Seattle Quake 9.2 (A Jackie Harlan Mystery Book 1)

by Marti Talbott

  "Navy to A7BB, over." Aboard the Aircraft Carrier, John Carson watched the last of the waves hit shore on his radar screen, and then ordered a spot light turned on the cliff. "A7BB, come in, over."

  "Hey, what's with the light? Can't a guy get any sleep around here?"

  Sarah giggled, and Max slapped a hand on the console, "Awesome."

  "A7BB, you slid a bit more, over."

  "Are you asking or telling? If you ask me, I slid a lot more and I got all wet. You know that stupid cat, the one I was growing fond of? Well it scratched up the whole side of my face, and then took off up the cliff. So much for loyalty. A7BB, over."

  "Navy to W7LGG. Over."

  Max quickly flipped on the mike, "W7LGG."

  "Max, we got a guy named John who'd like to know if Sarah's alright, over."

  "W7LGG. She's okay. A little shook up, but okay. We lost the other half of our roof, over."

  *

  Tim was too scared to breathe. The ceiling looked okay, but he wasn't sure. The floor beneath them felt strong, but the building still echoed its settling noises. "Maybe we should go lower."

  Jenna sniffed her nose and wiped the tears off her cheeks, "But Seely said higher was better."

  "Maybe, but my gut tells me to go lower."

  Seely didn't quickly comment. Instead, she again concentrated on breathing normally. She waited for the pain to shoot across her chest, but it didn't and in a little while, she relaxed. "Tim might be right. Maybe we should try to go down a flight or..."

  It began with a sharp cracking noise somewhere below and all three instantly resumed their huddled positions. The odd sounds of splitting wood and metal reverberated through the devastated building and objects started crashing to the street below. Even so, the ground didn't seem to be moving, but then suddenly, the forty-third floor shuddered, its walls popped and its floors convulsed. Long, endless seconds passed, and then the Mainland Tower broke apart and fell, sending a horrendous crashing noise up the walls of the Winningham Blue.

  Tim laid his flashlight in his lap, covered his face with his hands and took several long, heavy breaths. In the eerie glow of the flashlight, Jenna's eyes looked distorted and huge. Tears once more ran down her cheeks and Seely bowed her head in prayer.

  Stiff and sore, Tim slowly got to his feet. "I guess going down isn't such a good idea after all…now." He moved down the hallway and shined his light on the walls. Tiny molecules of dust still filtered down and wires yet swayed, but the walls and ceiling seemed to be holding.

  The cracking erupted again – this time within the building. Tim dove back down the hall, sat down next to Seely and threw his arms around her. Jenna shivered, Seely cringed and for more than a minute, no one moved while the building rested. Finally, newly stirred dust began to settle.

  *

  The noise of the crashing Mainland tower took a good ten seconds to reach KMPR. When it did, Collin jumped up and went to the window. Car headlights cast a faint glow on the collapsed buildings across the street and a lone man continued to dig in the rubble. In the dark, Collin couldn't tell if the other buildings were still there.

  *

  The "Blue Angel" flew north to Everett, dropped off its passenger at Thorndike Memorial Hospital and turned south again. They were flying over Lynnwood when Seely's heart rate abruptly increased. Instantly, Jackie knew what was happening and instructed Carl to stop. She waited and watched as the heart rate slowed, and speeded up twice more before it held steady. Below the chopper, people poured into streets and she slowly scanned the area with her cameras looking for new fires. There were none.

  In the right hand top screen, an enlarged Seattle map indicated Michelle's house and the playground across the street. The monitor next to it showed a view through the sprinkler head camera of a dim charcoal fire in the barbecue, and shadowy figures standing around it. "At least we won't have to wake them up. Go ahead, Carl."

  The air crane picked up speed and quickly flew over the more than fifty city blocks to Crown Hill.

  On the ground, Sam, Theo, Michelle and the girls quickly spotted the chopper lights. Mesmerized, they watched it land in the middle of the play field. A side door slid open, steps unfolded and the bright interior lights silhouetted the figure of a nicely dressed woman. Flashlight in hand, the figure descended the stairs.

