by L C Lang
“And I suppose you are responsible for telling Fitzpatrick about the house.” She almost mentioned he was probably responsible for making the changes in the basement, but caught herself before she did. She didn’t want them to know that Captain Murphy and his crew were no longer there.
“Yes, I did.”
Maggie glanced at Fitzpatrick, and then looked back at Jack. “How did you two ever meet?”
“Two months ago I made a trip to Washington, as part of a county group, to see what aid we might get if something happened to the hydro-electric dam. Then, one thing led to another and we ended up helping each other.”
“So, you knew what he was going to do here?”
“Nothing big is going to happen.”
“You think so?”
“Yes, I do.”
“And do you think Fitzpatrick doesn’t want anything bad to happen? He wants to get a better job. He wants to get even with his boss. To do that, something big and dramatic has to happen. I have no doubt people will be more than just a little put out with what is going to happen to them. As a matter of a fact, I believe there is going to be a lot of danger to the people in this area, and the other areas.” She walked over to the map and looked at where the pushpins were located. She had noticed one nearby and now she knew what it was. She pointed to it, and then looked at Jack.
“This one here is the Bluestone Hydroelectric plant, just a few miles away. The river runs south. There has been a lot of rain up north, which means there will be a build up of water. If the power shuts down, then there is a high potential of the water overflowing the dam. Do you know how many towns there are along the path of the river to the south? Several towns down river will be devastated if the river level goes up. Have you thought about that? Who knows how much further the damage will be as the river rises all along its path. That river is hundreds of miles long. How many towns are along the whole path of the river?”
Jack’s face showed little reaction. Maggie wasn’t sure he really understood or cared. Then again, he had been a cop for many years. He had perfected the impassive look she was seeing on his face. She shook her head, and then looked back at Fitzpatrick.
“I heard there were six people on the plane. Only four stayed here. So, where did the other two?”
Fitzpatrick shook his head. “I have no idea. Probably with the tour bus.”
Maggie narrowed her eyes at him. “How could there only be six people on an international flight?”
“Yeah. A tour group canceled out at the last minute.”
She knew there was no way he would know this if he wasn’t the one who set it up. “So you were the one who arranged to have a full flight just so the six could be on the plane by themselves?”
Fitzpatrick shrugged.
Maggie continued. “So, then, two flew the plane. One did the hacking. Three who did who knows what. Then there were the two bodies on the plane. Were they part of the group?”
“No. They just got in the way.
“Who shot them?”
Fitzpatrick shrugged again, but said nothing.
Maggie knew someone in the hacker’s group had killed them. She would have to leave that to the FBI to figure out. Right now, she needed to get other information out of Fitzpatrick.
“Was it just the one man who was doing the hacking?”
He shook his head. “No, the blonde was helping too.”
“I see. So, in the last three days since they have been here, they have hacked into each of these six companies. So what are they? Power grids, nuclear plant and the hydro plant? And, they have put a timer on each of the companies they hacked.”
“How do you know that?” Fitzpatrick demanded.
“I told you. I heard your conversation with that man before all of them left.”
Maggie really wanted to get behind the desk and see what the file was that gave the command for the house. She also wanted to see how much more time they had. And, where is the FBI? She had a lot to tell them.
Then she got an idea.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
Maggie sidestepped to her right, bypassing Fitzpatrick and went around the end of the desk.
“So, what do those screens look like? I’d like to see them,” she said.
Walter was still sitting in the chair. She walked behind him and sat on the edge of the desk, turning the laptop towards her. On the screen were six small screens, with a clock in the middle of each one. The first one showed there was five hours and thirty minutes to go.
“Maggie, get over here,” Jack demanded.
“Never mind, Jack. Let her look. She’s not leaving here,” Fitzpatrick said. He paused a moment, then looked back at Jack. “I’ll let you take care of her.”
“What?”
Maggie looked at Jack. A look of momentary shock came over his face. When he looked at her, his face softened, and then he shrugged.
“You might as well agree,” Maggie said. “Between the two of us, I’m sure you are the better shot.” Of course, he didn’t know about all the gun shooting practice she’d had in the past six years. She was pretty sure she was better than he was, but she wasn’t about to tell him that.
She looked back at the computer. Reaching down, she put her finger on the center pad and moved the pointer symbol over the first screen, and clicked. A computer graphic came up showing the tentative damage that would occur as the power grid shut down. The area shown was a large area that looked to cover four or five states, Ohio being the originating state. Also included were all of the major cities inside each state. She shook her head. The devastation of the power outages would disable more than just residential areas. It would shut down businesses, hospitals, police and fire departments. Everything would come to a halt. She couldn’t even begin to fathom the damage that would happen. And, it all starts at two o’clock tomorrow morning. No one would have a clue what was going on until it was too late.
This is exactly what Fitzpatrick wants to happen. It would cost the government a lot of money, but he would be the savior who came to the rescue and helped with the needs people had. He would probably make sure the press saw what he was doing, just like the news program she saw yesterday. The idea of what he was about to do made her sick. In the news report she had seen, he stated he was concerned for the public. All it really was, was publicity. Probably to show up his boss. Maybe even get his boss’s job. Then again, maybe he did want to serve the public, but at the same time he was looking for his own reward.
