Envelope Challenge

Chapter 10 - Selective Truth

The police came in a flurry when the red numbers on the screen counted down to 00:00:58:09:17. It was the longest eight minutes of his life as he sat there, watching the milliseconds stream by and Polly slowly fall apart with each second. She started off by pacing back and forth before kneeling down beside it and reaching forward as if she were going to inspect it for something. She would always pull back her hand millimeters before it actually made contact and would begin the cycle all over again. When the flashing lights finally came into view, he was almost happy with the change when she stopped pacing to stare off into the distance from where the sound was coming from.

He jumped up and went over to the street where the police cars were pulling up. "Over here!" he called.

Polly touched the bomb and quickly pulled back her arm before slowly standing up, still staring at the box in front of them. It had been too easy to find, just as she'd thought. As she heard the car doors open, she quickly stuffed the letter and the picture she found nestled beside the bomb into her boot.

"They're here," he whispered and touched her shoulder. "You need to back away so they can do their job."

"Right," she whispered and stepped back from the box. "Right."

A group of men with odd green, full body uniform that made them look suspiciously like a marshmallow on appeared. They pushed by them and crowded around the box, talking quietly to each other. She watched their backs slowly before turning around to face Nathaniel. He glanced at her curiously for a second before hugging her tightly.

"W-what?" she stammered.

"It's ok. There was still fifty minutes on the timer so we'll be fine, really. You don't need to worry." He patted her back comfortingly and stroked her hair going down her back. "It'll be alright, really."

"Um, Nathaniel?" she questioned.

"It will be ok, Polly."

"No, that's not it. You're pressing against my stitches really hard."

"Oh, sorry." He moved his head so he was pressing against her other temple. "But really, it'll be fine."

"Nathaniel, I just spent the last eight minutes staring at it and decided that it's not a threat right now. But... I saw a piece of paper by the... you know, the bomb. It's in my boot right now," she whispered into his ear so no one else heard. She wasn't sure if it was ok for her to take something away from the bomb, but she knew she had to take it. "I think it's the picture. Don't worry, I also have the letter."

"You tampered with a crime scene?" he hissed.

"Think of it this way," she told him. "There's a chance that every place they lead us to will have the same thing happen, some type of... dangerous... something. If we don't get there quickly and stop whatever is that's going on, worse things will happen then us finding a-" she lowered her voice unconsciously "-bomb that hasn't blown up yet."

"Then we should tell the police," he growled under his breath.

"They can't do anything with all the paperwork they'll have to do. They told us we had five days before, but that bomb was set to blow two days early. Those sick masked guys told us that we had ten days this time, but who knows how much time we actually have to get there!"

"This isn't smart," he hissed. She shook her head against his chest.

"Maybe you're used to the police instantly going to your beck and call because of your rich daddy, but they will not rush just because we have a picture of a place somewhere in the world and a letter telling us to get there. It just doesn't make any sense for them to. It wouldn't be too big of a stretch to say I'll be arrested because they'll think I planted the bomb and am threatening them."