Blonde Bomb Tech

by Lara Santiago

  “I made a new friend.” Sabrina spoke just as soon as he hung up his phone. “And I think Hollingsworth the turd is the bomber.”

  “Well, don’t beat around the bush, Sabrina, tell me how you really feel about Councilman Peter’s best friend.”

  “I’m telling you, it’s him.” Sabrina crossed her arms to emphasize her point.

  “Oh, goodie. That means I’ll have someone new to kick me in the ass, besides the size nine, extra-wide shoes of the Councilman.”

  “Well, I wanted to give you my version first because Councilman Peters was there and will surely put his own spin on it. Hollingsworth stated verbatim what the bomber said to me the other night on the phone,” she said. “I think Hollingsworth is the mad bomber. Not only now, but for the Fireside Inn explosion too.”

  “And you have undeniable proof of this?” He asked.

  Sabrina shrugged. “Undeniable is probably too strong of a word. It’s more of a gut feeling at this point, but I’m right. I know it.”

  “Well, I don’t know if those files from the last bombing were kept in the strictest confidence. Peters knew about the phone back trace we did. Besides, he and Hollingsworth are best buddies. It’s possible he told his buddy everything he knows.” Hennessey informed her.

  “Why are they friends again?” Brian asked.

  “I think they went to rich kid school together at one time or something. Hollingsworth’s Aunt from Linden House Canning contributes to the Councilman’s campaign fund because of the friendship. Rich people.” He finished with mild disgust in his voice.

  “So what is my status?” Sabrina asked suddenly. “I’m sick of being a yo-yo. Either fire me or put me back on full time, and I want to be back on the bomb squad, too…and I’m done apologizing to councilman Peters for being a girl.”

  “Well, apparently your brilliant vomit plan worked because that was just Councilman Peters on the phone…”

  “Oh yeah? And what did he say? Am I to be shot at dawn for the destruction of his favorite silk tie?” Sabrina asked sarcastically cutting in.

  “No. He said he’d been hasty to pull you off the bomb squad and wanted to give you another chance. He wants you put you back on the squad full time.”

  “What? You’re kidding. Why?” Sabrina was stunned for a moment, but then a thought occurred to her. She sat back and smiled. She could guess why.

  “What are you smiling about? It certainly can’t be good for me,” Hennessey said.

  “Hmm. Well, let’s review…Councilman Peters has been on my ass for literally years trying to get me off the bomb squad. He finally is presented with his fondest wish with all the bombs he thinks I’ve been unable to defuse. Adding insult to injury, I spewed coffee on him and ruined his clothing this very morning. Add to that my most recent bad behavior in which he witnessed first-hand my argument with his best friend. And what is my punishment? To be put back on the team I’ve been begging to get back on for a month.”

  “Hmm. You’re right. Okay, you’ve stumped the Captain. Why would he do that?” Hennessey said.

  “Because his best friend told him to. Because Hollingsworth is the bomber. He wants me humiliated and then dead for some reason I haven’t quite figured out yet.”

  “Okay, let’s suspend physics. Tell me how Hollingsworth could have been in two places at once and set the bomb twenty-three years ago. What was his motive?”

  “I don’t know. My mom was afraid of him. She ran away and hid from him. Maybe he found her and…killed her.”

  “Why?”

  “Maybe I don’t want to know. Maybe he…hurt her. Like that sixteen-year-old he was found with.” Sabrina’s eyes welled up for the stab of feeling for her mother’s fear.

  “I’m sorry.” Hennessey closed his eyes a moment then said, “But he still couldn’t have done it because, unfortunately, we can’t suspend physics. He was far, far away from the scene when the bomb went off in police custody. There is no evidence to suggest he was ever any where near the place to plant the bomb. He was not in possession of a remote detonator when he was brought in and booked. There was no one in his social circle who’d likely plant or detonate a bomb for him in his absence.”

  “I want to interview the surviving, injured people pulled unconscious from the explosion twenty-three years ago.” Sabrina got herself together. She explained her question of why her parents had known a bomb was about to go off.

