IX
6:12am, Los Angeles
Blair Warner's alarm in her hotel room went off precisely at 6am, Pacific Time. She was used to getting up early, no matter where she was, but the first week of what could be up to two months in L.A, negotiating a deal that would fold Trans-Pacific Shipping into the Warner Company was testing her stamina and her nerves. This was her first foray into something this big, and even though she was not in charge of the negotiations-a Senior Vice-President was with her, but he was letting her do as much work as she could, as he trusted her instincts and her intelligence.
But it was still a level of stress in her job that she'd never been truly exposed to.
Her cell phone was next to the alarm clock in her room, and it went off, making Blair grump a little. Probably one of my colleagues, either wanting info...already, or wanting to go to breakfast...
"This is Blair", she said, still a bit sleepy.
"Blair, Princess, it's your father."
The urgency and strain in her Daddy's voice immediately alarmed her. "Daddy, why are you calling this early? My alarm..."
"Forget the alarm, Blair", he said with more urgency. "Obviously you haven't turned on the radio or TV yet this morning, have you?"
"is there something going..."
He interrupted her again. "Turn on any network or cable news station."
She immediately did as told. What she saw astounded and horrified her. "Oh, my God, Daddy! What the hell is going on?"
David Warner filled in his daughter about the events of the last half hour, the urge to vomit becoming stronger as her father told her what had transpired.
"Dear God, Daddy, the world's gone totally mad!"
"Preaching to the choir, honey", he agreed quickly. "Look, I wanted to call you before I called Stephen", he said, referring to the Senior Vice-President who was in Los Angeles with Blair. "For obvious reasons. I'm getting ready to leave the Warner tower right now. Call Stephen, and cancel all meetings for today, and I would imagine for the rest of the week."
"I can do that, Daddy", she said, getting her game face back on, willing her stomach to calm down. "I'll call him right now."
"I'll call you later, and give you an update, although I imagine everyone will be glued to the tube all day."
"I think you're right, Daddy", Blair agreed. Then the cold ball of fear landed in her stomach. "God...Daddy, what about Jo? I know she's on duty today!"
"If she is", he responded grimly, "then she's either down that way or is on her way to the towers. Cell phones outbound aren't working here at all, which is why I called you from the office. I doubt you'll be able to get through to Jo, honey."
"Dear God", Blair said, fear and panic starting to rise in her throat.
"Hey, Princess", David said as calmly as he could muster, "Jo is one of the best cops in New York, you know that, and you know Nathan looks after her like she's family. I know it's almost impossible, but try to put that aside-at least for a short while."
"I'll try, Daddy", she said, a stray tear cascading down her cheek.
"I know you will, Princess. I love you."
"I love you too, Daddy. I'll talk to you later?"
The line went dead.
Blair needed to get dressed, but ever so briefly, she fell to her knees next to the bed, and silently prayed. Good Lord, I know I'm the last one who should ask for any favors, she said to herself, still trembling, "but, PLEASE, look after my Joey today?
6:40am, Los Angeles
The Senior Vice-President that had accompanied Blair the week before, Stephen Blackmon,
had quickly assembled the Warner team in his hotel suite. The twenty people in the group were all aware of what is going on in New York.
"I'll make this quick people", the Vice-President said. "We're all up to speed on what's going on back home. Blair and I have already contacted the people with Trans-Pacific, and we agreed this was no day to talk business-not with what has to be a terrorist attack on our nation.
"I know there isn't much we can do from here, and as we've all found out, getting through on any phones back to New York is almost impossible right now." He looked at them with concern. "I want us to stay close together as a group today. I don't want anyone going off to watch this alone. Let's stay together as much as we can. With Blair's room being directly across the hall, we'll keep the doors open so people can move back and forth. But please, we need to get each other through this."
