The shots caught Beckett in the company of his colleagues: Ryan and Esposito, Mongomery, Vice-Mayor Spencer, and a couple of plainclothes agents, but it was necessary to see what a powerful and jingling spring Esposito immediately twisted into. And he was the first to decide on the source of fire, lightning quick to draw his weapon: he aimed somewhere at an angle and upward, and warily swung the barrel, but the machine gun, fortunately, was already silent. Which, in principle, didn't mean much, since everything was decided by seconds.
- Espo, where'd the shots come from? - Beckett was the one standing shoulder-to-shoulder with her friend, Glock at the ready. Everyone else with a gun glittered, only the vice mayor had the foresight to hop in the van.
- That's the building across the street, - Espo squinted suspiciously as he continued to scrutinize the facade. - Fifth floor and a corner room, I think. The windows just overlook the square.
- I see. May I, sir? - The address was addressed to Montgomery, who nodded approvingly without removing his finger from the trigger.
- Permission granted, Detective, you have backup. ESU officers Schommer and Andrelli.
...they passed the square in just a couple of minutes: they bypassed a luxurious flowerbed, crossed a neatly combed lawn and, having skillfully swung over low fence posts, found themselves on the roadway: on the other side, along the basement storefronts, the road was densely packed with cars. They, like the avenue itself, were also covered with dust and various debris. Brick rubble, cement slurry, glittering scatterings of glass, fragments of destroyed billboards, multicolored pieces of plastic, and a scattering of costume jewelry: boxes of burgers that had fallen out of them and crumpled drink cups in rainbow-colored wet puddles looked unnatural. And considering the aftermath of the explosion, the city had yet to be cleaned up. But first there was their, the cops', way out...
Having adjusted her breathing rhythm, Beckett steadily kept up with Javier, confidently maneuvering between obstacles along the path of least resistance, while the ammunition-laden SWAT team stomped loudly behind them.
The group sprinted out onto the sidewalk and dashed along the front of the building toward its front door. On the way, Kate's keen eye even managed to spot several large shell casings, obviously not of pistol caliber. The only thing left to wonder was who and what they'd been shooting with. And, most importantly, what was the deep meaning of it all? And with these (and not only!) thoughts Beckett, following Esposito, penetrated into the hall she was looking for - the special forces were not leaving them.
There was no one inside - neither behind the plastic reception desk, nor on the greasy pouffes of the hall, nor in the corridor that led to a narrow staircase with elevator shafts at the end.
Beckett's first impulse was to rush for the stairs, but Javi said businesslike: "Let's split up!" and, beckoning the stocky, short Andrelli behind him, pointed Beckett in the direction ahead.
Kate neither argued nor resented him. While Schommer was breathing down her neck, not forgetting to look around, Kate had already reached the elevators. She pressed the copper-plated, worn buttons diligently, but the mechanisms didn't work, and none of the elevators went down. Judging by the light boards, the elevators were locked at the top, and while Esposito and his undercovers snuck up the stairs, Beckett and his partner explored the side branches away from the elevators. They even pushed through the back door, but the massive, green-painted metal door was easier to blow than to open. And the SWAT officer perfectly understood the characteristic, unambiguous gesture of the detective. It was necessary to return, and there was no need to delay...
They passed the first floor at a rapid pace, and, judging by the stealthy footsteps of their colleagues, they were already approaching the third floor.
"Isn't there something bad ahead of us?" - Beckett's mind flashed uneasily as suddenly there was a slight pop at the top of the well. Immediately, the well of the stairwell was covered in a white, rapidly atomizing haze, a sickly chemical smell in her nostrils, a glare in her eyes.
- ...oh, shit... - Kate whimpered, pulling off her beret and covering her face with it. - ... What the hell was that ... that ...
...and was almost knocked sideways by a powerful, unceremonious jolt as Schommer, who was accompanying her, jumped past the detective, already in his mask. The stairwell of the second floor was comparable in size to a couple of adjacent toilet stalls, but in one of the walls, almost under the ceiling, there was a horizontal and narrow, like a loophole, window. And in a giant, tiger-like leap, the commando thrust his armored fist right into the dusty glass - there was a ringing sound, and the wind immediately rushed into the room. It carried the heat and soot and sounds of the street, and the gas cloud stirred and was pulled upward and diagonally sideways. But the officer was unstoppable: following Andrelli, who was climbing higher and higher, he passed the coughing Javier, patting him questioningly on the shoulder, and when Esposito waved him off, signaling that he was all right, he stomped onward. Schommer was immediately called by Andrelli: the guys shortly exchanged a couple of phrases, and while the SWAT officer, confidently shuffling his feet, advanced to the fifth floor, his heavy steps were periodically interspersed with the characteristic crack of breaking glass. Soon it became a little easier to breathe.
- Those bastards... - her fingers cramped on the handle of the Glock, and Kate grimaced at the glandular taste in her mouth. - If you meant to scare us, you miscalculated...
The unforeseen obstacle might have slowed their pace, but it would not have deprived Beckett of her usual operational excitement. And slowly walking, coughing excessively Esposito very soon heard behind him the frequent, hot breath of his partner. And when he turned to her, Kate saw that her friend's face was covered with a rag, and his eyes were red as a rabbit's. And judging by the thick mesh of wrinkles on the detective's stubborn forehead, Javier, himself, was fundamentally displeased.
- Beckett, are you- how? - Javi mumbled inaudibly through the fabric. - Medics... not needed?
