One Step Ahead

Everybody Out !

      "Of course not, but that's procedure, to cover everything as thoroughly as possible, just in case you might remember something that you forgot, or that just seemed irrelevant. So, please bear with me, and lets do this one more time."

      Before he could resume his questioning, they heard a raised voice from the garage bay, shouting, "What the bloody hell happened to Earl? He was fine when I left!"

      Sanger rose from his seat and walked out of the office, and Briar watched through the window as he approached one of the other mechanics, a gangly younger man named Roman, who was being restrained from entering the bay by a pair of patrol officers. Ashley and Detective Han rejoined her and they watched as Sanger asked for his name, and when he replied, the detective inquired, "And when was it exactly that you saw Mr. Duffy, sir?"

      "Maybe about an hour and a half ago, not long before I went to lunch. He was in here when I walked through to put my paperwork into the bin. I did a quick repair on the pickup down at the end, then I took my break. So what the hell is going on?"

      Before Sanger could even think about whether to answer the question, Roman looked past him, to where the medical personnel were preparing to place the bodies into the large, zippered plastic body bags, and his forehead wrinkled in confusion. "Hang on a sec, something's not right," he informed Sanger.

      Holding up his hand to stop the process, the lieutenant looked intently at the younger man and asked, "What is it, sir? What did you see?"

      "Hang on and let me think a minute," Roman muttered, closing his eyes and screwing up his face in a grimace as he concentrated. After several seconds, his eyes popped open. "The coveralls, dude! Earl always wears those blue ones," he said, gesturing toward the bodies. "But the ones he was wearing earlier were brown, like the ones the newer guys wear. And we don't have any newbies as big as Earl. Shit, that wasn't him, was it?"

      Ashley, Briar, and Eloise Han had moved to the open door between the office and the garage, and Han interjected, "But I thought you said you saw him earlier. Shouldn't you have noticed that then?"

      "Well, I didn't exactly see his face, I just talked to him on my way through. I didn't want to interrupt him while he was working."

      "What, exactly, was he doing when you spoke to him?" Sanger prodded.

      "He was doin' some work on the engine in that car there," Roman explained, gesturing to the vehicle nearest the bodies. "He was up under the hood, that's why I didn't see his face."

      Sanger and Han exchanged a horrified look, and Sanger barked, "Out! Everybody out of the building, ASA-fuckin'-P! El, get them out of here, Doreen, get your folks and go, don't worry about the bodies now, unless you think you might like to join them!"

      As they followed Detective Han outside, Ashley and Briar observed uniformed officers ushering people from other parts of the building as Sanger engaged in what seemed to be a rather tense phone conversation, and then stalked furiously around the area, snapping orders at everyone in sight.

      "He's worried about what happened at the restaurant," Ashley observed. "I'm pretty sure at least part of that call was him getting ahold of the explosives people."

      He was proven to be correct several minutes later, when a heavily armored van pulled up in front of the building, and two men emerged and began removing equipment from the vehicle. One of them then proceeded to start climbing into a large, unwieldy-looking suit, with some assistance from his colleague. He then shuffled into the garage, and after several tense minutes of waiting, he reappeared in the doorway and called out, "I need the robot!"

      "Fuck, I was afraid of that," Ashley sighed. He glanced at Briar, and saw that she had gone pale, her breath coming in short gasps. Glancing around, he noticed a small equipment trailer several feet away, placed his arm around the shaken woman, and led her to it, allowing her to sit down. She bent forward, taking several deep breaths, until she began to regain her composure, and Ashley put a hand on her shoulder and gently inquired, "You gonna be okay, Tinkerbell? I can go grab one of the EMT's if you need me to."

      "No, you don't need to do that," she told him, offering a weak smile. "I think I'm just a little freaked out, I'll be okay in a few. Thanks, Ash."

      "Hey, that's what friends do, right?" he responded, hoping that she didn't notice how badly his own hands were trembling.

      They sat on the trailer for awhile, watching as the heavily-armored robot rolled into the building, and almost holding their breath as they expected to hear an explosion. This fear was unfounded, though, because after approximately thirty minutes, the explosives expert shuffled outside, and conversed with Sanger and Han as he removed the heavy bomb suit. They listened intently, and then Han split off from the group and accompanied the medical examiner and her team back into the garage. Sanger glanced around, and after spotting Briar and Ashley, began walking toward them. 

      He stopped in front of them, and Briar raised her head to look into his eyes. "So the bastard is actually trying to kill me, huh?"

      "Do you want me to be completely honest with you, Briar?" he asked softly. After a moments hesitation, she nodded, and he continued, explaining, "Yes, I'd say that's correct. But he wasn't terribly particular about whether he hurt anyone else, either. Sergeant Vho just informed me that if the device in the car had detonated, it could have conceivably wiped out at least a city-block sized area."

      "But where the fuck has he been for the last two months, then?" Ashley blurted. "Nobody sees or hears anything, then 'poof', the motherfucker's back! And how the hell did he know about the stunt, anyway?"

      "That is an excellent question, Ashley," Sanger replied. "That definitely needs to be looked into. And as for your other question, the possible answers are that he was either in jail for something else, out of town for some reason, or just laying low waiting for things to calm down. Any one of those is possible, and we might never know for sure. But I'd like for the two of you to go with one of our patrol teams and let them drive you to headquarters, so I can actually get your statements recorded."

      "Well, so much for you having a fun birthday," Briar stated, and her words triggered a memory in Ashley's head.

      "Shit, I'm supposed to meet the guys for dinner, and hang out afterward. Guess I should call someone and let 'em know I'm gonna be late."

      As he reached for his phone, it rang, and a look at the caller ID informed him that it was CC on the other end. Accepting the call, he said, "Hey there, C, I was just about to call you."

      "Happy Birthday, bro!" the drummer's voice enthused, loudly enough for both Briar and Sanger to hear him clearly. "We decided to play chauffeur, so you can get tanked for the occasion and not have to worry about your new car. I'm on my way to pick you up, and Andy's gonna drive you home, since he doesn't drink anymore. So if you're not ready, get a move on, 'cause I'm almost there."

      "Uh, dude, I'm not home right now," Ashley interjected. "That's what I was gonna call about. There's been an...issue, and I'm gonna be running late."

      "What the fuck are you talking about? What kind of issue?" CC quizzed him.

      "I'm not exactly sure I can discuss that right now, C."

      "Okay, Ash, you're being weird. If you've decided to..."

      Ashley waited for his friend to continue, but when he didn't, he said, "CC, what's going on? You okay, buddy?"

      "You did say that you're not home, right?" CC inquired, in a rather odd tone.

      "Yeah, that's right. Not sure exactly when I'll be back."

      "So did your grandparents come up for your birthday? Or one of the girls, maybe?"

      "No to both," Ashley stated. "Why do you ask that?"

      The next words to come through the speaker sent Sanger dashing back toward Eloise Han. "Because," CC asked, "if you aren't here, and you don't have guests, then who just walked past your bathroom window?"