Chapter 2

The detective's SUV was waved through the police barricade blocking off the street at 10th Avenue, and straight into the controlled panic of the evolving incident. Scattered along this industrial section of the west side, were dozens of fire trucks, ambulances, and police cars. The Emergency Services Unit already had men entering the building. Lieutenant Casey Michaels, the ESU commanding officer on scene walked over as he recognized the two detectives.

"Hey Alex, Bobby. What brings you two out here on a day like this?" As they got out of the car, Goren and Eames reached back for their vests. Bobby pulled off his jacket, tossed it into the back seat of the car, and strapped on the Kevlar vest.

"How did you guys get here so fast and what do we know so far?"

Lieutenant Michaels motioned toward the chaos around them. "We were on our way back to the office when the call came in and just happened to be close. Fire department is clearing out the last of the people in the building and they've started their sweep of the upper floors. ATF and Homeland Security are fighting to take control." He shook his head in disgust. He didn't care who was in charge, who got the credit or the blame, he just wanted to stop something bad from happening.

Bobby nodded as he finished fastening the vest and began checking his weapon. "What did the threat say?"

Lt. Michaels sighed, "Attwell is here and being very large and in charge, taking on the Feds. You'd better talk to him." Deputy Commissioner George Attwell was a glory hound and every chance he had to get out to a scene, 'take charge', and be seen by the press he was there. The man never failed to make any scene and investigation he inserted himself into just a little more difficult and high profile. Every detective in the city would cringe as soon as he was spotted at his or her crime scene.

"Great," muttered Bobby. "Tell me he doesn't have that stupid cowboy hat on."

Michaels grinned and nodded. "Oh, yeah, and he's wearing the boots too."

Bobby groaned. Attwell was originally from Texas and was convinced if you wore a cowboy hat and boots that meant you were a man to be reckoned with. He only put on the hat in public when he wanted to make a statement. Bobby thought the statement he actually made was 'look at the redneck sheriff trying to be a big city cop'. Bobby turned to Eames. "Maybe you should stay back here, in case this gets ugly."

"Attwell's involved, so it's already ugly."

Bobby grinned at her. That was good, and accurate too. "You know what I mean. I don't want to have to worry about you. You're liable to take his head off, after last time..."

Eames' smile turned quickly into a scowl. "We'll discuss how many times the situations been reversed over the years later, but for now my answer is then don't worry. I'm a big girl, Bobby, you should know that by now, and I can take care of myself. Besides, I have to worry about you all the time, so why shouldn't it work the other way?"

Bobby sighed and looked up at the building, then back to Eames. "Fine, why did I even try?"

Eames shrugged her shoulders as they began to walk toward the man in the cowboy hat who seemed to be the center of attention. "I have no idea, but it wastes a lot of time."

ooOOoo

George Attwell was five feet five inches tall if he stretched, with a large round belly and skinny legs. Most of those in the department who'd ever met him referred to him as Mr. Potato Head behind his back, or sometimes Sheriff Potato. He was rude, abrupt and took credit for work that wasn't his, which explained his current position of authority. That and he had a reputation for brown-nosing surpassed by none.

Attwell glared at both detectives as they drew closer. "Goren. Eames."

Bobby returned the sentiment. "Attwell. What did the caller say?"

"You can go home now, Goren, we have this under control."

Bobby took a deep breath, remembering Ross' speech about trying to get along with his superior officers. "We think this is related to a case we've been working on for over a month. If it is, the violence level has been steadily escalating and these guys are under the gun. There's a very real chance this isn't a hoax. Did they ask for money?"

Attwell's second-in-command was a seasoned cop named Jerrod Neal. He was about a foot taller than his boss and slender without being skinny. His broad shoulders spoke to his strength and the excellent shape he kept himself in. Neal was a likeable guy who thought all cops should work together to keep the bad guys in check and not worry about who got the glory. This meant he'd gone as far up the ladder of political success as he was going to go.

"I don't give a rat's ass what you think; we're working this case the way I see fit." Attwell was working up to a full-blown red-in-the-face shout out when Neal interrupted. "There are issues here that are greater than any case you may have detectives, I'm talking about implications to Homeland Security. They along with ATF are working with my office..."

Alex bristled, "and your office would be a part of NYPD and as detectives with..."

Neal stepped between Eames and Attwell, "Sir, what will it hurt to share information with them? If they've working something they think fits, it'll only help us catch these preps quicker. Maybe we can get out of this with the building left standing. That'll only make our job easier and the commissioner and mayor will be very happy if no one is hurt and the building isn't blown up." Neal had been at this a while and he knew just what to say.

