Boomer’s lungs seized, his stomach knotted so hard it hurt and sweat seeped from every pore like a faucet. They hadn’t found all the bombs. Worse, this one was a timer, not a trigger bomb.
“Get everyone out of the area now,” he said calmly into his radio.
“What’s up Boomer?” Kong’s voice was being drowned out by shouting.
“The bastard had a backup plan. We have a timing device on a bomb and the kid is sitting right next to it.”
“Can you disarm it?”
“No way to get to it.” Boomer shone his light on the timer and swallowed hard. I figure I’ve got just enough time to get her out and run like hell.” In the background he could hear Ricochet and Sam shouting orders to clear the area.
“Do it.”
He waved the light across Raya’s face to get her attention. She was transfixed by the device, like she was trying to figure out how to stop it. When she finally looked up Boomer started signing to her.
“Come on, Raya, we’ve got to go.”
“How do I stop it?” she asked with her dirty hands.
“You can’t. You have to get out of there now. Your mother is waiting for you.”
With the mention of her mother, Raya started toward the window. Boomer stuck his arm in as far as it would go and waited for her to grab his hand. He could feel the tips of her fingers brush his and then heard a crash followed by a tiny whimper.
He shone his light down on her and saw her holding her ankle and one single tear running down her cheek. Next to her was an old broken crate. “Can you stand?” he signed.
She tried but when she put weight on her foot she collapsed back to the ground. “I can’t,” she signed with limp hands.
Boomer looked at the timer again, less then four minutes and the place was going to blow. He had to get her out now. He tried to push his wide shoulders further through the window but they wouldn’t fit. The only way he was going to get her out was if she stood and reached his hand.
“Raya,” he signed. “You have to be brave and stand up. I can pull you out when you grab my hand.” When she shook her head he tried again. “Raya, I know you’re hurt but we have to get out of here now. Do you understand me? That bomb is going to go off very soon.”
His heart was hammering in his throat as he spoke. The dread he felt in his dream began taking over. He would not leave her here to die. The loss of blood from his stab wound was making him weak and shaky. His vision wavered.
“Now, Raya,” he said with accentuated movements.
She pulled herself up, hopped on one foot toward the wall and jumped, reaching for his hand. He felt her fingertips but couldn’t get a hold. Again she jumped on one leg making it further this time but still not high enough for a firm grasp.
As he looked down at her she turned and looked at the bomb. A determined look settled across her face. She took a deep breath, placed her injured foot on the floor and made a gruff growling sound and she jumped with both legs. Boomer leaned as far in as he could and snatched her hand in midair.
Fighting the pain and weakness of his body, he called on every ounce of strength he had left and pulled her up and through the window. With a hard thud they fell backward onto the ground, Raya lying on top of him.
Boomer wasted no time. He lifted her off, rolled onto his stomach and pointed to his back. Like the good little soldier she was, she obeyed. He grabbed her hands, pushed himself up on his knees and hitched her into place.
“Boomer, where the hell are you? What’s going on?”
Kong’s voice seemed distant, like it was echoing down a very long tunnel. He couldn’t afford to waste energy on talking, he had to get them both out. With his eyes fixed ahead, he put one foot in front of the other.
“Boomer, respond.”
So many years of working with explosives had created a timer in his head. He knew exactly how much time they had left. One minute until the blast and debris would consume them both. He stumbled, his legs too weak to move properly and he dropped to one knee. Focusing on a tree ahead he stood back up and began moving again. He had to make it to the tree, once he got there, he would find another target to focus on. One step at a time, that’s all he could do.
“Where the hell is he?”
Sam’s voice floated through the radio and bounced around in his ear. Raya held tightly around his neck. Thirty seconds. He had to move faster, he couldn’t let anything happen to this little girl.
“I’m going after him.”
Ricochet’s voice gave him the energy he needed. He couldn’t let his buddy walk into a firestorm. “I’m coming,” he whispered and pumped his legs as fast as he could.
The timer ticked off in his brain. Three, two, one.
