Title: The Devil Wears Vengeance
Chapter 8 – Vengeance Unleashed

"Okay Spike talk to me…what are we dealing with?"

As Spike fills in Ed, Wordy and Sam about the bomb, Greg and Jules talk about the gunman that is still on the loose, a few civilians inside the older four story office building and a contingency plan in case Spike couldn't get the bomb diffused in time.

"Okay, Spike you'll handle the device, Sam I want you Sierra one. Take position here," Ed directs as he points to the paper layout one of the building supervisors had provided.

"Wordy and I will go through the basement and come up here. Sam if he escalates you'll be in a good position to cover the Boss and Jules here."

"Copy."

Team One quickly disperses, each of them knowing where to head and what they were to do. Spike was to take care of the explosive device before any of them could chance to move further into the building, Greg given the number to call in to talk to try to contact the gunman.

"Okay I'm here and…"

"And what Spike?" Greg asks in concern.

"The device…it's not exactly how the caller described."

"Can you still neutralize it?"

"I can," Spike states confidently.

"Waiting on your go Spike," Greg tells him as he finally makes contact with the gunman.

"I'm in position," Sam states atop the rooftop of the adjoining building, peering in and seeing the gunman pacing a small room. "I've got the solution."

"Copy that Sam. Let's make sure he doesn't have an override trigger. Mr. Lawson…this is Greg Parker…"

"Wordy, go," Ed nods as he and Wordy race around the back with their guns drawn. "Spike, Wordy and I are in position at the back door."

"Another minute here guys," Spike's anxious voice is heard. "There's some kind of tripwire that…" Spike's voice dies out as Ed and Wordy wait for instructions, Sam telling them the gunman was slipping in and out of view and if he moves, he'd be lost.

"I want to understand why you put the explosive device…" Ed listens to Greg trying to talk to the gunman and get him to surrender himself and let the two trapped hostages go.

"Okay I got it. Ed, Wordy you can enter the building now."

"Copy. Wordy," Ed nods, Greg and Jules also entering the main entrance in order to try to talk to the stalled gunman face to face.

"What?" Wordy smirks as Ed pulls back with a small gasp.

"I hate spiders," Ed huffs as he wipes a thick cobweb from his face.

"Thought you hated cats."

"Them to."

"You know cats, eat spiders," Wordy smirks as Ed casts him a sideways glance. "Just saying."

"I should get a cat to keep the spiders away?"

"Ah good plan," Wordy lightly remarks as they near the door to enter the basement and their tone and mood instantly morphs into that of all business.

"Boss, Wordy and I are heading down to the basement."

"Ed…"

"I see it," Ed gently pulls the small fire extinguisher away from the door and then gestures to Wordy to cover as he pulls it open; both of them entering with their guns and flashlights drawn.

"Carefully," Ed whispers as they near the first room. They pass by the first empty room, without incident and then the second, but something in the third stops them cold.

"Wordy…you hear that?"

"Yeah. Third room. I'll cover."

Ed pokes his head into the third room after Wordy had used the scope to see that it was free of human life. With his MP5 harnessed to his chest, he pulls his side weapon and carefully enters.

"Yeah I see it. Wordy come check this…hold on. I hear…is that…"

"Sounds like a timer to me,"

"Spike I think we have a second device."

"What?"

"Eddie, say again?" Greg asks in haste.

"Confirmed. We have a second device in the basement, third door from the north stairwell. Spike can get you get here?"

"Yes. The first one is neutralized and I'm heading there now. Tell me what you see Ed," Spike asks as he starts to pack up his gear on the main floor.

"It's a box with a timer on the top and…"

"And what?" Spike asks in haste.

"It has two timers."

"What?" Spike asks.

"One is digital and the other is the ticking kind that we heard and…they're both keeping time. You have twenty minutes."

"Okay I'll be there…wait…guys something…" Spike's voice is heard before it stops.

"Something what?" Ed demands.

"Oh not good. It started up again," Spike states in a panic.

"What?" Both Jules and Greg ask at the same time.

"Someone has remotely started this and…with only fifteen seconds to…." Spike's voice trails off as he tries to rush out of the room.

