Shattered Order: A Psychological Crime Thriller (Shattered Survival Thrillers Book 3)

by S. J. Braden

  “The local field agents in Memphis and the emergency response team I came in with are working tonight’s explosion. An HRT or hostage rescue team is on the way from Quantico and will be here within a couple of hours. In the meantime, ANY information you receive, you share with ME dammit!”

  “I will, I promise.”

  “How have you been getting your information?”

  “One was on my truck, one on the morning newspaper, or I get text or emails so far.”

  “Forward anything electronic to me, I’ll have our techs analyze them.”

  Throughout the night, Court, Tommy, Pierce, and Frankie paced the floors in the waiting room. Court finally reached Harley and was devastated by the news that Dasher’s injuries were severe, he would survive, but wouldn’t be able to work as an explosives dog anymore. He had undergone the removal of his spleen, which he would heal from but he suffered almost total hearing loss from the blast.

  He reflexively reached down to pet Jake and thought of Lucy at home all alone. Jake was out in the truck. He needed to take Jake home and feed both him and Lucy. He didn’t want to leave the hospital and he tried to think of anyone he could call to take care of the dogs. He realized he needed to go himself. Lucy needed to know that he and Jake were still there for her. He told all his friends his plan and that he would be back in an hour, but if there was any news regarding Trent to call him. Tommy told him agents would meet him at the house to gather all the evidence he had and to pick up Colleen’s car for processing. They would also go with Court by the office to gather all the devices he was saving for them.

  Court’s phone rang ten minutes after he left the hospital. It was an unknown number, and he answered it, fearful it was a call about Trent.

  “Court!”

  It was Colleen.

  “They told you not to call the cops!”

  And the line went dead.

  Chapter 30

  Jim and Jack were brothers and partners. They were over the road, long haul truck drivers and they spent the majority of their time arguing. The topic never mattered, because even if they agreed, they argued.

  “Did you see that story on the internet, Jim, about the Wal-mart stores?”

  “Which one? There is always something being said about Wal-mart these days.”

  “They said that the stores are being closed and they are going to be internment camps. The government is going to start rounding up folks and keeping them in those stores. Like the Nazis.”

  “Well, at least they will have plenty of food. Really? Don’t be a fucktard. You know that shit ain’t true.”

  “That’s the whole thing. They are getting away with it because no one believes it’s true. Like you just did there.”

  “Exaaccttllyyy! The best way to get someone to believe someone is to tell them no one believes it. I suppose you also believe the current POTUS who is ready to be rid of that gig, is planning to enact martial law to keep there from being an election too, right?”

  “Well yeah, you heard that too? See it must be true.”

  “Fucktard, I was standing right next to you in the truck stop when you heard. We both heard it at the same time and place. Only you believe that shit and I don’t.”

  “Hey, where are we supposed to be delivering this load?”

  “The Gibson Guitar Factory in Memphis. We’re almost there. Why?”

  “A news flash just popped up on my phone. Traffic in the downtown Memphis area is all being diverted because of some bomb going off. We better check the address.”

  “The address is there on the paperwork.”

  “Yep, the address is in the area where all the roads are closed. Guess we better find something to do for a while. We won’t be able to deliver for a while I guess. Hey, why don’t we go down to the casinos?”

  “There are casinos in Memphis?”

  “No, in Mississippi just south of Memphis. On the river. I heard some guys talking about it. Gambling is only legal on the river, so they built all these casinos on barges. We could go check ‘em out for a few hours until they open the traffic back up.”

  “Okay, that sounds like a good plan. Only when we leave it’s your turn to drive. So I get to drink.”

  “That’s what I’m saying. Let’s go have some fun. We deserve it.”

  “Exaaacctttlllyyy! Hey, what time is our delivery time for the load anyway?”

  “That’s the whole thing. It doesn’t matter. We can’t deliver if they blocked off all the streets.”

