Chapter 46: Dean

514 27 5
                                    

Chapter 46: Dean

I watched as the man clad in leather jacket entered the room with a laptop in his hands before he kept it on the table in front of us. He was actively talking on the phone and was giving orders left and right. We stared at the open screen of the laptop as we waited for him to finish.

Alex and Zoey's living room had been completely turned into a mini precinct. There were papers and files everywhere, a big white board where a couple of pictures, including Veronica's were stuck on using magnets. In the middle, we had Flash's details like last known location, address and more.

I turned back when Zoey shifted a bit by my side.

"Sorry, that was—" Detective Jake Nicola apologized as he finally cut the call.

"Is that the car?" Zoey asked before he finished speaking, asking the question we all desperately wanted to ask. I stared at the screen a bit harder until my eyes blurred, trying to remember the specs of the car which had taken Veronica. All I could remember was that it was black and it was an SUV. The image on the screen matched the basic description. But there would be hundreds of thousands of black SUVs in NYC alone.

"It should be." Detective said as he leaned against the mahogany dining table and folded his arms, "This car was found in one of the bad neighborhoods, crashed against the side of a building. It was bought at a shady second hand dealership." He clicked the arrow button, going to the next slide where the crash was.

My hand turned into a fist as I thought of Veronica being in that. The airbags were open and so were two of the doors, the driver, and the rear. In the next few slides, we began to see closeups, Veronica's bags and suitcases, a bullet hole...

Zoey gasped audibly as her hands moved in front of her mouth. I flashbacked to when I had heard the sound through the phone. Clenching my jaw, I tried not to focus on how panicked and helpless Veronica must be feeling. I tried to ignore the rise in my heartbeat and the slight trembling of my fingers.

"What happened next? Do we have any CCTV footage?" Alex asked as he put a reassuring hand on Zoey's knee, taking control of the meeting as both she and I fought with our wobbly emotions, trying to remain stable and sane. It was difficult, I could not think clearly, everything was messed up.

"The CCTV around the corner which could have given us the exact street was turned the other way, but we did manage to trace Flash's phone. It pinged this tower when he made a call," he made a cross on the map on the board and drew a circle around it, "and we checked that area for a couple of miles radius and saw that there are only abandoned buildings here."

"Jake, you can have as many people as you want for this. We can mobilize more people if required, I will talk to the mayor myself. Maybe I can request a SWAT team for this. Is there anything else you require?" Alexander stated as he grabbed his phone which was kept on the table. My admiration and respect for the guy grew ten-fold. His power, patience and the ability to think was something I could only dream to have.

"Please wait, sir." Jake made a motion of halt, "Our team checked and apart from a couple of CCTVs, rest were all working. We have identified these two streets as our main location where Ms. Rivers can possibly be." He made ovals on the two roads, highlighting them. I observed the map carefully. They were parallel to each other and were a block apart.

"One of them," he tapped the lower lane on the map, "has some abandoned residential buildings, and the other some shops and a hospital. We will be dividing into two groups and will be taking on both the streets at once tonight. In the meantime, we will be setting up the perimeter and checking all the—"

"Is that it?" He asked, as Zoey's foot began to tap restlessly on the floor, making me anxious.

"Well..." Jake still hadn't turned around, but his body had stilled. I narrowed my eyes as I tried to guess what was bothering him. It must be something serious. "We know who he called."

I frowned as Jake looked up, as if praying to the heavens before turning to us. "He made a call to a local terrorist gang which we have been monitoring for a while now. The fact is..." he stopped, and we all saw him struggle to voice his concerns.

"What?" Zoey whispered as she closed her eyes in panic.

"They specialize in making bombs."

It was silent for a while.

"You...you don't mean to say..." Alex voice was barely above a whisper.

"It is possible that there might be a bomb on Ms. Rivers' person."

My heart froze. It just gave out. I could actually feel something in myself tearing in two. My sight blurred as fear wrapped its icy tendrils around me. This...this was too much. There was no way I can wait for Veronica with one hand over the other. I needed to move. I needed to do something to stop myself from falling in the endless pit of despair.

"Now, it is a given that we are not sure if Flash could get his hands on something like that, but we need to think of all the possibili—"

"Include me in your search and rescue team as well."

Jake looked at me before turning around and facing the board again. "Dean, you are a firefighter, sure that gives you considerable skills, but this is a dangerous job and it is a job for the police. I understand your situation and I am sorry, but you cannot come."

I turned to look at Alex just as he looked at me and we shared an understanding look over Zoey's head. He nodded as he got my message, gently consoling his hysterical wife as he gathered her in his arms. 


---

Force of the Writer's block is strong with me. 
Can you guys help in suggesting what the next chapter should be?

-A

The Billionaire's Saviour {*Completed*}Where stories live. Discover now