"GET OUT OF THERE!" Sam shouts into the headset.

"What the hell?" Wordy curses.

"Wordy, what's going on down there?" Greg asks in a panic.

"This timer just started to accelerate also. Fifteen seconds. Wordy MOVE!" Ed shouts the same time as Spike as he turns and follows after his partner who was already heading for the exit.

"Get out of there now. MOVE! MOVE! MOVE!" Greg's voice demands.

"Wordy, to the left! To the left!" Ed shouts as they charge for the hallway. But just before Ed is allowed to get to the safe distance, fate decides to lend an unwelcomed hand.

"Help me!" Ed hears a shout at the end of the hall. "There's someone…."

"No Ed…we don't have ti…."

"We can't lea…"

"ED!" Wordy shouts, mere milliseconds before the area around them ignites.

"WORDY!" Ed shouts before the world around him explodes, sending him flying toward a wall, his whole right side slamming into it with enough force to knock the wind out of his lungs.

**BOOM**

The doorway from the hallway collapses around him, but instead of his body being enclosed in the room, the floor was set to open up beneath him, pulling him helplessly into darkness, his cries for help lost amidst the angry rumble of busting concrete and splintering wood. But instead of his already debris battered frame unconsciously bracing itself for further onslaught from the explosion, Ed's limp body lands on something that is quickly yanked free from the area it just came through, pulled clear in time for a few large chunks of concrete to land where he just was. Just before darkness starts consumes him, Ed's mind is forced to digest a bout of merciless laughter. The devil had struck.

Wordy had managed to make it to the doorway, feeling the blast of cool air from the stairwell on his face but the blast of heat from the explosives on his back sending him into the stairwell, his leg snagging on rebar.

Spike had managed to make it to the front corridor seeking shelter under a desk as wood and glass rained down angry debris all around him. Greg and Jules sought shelter in a room near the back, furthest from the explosion, both escaping with only a few minor cuts and bruises. Sam outside was helpless to listen to it all and remain in place until the dust had settled.

XXXXXXXX

"What the hell?" Donna literally yells as she recovers from her near fainting spell; remaining in Tom's grasp for a few seconds before adrenaline was forced through her entire frame and she takes action; racing for the stairwell with Tom in tow. She didn't have to wait for a call to see how everyone was, multiple devices discharging at once told her that injuries were a given and her husband among them.

"Oh god not again…this can't be happening again," she mutters over and over as her mind replays the near miss with an explosive device the other week; her stomach now starting to tighten as she hears her beloved husband's anguished call and then static.

"Ed…talk to me Ed. Answer me," her voice breaks into Team One's com channel.

"Team One…talk to me," Greg's soft plea is heard, making Tom and Donna exchange worried glances; Winnie already dispatching EMS, Fire and extra uni's to help; the rest of Team Three following behind their two leaders.

"Boss…" Spike's voice is heard. "I'm okay. I'm in the main entrance. The desk…" he pauses as a scraping sound is heard, followed by a painful gasp.

"Spike!"

"Cut my arm. It's…I'm trapped under the desk."

"You two…come with me," Jules voice I heard as she enlists two nearby security guards. "Spike, we're on our way. Keep talking."

"Eddie, Wordy," Greg's panicked voice implores. "Talk to me."

"Boss…" Wordy's slightly winded tone is heard for all to hear. "North stairwell. Cut my leg and…head," he pauses as he squints into the darkness ahead of him in the debris littered hallway. "Ed…" he coughs as his mind now races with panic for the welfare of his best friend. "Ed!" Wordy shouts as he takes a step and quickly stops, his lips crying out in pain and forcing him to wait a few moments longer.

Donna is forced to listen as a helpless bystander as her and Tom near the site but still aren't there to lend a hand.

"Tom…drive faster."

"Donna."

"Now!" She demands and then quickly recants, shaking her head as she tries to keep her emotions in check. "Ed…come on Ed," her tone begs as they near.

