Chapter 7
The tech dropped the wand and leaned over the desk to inspect the timer, "That looks like it's counting back fine now."
"If you call the timer to the bomb in my hands speeding up fine, sure, we'll go with that," Lee snapped sarcastically.
"Calm down, Scarecrow," Billy reprimanded him. Lee glared back but kept silent. "Jerry, what other ideas do you have up your sleeve?" Billy asked the bomb tech.
Jerry leaned against the cubicle partition and folded one heavily clad arm over the other, the liquid nitrogen wand dangling from his fingers. "Well, I think we need to get a mirror under there to take a look-see at what else we might be dealing with. We already know he's got a temperature sensor in there, so I wonder what other goodies we might find," he stated.
Lee dropped his head and groaned, "Do you think we could move this along? I don't know how much longer I can sit here holding up this lid."
Jerry motioned to another tech and traded him the liquid nitrogen wand for a small dental mirror with a retractable handle. He held the mirror up then gently motioned to Francine and Billy, "You two may want to take a few steps back… you know, just in case."
Lee jerked his head up and demanded, "Just in case what?"
Jerry held his hands up and stated, "Well, you know. Just in case… boom." He exaggerated his point by mimicking an explosion with his hands.
"Let's not go boom, and then we don't have to worry about them backing up," Lee stated.
"Point taken," Jerry nodded. "Scarecrow, I need you to hold still and try not to move while I do this. I'm going to stand behind you and use the mirror to see what's under that timer and the C-4."
Lee exhaled slowly, "You don't have to worry about me, Jerry. I'm not planning on making any sudden moves if that's what you're worried about."
Jerry carefully maneuvered the small mirror into the box and stopped. "Chris, get over here and see this," he commanded. Another agent, fully dressed in bomb gear, approached. "I think you've seen a configuration like this before. Tell me what you think." He handed Chris the mirror and stepped away, giving Chris his spot behind Lee.
Chris carefully maneuvered the mirror into the box and underneath the timer casing. "I see two red, two yellow, two green, two black, two white and maybe a few more… it's hard to say from this angle," he called out.
"Can you see which wire entered the timer case?" Jerry questioned.
"From this angle… yes, sir. And I think if we cut this red wire, we might be good," Chris stated.
Lee looked over his shoulder at the tech, "Might be good? That doesn't sound like such good odds to me."
Chris gave him a smile from over this neck and chin protector padding, "Relax, Scarecrow. We see this stuff every day. I'm just going to slip a precision flush cutter in there, and you will be just fine." Chris held his hand out, and immediately Jerry dropped a red-handled tool into his glove. Chris carefully guided the sharp blades into the box and, without jostling any of the other wires, managed to isolate the red wire in question. "One small squeeze," Chris stated as he tightened the handle together. "See… no sweat… oh no," Chris stammered.
"Oh, no? What, oh, no?" Lee demanded. He looked down, and the timer advanced another sixty minutes rapidly before it returned to the slow countdown, the timer displaying just under two hours remaining. "One small squeeze, he says. No sweat. No sweat, my..." Lee muttered as a bead of perspiration began to run down the side of his face.
"This is way more complicated than we thought," Chris explained as he moved away from Lee.
Jerry looked at the tech and questioned, "What just happened?"
"I'll tell you what happened," Lee snapped before Chris had a chance to answer. "Your boy over there cut the red wire, and we just lost another hour. That's what happened."
Chris skulked to the back of the group of men still standing near the glass doors. "George, you get over here and take a look," Jerry commanded.
Another tech stepped forward slowly. He took the mirror and stepped behind Lee. He stared at the device for a long minute before he took the mirror and began inspecting the corners of the timer casing. "Sir, I think if we take the casing off, we could get a better look," he declared.
Jerry looked over and demanded, "Get him a screwdriver." Chris pulled one from his pant leg pocket and handed it to Jerry, who then, in turn, handed it to George.
"Hey, hey, hey, before we start unscrewing anything, you sure that's what you want to do?" Lee stammered.
George nodded, "Don't worry, Scarecrow. I'm confident there is nothing attached to the timer casing. All of the wires pass through one hole in the box."
"And what if something is attached to the screws? Or what if the screws have to be removed in a specific order? I mean, it wouldn't be the first time we've seen a configuration like that. Remember, Billy?" Lee questioned.
Billy nodded, "Yes, I remember. But we're not talking about a nuclear weapon here. Let the man do his job, will you?"
George began meticulously loosening the screws around the digital display until he was able to gently lift the black covering off, revealing the heart of the device. Inside was a maze of circuits and wires. "Let me see that mirror again?" he requested. Jerry handed him the mirror, which George began carefully examining the starting point of each wire. "Sir, I think I understand this. If we can isolate the one wire that's just connected to the timer, we should be able to stop it."
Lee gave a tentative nod and asked, "So, you think you can figure it out?"
"Yes, Scarecrow. If you can just sit patiently, and keep that lid from moving, I should be able to isolate the timer wire," George assured him.
"I'll do what I can," Lee shifted his elbows once more to brace himself.
George leaned close to Lee, the padding on his chest, pressing up against Lee's shoulder, as he used the mirror to follow one wire. "Black is hot," he called out. He moved to the next wire in the circuit and called out again, "Yellow is hot." He carefully slid the mirror between two small circuit boards and stated, "Another wire here. This one's blue. Not sure where it goes yet." He began extracting the mirror from the tight space when the pager on Lee's belt began to alert. Lee jumped nervously. George immediately tried to withdraw the mirror only it caught one of the green wires and jerked it loose. "Oops," George uttered as the timer jumped forward once more.
The pager sounded a second time, then a third in rapid succession. "Francine, you're gonna have to get it and see what's going on," Lee informed her after he swallowed hard.
Francine crossed the room and reached between Lee and the arm of the chair to tug the small plastic device off his belt. She stared at the display and tapped the down arrow. "It's Amanda, I think. But it says 9-1-1."
"Oh, no. That was our code," Lee's face lost all color. "Francine, you have to call her and find out what's happening."
"But, Lee, she's going to know something's wrong if I call her," Francine insisted.
Lee shook his head, "No, just tell her I left the pager with you because I was going down into Records, and I wouldn't have a signal down there. Please. Just do it."
Francine looked at Billy, who only pressed his lips together. She lifted the phone and dialed Lee and Amanda's home number. "Lee?" Amanda's husky voice immediately asked. "Hi, Amanda. No, it's Francine," Francine stated.
"Francine, where is Lee?" Amanda questioned.
"He… he… he's down in Records right now. He left his pager with me just in case," Francine lied.
"I need him to come home right now," Amanda stated firmly.
Francine looked at Lee's expectant face as she asked, "Is everything all right?"
Amanda sighed on the other end of the phone as she stated, "No, everything is not all right. My mother left to go to an appointment ten minutes ago, and my water just broke."