  “Alright, let’s go win some jack. Then maybe we can stop driving for a living, huh?”

  “That’s what I’m saying.”

  Court frantically tried to call the number back. He was yelling out loud “Colleen! Colleen! Come back.” But the call wouldn’t go through. It was the strangest thing. He knew he didn’t imagine the call, it was right there on his call log. But every time he dialed the number, he got a recording that the number he dialed was no longer in service. He called Tommy right away, because everyone else at the hospital had their cell phones turned off as directed. Tommy being FBI kept his phone on for updates, and no one so far had the nerve to tell him any different. When Court explained what happened, Tommy said he was on it.

  “Take care of the dogs and get back here to the hospital as quick as you can.”

  “Is it Trent? Did you hear something?”

  “No, but a lot of time has gone by. We should hear from these bastards any time now.”

  “Okay. I’m calling our neighbors to come get Lucy. She will go with them if I’m at the house. I will keep Jake with me in case we need him again. I should be back within an hour.”

  Tommy, Pierce and Frankie were in the waiting room when the doctor came out to brief them on Trent’s condition.

  “Mr. Dumas is now conscious and suffers from a broken collar bone, three broken ribs, and several wounds and bruises from flying debris. All the xrays confirmed there wasn’t any shrapnel. He has second and third degree burns on his arms and hands. Fortunately, he reacted quickly and covered his face.”

  Tommy asked, “Why the unconsciousness and the lack of response from reflexes?”

  “Mr. Dumas also suffered a severe muscle strain along his spine. The swelling caused the reflexes to not respond normally. The unconsciousness was just a symptom of the shock caused by the loss of blood from the debris injuries and the burns. We will keep him over night and release him in the morning if there are no complications. I understand he was very close to the blast. He was lucky.”

  “Thank you, Doctor.”

  Tommy called Court, who was in the elevator and would be in the waiting room momentarily. Tommy waited to give him the update. Pierce called Abby. She answered on the first ring.

  “Pierce, what is it? Is he okay?”

  “Yes, Abby, he’s going to be okay. His injuries, though numerous are not severe. The doctor says he can go home in the morning after they monitor him tonight. Abby, I think it would be best if you stay there for now. I’m pretty sure Trent will feel the same way. There is so much going on here, and I know he won’t want to take a chance on putting you in any danger. Tommy is telling their mom the same thing.”

  “Detail his injuries for me, then I will decide.”

  After Pierce listed all Trent’s injuries, Abby agreed to wait to leave Ecuador until she talked to Trent the next morning.

  Chapter 31

  When the U.S. Attorney’s office opened at 8 a.m., there were two FBI agents and two ATF agents waiting to talk to everyone in the office. One ATF and one FBI agent were set up in each of two conference rooms to process all the employees. Each person was questioned individually and asked about Colleen. Agents asked each of the co-workers how they felt about her personally, was she respected professionally, were they aware of any threats, what cases was U.S. Attorney working on and if they had seen or heard anything unusual lately, was there anyone else who was missing work, had anyone left the workplace lately, either voluntarily or non-voluntarily?
<
br />   Agents discovered Colleen was well liked personally, respected throughout the office, wasn’t working on anything since the Maden case, and the office had not received any threats out of the ordinary in the last month. No one had seen or heard anything out of the ordinary and there hadn’t been any employee turnover.

  But now, everyone knew Colleen was missing. Each individual person the agents interviewed wanted to know where Colleen was, was she okay, why all the questions? Agents didn’t disclose any more details than that she was missing but several of Colleen’s co-workers cried together in the break room after their interviews. Annette, the office manager, reported that Colleen had messaged Wednesday morning saying she wouldn’t be in the rest of the week because she had unexpected company. Her message said a friend had come to the Memphis in May festival. Annette was happy when she received the message because in five years she couldn’t remember Colleen taking any time off except for a trip to South America right before the Maden trial started. She reasoned that maybe Colleen was beginning to relax a little. Now she knew better and she wondered if she had questioned more Colleen doing something out of character, would it have made a difference? Were her attitude and complacency in any way responsible for delaying help to get to her co-worker and friend? As soon as her interview was complete she rushed to her desk and called Colleen’s phone again. There was no answer, but while it was ringing she was pulling Colleen’s personnel file and looking up Court’s phone number.