"Wordy, I'm almost there," Greg's voice is heard over the headset. "Wait for…"

"Ed!" Wordy shouts as he has to fall back, a piece of large fluorescent lighting from the first floor, breaking free and crashing into the basement, a few feet from where Wordy was just standing. Donna feels her eyes watering further as the rest of Team One had checked in but her husband's voice had still not been heard. Come on Ed…please god let him be okay…please.

"Wordy, you hafta wait for the search and rescue team."

"No, I gotta find him. ED!" Wordy desperately shouts once more, Donna and Tom's SUV pulling up to the site, Donna leaving the truck before it had come to a complete stop.

"We need to wait. Donna that means…" Greg tries only to have her push past and stare in abject horror at the site of the cave-in before her.

"Ed…talk to me Ed," her voice pleads, Jules telling them that they had freed Spike from under the desk and she was working to get the other two hostages out of the building; Sam going after the gunman who had used the distraction to try to make a run for it.

"Wordy where did…"

"He said he heard…I don't know," Wordy looks at the taunting pile of debris and inwardly curses.

"He heard someone else?" Greg asks in shock. "Wordy, you sure?"

"I don't know boss, but something made him turn back."

"Instinct. If there was a person in need…damn it," Donna's voice trails off as she peers into the dusty wreckage before venturing a step.

"It's not safe and you know Ed wouldn't…"

"He'd expect me to look for him!" She snaps as she yanks her arm free and then looks at Wordy with a defeated expression. "Why isn't he answering?"

"I don't know," Wordy replies with remorse before he turns and calls for Ed once more; all of them rewarded with the same mocking silence in return.

"He must be in one of the rooms," Donna sighs as the search and rescue team rush toward them. "He must…"

"Sargent Parker. Captain Hiller. Tell me who we're looking for."

Donna steps back as Wordy finally limps toward the waiting EMS, Gary and Richard having gone in pursuit of Sam to help round up the fleeing gunman, Rachel helping Jules with the hostage roundup and Riley taking Spike's post and trying to get their infrared systems back online in the command truck.

"The devices were triggered remotely," Spike tells Riley and the team over the headset as he sits in the ambulance getting his arm tended to. "I had disarmed it…"

"Spike you…" Riley starts and then stops.

"I'm sure," Spike carries on. "There must have been an override switch on each of them. We need to get all the bomb parts to examine. This was unique and…we just need those parts."

"Copy Spike," Greg's tired voice responds.

"Tom this can't be…not Ed," she mutters to him over and over, her fingers deftly wiping away tears as her mind desperately tries to get her heart rate to slow to at least a normal level.

"They'll find him. At least it's…"

"Why isn't he answering!" Donna snaps again and then tries to calm her shaking hands; nothing was working.

Having been told to pull back so they could steady the entrance to the basement, several large pieces of concrete removed; Donna impatiently paces the small area, her brain paying rapt attention to every single word that the search and rescue team were saying.

"Boss, we found the gunman," Sam's voice comes to life over the headset about half hour later.

"Talk to me Sam. Tell me what he knows about those devices and who played with that trigger. We need a name to start with."

"Sorry boss, you'll need Spike's bomb parts for that."

"Why?"

"He's dead. Single gunshot wound to the back of the head and from the looks of it, high caliber sniper."

"What is going on here?" Jules exasperated tone is heard, her question mostly rhetorical as none of them had answers at the moment.

"Okay Sam, wait with the body and tell the doctor to rush the autopsy. I want to know what kind of bullet and where it came from. We need something."

"Copy," Sam replies, Gary and Richard waiting with him.

"We found the bomb parts in the third room," Captain Hiller's voice is heard. "I need another team in here to collect. We're moving on. The first three rooms are stable."

"Ed if you can hear my voice...just talk to me okay? Please…" Donna softly begs as tries to get her stomach to unclench. "Please Ed…just a word…a whisper…swear if you have to but just let us know. Please…" she earnestly begs over and over, looking at Tom with a teary and worried expression. "Tom…"

"They'll find him," Tom tries to assure her, his tone, however, betraying him and letting her hear that he was just as worried as her.

"Fourth room…oh man."

"What?" Donna asks in haste, her heart painfully skipping several beats that Ed's body had been found – dead. "What did you find?"