  “I’d like to start with Alice Henderson, and is there any way we can have Hollingsworth watched for the next week or so?” Sabrina asked in a quiet voice, after a moment.

  “Not officially,” Hennessey said, “and not without Councilman Peters knowing.”

  “That would be useless then, never mind.”

  “Let me see what I can do off the radar,” Hennessey said. “I have a few favors I could call in.”

  “Great. Thanks.”

  It was late in the afternoon when they adjourned from Hennessey’s office. Murphy called Mr. Henderson and set up a meeting with Alice for the next morning as they were busy at Bingo for the evening.

  They spent the last hour or so of the day on the remainder of their compiled list, calling a few more of the other people on it asking for any remembered information regarding the Fireside Inn explosion. Of the five people they talked to, no one remembered anything significant. A couple of others on the list had moved away, making tracing them more difficult. Sabrina still believed Alice was maybe the best candidate since she seemed to be living in the world of twenty-three years ago anyway. Murphy and Brian concurred. They were all about to leave for the day, agreeing on a fresh start in the morning, when Sabrina’s phone rang.

  “Hey, beautiful.” Jake’s soothing, sexy voice came over the line, relaxing her as she sat kicked back in her chair. She smiled and waved at Murphy and Brian as they left for home and wives and kids.

  “Hey, yourself. I’m on my way out the door. You have to go to work tonight, right?”

  “Yeah, I have to go early. We’re having a meeting at the station. Did you call Suzanne?”

  Damn. Jake wanted her to stay with someone until he got back from this next three-day shift. She’d been so busy all day spewing coffee on people, hiding, and then making new bomber friends, she hadn’t had a chance to call her sister.

  “I forgot, but don’t worry, I’ll be fine.”

  “No. I don’t want you to be alone at night. Call Suzanne or I call Joe and Kathleen.” The terse sound of his exasperation came clearly through the phone line. Sabrina pictured him with his arms crossed over his chest to make his point.

  “All right, sheesh. I’ll call her now,” she said, slightly annoyed at his superior tone. She didn’t want to be alone either, otherwise she’d have argued with his stubborn macho attitude.

  “I’ll order in dinner. We can eat before we leave. Hurry home, babe. I miss you.” Once again, his sexy man voice that made her quiver in anticipation warmed her head to toes.

  “Miss you too, Jake,” she said wistfully, and hung up to call Suzanne to ask to sleep over for a couple of days.

  Suzanne was thrilled to have her come over. Her husband Ray was gone for the next two nights and didn’t like her to stay alone either. Suzanne gave her directions for later on in the evening. Then Sabrina went home to Jake. Home. What a nice feeling. She felt a gush of warmth and acceptance whenever she thought of Jake. She was getting used to the idea that he was possibly okay with her fertility issues. He genuinely seemed unalarmed about it.

  From the moment she waltzed in the front door, her evening had been planned out for her. They jumped each other first. Jake led her past the steaming food, that had just been delivered, and into the bathroom. They showered away the day’s grime and comforted each other slowly yet vigorously until the water ran icy. Then they ate lukewarm Chinese food while she told him all about her day, starting with spewing on Councilman Peters’ silk tie.

  Jake laughed so hard he had tears in his eyes and almost choked on a noodle. She told hi
m about the pumpkin logo and who it belonged to but skipped the part where she saw Councilman Peters and Hollingsworth the turd. She also held in her suspicion that Hollingsworth was the bomber. No need to tell Jake her suspicions on that score or he’d probably hire mercenaries to protect her while he was at work. Sabrina mentioned she was going to see the “bun in the oven lady” the next day. She thought it over quietly.

  “No wonder she freaked you out so much the first time,” Jake said solemnly. Sabrina had a flashback to Alice’s hand running over her stomach and she quashed the depressing feeling which accompanied it.

  “Yeah, well let’s not go into that, okay?” she said. Jake shrugged, but gave her a look like she was going to have to talk sometime. Sabrina could tell he wanted to start a conversation about their future, but she wasn’t ready. One crisis at a time, she thought. Hopefully, she could hold him off until this case was over.

  “I’m back on the bomb squad permanently,” she said, brightly changing the subject.

