Part 10
The explosion knocked both men hard against the opposite wall. Murdock shook his
head as he slowly open his eyes. He stumbled and crawled his way to what was
once a doorway to a room. There was nothing left of the room but a shell of
broken glass and wood. The door frame was shattered beyond recognition. Murdock
began to dig frantically through the shattered wood.. He was so busy, he didn't
even hear Face till he felt his hand on his shoulder, but he kept digging.
"Murdock, I heard the sirens! Go out and lead them here."
"I can't, Face. I got to get Ronin out of here."
"Murdock, you can help him by leading help here. Let me dig. I have more
experience; one wrong move could bring the rest down on him."
Murdock slowly got up. His legs were unsteady and he would have fallen if not
for Face. "I'll go get help."
Face nodded as he began to slowly dig, being careful not to upset anything that
could cause the rest of the room to come down.
Murdock staggered outside just as three firemen were heading in. Murdock
grabbed one of them."My son is trapped. I can take you to him."
The fireman handed Murdock off to another fireman. "Sir, we can find him. It's
too dangerous for you to go back in."
"I know the way! Please - I got to go," Murdock pleaded.
The fireman looked at his chief, who shook his head. Murdock was quickly taken
behind the barrier by a policeman. He tried to get through, only to be put back.
"Sir, please stay put. The firemen know what they are doing."
"What is going on here, Johnson?" Murdock looked and saw Decker standing there.
didn't even look at him. Johnson gave him a report. Then Decker turned to
Murdock.
"You better do what you are told. If your son is alive, they will get him out."
Murdock was about to say something when he spotted BA and rushed over to him.
When he got to BA, he lost all control and grabbed BA by his gold chains.
"Why didn't you come and help Face and I find Ronin in time, you ugly mud
sucker!" A name Murdock used as a friendly pet name in the past was now used in
anger, tears now coming down his face. "If you had been there, we may have
found him in time."
BA slowly and carefully pushed Murdock away. "I got here as fast as I could
after Rita got a hold of me. I'm sorry, Murdock - I was with Mandy."
His friend looked surprised. "I thought she left you?"
"She wanted to talk, so I went to her. Murdock, I didn't know."
Murdock sank down on the ground and placed his head in his hands. BA sat down
beside him and placed his arm around him. The firemen soon found Face as he was
still carefully digging. "Sir, move aside. We can take over from here .
Face nodded; he was tired. He stood up and was taken out by one of the firemen.
As he came out, Decker approached him. "Peck? Why were you in there?"
"To stop a bombing, but we were too late, and Murdock's son is trapped in
there."
"Do you mean the kid that was at the station? The one that looks like Smith.."
Face nodded. Decker slowly placed his hand on Face's shoulder. "They'll get him
out. If he's anything like Smith, he'll be okay."
Ronin slowly opened his eyes, only to find himself in the dark. He began to feel
around him, but as he moved, a sharp pain ran through his body.
"I'd stay still if I were you, kid. You may have broken some ribs or you might
have internal bleeding."
Ronin search around, but it was too dark to see the other man trapped with him.
"Are you all right?"
"Yeah, sure, kid. I'm fine."
"Who are you?"
"I'm a friend of your father."
"Do you mean the man who raised me, or my real father?"
"The man who raised you. But I did know your real father, too."
"My father said he was a great man."
It began suddenly quiet. Ronin became afraid; he didn't want to be alone.
"Sir, are you okay? Please say something."
"I'm here, kid. I was just thinking. Yes, he was a great man. But he was also a
fool."
"What do you mean?"
"The Jazz. It was his best friend and his worst enemy. Kid, listen to me. You
are 21 years old and you've got a lot to live for. Someday maybe the Jazz will
overcome you as it did your father. But for now - live."
"The Jazz? I don't understand."
"Just live, kid, and remember both of your fathers love you."
Ronin listen but he heard nothing else. "Please, don't leave me alone!" he
yelled.
"Chief, I heard something." The Chief and his men quickly and carefully removed
the rubble where the voice came from and found Ronin trapped under what was left
of the ceiling.
"Okay, we found him! Be careful getting him out."
Soon they had Ronin on a stretcher. As they were carrying him out, Ronin
grabbed one of them by the shirt and gasped, "There's another man in there."
"Okay, son, I'll go check," replied Decker, who had come in to help. He quickly
returned to the rubble, but saw nothing; he only picked up a slight scent of
cigar smoke. He hurried out to see the young man being put in the ambulance.
Murdock was climbing inside. Decker decided he would wait to tell the young man
that they hadn't found the other man.
Ronin looked up at his father. "I'm sorry, Dad."
His father looked at his son. "There nothing to be sorry about, Ronin. You are
safe and that's all that matters."
"What about Robbins?"
"He's paid for this, one way or another."