Black Forest, Denver Cereal Volume 5 by Claudia Hall Christian Page B

Old bootleg storage?” Max
asked.
    “ Maybe,” Matthew said.
“But probably not. There’s no indication of a secure entrance or
exit. More likely it was used in building the Stapleton
airport.”
    “ NORAD?” Alex
asked.
    “ They concur,” Raz said.
“Sonar confirms findings.”
    “ Body is?” Alex
asked.
    “ Hanging,” Raz cleared his
throat.
    “ Scenarios?” Alex
asked.
    “ None,” Troy said. “The
kidnapper has the upper hand in every scenario.”
    “ What did you determine
from the phone call?” Raz asked.
    “ Taped earlier and played
back,” Alex said.
    “ You can hear the clicks
of a recording device,” Max said.
    “ I doubt Charlie could
tell over his crappy disposable phone,” Alex said.
    “ This is a trap,” Troy
said.
    “ Make the call,” Alex
said.
    ~~~~~~~~
    Monday evening — 9:32 P.M.
    Sand Creek Greenway
     
    “ It’s my case, God damn
it,” Seth said. “I’m going. And it’s time to move.”
    Seth glared at the SWAT Team Commander and
began walking toward the river.
    ~~~~~~~~
    Monday night — 9:30 P.M.
    In Sandy’s Salon on Colfax Blvd, Denver,
CO
     
    The children’s eyes were riveted to the
laptop screen. With the SWAT team backup, Seth began to hike toward
the river. Three SWAT team members followed in a semi-circle behind
him. They reached the river and the SWAT Team Commander ran
forward. They could hear Seth and the Commander argue.
    “ I don’t like this,”
Noelle said.
    “ I don’t either,” Nash
said.
    “ This is a trap, isn’t
it?” Charlie asked.
    “ It’s a trap,” Teddy
said.
    Just then Seth screamed, “Get the fuck out
of my way.” He appeared to push the SWAT Team Commander away from
him and stepped into the river.
    “ No Seth!” the children
yelled. “Stop!”
     

CHAPTER ONE HUNDRED & THIRTY
    Jeepers
     
    Monday night — 9:30 P.M.
    Middle of Denver, CO
     
    “ Wait,” Troy said. “What’s
that?”
    Jumping up from the table, Troy ran toward
the big screen television.
    “ What is that?” Alex and
Max followed Troy toward the screen. “Raz?”
    Raz clicked the satellite to zoom in.
    “ That’s a person,” Troy
said.
    “ Blackened face, clothing,
just hanging out in that tree,” Max said.
    “ He must have to trigger
the explosion,” Cian said. “He’s got to watch for the right
moment.”
    The ex-PIRA explosive expert, Cian Kelly,
walked to the screen. He pointed to an object in the person’s
hand.
    “ This explosion must be
big,” Cian said. “He wants to blow the whole thing at once. He
wouldn’t want motion to set off one part and have to wait for the
next. This is going to be a blood bath.”
    “ He’s built a little
platform,” Matthew said. “He’s probably been there for
hours.”
    “ He’s far enough upstream
to avoid detection,” Alex said. “Did you get the phone numbers of
the guys we know?”
    “ Dialing now,” Raz
said.
    “ Colin, I need an
assessment of damage and medical response,” Alex said.
    “ On it,” Colin
said.
    “ There’s a motor bike
under the tree,” John said.
    “ Where?” Alex
asked.
    “ There,” John said. “You
can barely see it.”
    “ That’s a dirt bike,” Troy
said. “Trip the explosion, slide down the tree and escape on the
bike. Clever. He’s been planning and preparing this adventure for a
while.”
    Everyone turned their attention to Raz.
    “ I can’t get through,” Raz
said. “Cell access is blocked.”
    “ Let’s unblock it,” Alex
said.
    Max nodded to Alex and went to work on
Troy’s laptop.
    “ We can do that?” Troy
asked.
    “ We can try,” Alex
said.
    “ Got it,” Max
said.
    “ Yes sir, I have a
priority message from a friend for a man who wears an F. Yes sir,
I’m aware of that,” Raz said. “The perpetrator is in the trees
about a half mile northeast of your location. Please relay the
information. Yes sir, I’ll hold the line.”
    Covering the mouth piece, Raz nodded to
Alex.
    “ Excellent,” Raz said.
“Also, we believe the