* * * * *
Raya’s mother clung tight to Sam, sobbing uncontrollably. She wailed her daughter’s name and pleaded with God that her baby wouldn’t die. Sam did the same only silently in her head.
Kong and Ricochet paced back and forth. Ricochet made a move to run but Kong held him back. To outsiders it would seem heartless and cruel but to a team like them it made sense. Don’t risk more than one life.
Sam felt the heat and force before she heard the deafening explosion. The early morning sky became blindingly bright before it went as dark as night. Fire billowed like a huge mushroom in the sky, spitting smoke and debris into the air.
It all seemed like a dream to Sam. A slow motion train wreck on some cheesy movie. The tormented mother clung to her screaming at the top of her lungs before falling to the ground in crumpled heap. Kong and Ricochet stiffened their bodies, clenching their fists as if challenging the devastating monster before them. Federal agents scurried around with their cell phones pressed to their ears looking for someone to tell them what to do.
Sam could feel the tears flowing freely beneath her mask. Her insides were numb refusing to believe the loss they had all witnessed. Boomer was gone. Just minutes ago he was hugging children, smiling and laughing. His large-framed body covered by kids wanting to thank him for his help and now he was gone. It wasn’t fair. The numbness started to fade. The earth beneath her feet gave way spiraling her into a world of extreme grief and loss.
A huge wall of thick, black smoke rolled toward them, ready to swallow everything in its path. Sam welcomed it. She didn’t want to feel or see. She just wanted to disappear into the smoke she was named for.
The group of agents milling about began pointing toward the cloud. Raya’s mother stood, staring at it with wide eyes, her howls of pain ceased. Kong and Ricochet stood like statues. Sam blinked the tears from her eyes and finally saw.
Coming out of the smoke and fire like the mythical phoenix charged Boomer with Raya on his back. His pale face was covered in soot and sweat. His legs wobbled with every agonizing step while his gasping breath could be heard over the shouts of the agents.
Ricochet and Kong ran toward them, each grabbing an arm and dragging Boomer away from the encompassing cloud. Sam reached out and wrapped her hand around the woman’s arm and pulled her backward.
“My baby,” she screamed trying to snatch her arm away.
Sam tightened her grip, jerked the woman hard and yelled, “We have to move before that smoke reaches us.”
She gave up her fight, turning and running as the man carrying her daughter was dragged by. Sam kept her hand firmly on the woman. Not knowing what the condition of the kid was, she didn’t want her interfering if medical attention was needed.
When Ricochet and Kong could no longer bare Boomer’s weight, they dragged him behind another building and settled him on the ground. Sam held her breath as Kong pulled Raya from his back. She lifted her head and looked around.
“Ask her is she okay,” Kong grunted.
Simultaneously Sam and her mother began signing. Raya nodded her head and then twisted in Kong’s arms to see Boomer. She saw what the rest saw. A large man, pasty white, his eyes sunk into his skull with a distant look. With a loud squeal she began kicking at Kong trying to free herself t
o get to her rescuer.
Sam took Raya from Kong’s arms and passed her to her mother. As the little redhead was being smothered with hugs and kisses, Sam and the other two men dropped to Boomer’s side. Ricochet pulled his knife out and sliced the blood-soaked shirt away to reveal an inch-long gash. When he gently pushed on it dark red blood oozed out.
Kong radioed the Feds and demanded an ambulance as Sam placed two fingers on his throat and felt his weak pulse. She leaned down to his ear and whispered.
“Don’t you give up on us. You fight, damn it. Fight with everything you have.”
In the distance sirens howled echoed by Raya’s squeals as she fought her mother’s hold. The feisty girl broke free and hobbled to Boomer’s side. Her tiny hands rested on each side of Boomer’s face until he focused on her.
Very slowly she began to sign. “You didn’t leave me back there. Don’t leave me now.”
“What’s she sayin’?” Ricochet asked quietly.
Sam spoke the words but felt the warmth of the meaning in her heart.
“I knew you’d save me,” Raya continued, “I wasn’t afraid. Don’t you be afraid.”