Then there was Jack, who only wanted a kickback.
“So, tell me about your boss. He didn’t seem to have a very high opinion of you when I saw him in an interview today,” Maggie said, closing the one screen and clicking on the one for the nuclear plant.
“The man is a jerk.”
Maggie looked over at him. “Really? You have said that a couple of times. Why’s that?”
“Because I do all the work and he takes the credit.”
“So you are going to jeopardize the lives of people just to, what, get rid of him? Take over his job? What?”
Fitzpatrick was quiet a moment. “Nothing is going to happen to the people. And, yes, I plan on putting him in his place.”
“Putting him in his place? I think he got the position because of his experience.”
Fitzpatrick nodded. “Yes, but it was more political that anything else. He walks over everyone and claims the ideas as his.”
“Yes, I see. So, you are going to make sure you get the credit this time. Your boss’s name is Glen Harper, isn’t it? Was that why you gave the hacker his e-mail address? So, Harper would get all the blame for this?”
Fitzpatrick stiffened. “How did you know that?”
“I heard most of the conversation and figured the rest out.”
She shook her head, and then looked down at the laptop again. The graphic on the nuclear plant showed it was in central Illinois. There were nearby towns and she could not imagine the panic that would take place when the plant went
down. Maybe the nuclear plant wouldn’t fail, but just the thought of it was going to put pure panic in the area. She clicked off and watched as the seconds clicked down. Maggie knew she had to get out of here. She had to tell someone. Now. But, who could she tell? With Jack here, she knew she couldn’t trust the local police department. She wasn’t even sure she could trust the County Sheriff’s office either. And, she had no idea when the FBI was ever going to show up. It had now been almost three hours since she had last talked to Agent Palmer. She looked over at Fitzpatrick.
“So, Mr. Fitzpatrick, looks like you got this all planned out, don’t you?” She reached down and moved the arrow to minimize the screen. Then she minimized a second time. On the screen were three files. She had seen the one with the six screens. She wanted to see what the other two were.
Fitzpatrick nodded. “Yes, I did. As you have seen on the computer, everything is going to run very well. Power grids will fail, millions of people with no electricity, minimal flooding, businesses can’t open, hospitals in distress, and a minor panic with nuclear plant going down. There will be media coverage and human interest stories.”
“You thought this up all by yourself?”
“Mostly. But, it helps to have people working with you. Walter here is my right hand man. He helped me get in touch with Michael Whitcomb and the rest worked itself out.”
“And you’ll come out smelling like a rose. No one will even know you are behind it.”
Fitzpatrick nodded. “That’s the best part. I’ll get a lot of praise in the process and Harper won’t be able to interfere.”
“But, can you believe a hacker? You think they are going to tell you the truth. How can you be sure he’s done what he said he’d do?”
“That’s why I got the codes. I have a contact that can check and make sure everything is as he said it would be.”
“And if you find it’s not?”
He shook his head. “Then I’ve got people who can fix the problem.”
“Really? Before two o’clock in the morning?”
He paused a moment, a panic coming over his face. Maggie knew there was no way he could get someone to fix anything the hacker had done by then. He would never make it back to Washington in time. Since he didn’t answer, she continued.
“So, there are other people in your department who are as crooked as you are?” She clicked on the second link. Three pages of computer lingo came up. She didn’t understand them either. One question crossed her mind. Were the codes even right? She minimized the screen and clicked on the third link.
Fitzpatrick frowned. “I’m not crooked.”
“No, just desperate. Desperate to get the credit you deserve. Desperate to get back at a boss who takes credit from you. In the process, you don’t care who you hurt.”
“They’ll get over it.”
“Oh yes, of course. You have all the resources you need at your disposal to help the people. To show them compassion for the trouble they will be going through. Then, after they are taken care of, they will never know you were the one who put them in the compromised position to begin with.”
“So, what is your point? Face it, no one will ever know.” Fitzpatrick was getting angry.
“We’ll see about that.” Maggie looked down at the screen. All that showed was a box. What is this about, she wondered.
Fitzpatrick glared at her. “You think you are going to tell someone? I don’t think so.”
Maggie looked up at him.
Suddenly, there was a muffled sound outside. All three men stiffened, and then looked at her. She shrugged. She had no idea what it was either. Fitzpatrick quickly came around the desk and shoved her out of the way. He had a surprised look on his face when he saw the box on the screen. Quickly gathering his thoughts, he pulled a paper out of his pocket, looked at it and then typed a set of numbers in the command box, then clicked to enter it. Then he shut the computer off, closed it and unplugged it. He picked up the computer and the cord, and then moved around the desk. He stopped next to Jack.
“Take care of her, and then get out of here as soon as you can.”
Jack nodded. “I will. I can cover myself.”
“And don’t forget what to do in the morning.”
Jack nodded again, but said nothing. Maggie nodded. Now she knew who was going to feed the flight crew and set them free.
