Boston Blues - BLACKBIRD book 2

13. target

Hank shouldered his phone and waved at Banks and Russell. "Guys, Perkins says they've found two of the three bombs. The second was at the school after all, but the other three locations came out clean."

Everybody around shared the same skeptical grimace, Hank included. Like they were about to trust Perkins again anytime soon.

"Tell'im to give us five," said Banks, heading back to the meeting room.

This time even Tanya and Kurt followed.

At the site, Fred and Taylor were taking a break outside the blasted apartment, with Aldana and Jules, when a man shouted from the apartment, "We're in!"

"They've reached the front door," said Jules.

Fred jumped in through the window and strode across the place, following a man out the front door. But he had to stop there: the hallway was completely blocked by a wall of compacted debris.

"What the...!" he grunted.

Another man removed little pieces of concrete and opened a small hole. "I can see them!" he said, and gave Fred room to look through. Brock was helping Gillian down from the pile of rubble, already on the ground floor, at the only spot free of debris.

"REG!" called Fred through the small hole.

Brock looked up, directed the flashlight at the wall of debris and spotted the hole. Gillian hopped to stand between them, not to shout in Brock's wounded ear.

"We're fine, Fred!" she replied. "Can you open a way through for us?"

Fred glanced at the man by his side, who shook his head. "Working on it!"

"It's okay, we'll wait!"

Jules joined Fred and studied the wall of debris.

"We're not extracting them this way," he said, final, and signaled an upset Fred to follow him back into the apartment. There he studied the cracked ceiling and the walls on the hall side, pointing at one. "There. If we secure this sector, we can hammer a hole in the wall past the debris, big enough for them to crawl out."

"Then let's do it already!"

Back at the SCU office, Russell huffed, frustrated. "These are the most flagrant omissions in Wood's career," he repeated, not for the first time.

Tanya frowned. "Wait. You didn't include us in your list of possible targets."

"There's no way he could plant a bomb here," argued Hank.

"There are other ways to damage a location," replied Banks. "Like fire."

Russell turned to Connor, who had Wood's records on the screen of his computer. "Did Wood have any training in firefighting?"

Connor took a heartbeat to find the answer, while Tanya hurried to fetch her own computer. "He took a crash course at the Fire Department before applying for the SCU."

"Didn't he do it to improve his chances in the selection?" asked Kurt.

"It doesn't matter. He could've used what he learned to set a fire," said Banks.

Tanya, already back, narrowed her eyes, thinking. "You mean like starting a fire that would look accidental?"

Banks nodded. "Yes, for example."

Kurt and Connor cried at the same time, "The explosion in Dorchester!"

"They ruled it as a gas leak, but my mom was sure it wasn't an accident!" Connor explained to Banks.

Russell frowned. "Why would she think so?"

"She said the timing was just too accurate."

"The gang leader's family was out, only him and his drug dealer were there when it exploded," explained Tanya.

"You can sure tamper the gas to cause a leak," said Russell.

"But he would've needed some kind of trigger or remote control in order to control the moment of the blast," argued Banks.

"Last week, Reg made us look into it," recalled Hank. "We found at least three ways to do it, using materials that would be consumed in the fire without leaving any trace."

Russell nodded, getting the picture. "Meaning Wood was near, watching the house. He waited for the family to leave and the drug dealer to arrive. And only then he ignited the leak."

"But he's dead, so who's gonna use the remote?"

"Guys...," called Tanya in a thread of voice. "Isn't this the boy who sent the last threat?"

She turned the plasma screen on for them to see what she'd just found.

"Yes, that's him," said Hank when they saw the boy's picture.

Tanya scrolled down the document to let them read.

"Jonathan Williams, eighteen..." muttered Banks.

"His ID said sixteen," grunted Hank.

Banks went on. "Mother, Linda Williams; father..."

"Franklin Wood!"

They all traded a suspicious look. Russell was the first to react. "Guys, we need to get outta here! And have the building evacuated! Now!"