Only Time Ch. 02

I said "Well, that's why I wanted you to stop by." I handed her the box. "On top of the clothes are bagged swabs of possible explosive residues. I'd appreciate it if you'd get them to Christina Cho at the State Crime Lab. And I doubt I have to tell you that this one needs to be completely off... the... books."

"You got it." Tanya said. She took a last look at Laura, then I opened the door and let her out of the room...

Part 11 - Big Kids and Little Kids

2:30pm. Laura began stirring and then awakened with a groan. She opened her eyes and looked around, then groaned again as the pain hit. Then she looked up to see me standing there. "Wha... what happened?" she asked groggily.

"What do you remember?" I asked back.

"I..." Laura started, then said "I was operating on Rhonda Hooper... I'd just delivered her baby by C-section, and it was crying, which was a good thing. Then... nothing. What happened?"

I said "Someone drove a truck into the end door of that wing of the building. Truck painted like an ambulance, but filled with explosives that detonated. The second floor collapsed, and you were pulled out of the rubble." I told her what her injuries were. I noticed that unlike me, Laura had no problem pressing the button for the morphine drip.

"What about..." Laura started. I nodded, my eyes telling her to brace herself.

"Your OBGYN nurse Connie survived." I said. "She cradled the baby and saved it; it was unhurt. Your OR Nurse Kathy didn't make it; they think she died immediately."

Laura teared up. "What about Rhonda?"

I shook my head. "She didn't make it either." I said. "She'd bled out by the time they found her." Laura began sobbing. "Hey," I said, "there was nothing you could do."

Laura nodded but kept crying. Then she asked "Who did this?" she asked.

"We don't know yet." I said. "The investigators are still crawling all over the place. That entire wing has been evacuated and closed off-------"

Just then the door opened and Dr. Cordell, Dr. Morgan, and Nurse Jones came in. "I'll talk to you in a little bit." I said, then kissed Laura on the forehead and left the doctors to do doctor things...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

An hour later I got back, having eaten a good lunch at Wendy's Old Fashioned Hamburgers. The Federal Marshals at the south door let me through when I exhibited the card Robin Isley had given me.

Going up to Laura's room, I opened the door and walked in... and stopped short. In the room was the retired Deputy Director of the FBI, talking with Laura. This was the first time I'd seen him since my 'enhanced interrogation'. (Author's note: 'Secrets'.)

"Hello, Don." he said quietly.

"Hello, sir." I said equally quietly, and formally. "I'll leave you to talk."

"No, Don, come on in." Laura said. I came inside and closed the door. She said "We were talking about who might've done this."

The DepDirector said "Any reason to believe it wasn't the Cartel?"

"Plenty of reasons." I said. "It's not their M.O. No reason to go through the expense and hassle of putting this together when they could just shoot at us, or run our cars off the road, or any number of ways to attack without destroying one side of a hospital. And things like this aren't planned on the fly. This was conceived and worked upon weeks if not months ago."

"They could've had the basics planned out earlier" tried the DepDirector, "and only targeted the hospital very recently."

"C'mon, sir." I said. "You're trying to fit a square peg into a round hole. They're not going through the planning and putting together of a truck bombing, only to let it sit there 'just in case'." Seeing him peer at me, I said "Look, I'm not saying definitively that it wasn't the Cartel, just that I'd like to see more evidence that it was before I say it was."

"William, he may be right." said Laura.

"Okay." said the DepDirector, who I could tell was not hearing what he wanted to hear. "Well, I'll leave you two alone. I'm going to go out front, and see what I can find out. I'll check up on you again soon, Laura."

"Thanks for coming by." Laura said. The DepDirector nodded at me and left.

"So if it wasn't the Cartel," said Laura as my iPhone chimed with a text, "then who? And why?"

"No data yet, my dear." I said as I typed on my iPhone. "Heck, it only happened seven hours ago." I heard the door creaking open, and I said "Oh, I think you have visitors."

An instant later, Todd Burke came in, and he was escorting someone: his cousin Jim. Laura smiled very brightly as our son came up to the side of the bed. I picked him up and set him down standing on the chair.

"Hi Mom." Jim said. "Did you forget to duck?" Laura began laughing, until the pain of laughing stopped her.

"Yes, honey, I forgot to duck." she said. "How are you doing?"

"I was worried about you." Jim said. "That's why Uncle Todd brought me to see you." I looked over at Todd, who just nodded.

"I'm glad he did." said Laura. "I'll have to wait until I get out of here to give you a big hug, though."

