Chapter 17

They had brought in the LAPD to search the camps more quickly, but there was no sign of the assassin or Steve in any of them. They must have missed something. Catherine had the laptop sitting on the hood of Chin's squad car and was going back through all the units they had found in the search. Lost in thought, she looked up and her eyes fell on the Chinese restaurant directly in front of her. Restaurants! Didn't restaurants have warehouses depending on their size? She called up the picture with Steve again. The warehouse didn't seem very big. Wildly, she typed away on the keyboard of the laptop.

"Here!" Chin and Danny stepped up to her.

"Look here near the first three camps are some restaurants that also each have a small camp with them. And this restaurant here," she tapped a red dot, "is empty right now!"

"Let's go!"

About ten minutes later they were standing in front of a small alley.

"This must be it." Attentive walked through the street and then opened the door of the storage unit and froze. "Steve! Don't!"

Previously with Steve

Steve rubbed through his face. He had no idea how much time he had left, so now he was doing everything he could to disarm the explosive vest. He had no choice. If he didn't try, he would die too.

With trembling hands, he pulled one of the blueprints to him on which he had discovered the vest. He had never been an anxious guy, but right now he had to fight with himself not to panic. He closed his eyes again and concentrated on his breathing. A little calmer, he turned his attention back to the blueprint.

He checked all the parts he could see to see if they were attached as shown in the blueprint and if the cables matched in color. Theo seemed to have been very meticulous about that, because he had followed the plan to the letter, as far as Steve could tell. He couldn't check the back of the vest, but Steve assumed that Theo had worked just as carefully here.

Steve grabbed a pair of side cutters from one of the toolboxes. He had to cut three connecting cables to separate the detonator from the explosive.

His pulse raced and his hand trembled as he took the first cable between the blades of the side cutter. Slowly he squeezed. Nothing happened. Steve exhaled. The next wire. Steve held his breath and squeezed. One last one. Sweat ran down his face into his eyes. Angrily, he wiped it away and applied the pliers one last time.

Just as he was about to squeeze, the door opened and someone shouted, "Steve! Don't!" Surprised, he looked up and withdrew his hand with the side cutter. "Catherine?"

Chin, Catherine and Danny ran into the warehouse. Danny already had the phone to his ear to call in the bomb squad. Catherine ran to her boyfriend, gave him a kiss and stroked his cheek reassuringly with the flat of her hand.

"Let me see." She turned it around so she could see the timer.

"Ten minutes." Danny nodded and passed it on to the bomb squad. Then he hung up. "They'll be right there." Chin, meanwhile, had inspected Theo's body and now put his hand on Steve's shoulder.

"He won't kill anyone else." Nervously, Steve looked at him.

"At most, us, if the troops don't get there soon." But by then a man in protective gear entered the room and told Chin, Danny and Catherine to leave. None of the three moved, which Steve took as an opportunity to ask them to leave.

"Please guys, I'm in good hands. I'll see you in a minute."

"Forget it Steve, we're staying here." Catherine took his hand.

"Okay, Commander, let's take a look."

The colleague also looked at the blueprints and then at the vest. Then he nodded appreciatively.

"Sir, you were already on the right track."

And then he cut the last cable, carefully removed Steve's vest and placed it in the fuse box he had brought with him.

Relieved, Catherine fell around Steve's neck. He held her tightly in his arms. Just a moment ago he thought he would never see her again. He pressed his face into her hair and inhaled deeply her scent.

Danny and Chin took their time, even though Danny would have liked to give his buddy a hug right away, too. He was so glad that nothing had happened to him. After Steve disengaged from Catherine, Danny pulled Steve into a friendly hug. "Hey Mr. Super-Seal. Am I glad nothing happened to you."

"Hey Danno." After that, Chin also hugged Steve. Then Steve, Danny and Catherine joined Chin. "Thank you."