He stepped back and nodded to Blair. "Like Steve said", Blair concurred, "this is not a day to be alone if we can help it. My father called me just after 6am, and let me know what was going on, but I don't expect to hear anything back from him until much later. Just so you know, the Warner Tower has been completely evacuated-my father was the last one out."
One of the members raised her hand. "Blair, is Jo on duty today?"
Everyone knew that Blair and Jo were partners. It had stopped being "news" in New York City's business community a few years back. They all not only knew of Jo, but all of them had met her, and considered her a wonderful person, who had made Blair Warner a better person herself.
Blair took a deep breath, trying to keep her emotions in check. "Yes, Gretchen, Jo is on duty today. She usually starts about 8am on Tuesday mornings." Blair looked over at the TV, with the coverage of the events in New York streaming live. They had all seen members of the NYPD, THE FDNY, and others, already working in the area. "Just keep praying not just for Jo, but all of them. It's the best we can do right now."
_
9:50 am, New York
"Attention all personnel The FBI is reporting that, about twenty minutes ago, another plane crashed into the Pentagon in Washington."
Despite the mayhem around her, Jo clearly heard the call on the radio. She didn't react, but saw a few people streaming by her react to it. She needed to concentrate on her job.
"Keep moving, people. Head over on Liberty, then up to Broadway or Nassau Street, then move north as quickly and as safely as you can."
Jo couldn't escape looking at the two towers, both shrouded in black and gray smoke, orange flames shooting out from windows high above her.
Just as she was ready to look away, something caught her eye, as people around her erupted in horrified screams. A man walking by her had turned and stopped At the same time Jo turned, and what she saw would be etched in her mind forever.
"Is that...God Almighty, is that what I think it is?"
Jo nodded, swallowing hard, the urge to vomit almost overtaking her. "Yeah", she softly. "People jumpin' out."
The man turned to her, his face turning green. "Why would they jump..." He couldn't continue.
"A choice between jumpin' or burnin' to death", Jo said softly, her eyes locked on the figure hurtling toward the ground. God Almighty, be merciful on their souls, she said sotto voce.
9:57am, New York
Jo was now at the intersection of Liberty St and Broadway. Even though she was on duty, she couldn't help but glance up nervously at the two burning towers from time to time. People had calmed down after the second tower was struck, and few people were wanting to hang around, but the procession hadn't slowed all that much.
She was now with three other officers, and even a few FBI agents were pitching in to keep moving people east toward Pier 15, where boats of all kinds were already gathering to take people over to either Long Island or west to New Jersey. Dispatch had advised all forces in the area that the Brooklyn Bridge had been cleared of motor vehicles, and people were being ushered across the East River into Brooklyn.
There was also lines moving north in the direction of Tribeca, Chinatown, and other areas further away. Dispatch had also advised that officers and other emergency workers on the west side of the towers were hustling people into even more hastily assembled boats to ferry even more people across the Hudson river and into New Jersey. Jo's area had been advised not to send people directly west, which mean crossing the path of the two towers.
Jo was directing people eastward at that time, down Liberty Street, having to hold back pedestrians for a few moments as fire units and other emergency workers screamed by. She had just signaled for the crowd to keep moving, when she felt a rumbling below her feet, akin to an earthquake. She knew it wasn't that. Then she heard the noise...
Turning westward, she saw the top of the South Tower start to collapse, peeling away the entire building like a banana. She was on duty, but at that moment, like thousands of other in the area, her instinct was to run just as fast as she could. She headed north, not daring to look back at the debris storm that she knew was racing down the streets behind her.
Like many people that morning, Jo was convinced the end of the World had arrived.
In Los Angeles, the group was just breaking up to stay between Steve's suite and Blair's when Blair gasped loudly at the picture on the television. "Oh, my God!"
The others just beginning to leave turned and came back, all of them exclaiming and bursting into their own tears. The South Tower of the World Trade Center was collapsing. Blair's concern for Jo began to turn into panic, two of her team coming over to put their arms around her.
"God, Joey, I hope you're not near there", she cried.