Again Sam interpreted for Kong and Ricochet. Boomer raised his shaky hands and tried to reply. Little Raya placed her hands over his and stilled them.
“Save your strength. We’ll talk when you’re all better,” she signed with a smile.
“Sam,” Boomer whispered.
“Yeah.”
“Tell her she was brave and a good teammate and when I’m better we’ll talk plenty.”
His voice was nothing more than a breathy sound floating in the early morning breeze. Sam relayed the message and fought tears when Raya leaned down and placed a tender kiss on his cheek.
Two paramedics rushed up and began ordering everyone to get back. Raya’s mother snatched her up and stepped out of the way. Ricochet and Sam stepped back while Kong filled them in on the situation then joined them.
Will he be okay? she asked her trusted guide. Will he live?
His will is strong.
Not a clear answer but one that gave her hope. She squeezed Kong’s hand as the paramedics stuck Boomer with needles, placed an oxygen mask on his face and tried to stop the bleeding. They shouted back and forth to each other in perfect unison much the same way the four of them did when they were working.
“I feel so damn helpless,” she said leaning into Kong. It was a feeling she wasn’t accustomed to and she didn’t like it one bit.
“I do too,” Kong replied wrapping his arm around her.
Ricochet was next to her crouched on the ground looking lost, angry and confused.
Sam pulled away from Kong and crouched next to him. “He’s strong, Rico. His body’s in good condition. He has that going for him.”
“Stubborn as hell too. He knew he was hurt. I could have gone after the kid but no.” Ricochet ran his hands over his bald head.
“It would have made more sense for me to go after her. I sign too,” Sam told him as she rubbed her hand across his back.
“BP’s bottoming out,” one of the paramedics yelled.
Sam’s heart dropped to her stomach, her hand fell away from Ricochet’s back.
Ricochet jumped from the ground and ran to his friend’s side. “Don’t you do this to me you giant bastard. Don’t you die on me. We have too many things to do. You hear me, don’t you dare die on me.”
“It’s coming back up.” The paramedic jammed another needle in Boomer’s arm and listened to his heart. “Steady and stronger. Let’s get moving.”
Kong and Ricochet helped the two paramedics move Boomer onto a gurney and wheel him toward the ambulance. Sam followed trailed by Raya and her mother. As they loaded him in, Kong told Ricochet to ride with him.
“We’ll meet you at the hospital,” Kong shouted as they closed the ambulance doors.
“Do you have a way to get to the hospital?” Raya’s mother asked Sam.
“No, we don’t even know where it is.”
“Come on. I’ll take you.”
Kong and Sam didn’t bother arguing. They simply followed her to her car. Ricochet took Raya from her mother and ran, weaving in and out of fire trucks, police cars and federal agents and jumped in the vehicle. Sam buckled Raya in her booster seat as the car screeched out of the parking lot. With the little girl secure Sam pulled her cell from her pants pocket and called her uncle.
“Uncle Walt, we have a situation.”
“What is it, Sam?”
“Boomer’s badly hurt. Stab wound, we’re en route to the hospital now. I don’t know how bad the damage is but he lost a lot of blood.” She could hear his fingers typing away on his computer as she spoke. No doubt looking for the best medical care he could find.
“This hospital is the best in the area,” Raya’s mother told them. “The best doctors, the best equipment. If he has a chance they’ll take advantage of it.”
“He has a chance,” Kong muttered.
“Okay, Sam. Keep me informed. If you need me down there, call.”
“We will.” Sam disconnected.
No one spoke the rest of the ride to the hospital. When they pulled up behind the ambulance that carried Boomer, Sam and Kong flew from the car and followed him inside. They were met by a plump, little, African American nurse with a brightly colored scarf wrapped around her head.
“You’re going to have to wait out here,” she said stepping in front of them.
Obviously not paying attention, Ricochet began to barrel past her. The nurse reached out, snagged him by the back of the shirt and jerked him back with the others.
“That’s my friend in there,” he barked as he watched Boomer disappear behind two swinging doors.