"This room…the fourth one down on the opposite side of the hall from the bomb room…" Hiller's voice tries to explain. "The room cave in is…watch it guys, this floor's…this cave-in…it's different."

"What do you mean different?" Greg asks in haste as he looks at Donna with a worried glance.

"Hold on Sargent there is a lot of debris here…if your man's here th…"

"What the hell do you mean if?" Donna demands, garnering a tense glance from Greg.

"Different how Captain?"

"These two rooms have been…hold on Sergeant, I'll get back…what's that? I see it…is it fresh?"

"Is it blood?" Donna asks in dread.

"Fresh blood. Just a smattering here but…"

"But what? What else do you see?" Donna implores.

"There's a few large pieces of concrete from the upstairs floor. It's as if…"

"As if what?"

"The bomb blast in that other room went out, this one went up and down…"

"What?" Spike's voice is heard over the headset. "What other one?"

"You saying there was another bomb in that room?" Greg asks in shock.

"Three bombs?" Spike's anxious voice interjects.

"We'll look for fragments if possible, but your man is our first priority and this room's a mess. It looks like the other room…odd…it musta been here rigged as well," Hiller explains to the his team and the anxiously waiting SRU.

"Four?" Spike inquires.

"No it looks like…yeah look at these wires. Donovan, over th…Parker, I'll hafta get back to you. Donovan watch that step, it could go at any minute."

"So there was a bo…"

"Spike shouldn't you be resting?" Greg asks as Spike walks up to him, Donna and Tom; Jules and Rachel with Wordy at the ambulance; Sam, Richard and Gary at the hospital.

"My arm is taken care of…see?" Spike holds up his bandaged arm. "So back to the bombs…" Spike mentions as Donna draws her tormented watery gaze away from the wrecked building and looks at them in misery. "Sorry."

"No Spike…you…just…Ed please talk to me," Donna's voice softly begs as she turns back to the darkened opening of the building where the search and rescue team were working to find Ed; the forensic team finally arriving and getting to work on finding the bomb fragments in the first room that had been cleared, the second two still being worked on; Ed Lane their search and find target.

This can't be happening…Donna's mind utters in silent misery; her heart acting with each thud in her chest. Ed…please god…please let my husband be okay…please let me hear his voice…just a word…please.

"They'll find him," Tom whispers as his hand gives her shoulder a comforting squeeze.

"The room Tom…Captain Hiller said it was rigged and…"

"He said there was a bomb in the one room and the other was rigged and…they'll find him."

"They found blood…fresh blood."

"He mighta hit his head or cut something or…"

"Tom what if he…" her voice dies out as she feels her stomach seize, her hands instantly resting on her stomach.

"You need to just calm down and take a deep breath."

"NO!" Donna shouts and then quickly calms with a look of remorse. "Tom I'm…I'm sorry. I just…Ed he…he can't be de…" she stops, unable to get the tormented word past her lips.

"It's okay," he hushes as he pulls her into his arms and gives her a warm squeeze; both of them pulling back as Wordy limps toward them.

"Any word?" Wordy inquires.

"They are still trying to get past some debris but they um…they found a smattering of fresh blood and…and…" her voice dies again as a lump of thick emotion is caught in her throat. She quickly turns away, wipes the new onslaught of tears and then turns back with red rimmed eyes but a determined expression.

"That coulda come from um…from anywhere," Wordy states with a heavy frown. "He's gonna be okay…he hasta be…" Wordy adds with a heavy sigh of his own.

"Okay so we managed to clear most of the major debris away but…"

"But what?" Greg quickly interrupts.

"I'm sorry Sargent your man…he's not here."

"What? What do you mean he's not there?" Donna asks in haste, before anyone else can.

"There is no body. The blood splatter…almost looks like…wait what's that? The last boards were removed and it seems the floor opened up. He might have fallen through the hole. Sanders bring the lights…we need to see what we are dealing with down there. Careful guys only this side is stable."

"Not there? How the hell can he not be there…this is…damn this. Ed answer me!" Donna's impatient voice snaps into her headset. "How is this possible?"

