 4 – What's going on outside?
Outside, behind the parking lot, a lot of activity had been going on. A few people had been busy, setting up some sort of tent. The tent had a roof but was open on three sides. Large tables were placed in an U-shape, giving enough room for the people planning and coordinating the necessary actions.
Communications had used one table and set up equipment, ready to switch it on at the Operations Supervisor's command. Radio, secure landline telephones, appliances to connect to the building's security system, and video plus screen to review tapes if needed. A mobile generator parked nearby provided the power.
Detective Frank Tripp nodded in satisfaction when he crossed the parking lot. Chief Jackson had wasted no time, and apparently knew which ropes to pull to get things moving. He also spotted the white truck of the bomb squad, telling him they'd arrived as well.
Upon approaching the tent, several people greeted him.
D'Antoni rushed forward and deposited the blue-prints of the building on the middle table. "Here you go," he said to his colleague.
"Thank you," Tripp replied.
"I've given them the surveillance tapes," Marcus said, pointing towards the communications table. "Now if you'll excuse me, I need to get you that list of who is out and who's still inside."
"Good," Frank threw a quick glance at his watch. "I'm sure you know who we might need later, keep them available. Send everybody we don't need home. They can come back to work first thing in the morning. "
D'Antoni gave a brief nod towards Tripp and then left, heading for the assembly point to get to the list of employees who were accounted for.
"Sir, I'm Lou Wogan, head of communications," an older man stepped forward, his hand outstretched. He had a dark grey suit on, and with the shiny, silver grey hair it made him look like a distinguished gentleman.
"Detective Frank Tripp," Frank introduced himself, grabbing the proffered hand and shaking it. "D'Antoni told me he gave you the surveillance tapes?"
"Yes, that's correct," Wogan responded.
"Okay, your first priority is finding out who's inside that building. Get me some details. How many hostiles are we dealing with and what has happened in there? Your second goal will be determining how the bomb has been smuggled inside the building."
"Yes, sir," Wogan said then turned around to pass on the instructions to his employees.
The next person walking up to Tripp introduced himself as Sergeant Orrick. Orrick was younger than Wogan, in his late thirties, Frank estimated. His dark blonde hair was cut short, and he apparently used gel or wax to make it stand up. His perfect pure green eyes matched his handsome face. He was dressed in black blast protective clothing. "Sir. What's the status?"
"We have an unknown number of people inside this lab," Tripp moved towards the middle table and pointed out the CSI lab on the blue-prints of the building. "The head of CSI entered the lab, after leaving his gun on the floor. Just before he stepped inside, he informed me of a bomb being present in the lab and instructed to evacuate the building."
"All right, so we can assume he was forced to step inside. Has the building been cleared?" Orrick demanded as he lifted his head to throw a look at the MDPD building.
"Yes. The buildings surrounding MDPD are also evacuated, and road blocks have been set up to prevent anybody from entering this zone," Frank informed the technician.
"Excellent. I'm going to get our stuff. How soon will you know more?"
"ASAP," Frank responded. "We're working on it. There's the fire unit," he pointed as he spotted the familiar red trucks approaching.
Orrick threw another look at the blue-prints, then at the building in front of him, picturing the situation in his head. His finger tapped on the prints. "I recommend setting them up here, and here."
"I agree," Frank said curtly. "I'll get to it."
While Orrick worked on arranging his equipment, Tripp introduced himself to the chief of the emergency fire unit. After discussing the location of the bomb in the building and the possible escape routes, the chief also agreed on the locations Sergeant Orrick had picked.
That arranged, Tripp called out. "Have the paramedics arrived yet?"
"Yes, sir. We're standing by," one of the medics of the Rescue unit, standing in the back of the tent, replied.
"Good." Tripp smiled at the man, acknowledging his position. At that moment, D'Antoni came running forward. "What have you got?" Tripp asked.
"There's five CSI's inside that lab. Lt. Caine, of course, then Calleigh Duquesne, Eric Delko, Tim Speedle and Dr. Alexx Woods."