  “Good. I guess,” he said, taking a bite of food and chewing thoughtfully.

  “Of course it’s good. It is my job, Jake.”

  “Yeah, I know. I just worry about you with a crazy on the loose.”

  “We’re working on it. We have some leads. I predict this will be over before you know it.”

  “I hope so. Then we can talk about us.”

  Not if I can help it, Sabrina thought suddenly. Then wondered why was she being so bitchy? Probably just tired from her full day of spewing and accusation making. Jake had been so patient. He didn’t deserve attitude from her. She vowed to soften her tone in talking about their future. He had a right to ask, but he didn’t broach the subject in the few hours of the rest of the night they spent together.

  Jake packed up for his next shift and helped her pack up to stay at Suzanne’s. They left together, kissing soulfully in the parking lot.

  “I hate being away from you,” he said, holding her tightly against his tall muscular body in a full-fledged bear hug.

  “I’ll be okay, Jake. I’ve taken care of myself for a long time now.”

  “But now you have the responsibility of someone who loves you, babe. I want you to be safe.”

  “I know, but I’m a big girl so don’t think you’re always going to get your way.”

  “If I had my way…” Jake paused.

  “Yeah, yeah I know. We’d be married already and filling out complicated adoption forms,” Sabrina said, filling in for him with a wan smile.

  “See, now you’re reading my mind. That’s good. Keep it up.” He kissed her again and said, “I gotta go, babe. Behave at your sister’s house. No Chippendales parties and go to bed early. You look beat…again. Try and get some extra sleep or something. I love you.”

  “I love you too. Be safe, Jake.” Sabrina headed over to her sister’s house in the suburbs.

  * * * *

  Suzanne greeted her at the door of her house with ice cream in hand. She’d rented a couple of chick flick movies, had put out some Hershey’s chocolate kisses in a bowl and popped a big bowl of buttery popcorn, which resided next to the chocolate on the living room coffee table.

  “I would offer you wine, but I’m not allowed to drink it so I don’t think it’s fair for others to get any either,” she stated laughing.

  “No problem. I’m not much of a drinker,” Sabrina said, as rubbed her stomach, wondering if dinner was going to stay down. Maybe she was catching something. She felt crappy all of a sudden. The buttery popcorn smell was getting to her, wafting uncomfortably through her nose. Sort of like Brian’s greasy fast food breakfast smell had put her over the edge this morning.

  “Are you okay? You look just like I did about an hour ago. Do I need to clear a path to the bathroom?” she asked, laughing lightly.

  Sabrina nodded and ran for it, barely making it in time to throw up her dinner. Suzanne came in a few minutes later as Sabrina sat on the edge of the tub, trying to gain her strength and figure out what was wrong with her.

  Suzanne handed her a moist warm washcloth, then put a plate of crackers and a cup of hot tea on the counter next to the sink.

  “I think we need to have a sisterly talk,” she began.

  “Oh, yeah. What about?” Sabrina looked at the crackers longingly so Suzanne handed her the plate. Sabrina gratefully nibbled at the saltines, waiting for Suzanne to say whatever was on her mind.

  “I think maybe you are in the same condition as I am,” she remarked. “I think you are expecting a baby.” She smiled shyly, raising one eyebrow in speculation for Sabrina to confirm her wild suspicion.

  “No. I’m not.” Sabrina felt the panic crossing her features. “It’s simply not possible.” She finished the last cracker, chewing thoughtfully.

  “Why? Are you and Jake saving yourselves for marriage?”

  Sabrina laughed suddenly at the unexpected remark, glad she’d already swallowed the last cracker since she might have choked.

  Suzanne said, “I thought not.”

  Sabrina handed her back the empty plate. “I can’t have children, Suzanne.”

  “Really? Let me ask you then: are you tired every day? Are your boobs sore like they’re bruised? Have you thrown up more than just here tonight and been nauseated lately?”

  Sabrina nodded with wide eyes. She didn’t know about all the symptoms of pregnancy with the exception of one. The universal clue that was also true. The one she’d completely ignored until now.

