Steve's heart was thumping, beating almost in time with the throbbing pain in his side. He paused momentarily, leaning against a wall for support and allowed himself to take a couple of deep breaths. The rain was still coming down in sheets, each individual droplet incandescent in the early morning moonlight. He swiped a hand across his face, flicking away the water – a futile gesture really, since he was immediately dripping again.
He closed his eyes, trying to centre himself. It was all very well playing the hero, but even he was starting to wonder if maybe he'd gone a bit too far this time. Despite the cold weather, he felt hot, woozy. He wasn't a medic, but he'd been around doctors enough to know that this wasn't a good sign. He could collapse right here on the street and be no good to anyone; just another casualty for the paramedics to deal with. He gritted his teeth. No, that wasn't gonna happen. He'd make it, even if he had to crawl on his hands and knees. He pressed a hand to his side and smiled grimly – the way he felt right now, it could well come to that.
And if he even managed to make it past this wall, then what? Searching for a possible second bomb would be like looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack. Visibility was already at an all time low, what with the storm and all. On top of that, right now, he wasn't too sure of his own usually perfect vision. To be brutally honest, he couldn't actually be sure whether there were two lamp posts to his left or just one.
He sighed to himself 'Picked a great time to have double vision Steve'.
He should just go back to 'Susie's', back to Tanis. But he didn't. He couldn't. As usual he had to finish the job, or die trying. He grunted to himself, dying probably wasn't out of the question right now, but then didn't he put his life in danger everyday? It was what his father hated about him being a cop. Steve didn't like it much either, but he'd long ago accepted it as part of the job. So no, he wasn't going back to 'Susie's'. Of course, when he found the bomb, then he'd have think about exactly what the hell he was gonna do about it. But right now he'd just settle for finding it.
***
The man in the suit smiled. So far, everything had gone without a hitch. His employer would be pleased, very pleased. He knew that he shouldn't really wait around at the scene, but he couldn't help himself. He'd seen part A of the plan to completion and now he couldn't resist sticking around for part B. Part A had been good, but part B? Well part B would be much, much better.
Of course it was a risk to wait around, but if he was honest, that just added to the thrill. He was a man who constantly lived life on the edge. After all, without a little danger, how would you really know that you were really alive? Besides, even if he were spotted at the scene, it wouldn't really be a problem. His appearance shouldn't arouse any undue suspicion. That was the beauty of this plan, one of the reasons he'd been approached. Sure it'd been a new kind of request for him, but his life had hardly been ordinary before. Okay, so he hadn't started as a cold blooded killer, but each day, doing what he did, seeing what he saw, he'd been changing. It wasn't really a big step, just a natural evolution.
And so he waited in the shadows. And he smiled.
***
Steve opened his eyes and keeping his back to the wall, began the torturous movement forwards. Within minutes, his injured side was screaming at him to rest and water was seeping into his already soaking boots, but at least he was moving.
When he saw it, he'd been searching for what felt like hours, but in reality could only have been 15 minutes max. He was soaked to the skin and his knees were bruised and raw from a couple of stumbles along the way. For a moment, he wondered if he were hallucinating, like some weary traveller in the desert, fooled by a false oasis. And yet he knew with shuddering clarity that this was real.
It was directly across from him, poking out from the alleyway off to the side of the diner. He was surprised that it hadn't been destroyed in the first blast, but guessed that the angle of the alley wall had protected it from the fall out of the explosion. It was a suitcase, metallic silver and gleaming in the half light. It looked innocent enough, but Steve wasn't fooled.
Carefully he made his approach. Pausing a couple of feet away, he circled around, examining the case from every possible angle. Strangely, the pain in his side seemed to have diminished and the rain no longer bothered him – was it still raining? He didn't know, didn't care. His mouth was dry and everything was quiet. Incongruously, he suddenly wondered if he'd gone deaf. He cleared his throat, just to reassure himself that his ears were still working, and felt a strange reassurance from the familiarity of the noise. Slowly, carefully, he lowered himself to his knees, not even noticing the deep puddle that soaked his jeans half way up his right thigh.
Gingerly reaching for his cell phone, he dialled the number for Headquarters and all the while he tensed, waiting for the bomb to go off.
'This is Lieutenant Sloan' he said quietly, although why he was whispering he didn't know. 'I've located a possible second bomb. Repeat, I have located a possible second bomb. I need a disposal team here right now; this sucker could go off any second'.
He frowned at the response he got 'No, 20 minutes isn't good enough. There's no way we can wait that long'. He took a deep breath 'Get me someone on the phone who knows how to diffuse a bomb. I'm gonna have to handle this one myself'.
Slumping back against the alley wall, he switched off his phone, waiting for the call back and wiped the sweat from his forehead. What the hell was he thinking? This wasn't some TV show where the hero had to decide whether to cut the red or the blue wire, this was real life. His life. But how many more lives would be at risk if he just sat here, did nothing?
He jumped as the phone went off.
'Sloan here' he said gruffly, then 'It's a silver coloured, metallic brief case, standard size with two clasps on the side'.
He listened closely and then swallowed hard 'Okay' he said.
Putting the phone in his jacket pocket, he slowly reached out, fingers trembling. And then he stopped, as unbidden, an image of his father popped into his mind. If he didn't make it out of here, he wouldn't even be able to say goodbye, to tell his father how much he loved him. Grimly he shook his head. His father knew; they both did. There was no need for words.
'C'mon Steve' he muttered to himself 'this is what you're here for. This is why you came'.
Taking a deep breath he reached forward more purposefully this time and ran his fingers along the clasps.
Steve smiled 'Here goes nothing' he said. And then he slid back the clasps.
TO BE CONTINUED …….