"Hiller said the top floor caved in and lots of wood and concrete fell in there. If there was a hole then maybe Ed fell down it and…"

"I'm going down there."

"A subbasement?" Tom ponders. "Was that on those plans?"

"I'll check," Spike volunteers.

"Wait a minute," Wordy grabs Donna's arm. "I'm just as wor…okay maybe not as worried as you but I'm worried about him. Donna we've been at each other's side for nearly twenty years…trust me I'm…worried too."

"I know but I hafta go down there. I'll be careful."

"Donna, think about the baby," Wordy leans in closer and tells her so that only she can hear. "Ed wouldn't want you risking your life or…"

"He wouldn't want me just standing around here doing nothing either!"

"He'd get after me if something happened to you. He probably got knocked out and can't answer. I'm sure he's okay."

"I know it's hard right now, but we just need to be patient. Hiller's team is the best at what they do," Greg mentions in a kind tone; the look of worry prominently displayed on his face.

"I know…okay I know," she groans, her hands on her hips and her brain trying to get her stomach cramps to subside.

"Okay Brown you and Sanders get some lights down here. Ed…hey Ed buddy can you hear us?" Hiller calls out, the four anxious SRU members listening and waiting with held breaths.

"Come on Ed…please answer…please Ed…please answer," Donna begs softly.

"Okay let's…get some light there…wait…clear those…hold on guys that's not stable…" Hiller's voice is heard once again.

"Ed…please answer…please answer them…answer me…just…say something," Donna's voice whispers as she paces the small space as she waits anxiously for any word on news of her husband.

"Down there…no to the right…what is that…Sanders your right…your right what do we have? Is that our man?"

"Black fabric under this debris…hold on Captain."

"Ed…please Ed…let it be you…please god let him be okay…please…" she begs once more as she looks at Wordy and frowns, Wordy's hand grasping hers for a bit extra reassurance as Spike and Riley work in the command truck trying to track down the original plans to the building.

"Move that beam. Rodgers help Sanders move that…Brown get the lights…get the lights here…what is that?"

"Black fabric. Captain…there's um…"

"What did you find Sanders?"

"Look for yourself Captain."

"What? Oh no…Brown, Sanders…fan out."

"What? What did you find? What do you mean on no? Hiller? Talk to us!" Donna literally snaps. "What is going on down there?"

"He's uh…Sargent Parker, Mrs. Lane…he's not…Ed Lane is not here and there is no one else. It's just a torn piece of black fabric. But we don't have a body. If he heard another person then…I'm sorry there is no one here. We have cleared all these rooms; there is no one down here."

"What?"

"Your man…we've looked down here and he's not here. Unless he's crawled somewhere. Maybe into the alley?"

"You need to keep looking."

"He's not here. You sure he was in this room?"

"We're sure Captain," Greg replies firmly, getting a nod from Wordy before he turns and looks at Donna, who looks at the three male SRU members before her with a slightly open mouth; her hear racing and world spinning.

"I'm sorry…he's gone."

"Ed's…gone?" She asks in misery, her world about to cave in around her. "This can't be…Ed…he can't be gone," Donna whispers before she feels her knees give way. "Keep looking…he's not gone!"

Greg, Tom and Wordy quickly come to her aid; Wordy leaving Donna in the capable hands of Tom and Greg as he turns and rushes for the opening to the cave-in all of them now in full-fledged panic mode but none of them aware of a set of narrowed eyes watching the unfolding hysteria with glee.

"Let's go," Ida instructs as the van taking with it Ed's somewhat battered, unmoving and dust covered body; pulling away with the assurance of no one giving them a single thought.

"Don't worry my dear Mrs. Lane…you'll be with your husband soon enough; in hell. But first…first I want you to experience the feeling of loss that I did."

A/N: okay so was there any doubt this was Ida's handiwork? (evil grin) Course she was dormant for a few days but she wasn't just sitting around watching soaps haha she was busy plotting revenge and a kidnapping. So where has Ida taken Ed? When will team one find out? What clues will they find and what panic will set in once they know which devil they're dealing with? Hope you are all still liking this and please do review before you go and thanks so much!