Attwell stuttered for a moment and then began to sulk. "Fine, but you get their information. I have important business to attend to." With that, Attwell stalked off towards the ATF's command vehicle.

Neal nodded and led Bobby and Eames several feet away.

"Thanks," said Bobby, shooting Eames a look.

Neal shrugged his shoulders. "If you guys know something that can help, I don't see any reason to shut you out. The caller said that an explosive device had been planted and would go off sometime before dark, at his discretion. If we didn't want people killed, we'd better clear the building and evacuate the area. He wanted five hundred thousand dollars wired to an out of country account before," Neal used his fingers to make air quotes, "he got bored."

Eames and Bobby exchanged a look. "Sounds like it could be our guys," she said.

ooOOoo

"Jenny!" The shrill panicked voice cut through the surrounding noise like a beacon. They all looked around to see a young woman trying to break away from two police officers, sobbing and screaming as she struggled. Bobby immediately dodged through the cluster of emergency personnel to get to the woman just as the police partially calmed her down.

"What's the problem?" he asked sharply.

The distraught woman grabbed the front of his vest. "Jenny is missing. We got separated on the way out and I thought she was with my mother, but she isn't. I think she's still inside. Please, you have to get her out. She's only six."

Neal got on his radio, trying to find out if the girl had wound up with the small group of people that had been evacuated, but had become separated from their family or friends. Bobby pushed his way to the front of the crowd, studying the front of the building. He stepped out of the crowd and moved closer to the building, particularly focusing on the door. Not knowing why he did so, but he stopped and turned his attention to the vacant building next door. His attention was drawn to the sign posted in the courtyard of the building. The building was scheduled for implosion the following week. As he thought about that, a child came stumbling out of the door less entry of that building, right before his eyes. Jenny. Bobby ran towards her.

Bobby didn't know why he felt the sense of urgency that he did, maybe it was just seeing the scared little girl. He sprinted over to the girl, quickly covering the distance between them. As he bent down to scoop up the child, he spotted shadowed movement from the back of the building in his peripheral vision. Needing to get the girl out of danger and back to her mother, he didn't have time to investigate, so he wheeled around and ran back toward the crowd in the street with the crying child cradled in his arms, his lungs beginning to burn. He was halfway between the building and the safety of the emergency equipment when something struck him in the head and everything went immediately black.

ooOOoo

Eames watched as Bobby took off across the open space in front of the buildings and was surprised when he headed toward the empty one. It had happened to quickly for her to begin to comprehend what he was thinking. It was almost as if his breaking into a run had been a reflex action. The speed with which he was covering ground made her nervous, as if he knew something she didn't. She didn't see the girl until he had almost reached her.

"Jenny!" The panicked woman was still jumping up and down and screaming just two feet away. She grabbed Eames by the arm and shook her soundly. "That's Jenny, he has my Jenny."

Eames took a firm hold on the woman's wrist and tried to calm her. "My partner won't let anything happen to her," she said, hoping to calm the woman.

The sudden and sharp crack that echoed through the air was followed by an eerie silence. She watched in shock as Bobby's body jerked back at an angle and fell limply to the ground. She stood frozen to the spot, waiting on him to move. After a few seconds, people around her began to move forward as the now screaming girl rolled away from Bobby's still form and began running toward her mother, who had also surged forward.

"Bobby," she finally whispered roughly, shaking the numbness away. She took a few steps, intending to follow the emergency personnel that were running to her partner in crouched positions. The next thing she knew, the ground rocked violently and it sounded like the world had exploded. She was thrown to the pavement along with those around her as a series of boom, boom, booms threatened to shatter her eardrums. Her first thoughts were, Not again, no not again…

When the shaking and noise finally stopped, she looked up to see that the abandoned building was now a smoking pile of rubble. The paramedics and police officers that had started for Bobby had now reached him and began moving some of the smoldering and burning rubble that landed around him. Eames couldn't tell if any of debris had hit him or not.

Sounds shrieked all around her. Alarms, sirens, people screaming, debris still fluttering down to hit things. Smoke and ash billowed out, making it seem like she was in a dense fog, one that burned the lungs. She couldn't think and she couldn't breathe. She looked up again, trying to see Bobby, but all she could see was heavy, black smoke in the direction where he'd been lying motionless on the ground. She wondered if he was alive as the cloud of darkness overtook her and the chaotic sounds faded away.