"Okay, Mommy." Jim said.

"KXTC has been blabbing it all day long." said Todd, in answer to my unspoken question. "The FBI has not released any names, nor has the TCPD. But Bettina keeps saying that the TCPD told KXTC exclusively that Dr. Laura Fredricson was badly injured and taken into surgery."

"But nothing more?" I asked.

"No sir." said Todd. Then he gave Laura his most handsome grin as he went up to her bedside. "We were all worried about you. But don't worry about the kids; I've got them. And Cindy's mom will be staying with us at my house."

"Stay at The Cabin." I said. "That place can withstand what hit the Hospital this morning. Keep your kids there, too, if you like."

"Maybe it'd be best if you don't have them all at one place," said Laura, "so whoever did this can't go after all the kids at once."

"That's Iron Crowbar thinking there." I said, then added with a grin: "You should get hit on the head more often." Laura gave me a 'look'. It's probably a good thing she was confined to a hospital bed.

"Let's find better ways to do that, can we?" Laura said, rolling with the bad joke. I nodded vigorously in agreement. I was glad we were cracking jokes like this, as some levity even under these circumstances was badly needed.

"Mommy, why is your whole arm bandaged up?" Jim asked as he reached over and felt the cast her arm was in.

"Because I broke my arm during the explosion." said Laura. "But the doctors set it, so it'll get better..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

5:10pm. Cindy Ross and two Uniformed TCPD Officers came up to the southside door. With them was Carole Troy.

"Sorry," said the Federal Marshal at the door, a different one than earlier. "No one allowed in. Especially not local Police."

"I'm family, and this is the daughter of one of the patients." Cindy said.

"No one allowed in until tomorrow morning." said the Marshal. Just then the door opened, and I peeked my head out from inside.

"Everything okay, here?" I asked.

"No." Cindy said. "They won't let us in."

"Come on in, Carole." I said.

"No!" said the Marshal. "No one allowed, at all." He and his partner's hands slipped inside their jackets. The TCPD Officers had their hands on their service weapons.

And then something righteous happened. Carole stepped up to them, folded her little arms, and said fearlessly: "If you guys think you can pull out your guns before my daddy beats you to a pulp, you got a-nuther think coming!" The Marshals's eyes widened in surprise.

"She's right, you know." I said, now exhibiting my red crowbar. "Come on, Carole." Carole walked right past the stunned Marshals and into the Hospital...

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

"Mommy!" Carole said happily as she entered her mother's room. She climbed up on the chair Jim had stood upon, and said "Are you o-kay, Mommy?"

"I will be, Sweetie." Laura said. "I just have to heal up, and that will take some time."

"Okay." Carole said. "If eating stringbeans will help you get better, I guess I will eat some too."

"Aww, that's very sweet." Laura said. "But just seeing you here makes me feel even better."

"When are you coming home, Mommy?" Carole asked.

"It'll be a few days." Laura replied. "So can you take care of your brothers and your daddy for me while I'm healing?"

"Yes, Mommy." said Carole. "And Bowser and Buddy, too."

Just then the door opened. "Grandma!" Carole exclaimed. She jumped off the chair and fortunately kept her feet and knees together for a standing landing, then ran up to my mom and hugged her.

"Mom!" I said. "I didn't know you were coming."

"As soon as I heard about this on the news, I got right in the car and drove down." my mom Phyllis said. To Laura she said "How are you, dear?"

"Alive." Laura said simply.

Carole unerringly described Laura's injuries, though we had not told her what they were. "How do you know that, Carole?" I asked.

"It's on this re-port." Carole said, pointing at the table in the corner of the room. Laura's charts were on the computer monitor there, and Carole had read it already. I just shook my head, and Laura and my mom chuckled.

"By the way," my mother said, "those Federal Agents at the door are very impolite, at best. They tried to keep me from coming in, but Sean Moynahan came up and ripped them. They finally let me come in with the shift change Officers outside." That would be Patrol Officers Johnson and Laurer, who had been sent to relieve Hicks and Gunddottar.

"Yeah, they've been touchy." I said agreeably. "Mom, why don't you stay at The Cabin with the kids tonight."

"Where will you be?" Laura asked, knowing the answer already.

"Right here." I said. "I'm staying here with you."

