The Bomb Squad guys were standing with Walsh at the rear of the trailer, but I could see that the doors were still closed. Come on, guys. I said 8:46 A.M.-not P.M.
I had hoped the bomb would be defused by now-and maybe it was. Or better yet, maybe they'd already opened the doors and found masonry supplies inside, and I had some explaining to do.
Kate also noticed that the doors were closed and asked, 'Why are they just standing there?'
Coffee break? I said hopefully, 'Maybe they're finished.'
We were off the ramp now, and the ambulance was fishtailing in the soft earth, but within a minute we were inside the yellow tape and pulling up to the big semi.
Kate and I jumped out, and Kate yelled to Jeena, 'Get out of here! Go!'
Jeena made a quick U-turn and gunned the big vehicle back toward the ramp.
Tom was speaking to the Bomb Squad guys, and I could tell they were a little tense-so this was not over.
I looked at the time on Kate's cell phone-8:31-then it changed to 8:32.
I said to Kate, 'They don't look happy.'
She nodded.
I watched Tom and the two guys speaking quietly, as though a loud noise would set off the bomb.
Bomb Squad people are, by definition, nuts. They volunteer for this. And I knew from past experience that they have a weird sense of humor about getting blown up. But they're highly trained and cool, and these two guys didn't look panicky yet, though Tom was a bit pale. But… well, I give him my brass balls award for this.
Finally, Tom turned his attention to us, checked out my pjs, gave me an annoyed look, then said to Kate, 'Get in that Bomb Squad truck and get out of here. Now!'
Kate replied, 'I'm not leaving unless we all leave.'
There wasn't much time left to argue so Tom said, 'Okay… here's what's happening-we sent the other Bomb Squad team away with the dog, who gave a positive reaction. Also, Dutch'-he indicated the older guy-'and Bobby say they can smell ammonium nitrate, diesel fuel, and whatever. So we have a bomb.'
Right. I could smell it, too, and I noticed now that the doors were open just a crack, and Bobby was looking inside with a flashlight.
I suggested, 'Maybe they should think about defusing it now.'
It was Dutch who replied, 'Sometimes these things are rigged with a booby-trap detonator.' He added, 'If we had time, we'd use the robot, but the robot is slow and you're telling me it could be set for eight forty-six-so Bobby is the robot.'
In fact, Bobby was now standing on the rear bumper rail with his flashlight, and he called out, 'I still don't see any indication of a booby-trap detonator.' He added, 'But you never know until you try.' He turned and said to Dutch and to Tom, 'Your call.' He asked, 'Open it?'
Tom and Dutch looked at each other, then Dutch looked at his watch and said, 'If it is set for eight forty-six, we have about ten minutes to defuse it, or ten minutes to get in our truck and get ourselves into a bank vault or something.'
Tom Walsh looked at the towering buildings around us, which we all knew were still filled with people, despite the warnings to clear the area.
Dutch informed us, 'We're talking about a mile, mile-and-a-half blast radius… depending on what they have in that fifty-three-footer.'
Tom nodded, but didn't respond.
Dutch also let us know, 'If it's a simple detonator-without any tricks-I can defuse it in a few seconds, by cutting some wires or interrupting the power source.'
I asked, of course, 'And if it's not so simple?'
He replied, 'If it looks like it's rigged with a current interruption switch, or maybe a second power source or some other sneaky detonating device… then…' He shrugged and said, 'If I had more time, I could dope it out… but we don't have a lot of time, so I just start cutting wires and see what happens.'
He went to school for this?
Dutch also let us know, 'And maybe it's command detonated. Like, someone is going to make a cell phone call and that trips the switch.'
No one had anything to say about that, and Dutch reminded us, 'Meanwhile, we got to decide if we're going to open that door-that's step one. I can't defuse it from here.'
Bobby, who I thought had shown a lot of patience, said, 'I think our time is almost up to get out of here.'
Kate said to Tom, 'Open the doors.'
Tom glanced at his watch.
To help Tom with his decision-before it was too late to run and too late to defuse the bomb-I said, 'I'm guessing that Khalil stashed the PA cops' bodies in there, so the doors have already been opened.' Recalling that Boris told me he'd never trained Khalil to work with bombs, I concluded, 'I don't think Khalil would risk disarming or rearming a booby trap.'
Tom looked at me, then at Dutch, and said, 'Open the doors.'
Dutch said to his partner, 'Bobby-do it.'
Bobby grabbed the handle on the left door, and Dutch put his hands over his ears. What the fuck is wrong with these people? This is not funny.
The big door swung open, and, just as I predicted, nothing happened. Or I was in heaven now. But Walsh was here.
Dutch was already in motion, and he jumped up into the trailer where a stack of cement bags formed a wall almost to the roof. Bobby gave him a boost, and Dutch scrambled up the bags, lay on the top row, and shone his flashlight into the trailer. For a second, I thought he was going to say, 'Just cement,' but he said, 'Mother of God…'
Oh, shit.
Bobby called up to him, 'What do we have, Dutch?'
Dutch replied, 'Well, for starters, five bodies. Two PA cops-male and female-and three males in civilian clothing.'
Bobby made the sign of the cross, which these guys probably did a lot.
Dutch said, 'Also, about eighty… ninety fifty-five-gallon drums… with wires running to them.'
Bobby asked Dutch, 'Do you think it's a bomb?'
I looked at Tom, who was looking at me. And he thought I was nuts? These guys just lowered the nut bar to ground level.
Kate took my hand, then surprised me by taking Tom's hand, too. Well, we could sort this out in heaven.
Meanwhile, Dutch had some bad news. 'I don't see the power source or the timer or the switch.'
They're definitely in there, Dutch. Look hard.
Dutch gave Bobby a hand, and Bobby scrambled up to the top of the cement bags and shone his light into the trailer. He said, 'It's gotta be over there. See where the wires are running?'
'Yeah… but… it's tight in there…'
Tom called out helpfully, 'Four minutes.'
Dutch said to Bobby, 'Okay, let's walk on barrels.'
They both dropped behind the wall of cement bags and disappeared.
I didn't want to rip my stitches, but in about four minutes that would be the least of my problems, so I hopped up onto the bumper, followed by Kate and Tom. We boosted and pulled one another to the top of the cement bags and poked our heads into the dark trailer.
Tom had a flashlight, and below us was a two-foot space between the wall of bags and the first row of drums, and in that space were five bodies piled on the floor. In fact, I could smell them over the chemical smells. The three civilians looked young and burly, and I could see blood on their faces as though they'd each been shot in the head. I assumed, too, that these guys had something to do with the truck and with Khalil.
Tom was shining his light around, and I looked into the trailer and saw the tightly packed rows of fifty-five- gallon drums, each one covered with a lid. I could now see the wires running into the centers of the lids.
Neither Kate nor Tom said anything for a few seconds, then Kate said, 'That bastard.'