  Court’s phone rang with a number he didn’t know. He answered on the first ring in hopes it was Colleen again.

  It wasn’t.

  “Court! I’m sorry to bother you. It’s Annette from Colleen’s office. The FBI and ATF are here at the office questioning everyone. They didn’t tell us anything more than Colleen is missing. What can we do to help you?”

  “Annette, thank you for calling. I don’t know right now. If I think of anything, I’ll let you know,” Court replied with equal parts courtesy and dismissal. He didn’t want to get tied up with a lengthy conversation with someone who couldn’t do one damn thing to help Colleen, or Trent, or himself for that matter.

  “Did you send the message to me about out of town company?”

  “Yes. I’m sorry I had to do that.”

  “It’s okay. Should I have questioned that more? Should I have called her to see if it was her sending the message? I know it’s out of character for Colleen to miss work if it’s not planned ahead of time. Did I do something wrong?”

  Court realized his tone was contributing to this woman feeling responsible. He knew Colleen liked her and respected her and he knew what she was feeling was somewhat normal in a crisis, but it just wasn’t right for him to do anything to contribute to her insecurity.

  “Annette, honey you didn’t do anything wrong. It’s not your fault. There is nothing you should have done, could have done, or even can do right now. I’m sorry, I know how frustrating that is to hear, but this isn’t your fault. I’m sorry if my response seemed curt to you, I’m at the hospital with a friend who was injured at the park last night.”

  “Oh no, I’m so sorry, will he be okay? I know I’m not the only one who will want to help as this gets out. Can I organize bringing food to you? Where are you staying? What do you need? Do you need help with Lucy?”

  “Thankfully, he will recover. Thanks for your offer. I have several friends here from out of town helping us. If we need anything I’ll let you know, but right now, we never know where we will be. I just dropped Lucy at a neighbor's. I’ll call you if I think of something.”

  “I just can’t believe she’s gone.”

  “She’s NOT gone! Dammit, I just don’t know where she is.”

  “Of course, that’s what I meant. I’m sorry, our prayers are with you and Colleen. But you have to find her, alright?”

  “I’m doing my best,” answered Court before he disconnected the call.

  Chapter 32

  At six a.m. Court received an odd text message.

  --. .. -... ... --- -. / --. ..- .. - .- .-. / ..-. .- -.-. - --- .-. -.--

  He knew immediately what it was. Sort of. The message was in Morse code. He showed it to Tommy, Pierce, and Frankie. Pierce told Court to forward the message to his email. From his email, he copied the code and pasted it into a Morse code converter on the internet. “It says Gibson Guitar Factory. Let’s go!”

  This time, it was much easier to look for the bomb. Tommy called ahead and the building was already evacuated. There was only a small receiving crew there until the factory opened at eight o’clock. A bomb unit from the MPD met them there. Court and Jake were allowed to assist with the search, while Tommy, Pierce, and Frankie waited outside. Tommy talked with two FBI field agents while the bomb squad and Court searched the building.

  “There were two other explosions last night in town. We don’t know yet if they are related to the Music Fest bomb,” said the Special Agent in Charge or SAC.

  “I don’t believe they are,” answered Court.

  “Really? What’s your position and why do you believe they aren’t connected?”