  In high heels, Jackie struggled to walk through the broken patches of grass. The sidewalk and the street with slanted slabs were equally difficult, but at length she arrived. She extended a hand first to Theo, and then to Michelle. "My name is Jackie Harlan. Your mother is alive."

  Michelle instantly slumped against her husband. "Where is she?"

  "She's still in the building, but we're going to do everything we can to get her out. Look, I've got a tired crew on my hands and rooms for all of us in Vancouver, BC. Will you come?"

  Theo wrinkled his brow and frowned, "To Canada?"

  "Yes."

  "Why us? There are millions of people trapped in this mess."

  Jackie hesitated, looking first into Theo's eyes and then Michelle's, "I'm a Private Detective. I'm being paid to find you and bring you out."

  "Paid by whom?" Michelle waited for an answer while Jackie glanced back at the chopper.

  "Your father."

  "My father is dead."

  Jackie took a deep breath and once more glanced at the chopper. "It's a long story and one I'd love to tell you on the way. The important thing is, your father wants you safe. He wants your mother out of that building and my crew needs a rest. Please come, your children will be safer in Canada."

  Michelle searched her husband's eyes, and then nodded. "What about Mister Taylor? We can't just leave him here."

  "Of course you can, my dear," Sam said. "I'll be perfectly fine, with a little sleep. You go on."

  Jackie smiled, "Good."

  *

  Three times, Evan Cole went up on the roof to look for the chopper, and then hurried back to his room to watch the news on TV. Dozens of planes and choppers flew in and out of Vancouver, but none landed on the Hotel's landing pad. The 8.3 aftershock toppled a few more chimneys, rattled windows and sent Canadian citizens to the streets again. Now, local news was filled with new local damage reports. The lack of information from Seattle sent chills down his spine and now he sat next to a radio waiting to see if KMPR would come back on the air. It didn't.

  When Jackie called, he nearly jumped out of his skin. "Jackie, what's happening?"

  "She's okay, Mister Cole. She’s still in the building, but her heart rate looks good. We just picked up your daughter and her family. Our ETA is half an hour. Is everything set?"

  "Yes. Ask them if they're hungry. I can order..."

  "They can hear you, Mister Cole, and they're shaking their heads no. but I'll have prime rib. Carl likes anything Mexican and Michael says he could eat a horse. Do they have horse on the menu?"

  Evan Cole laughed, "I'll see what I can do. A half hour then?"

  "See you there." With that, Jackie disconnected the call. When she turned in her swivel seat, Michelle was staring at the picture of her father.

  In the time left before the chopper arrived, Evan turned his attention to finding just the right words to say to a daughter he had never seen – a daughter who probably thought he was dead. As hard as he tried, nothing came to mind. He watched the chopper land and there she was, looking very much like her mother had at that age, and he wanted nothing more than to take her in his arms. Instead, he just nodded and watched her follow the hotel attendant assigned to show them to their rooms. Without a word, his daughter walked with her family through the roof’s hotel entrance.

  Again, there was nothing left to do but wait. He made sure Jackie and the others had everything they needed, watched continuous repeats of the day’s news on TV and nearly two hours passed before Michelle finally knocked on his door.

  He calmly let her in, asked if he could get her anything and when she refused, took a seat opposite her at a small table. �
��It’s a lot to take in, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, it is.” Michelle let her eyes drop and struggled to find something to say. She was wearing the expensive sleeping gown and robe he’d ordered for her from the downstairs gift shop.

  “Do all the clothes fit? You can exchange them, if you’d like.”

  “They’re perfect. The girls love the pajamas and you must have wiped out a toy store. I had a devil of a time getting them to go to bed.” Without even taking a breath, she changed the subject, “Mr. Cole, Jackie told me about Christina and about the ring you found, and about you being married to somebody else, but I still don’t understand. What happened?”

  “I wish I knew. One minute I was the happiest man on earth with a beautiful bride and the next, I was cast into a pit of the deepest, darkness sadness in the world. To tell the truth, it never occurred to me to question Christina’s death. I saw nothing amiss at the time, nothing that would make me doubt what the authorities said.”

