Showtime
Chapter 9
Danny snapped his seatbelt into place as Don started the car.
"I thought with this HOS thing" Don said "I'd got rid of you for a while"
"Charming" Danny said "That's just charming"
Don shrugged, amused "Jus' sayin' that it's weird how this kid turns up dead after he's caught at that hotel"
"I know" Danny said "He was a student journo, who was trying to get a story, prompted by a generous offer from a mystery benefactor's email"
"It's all a bit strange" Don commented "I wanna hear what his friends have to say, there's somethin' we're missin' here"
…...
Don flipped open his notepad, clicking the pen impatiently "So you received this email too?" he asked the girl.
"Yeah" she said nonchalantly "A bunch of us did"
"You go after it?" Danny asked "The internship?"
"No" she frowned at them "A few days later we all received another email from the university saying that it was a hoax"
"You sure?" Don frowned.
"Yeah" she said again "Why, you after the guys that sent it?"
"Yes" Danny replied "Do you know who it was?"
"No idea" she shrugged "You might try the Uni office though, if they knew it was a hoax, then they must have known who sent it right?"
"Thank you" Don said, closing his notebook.
…...
"I'm sorry Detectives" the man behind the desk at the main university office said again "But no email was sent out to those students, on that day" he paused "In fact, I would have dealt with anything like that, and I haven't even heard about this internship, never mind warned people it didn't exist. That email did not come from this office"
"Thank you" Danny said as they left.
"Well that was wildly unhelpful" Don complained as they left.
"Not really" Danny said "What if Beckton was targeted? Mr X sent this email to a bunch of students, and then, pretending to be the university, sent one to everyone except Beckton"
"Gave it credibility?" Don asked.
"Exactly" Danny nodded "Then he reels Beckton in, and sends him to work. Makes him think he's working on a story but in fact he's collecting information for Mr X"
"It's an idea" Don swung the car out of the car park "But why would the owner of a multi billion dollar engineering company want information on an Arabian Prince attending a conference about climate control?"
"That" Danny said "Is the mystery"
…...
"I got it!" Danny said from the AV desk, Don looked up from flicking through some of the gaming magazines Adam had left strewn about.
"What?" he frowned.
"With Adam tracing that email back to Nathan Rodgers, I've managed to get into his system" Danny said "Don't worry, it's covered under the warrant for the email, I think"
Don pulled a face as Danny continued "Anyway, I've found all the emails he sent to the students. Plus more"
They read in silence, becoming more agitated with each one they read.
"We gotta get over there" Don said "If his plan works, that guy he's paid 2 million is going to wipe that Arabian Prince out"
"Right" Danny stood "His 'contact' in the UAE was quite specific" they both looked at the email that Rodgers had received from a person named as 'The Contact'.
The Prince must Die at any cost. Twenty Million will be in your off shore account when I receive conformation Mr X
"This guy is a high class hit man" Danny said.
"No, he's the one who arranged it" Don replied "And he's pocketing the majority of the money"
"I knew there couldn't be that much money in engineering" Danny said.
…...
Kate leaned back against the wall, trying to avoid counting the fleur de lis on the wall paper, again, she had quite liked the pattern before this job.
She smiled at Helen, who stood on the other side of the doors they guarded.
"How the other half live huh?!" Helen said with a laugh, nodding her head towards the firmly closed doors behind them. The Prince was holding a function after the penultimate day of the conference, for the rich and famous faces of Manhattan Society. They could hear soft music, the chink of expensive steel cutlery on expensive china plates and laughter from within.
Suddenly the room behind them went quiet, and then exploded with noise. People screamed, gun shots were fired, glass smashed, men shouted.
Kate nodded at Helen and she swung the door open, sweeping their guns they met chaos, taking cover behind a table they tried to work out what was going on. Kate could see other ESU officers pouring in from the allocated places, also as confused as her. Bodies littered the floor, some screaming, some silent, some bleeding.
"Officer needs urgent assistance!" she shouted into the head set.
"I've got him" Kate heard through the radio "One perp, top and right"
"Take him out Duane!" she yelled.
…...
The man looked up at her with glazed eyes and laughed "They'll get him"
"What the fuck is he talking about?!" Kate fumed, staring around her, even in her job, it amazed her that one man and a machine gun could cause all this chaos.
"I dunno boss" Chuck panted "But the rest of the building is clear, the Prince and the rest are safe, Marty, Leon and Helen all took a bullet, they're outside, they're gonna be fine"
"Good" she said "Where are the fuckin' EMT's? Get fucking central on the radio, where's the fuckin' back up?"
"Wow boss" Chuck laughed "How many timed can you swear in one sentence?"
"Fuck off" she told him "I want this building secured NOW!"
"Who are you?" Kate leaned over the man on the floor, a bullet hole in his chest seeping blood rapidly "Are you alone?"
He laughed at her, and she resisted the urge to shoot him in the head.
"I'm never alone" he laughed louder, before succumbing to coughing, gaining control again he smiled "I hope you like the present in the kitchen" and his breath stopped. Kate leaned over, checking his pulse.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck!" she swore, giving Chuck a warning glance "Sweep the fucking kitchen!" she ordered.
…...
"I don't know what type of bomb" Kate told the bomb squad commander as his team geared up.
"What did it look like?" he asked calmly.
"A bomb!" Kate fumed "It had lots of wires running in and out of packs of C4 and a big sign on it saying bomb!"
"A sign?" he asked, taking her seriously.
"No" she sighed, trying to control the adrenaline "I added that bit for artistic licence!"
"Sergeant?" the commander asked "Are we sure the building is secured and that there is no one inside?"
"All civilians and police are clear" she said "But I don't know if the guy was alone, there may be others"
"Then we are going to need your back up" he said.
"I'm coming too" Lindsay said "More hands on deck right?"
"No Lindsay..." Kate told her forcefully "No way, you have no protective gear"
"Yes I do" she produced a kevlar vest and a helmet and set of goggles "You can't do this with just three of you" she pointed out.
"Why are you here anyway?" Kate asked.
"I was on my way, I was requested to sweep the Prince's rooms again" she explained "Heard your assistance call"
"Well at least it wasn't Danny and Flack" Kate replied, seeing Lindsay's look of confusion she grinned briefly "They rescued me once, when I was young and stupid, if we live through this, I'll tell you about it"
"The dumpster?" Lindsay grinned back "I already know"
Kate and her remaining team, plus Lindsay, led the two bomb technicians through the hastily erected 30 feet barrier and back to the hotel.
…...
Flack's radio crackled to life "All available units respond" the voice droned "All available units respond to an officer in need of urgent assistance at The Continental Hotel on 4th and Park"
"Central this is Detective Flack" he spoke into the radio "On route"
He looked at Danny "We might be too late" he said, jumping the lights and flooring the accelerator.