Fitzpatrick was moving towards the door of the room with Walter right behind him. Maggie moved to her left, stepping away from the desk. She focused on Jack, who was now staring at her. Fitzpatrick stopped just outside the door and placed the laptop inside his briefcase, then looked back in the room.
“Hurry, Jack.”
Jack kept looking at Maggie, and then nodded. “I’ll be out in a minute.”
“We’ll be in touch.”
Jack nodded again, continuing to look at Maggie. Fitzpatrick and Walter moved into the living room and out of view.
Maggie knew she didn’t have much time. Jack was glaring at her.
“You should never have come back here, Maggie. You should have stayed out of this.”
“You should have too. What were you thinking getting involved in something like this? It is illegal. I thought you were better than that.”
“I know what it is,” he yelled. “It is just a simple plan. Fitzpatrick will get the publicity and this area will get the aid.”
“Do you think it’s that simple? Fitzpatrick is desperate. He wants the attention he hasn’t been getting. The Administrator job is what he wants. He is desperate enough to do whatever it takes to get that position. Even if it compromises thousands of Americans. And, he has drug you down too. You are just as bad as he is.”
“I am not!” he yelled again. He brought his gun up, aiming at her. “I have a job.”
“As the police chief?”
“I’m not on duty.”
“Oh, yes you are. As police chief, you are always on duty. You know that.” Maggie put her right arm behind her back. “Besides, you just betrayed the town. They will never forgive you for this.”
“They will never know. And, at this moment, I am not the police chief.”
She sighed. “Well, that’s good. I am glad you made that choice. Now, I don’t feel so bad.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “What are you talking about?”
“You blew it Jack, that’s what I’m talking about. And now you are going to pay for your part in all this.”
Maggie quickly pulled the Glock out from the back of her jeans and fired twice. The first shot hit Jack’s gun, sending it flying. He shook his hand as the jolt stung him. Then she shot him in fleshy part of his upper thigh. The shot went all the way through, hitting the floor behind him. He fell, grabbing his leg and moaning in pain. Blood began staining his jeans.
“Guess I am a better shot than you are,” Maggie said, coming around the desk. “Be thankful I didn’t shoot you where we are supposed to shoot a perp at.” She kicked Jack’s gun away from his reach, took her gun from the front of his jeans, and then headed towards the kitchen at a run.
Just as she got to the back door, she saw Fitzpatrick and Walter in the Lexus. Walter was driving. The car was backing up and was now at an angle to her. There was only one thing Maggie could do. Taking careful aim, she shot out the two passenger side tires. Walter slammed on the brakes. She ran to the front of the car and shot out the front tire. Then, she aimed both guns at the two men still sitting in the car.
Fitzpatrick was furious as he got out of the car.
“Stay right where you are, Mr. Fitzpatrick,” Maggie yelled at him.
Just then, Walter got out of the car. He pulled a gun from his jacket, laying his gun hand on the roof of the car for balance. His shot went wide; hers went through the front window, blowing it out. Walter went to the ground. She didn’t know if she had hit him. She was more interested in restraining Fitzpatrick first. Of the two of them, Fitzpatrick was more important. She walked closer to him, with her two hands holding her gun
out, aiming at him.
“Down on the ground, Mr. Fitzpatrick.”
He laughed. “You don’t have the authority.”
He was right. She was out of her jurisdiction. Then she thought of something else. “As a citizen of the United States, I have every right to arrest you if I see you doing something you aren’t supposed to be doing.”
“I am a governmental appointed employee, you don’t have the right.”
She moved left, going around the door. “Oh, yes I do. As a private citizen, I have every right no matter who you are. You are not immune to a citizen’s arrest. But, if you won’t accept that, how about if I just shoot you now and save everyone the trouble later? When this all comes out, you are going to wish someone had shot you. Your job with FEMA is over.”
He narrowed his eyes at her. “Who are you?”
She pulled up the cord she had tucked inside her sweatshirt and showed him. “I am a detective, and Mr. Fitzpatrick, you are under arrest.” She took another step towards him. “Now, down on the ground.”
Fitzpatrick stood for a moment, realized he wasn’t getting away from her, and then knelt down.
“All the way down,” she yelled, pointing the gun at his head. He got down on the ground.
Suddenly, Walter came around the back of the car. Maggie caught a glimpse of him and moved behind the door just before he shot again. She blew out a sigh. It was now obvious she wasn’t going to get Fitzpatrick under control until she got Walter out of the picture. Or, got his gun. She was sure she could outrun Walter if she had to.
Walter had disappeared. She knew he was close to the car though. Bending down, she looked underneath the car. She smiled to herself and knew exactly what she had to do. Slowly she backed away from the door. Quickly and quietly, she went around the front of the car. As she got to the side, she took a shot at the last remaining tire. Walter was crouching right next to it. The tire blew out. He jumped back and she headed forward. As she got to the back of the car, Walter was sitting down facing the back of the car. She pointed the gun at him.
“Care to try that again, Walter?” she said. Walter looked up at her, his gun still in his hand. “Throw your gun to the right.” He did as she requested. “Now, put your hands behind your back.”