“Still can’t go in there. Look, those people are the best in their field and they need room to work. If you want your friend to be saved then let them do their jobs,” she said in a caring but firm voice.
“She’s right, Ricochet,” Sam said. “Let them help him.”
The nurse looked at Sam with scrunched eyes and pursed lips. Then she took a good look at the other two. “Was this some sort of government mission?” she asked suspiciously.
“You could say that,” Kong answered.
“Well, I can’t put you in the waiting room with everyone else. You’ll scare the hell out of them. Come on, I have a private room you can wait in.”
“Thank you,” Sam replied reaching out and taking Ricochet’s hand to lead him away.
“She with you?” the nurse asked looking behind them.
Kong turned and saw Raya and her mother standing there. He opened his mouth to say no but stopped. The guilt on the woman’s face was heartbreaking. Surely she felt this was her fault somehow.
“Yeah, she’s with us.”
“Okay, let’s go.” The nurse led them down a short hallway to a small room with a coffee pot, television and chairs. “It’s not much but you won’t be bothered. I’ll tell the doctors where to find you.”
After the nurse disappeared Ricochet dropped down in a chair and buried his face in his hands. Raya limped over to him and rested her hands on his legs. When he didn’t look at her she tapped them. Ricochet moved his hands and looked into her sweet little face.
“He’s going to be okay,” she signed to him.
“She say’s he’s going to be fine,” her mother translated.
Ricochet reached out and took her small hand in his. “Yeah, you’re right.”
Sam sat down next to Raya’s mother and removed her mask. Now that they were out of the public eye she could be herself. Raya made a little giggle sound and began signing.
“I knew you were a woman,” she said to Sam.
“You did?”
“Yes,” Raya replied.
“Smart kid,” she said to her mother.
“Not to take anything away from her but I did too. Look, I’m sorry for the way I acted back there but she’s all I’ve got and if I lost her I don’t know what I would do.”
Sam smiled. “I understand. What’s your name?”
“Hannah Sawyer and on behalf of all the parents I’d like to thank you for saving our kids,” she said to all of them.
“That’s what we do,” Kong replied in a gruff voice.
“I’m Sam. That ox there,” she said pointing to Kong, “is Mark. This is Carl and the mountain of a man we’re all holding our breath over is Ben.”
“He signs too,” Hannah said quietly.
“Yeah, he signs too. His brother is deaf,” Sam told her without revealing too much information. “Speaking of which I should have Uncle Walt call him.” She walked into the hallway to place the call.
“Thank you for letting me stay,” Hannah said to Kong.
“No problem. You got us here, it’s the least we could do.”
“Yeah,” she replied wiping the palms of her hands on her jeans. “The guy who did this, is he dead?” she asked.
“Why do you ask that?”
“He should be,” she snapped. “Anyone who would try to kill innocent children for some lame cause doesn’t have the right to draw air.”
“I’ll agree with you on that but it isn’t our job to be judge and jury. We leave that up to the courts,” Kong said taking a seat across the room. “He’s still alive.”
“Where will they take him?” she asked avoiding Kong’s stare.
“Not sure. I’m sure the Feds will have him locked up nice and tight though. He won’t see daylight for a long time.”
“That’s not good enough,” she snapped.
Sam entered the room and looked around. Raya had climbed up into Ricochet’s lap and was snuggled into his chest. Ricochet sat with an empty look on his face. Hannah was wringing her hands and bouncing her legs. Tension was pouring off Kong in waves as he stared at Hannah with a curious look.
“Uncle Walt already contacted Boomer’s brother. Good thing he got that new TTY machine,” she said trying to draw his attention away from Hannah.
Kong slowly turned his head toward her. “Is he coming?”
“Yeah, Uncle Walt’s sending his plane to pick him up.”
“Could you look after Raya while I go find a restroom?” Hannah asked.
Sam noticed her hands shaking and wrote it off as delayed nerves. “Sure. I don’t think she’ll be much of a problem.” Raya had slipped off to sleep against Ricochet’s chest.
Boomer's Fall Page 10