  Michelle was beginning to relax a little, so she got up and helped herself to a drink. “She’s always had those scars around her wrists, you know. I asked about them when I was very young, but she passed it off as though it were nothing. Still, I guess I always knew something was wrong because she was so over-protective of me. When I got older, it was a real struggle to get her to let me go out. Maybe now I know why, someone tried to kill her.”

  “Yes, but I have no idea who?”

  “Neither do I.” Michelle brought her glass back to the table and sat down.

  “Didn’t she ever remarry?”

  “Remarry? She wouldn’t even date, although men always flocked around her like flies. She said she loved you, you were dead and that was the end of that. Just a couple of weeks ago she told me she was happy to be getting older – there aren’t as many flies these days.”

  “Legally, she couldn’t remarry. Come to think of it, I have been a bigamist all these years. What a mess.”

  Michelle finally grinned, “I can’t wait to find out what happened. Do you really think they can get her out of that building?”

  “I hope so, I couldn’t bear to lose her again.”

  *

  Sunday morning at eight-thirty a.m. Eastern Daylight time, TV news was still showing yesterday's devastating pictures over and over, and reporting the number of hours before Seattle would see daylight. They replayed Sarah's calm voice, Ned's refusal to accept the devastation downtown and Mattie's heartfelt concern for the child buried in the department store. For a full hour, an expert talked about the intricate network of Hams and explained more about Amateur Radio. Finally, they identified Sarah and interviewed people she’d known in high school and college.

  Seated in her living room in Atlanta, Georgia, Sarah's mother turned her television off. In another two and a half hours, more pictures would come and God willing, she would hear Sarah's voice again. That was a long time to wait -- especially with another 8.3 aftershock reported during the night. Slowly, she got up and picked up her purse. She closed the door softly behind her and walked down the street to the nearest church.

  When she got there, the double doors were open and a man greeted her with a smile, "You're Sarah's Mother, aren't you?"

  She nodded, tears welling up in her eyes, "I haven't thanked God for anything in twenty years. It's about time I did." She walked down the aisle and took a seat in the front row.

  *

  It was the longest night anyone could remember in Seattle. For most, sleep didn't come until the early hours before dawn. Ham calls were few, the earth remained relatively calm and dogs didn't bark. Exhausted minds finally shut down and rested until the sky began to brighten.

  His chest filled with pain each time he took a breath, and the cleared off park bench was as hard as a rock. Even so, NE7G was out like a light for most of the night. When at last he opened his eyes, a woman was smiling down on him. She held a cup in one hand and pot of coffee in the other.

  "Lady, I've never been so glad to see anyone in my life. Could you set that down and help me up?"

  "You hurt?"

  "Broken rib."

  She set the pot down, wrapped his arm around her shoulder and helped him rise to a sitting position. "I've had one of those. You're in for about six weeks of pain. They're not taking broken bones yet." She lifted the pot, and then poured him a cup of coffee. "It doesn't matter. There's not much they can do about a broken rib except wrap it. Mind if I sit down?"

  "Not at all. Tell me, where did you come from?"

  She handed him the coffee, and set the pot down on the ground, "The courthouse. The Salvation Army set up on the grass. Sure is a fine time for the street people, the ones that lived through this. They'll likely get three good meals a day till this is over. And how hard will it be for them to steal booze with all the windows smashed. On the other hand, maybe all the booze got smashed too."

  NE7G smiled. "Tell me what's happening?"

  "Well, that aftershock scared hell, sorry, heck out of me. We heard a big crash after it stopped, but I don't know what fell. Probably another building."

  "Yes, I heard it too. You got any food at the courthouse?"

  "Sure do. The Army dropped some from the air last night. It's not bacon and eggs, but on a day like this, who cares."

  He herd the engine of a snowplow start less than a block away. "Where did that come from?"

  "Army dropped that too, early this morning. Didn't you hear the chopper?"

  "Guess I passed out."

  *

  Collin opened another box of crackers and then popped the lid on a new jar of cheese. "I've always wanted to eat cheese and crackers for breakfast. Wonder why I didn't think of this before."