"Darling, I appreciate it." said Laura, in her seductive 'honey' voice, which she used when she wanted to 'influence'... i.e. control... me. "But please, go home and sleep in our bed. Your back would be screaming tomorrow if you try to sleep here. I'll be fine..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Meanwhile, State Senator Katherine Woodburn (D -1st District) and U.S. Congressman Gerald A. Condor (D - 1st District) came to the scene, but were not permitted past the checkpoint at the road.

"For God's sake, let them in!" yelled ATF SAC Curtis Halsey at the TCPD Officers.

"No!" yelled a voice, a woman's voice. Everyone whirled to see TCPD Lt. Commander Teresa Croyle coming up. "Only emergency personnel and investigators are permitted on the Hospital grounds. It's a safety issue."

"Congratulations on your recent promotion, Commander Croyle." said Katherine Woodburn. "We only want to go to the Press Tent, to make our statements."

"There is no Press Tent." Teresa replied. "And we're not letting the Press in here, either."

"At least let us go to where the Press is?" asked Congressman Condor, attempting to flash his best 'political' smile at Teresa. It didn't work on the Iron Wolf. She shook her head vigorously in denying the politicians their photo-ops.

"For God's sake." spat Halsey as a couple of his Agents came up. "Come on in, Congressman." He tried to lead the politicians through, but turned to find Teresa's service weapon pointed in his face. Other TCPD Officers were pointing their weapons at a very stunned Woodburn and Condor.

"I am looking for the excuse to kill you, asshole." Teresa growled at Halsey. "Please... give me that excuse. One more step..."

Halsey's face was one of furious anger. But by now the Press was realizing something was going on, and were rushing up to the checkpoint. Halsey walked away in disgust. Woodburn and Condor were able to give their interviews without being admitted further inside...

Part 12 - Dearth of Information

Sunset, Wednesday, October 16th. Klieg lights powered by generators illuminated the damaged end of the Hospital, and Federal Agents were still scurrying about the area like a disturbed ant bed as I came out of the front doors of the Hospital. Laura, aided by Dr. Cordell and Nurse Jones, had pretty much kicked me out for the night, and Dr. Cordell said they were going to mildly sedate her for the evening so she could sleep.

I spoke with Officers Johnson and Joan Laurer for a few minutes, then took the elevator to the first floor and went out the front doors. I decided to visit the TCPD tent and see what was going on.

The first thing I saw when I went inside the tent was Lt. Commander Teresa Croyle. She looked absolutely exhausted. Next I saw Captain Tanya Perlman manning the CRC - the Command Radio Center. Precinct Captain Hewitt and Sheriff Griswold were also present.

"Have you guys eaten?" I asked.

"That's a story in itself." growled Griswold. "I brought in a big box of lunches for our guys from the Cop Bar. Federal Agents came in and tried to take the food. Our guys confronted them and it escalated into an armed standoff."

"Geez!" I gasped. "What was the result?"

"I took the box over to the Firefighters, gave it to them." said the Sheriff. "Our Crime Lab cameraman was recording, and the Feds knew that if they tried to take the food from the Firefighters, it would look reeeeeal bad on the evening news."

Teresa took it up: "So we're bringing food packages to the south parking lot checkpoint, and issuing them to our Officers that we're rotating in and out."

"Is that all of the Feds, or just some of them that are being jerks?" I asked.

"Some of them." Tanya said. "Jack got into a shouting match with ATF SAC Halsey over the bad treatment and non-cooperation with us. EAD Isley supported Halsey, and told Jack that if he didn't like it, Jack could turn in his immediate resignation. Then Melina went in there, and said that she was reporting the maltreatment of the TCPD to 'Washington', and Isley just left the Fed tent. Halsey's scared of Melna too. Maybe she has McGinty's Materials."

"She doesn't need them." I said. "So where's the Fed tent? Right behind ours over there?"

"Yes sir." said Teresa tiredly.

"Okay, I need two things." I said. "Someone call Jerome Davis and have him make a pot of extra-strength Navy coffee for Commander Croyle, here." Everyone chuckled, then I said "And round up some of our armed Officers to back me up."

"What are you up to, Crowbar?" growled Griswold.

"Up to no good, as usual, Sheriff." I said, putting on my trenchcoat and Tilley hat. "I'm going to go into the Fed tent and make them brief me on what's going on here."

"Get all our Officers and the State Patrol on the scene over here, then." ordered the Sheriff.