- N...no... What the...hell... was that?
And she coughed, too: Kate didn't look much more cheerful than her friend. Her eyes watery, her bangs frizzy, her nose sniffling, the woolen fabric of her crumpled beret crisscrossed with rough creases. Beckett scratched her sweaty temple gingerly with the barrel of her gun, and after briefly removing the handkerchief from her face, Espo spat noisily.
- Gas trap. Didn't see it, - he muttered bilefully. - Cleverly ... They set it, the bastards. What else... will be.
- And how are you?
- Better than... all of them. The first time...
...Further flights they overcame already without accidents: the rarefied gas cloud, in the total volume of the room, no longer played a significant role. And on the platform of the 5th, where the detectives were waiting for the special forces, it was possible to do without rags and masks...
- Where to next? - Schommer said glumly, pointing his rifle at the center of the receding corridor. - We didn't have time to make out...
- I know... - and Xavier waved the barrel briefly...
The floor plan was posted on the first column of the corridor, and Espo, literally with a couple of gestures, outlined the way forward. However, the presence of traps could not be discounted, and the group again split into twos, backing each other up, until, in a matter of minutes, they had covered the distance to the desired goal.
The door to the office was unlocked, and Kate was about to grab the handle when Javi caught her elbow:
- Wait! There's a thread!
The weapon in his way was holstered, and Espo knelt down, scrutinizing the latch and the jamb, then, without turning around, reached out his left hand, running his fingers over it suggestively. And immediately, in his favor, received a powerful cleaver with a ravenous blade, with which, holding it at an angle, he passed along the gap along the jamb, from bottom to top. And only then he opened the sash to carefully look inside.
- Pfft. Deception... - Espo's voice kind of lightened up. - ... tied to a nail.
...the cleaver was returned to the SWAT team, who went in first, covering each other professionally, and the cops followed them. And Kate already knew ahead of time that they wouldn't find anyone there.
And, indeed, the office was completely empty, without personalities or any furniture, but the blast wave had reached here as well: there was not a single window left in the room, and the wiped carpeting was strewn with broken glass and plaster, and the soles of someone's shoes were imprinted on dirty scraps of paper.
...Beckett and Esposito, rifles drawn, rushed past the SWAT team: while the detectives were looking around, they had already been to the right wing of the office, checked some unlocked doors, and now, with a clear conscience, headed for the left side of the office, where, in the middle of the wall perpendicular to the entrance, a wooden sash, mangled by the explosion, hung on a broken hinge. But what was the flimsiness of the furniture board against the efforts of two stout men, and when the boys had opened the doorway, Andrelli turned to the detectives.
- Colleagues! - he called hoarsely to himself. - You might want to take a look at this!
...The machine gun was a carriage, set up close to the window sill, with an intermediate platform fixed between the legs. A scattering of brass casings was clearly visible on the dark carpeting, and the air smelled familiarly of gunpowder. When Kate got closer to the rig, she saw a small battery on the shelf, a scotch-taped button phone on the side of an obscure black box, and some kind of construction with wires attached to the trigger of the Infernal Machine. On the other hand, these same wires dived into the slot of the strange box and were lost there.
- Well, what do we got?! What do you think, Espo? - Kate said grimly, looking at the weapons complex. - You can't build something like this without proper training.
- I agree, but there are not enough shell casings, - Espo once again holstered his weapon and put on his hands gloves. - I'll show you!
Not paying attention to anyone, Esposito thoroughly examined the point from all sides and only then disconnected the magazine.
- Empty! - There were indeed no bullets in the clip. - They didn't intend to shoot long and accurately, but rather to scare them. And that's certainly a pro, but I'd really like to know what the explosion was for.
- Revenge of a maniac, as an off-duty version, would be fine, but the deeper meaning may be quite different.
- I agree. I'd even call both the explosion and the shooting a distraction. Intent to cause panic, but look where the barrel is pointed! The sector of fire is very well chosen, and the trajectory of the shots must have been calculated, and judging by the marks on the floor, they moved the rig.
- Why "they"? - Beckett had already pulled out her cell phone, calling for forensics, and her jacket pocket, with her beret tucked in it, was tucked into a sloppy corner.
- Because alone, - Espo knelt down by the tripod and tried to look at some markings on the components, - not even Hercules could do it: it was both bulky and uncomfortable.
Kate came close to the window sill, scratching the tip of her nose with the back of her glove: the room was a corner, and through the window she could see the damaged corner of the building, the square with the operational headquarters, and even the border of the cordon where her car had been left recently.
Suddenly Kate's heart clenched painfully, unpleasantly, and in one swift, almost fused movement she snatched her cell phone from her pocket and dialed the number. One try, another, another, a third, but for some reason Castle was not online. Which wasn't a problem in itself, but in light of recent events, Beckett had no right to take that fact lightly and uncritically. And whatever naughty Castle was, he'd be waiting for her to put his "ten pence" into the thought process, and since he wasn't available right now, that, unfortunately for her, presumably meant only one thing.
- Kate?! Kate, come on! - Javier was only momentarily distracted from contemplating the evidence when he was suddenly struck by the unnatural gray color of his partner's face. - What's wrong?
- I think, Javi, that we have a problem, - a completely alien, wheezing voice spoke Kate. - Castle... He stayed at the car, but now he's unavailable for some reason, and the last thing I want to do is blame it on the ISPs. You stay here, and I need to check something...