A Danger to Himself and Others: Bomb Squad NYC Incident 1
Page 26
“We did, in a manner of speaking, and we didn’t. Anyway, on Gowen’s advice, I told Diaz to take off the next few days.”
“You needed Gowen to tell you that?”
“No, but it gave me cover. Besides, I thought it was wise for the mayor to know I was back on the job.”
“The mayor called you?”
“Negative. Gowen spoke to him. I guess I don’t rate.”
“You do with me.”
“Thank you, sweetheart.”
“Now do the dishes.”
He smiled. “My pleasure.” It felt good to have this case over. And it felt good to be holding down his dinner.
MANIS DIDN’T BOTHER TO CHECK the newspapers. He took the train to Kennedy Airport, where he had an old Toyota Camry in long-term parking under an assumed name. He left Queens and began driving northwest, listening to WINS-AM radio as he went. The signal faded out by the time he hit northern Westchester, but he was able to pick up more news on CBS-AM, which dropped about halfway through Putnam County. All that way, the drama continued. But he left New York City radio range before he heard the conclusion.
Past Millerton, in the northeast corner of Dutchess County, Manis found a dirt road and pulled off near dense woods. Using the side-view mirror, he shaved his head bald. Then he fetched a shovel from the trunk and walked until he could see his car no more. He scraped aside three inches of frozen matted leaves and dug a hole in the ground, burying the pack with his explosives and his pistol, identifying the site for future reference by triangulating marks on the bark of a nearby oak and two beech trees.
About halfway back to his car, he burned his real passport and driver’s license on a large boulder and ground the ashes down with the sole of his shoe.
He drove all night to the vicinity of Cleveland Hopkins International Airport. In a nearby Target store he purchased a suitcase full of clothes. Using a false passport, he flew to Dulles International in Washington with plans for a connecting flight to Munich, Germany. So as not to call attention to himself, he used a round-trip ticket, purchased with a phony credit card.
On the layover in Dulles he used an Internet connection in the terminal to learn that Sallye Ritchie had survived his surefire trap and that detectives of the NYPD Bomb Squad had saved her. It made him angry to be denied that closure. He went into the airport bathroom and puked a pint of bile.
In mid-air on the way to Munich he more calmly contemplated what he’d accomplished in New York and what he’d failed to do. He ran his damaged hand over his face, thinking of the man he’d once been and the man he was today. A bomb was the disordering of matter, but it soon found new equilibrium, albeit in heaps of fragments and dust. If the NYPD Bomb Squad had defeated the device he’d so carefully built for Sallye, that didn’t mean he couldn’t build another one. And better.
He closed his eyes for the long flight and let his mind drift to devices yet unmade. Before he awoke, a new day would dawn over the Atlantic.
DIAZ HAD SPENT FOUR HOURS and thirty-seven minutes in a room with a naked woman and a powerful bomb. Once he’d lifted the nurse off of the poly board and carried her out, he was finished for the day. Kahn offered to drive him home, and Diaz was too tired even to enjoy giving his partner turn-by-turn directions.
The door to his apartment opened before he got the key in, as if Jennifer had been waiting at the peephole.
She embraced him and said, “Oh, Manny. I’ve been watching the news.”
He smiled to see her, gave her back a weak squeeze, and poured himself into his bed.
When he awoke it was past midnight and she was sleeping next to him in her clothes. She sat up when he left the bed. He was starving and they agreed to go to an all-night Mexican joint on Amsterdam. They shared a plate of nachos and a chicken quesadilla, drank Modelo beer and took turns daring one another to eat jalapeño peppers.
Along the way he told her everything she wanted to know about the past forty-eight hours, making her laugh and making her cry, as if he were still in danger. When he was done, she asked, “Did the experience change you?”
He looked into her blue eyes and grinned. “I’m not gonna walk on the parkway no more.”
“What about the other thing?” she wondered.
“That I haven’t tested,” he said. “But don’t get your hopes going.”
“That’s all right.” In disappointment, she looked more beautiful than ever.
Diaz wanted to reassure her. He smiled, wiggling his fingers in the air. “Still got all ten digits.”
They went home and made love in their special way on Jennifer’s bed until they collapsed in exhaustion, Diaz as satisfied as a man in his condition could be. Lying together awake for a long time afterward, they stared at the stains on the ceiling until their eyes grew heavy in the warm apartment air. The clanging heat pipes of morning sang a familiar lullaby.