  Seated on the floor with her back against the wall, Sarah swallowed her last bite and smiled, "Guess you've been a little too proper. Beth told me about you. You like things in order, just like the day before and the day before that. You need to branch out. I had a friend like that once. He..."

  Max poked his head through the window and frowned. "Hey you two, time to go to work."

  Collin walked to Sarah, leaned down and instead of lifting her, grabbed two pillows. "See, I remembered." He put the pillows in her armchair and switched off the lamp. He came back, leaned down, picked her up, and set her on the pillows. He watched her turn to a new page in her notebook. "Do you want to go first, or shall I?"

  "You go first."

  "Okay." He sat down, put his lips close to the station microphone and waited for Max to nod. "This is KMPR, 760 AM in Seattle. Folks, we need another check. If you're on Queen Anne Hill and you can hear us, honk your horn." He waited, heard three different car horns and smiled. "Thanks. When this is over, I'd like to shake your hands. As those living in Seattle already know, we had another strong aftershock during the night. Reports are not expected to be very good this morning.

  And now, you need to brace yourselves. What I am about to say will hurt. We have to keep our eyes on the living, especially the children, and dead bodies carry disease. Experts tell us the sooner we get them buried, the safer the children will be. Today, we must focus not only on search and rescue, but on the grim task of saying good-bye to the dead. The Red Cross asks that you try to identify as many people as you can.

  Just like the rest of you, we at KMPR hardly slept a wink. Nevertheless, we do have a little good news. A7BB didn't fall off the cliff and Charlie, the little girl trapped in the department store is still alive…and still trapped. The truck convoy reached Renton and is unloading badly needed supplies at a Red Cross center. Help is on the way.

  At the collapsed buildings across the street, I see fresh faces, and sadly, another two bodies. If I remember correctly, we should see rain tonight or tomorrow, and before you curse the rain, remember those still trapped in buildings need the water."

  Collin paused to take a deep breath. "Max and I have yet to hear from our wives in South Center, but Sarah manages to keep our spirits up. She's well, sitting right next to me and anxious to
go back to work. One last thing before she takes her net back -- I sure could use a cigarette."

  This time it was Sarah who rolled her eyes and shook her head. Her voice sounded crisp and clear as though she'd slept for a week, but her eyes were heavy and drooping, "Navy, this is Magnolia Net Control extending great appreciation for your help. Okay guys, please check in."

  "NE7G."

  "NE, good to hear your voice this morning, over."

  "Sarah, I'm at the park next to the courthouse downtown. I walked over to the bluff a while ago and looked down Third Avenue. If you haven't already heard, the bus tunnel did collapse. The Mainland Tower, the one that was leaning against the Winningham Blue Building, fell in the aftershock. We've got all kinds of help down here now. I can't imagine where they all came from. The Salvation Army has coffee and food and snowplows are trying to clear the streets. NE7G, over."

  CHAPTER 21

  On the forty-third floor, Tim sat with his legs crossed listening to the transistor and munching on a small bag of chips. "Coffee ... hot coffee. I can smell it clear up here."

  Jenna giggled and took another sip of water. "I sure hope that chopper comes back. Are you sure we can't go down the stairs?"

  "No, I'm not sure. But suppose we go down and the chopper comes?"

  Seely lightly touched her swollen jaw and slowly exercised it. When she talked, her words were slightly slurred, "You know, I hardly remember getting hit. I'm not even sure what hit me."

  "Well I know what hit me," Jenna said. "That putrid modern art painting by the elevators just flew off the wall. Oh Seely, I was hoping we would wake up and this would be just a bad dream. It's real, isn't it? I wanna go home."

  Seely tenderly touched Jenna's hand, "Me too."

  "I think we should try to go down the stairs. We don't know for sure the stairs are blocked and the chopper might not ever come back," said Jenna.

  Tim lowered his head and looked at Jenna through the tops of his eyes, "I've got ten bucks says we can't get down. A floor collapsed, remember?"

  "Well, maybe we can find a way to climb around that floor, you know, down the side of the building. The windows are broken and we could get back in."