  “Court’s wife was kidnapped four days ago. He’s been on a treasure hunt of explosives daily since then. The hunt supposedly will lead him to his wife. The kidnappers warned him if he alerted authorities they would kill Colleen. For each bomb, he received a clue and had to find and disarm the bomb. The first bomb was his yacht, the others he has successfully disarmed and no one has been the wiser, until last night. He received a clue about the Music Fest location last night, that’s why he and his friends were in the park when the explosion occurred. He didn’t receive any information about the house or warehouse bombs. I think we have multiple players here.”

  “Well damn, that’s all we need. Some kind of turf war going on with explosives.”

  “Something like this is bound to happen when a big presence and controller like Rodney Maden goes down.”

  “Yeah, we were ready for gun fights, drive-by shootings, kidnappings, typical gang activity, but not multiple bombers.”

  “I have some leads I will start investigating this morning. Court believes these bombings are a bomber known as the Artist. He has several incidents attributed to him, but so far has alluded authorities. But he shouldn’t have a dog in this fight, that means someone hired him. We just have to figure out who.”

  “Let us know what we can do to help.”

  “Will do.”

  No bomb was found, and a search began of the exterior of the building, and vehicles in the lot.

  Jim and Jack found the Horseshoe Casino and were having fun. Suddenly, Jim looked at his watched and noticed they had missed their seven- thirty a.m. delivery time. “Oh crap, we’re late for our delivery.”

  “Jack, the roads are closed remember?”

  “Fucktard, that was eight hours ago. I’m sure they are open by now. I sure didn’t know we’ve been here eight hours, you?”

  “And that’s the whole thing, they pump in oxygen, there are no clocks or windows and you loose track of time in these places.”

  “Exxxaaaccctttlllyyy. Let’s go. You drive.”

  “It won’t be a big deal that we’re late, you know they are backed up with deliveries since the roads were closed.”

  “That’s what I’m saying.”

  As Jim and Jack drove on I-55 into the Memphis city limits, their truck exploded and they never argued again.

  “In case you missed it, last night an explosion rocked the International Beale Street Music Festival in Tom Lee Park. Our own Shepherd Davis is at the scene with the latest update. Shepherd?”

  “Good Morning Ron, the explosion last night occurred at approximately 11:23, at the Stage #3 location. There are seven confirmed dead, and 246 transported to area hospitals with injuries. The Music Festival is canceled, the park is closed and cordoned off as a crime scene. So far this morning I’ve seen Memphis police, FBI, ATF and DEA agents entering the park. Because the Music Festival is an international event
, honoring Ireland, the explosion is considered a possible international terror attack. Officials have not shared information as yet, other than the number injured and that the National Counterterrorism Center and the CIA will be assisting in the investigation as well as the agencies previously mentioned. I will be on the scene and we will break with any new information. This is Shepherd Davis reporting for TV6 Bluff city news.”

  “Shepherd, has there been an announcement about forthcoming news briefings?”

  “Not yet, Ron. Reporters are only allowed within two hundred feet of the park. There are an increasing number of investigators arriving, and I’m sure it will take some time to sort everything out. We will be standing by for any information throughout the day.”

  “Thank you, Shepherd. In other news this morning, the Multi-Agency Gang Unit is also on high alert and busy on this Saturday morning. The Mag unit was formed after twenty-two MPD officers were identified as gang members. The unit consists of members from the Shelby County Sheriff’s Narcotics division, the Memphis Police Department Organized Crime unit, the ATF, FBI, and U.S. Marshals. Along with the explosion at Tom Lee Park last night, there were also smaller explosions in two locations in Memphis. One in the warehouse district at a location suspected as a drug house used by the Bluff Bandits gang, and one at a home in mid-town Memphis, belonging to a suspected leader of the West Warriors gang. The warehouse explosion consisted of simplified pipe bombs, and the home explosion was Molotov cocktails. These explosions are not believed to be connected to the Tom Lee Park incident and a MAG unit spokesman told us these incidents could mark the beginning of Memphis’ first major gang war.”

  Chapter 33

  Rodney Maden Jr. answered the knock at the door.

  “Mr. Maden?”