As we waited, Tanya had me sit next to her so that she could whisper. "I sent those samples you took to Christina Cho, and she ran them. They're not busy, because the Feds are not sending them any samples to analyze, at all. Christina said the patterns from the mass spec are similar to residues of HDX, but not the specific fingerprint. She's never run nor seen a residue pattern on the mass spec for HNIW nor ONC, and she can't attempt to cross-check with Federal databases because you wanted these run in secret. But she thinks that may be what it is..."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Jack Muscone led me through the door flap of the Fed tent, having exhibited my FBI Consultant card. The chatter in the room began dying off and eventually became silent when my presence was noticed.

"What the hell are you doing in here?" snarled ATF SAC Curtis Halsey.

"I came in here to be briefed on what you've discovered, so far." I said in my most authoritarian voice.

"We'll brief you when we're good and ready------" started Halsey. The curved end of a red crowbar being poked in his chest stopped him. Tension in the tent went up.

"You'll brief me now." I said.

"How's your wife?" asked Robin Isley, who had just come into the tent to see what was the matter when she saw TCPD Officers massing outside the Fed tent.

"She's pissed off." I said loudly. "And so am I. And I'm further pissed off at the way you people are treating my Sheriff and my Police Force. Now tell me what's going on."

"Over here, Commander." I heard a voice say. It was Miles Winters, the Homeland Security Agent. Once disgraced as an associate of the corrupt FBI Agent Les Craig, Winters strived to show he was a good Agent. (Author's note: For more on Winters, see 'Semper Fidelis', Ch. 03; 'Point Hollow', Ch. 04; 'Frozen Mothballs', Ch. 03; 'Power', Ch.03; 'Falsely Accused', Ch. 02; 'Little Red Haired Girl', Ch. 05.)

I went over to Winters, who was at some whiteboards. Jack Muscone came over and stood behind me, just in case someone tried to shoot me in the back. Melina also came over.

"We really don't have much, Commander." said Winters. "The security guard at the gate said an ambulance came through the checkpoint, then veered off and ran into the door at the end of the hallway. The wall there is reinforced, but the ambulance was not the normal width, but skinny. It embedded itself far enough to blow out the wall around the door."

"What was the explosive?" I asked.

"We think it was ANFO." said Halsey, who was behind Jack Muscone. I knew he was outright lying to me, and I turned to face him.

"How much ANFO?" I asked. I think a lot of people realized that I was realizing things, even if they didn't know I'd gone in, inspected the area, and taken my own samples.

"It couldn't be all that much, Commander." said Miles Winters. "An ambulance or truck full of ANFO should've taken half of that wing down, like what happened to the Murrah Building in Oklahoma City in 1995."

"Still, we found the residues of flammables." said Halsey, continuing to lie to keep me from learning the truth.

"From the gasoline tank, maybe?" I said sarcastically.

"Could be, Commander." said Winters. "The gas tanks were forward, between the cab and the back of the truck. But it still wasn't as big a blast as a full truck of ANFO would've been. So maybe they only had one drum of it."

"Or it wasn't ANFO at all." Jack Muscone said. Halsey gave him an ugly look. So did Robin Isley.

I said "Plastique?" Muscone nodded, then Robin Isley broke in.

"Our tests will ultimately determine what it was." she said angrily. "Winters, keep going."

Winters started up again: "The force of the explosion mostly went upwards, damaging the second and third floors immediately overhead, and causing a partial collapse of those floors. Like I said, the damage was 'minor', that being a relative term. The vehicle was a truck chassis with a heavy base, which helped direct the blast upwards."

Winters continued: "There appears to have been two men in the vehicle, but their bodies were really charred, indicated they burned instead of just being exploded. We're doing DNA tests to see if we get a match, or even what ethnicity they are, but we think they were white."

"They burned, eh?" I said. "So that's where the residues from the flammables came... the cab area. It could've been the gas tank... or maybe something else rigged to make sure the bodies in the cab burned to a crisp. So... tell me about who you think is responsible for this attack on my Hospital."

Winters said "No one has claimed responsibility for it, as of yet. Homeland Security had not picked up any chatter among known terrorist groups at home or abroad beforehand, and not very much after the blast this morning. There is a domestic group known as the 'American Jihadi Front', which is composed of whites that were radicalized into Islam. Our people in Washington are looking into them."

"Yeah, I've heard of them." I said. "They were suspected, then discounted, in the hostage attack on BOW Enterprises a few months ago." (Author's note: 'A Death In The Family', Ch. 03.) "But I was told at the time that they were disorganized and poorly trained."

"That's right." said Dr. Robin Isley, clearly surprised at my knowledge. "But they may have upped their game, or gotten some help. And that help could've been the Cartel in Colombia."