"Damn," Frank muttered under his breath. He'd hoped at least some of them wouldn't have been inside the fingerprint lab.
"Excuse me, you said Lieutenant Caine?" Sergeant Orrick asked, after carefully placing a portable X-ray device on the table.
"Yes, why?" Tripp stared at the man.
"Would that be Horatio Caine? The one who's been in the bomb squad?"
"That would be him," Frank nodded.
"That's good," Orrick replied. "At least we have somebody with the proper knowledge on the inside."
Although he could understand the man's reasoning, Frank couldn't help thinking he'd rather have his friend standing next to him right now. "What else, Marcus?" he turned his attention back to the facility manager.
"According to the reception records, Delko and Speedle were interrogating one suspect, one..." D'Antoni paused briefly to read the name from the list he was carrying. "Keith Reynolds."
"He's a suspect in the double hotel murder case. CSI found evidence that put him on the scene." Frank Tripp knew who it was. "Zamboni," he called over his shoulder.
A middle aged short man with short grey hair rushed forward. He was carrying a small notebook, a pencil was shoved behind his right ear and Zamboni reached to grab it. "Yes, sir?"
"Get me everything about Keith Reynolds. I need to know what schools he went to, what clubs he's into, who his friends are, what he does for a living and how he likes to spend his downtime. If he's the one who made this bomb, find me something. Capabilities, possibilities, locations... Anything. Got that?"
Zamboni quickly jotted something down, and nodded. "We're on it." He rushed off.
"Sir," Lou Wogan approached the detective. "We have something."
Sergeant Orrick joined the men at Tripp's signal. "Start talking," Frank urged.
"We've watched the available video tapes. The tape from the lab showed that the bomb is taped underneath a chair, and the blonde woman is sitting on that chair."
Orrick pulled a face. "Damn. It's probably motion controlled."
"We've detected only one hostile inside the lab. This is consistent with the other tapes, we've seen the man enter CSI with detectives Delko and Speedle early in the afternoon and there are also images of the interrogation room confirming this. The suspect is holding some sort of remote control, and threatens the others with it."
Sergeant Orrick slowly nodded. "Radio controlled as well. Makes sense."
"The suspect also has a gun, sir," Lou Wogan now looked at Tripp, his face grim. "The shot you've responded to? It has hit one of the younger men. Take a look at this."
Wogan pressed the buttons and shortly after they all were witnessing Eric Delko getting shot. The commotion that followed was soon cut off, as the tape reached its end. "That's all we have, sir."
"Inform the paramedics," Tripp ordered. "What else have we got?"
"We're waiting for somebody to get the next tapes out of the building, sir."
Frank turned to the bomb technician. "What do you think, can we safely rig the security system and get some audio from the lab here on the speakers?"
"As long as you stay wired," Orrick said. "Wireless could trigger the radio control. I've got no info on which frequency it's using, and we also don't know its range yet. Can you tape it off with a line?"
Head communications gave an affirmative nod. "We'll manage." He already snapped his fingers, drawing the attention of one of his co-workers.
"Do it," ordered Tripp, before looking back at the bomb technician. "So, what do you think?"
"Well, it would be good to get some more info on the radio controlled ignition, but we can get some jammers in the building, blocking the signal. That done..."
"We can send a swat team in," Frank filled in, understanding. "What about the motion triggered part?"
Orrick shrugged. "That's going to be the tricky part. As long as your CSI knows she needs to remain seated, she'll be okay. Once you've cleared the lab, I can go in and dismantle the bomb."
"That's where the presence of Lieutenant Caine can be of an advantage," Tripp said, referring to Orrick's earlier statement.
"Yes. He'll know. So if he makes sure she knows what to do and also prevents the suspect from taking a dive at her, you've got a pretty fair chance."
"Sir, that might become a problem," Wogan now interrupted, as he removed a headphone from one of his ears.
Two men turned towards him, throwing him a questioningly look.
"We have some audio here. Your Lieutenant has just been knocked out by the suspect. He's unconscious."
"Damn," cursed Frank. "Okay, this means we have to instruct one of the swat team members to keep her safe."