  “Are you late?” Suzanne asked about that one as the final clincher, but Sabrina couldn’t take it all in.

  Sabrina nodded slowly. Suzanne opened the cupboard below the sink and pulled out a pregnancy test.

  “Take it. Then you’ll know for sure.”

  “I went to a doctor years ago and he said it would be unlikely I’d ever conceive. He said I should go adopt or look into foster car,.” Sabrina said haltingly. “That’s how I lost my last boyfriend.”

  “Unlikely, but not impossible,” she said with finality. “If you are pregnant, you need to know. It is a quick test. Take it. For your own peace of mind, but I have strong women’s intuition, especially since getting pregnant myself, and I say we are having children together.” She smiled. “Wouldn’t it be fun?”

  “I don’t want to get my hopes up, Suzanne.”

  She nodded, smiling, and left the bathroom. Sabrina read the directions twice. Took the damn test, and then stared in disbelief at the results. It couldn’t be true. It just couldn’t be true.

  A plus for yes and minus for no.

  Sabrina stared unblinkingly at the pink plus sign on the test stick, opened the door and called out, “Suzanne? Your test is wrong. I can’t be pregnant.” In response she heard laughter echoing from down the hallway.

  Chapter Sixteen

  Sabrina clutched the box of saltines and Seven-Up bottle to her chest as she climbed the stairs to her office. She gave everyone she passed a look like she would fight to the death anyone stupid enough to try and take them away from her. Like anyone would. Sheesh. She needed to get a grip on the supposed morning sickness she was experiencing before Murphy and Brian arrived.

  Hell, before Hennessey arrived as well. Not to mention the emotional roller coaster crap she was also experiencing. Suzanne had been a fountain of information last night. Not that she believed it anyway. It was probably the flu.

  Sabrina was still not yet convinced of what Suzanne was so certain, but early this morning as she hovered over the toilet again, she had given in and gotten a doctor’s appointment to confirm her possible knocked-up status. She was due later on around lunchtime at Suzanne’s doctor’s office to do a blood test. They had squeezed her in at Suzanne’s behest. It was just a blood test and then they would call her later on with the results. Sabrina was convinced the pregnancy was only in her sister’s overly hormonal mind.

  Sabrina had been so emphatically certain of not being pregnant that she and Suzanne had gone back out the last night to the corner drug sto
re and picked up four more, different, over-the-counter, pregnancy tests. No way was she pregnant. No way. Sabrina held out even after the fifth test had come up positive. She would have gone out for more, but didn’t think she had a single drop of pee left inside her bladder to complete another test.

  It still wasn’t true.

  Sabrina fought the realization because she wanted this pregnancy so very badly, she wasn’t sure what would happen if she found out it wasn’t true. She was preparing herself to hear the doctor say those horrible words again, and if she was pregnant, she suspected that she wouldn’t believe it until nine months from now someone handed her a baby and told her she had to go off and raise it. Sweet baby smiles from her own child to cherish. Stop. It isn’t true.

  Do Not Get Your Hopes Up.

  And she wasn’t uttering a word to anyone else until the doctor had convinced her it was true. If he even could. Not to Jake or Murphy or Hennessey, heck maybe not even to herself.

  Oh God. Please. Please...uncertain of her specific request to heaven above, she bowed her head in silence praying whatever was in store for her, that she be given the strength to do her best to get through it.

  Sabrina had finished off an entire sleeve of saltines and the entire twenty ounces of her lemon lime soft drink before anyone showed up. They weren’t due at the Hendersons’ until nine. Her stomach felt pretty good, all things considered. She craved coffee, but Suzanne said she was only allowed to have decaffeinated…and so what would be the point?

  Murphy and Brian showed up together and the three of them left for the meeting with the Hendersons. Marvin Henderson greeted them at the door and stepped outside before allowing them to enter his small home.

  “Now, I don’t want you to upset Mother,” he started out. “She was very upset and never quite the same after the explosion all those years ago. I don’t want all this talk to make her worse.”

  “We just need to ask if she saw anything before the blast. We didn’t realize she was in the explosion,” Sabrina said quietly.