THE END
Glossary
A and E—Colloquialism for AES
ADIC—Assistant Director in Charge, FBI
AES—Arson and Explosion Squad, an NYPD investigative unit also known as A&E
Ahura—A brand of field spectrometer used for field tests of possible explosives and toxic agents
ANDROS Wolverine—Manufactured by Northrop Grumman’s Remotec division, the Wolverine is one of three bomb disposal robots currently deployed by the NYPD Bomb Squad. From Wikipedia: “Wolverine is a wheeled and optionally tracked design and is the largest in the ANDROS family at 810 lbs.”
ANDROS F6A—Manufactured by Northrop Grumman’s Remotec division, the F6A is one of three bomb disposal robots currently deployed by the NYPD Bomb Squad. From the manufacturer: “The Remotec ANDROS F6A is the most versatile, heavy-duty robot on the market. Speed and agility unite to make it the first choice for a wide range of missions, and its proven stair climbing ability, rugged and dependable chassis, and an arm capable of lifting 65 lbs mean that the F6A is more than strong enough to handle any task.”
ANDROS HD-1—Manufactured by Northrop Grumman’s Remotec division, the Wolverine is one of three bomb disposal robots currently deployed by the NYPD Bomb Squad. From Wikipedia: “HD-1 is wheeled and optionally tracked like the Wolverine, but is the smallest (and newest) ANDROS variant, weighing 200 lbs.”
ATF—The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms
CIA—Central Intelligence Agency
CSU—Crime Scene Unit, the NYPD’s name for the CSI department
DARPA—Defense Advance Research Projects Agency, the main research arm of the US Department of Defense
EDC—Explosive Detection Canine, a dog especially trained to sniff out bombs and the ingredients of explosives
EOD—Explosive Ordnance Disposal, the US military’s equivalent of a Bomb Squad
ESU—Emergency Services Unit
ETK—Explosive Test Kit, used for detecting explosive residue in the field
FBI—The Federal Bureau of Investigation
F6A—See ANDROS F6A
Glock 19—This versatile pistol is favored for its compactness and efficiency. It is one of three production pistols that NYPD detectives may choose to carry as their service weapon.
HD-1—See ANDROS HD-1
HDS—Hazardous Devices School, conducted by the FBI out of Huntsville, Alabama, where all bomb techs in the nation train
IABTI—International Association of Bomb Technicians and Investigators
IED—Improvised Explosive Device
IMEI—A type of cell phone “fingerprint”
JTTF—Joint Terrorism Task Force, consists of designated federal and local agencies and police forces
ME—Medical Examiner
MOS—Military Occupational Specialty
MP—Military Police
NJTTF—National Joint Terrorism Task Force
NSA—National Security Agency
NSN Number—A type of cell phone “fingerprint”
NYPD—New York Police Department
PAN—Percussion-Actuated Non-Electric Disrupt
er
PO—Police Officer
PSA—Police Service Area
RDX—Research Department Explosive, also known as cyclonite, more powerful than TNT
RPG—Rocket-Propelled Grenade
RSP—Render-Safe Procedure
RUC—Royal Ulster Constabulary
SABT—Special Agent Bomb Technician, a designation in the FBI’s Bomb Squad
SAC—Special Agent in Charge, an FBI responsibility
ScanX—The brand of portable x-ray devices used by the NYPD Bomb Squad
SCR—Silicon Control Rectifier, a solid-state switching device, similar to a relay switch
SDS—Sergeant—Supervisor Detective Squad
SIG Sauer P226—Originally designed for the US Army, this is one of three production pistols that NYPD detectives may choose to carry as their service weapon. The longer barrel improves ballistic performance and accuracy.
Smith & Wesson Model 5946 DAO—Said to fit comfortably in the hand and be very reliable, this is one of three production pistols that NYPD detectives may choose to carry as their service weapon.
SOD—Special Operations Division, highly trained squad formerly known as the SWAT team
TATP—Triacetone triperoxide, a primary high explosive
TCV—Total Containment Vehicle
USAID—the United States Agency for International Development
USSS—United States Secret Service
VIN—Vehicle Identification Number
Wolverine—See ANDROS Wolverine
Acknowledgments
I am the beneficiary of much generosity in life and specifically with regard to this project.
First and foremost, my heartfelt thanks to Lieutenant Mark Torre, commander of the NYPD Bomb Squad, for his guidance, patience, and insights. Mark was introduced to me by Kevin Miles, who retired in 2013 as the FBI’s longest-serving and most experienced bomb tech. Kevin cheerfully gave me an education in the subject before Mark became available, and he later reviewed the manuscript and made invaluable suggestions. Both of these men demonstrated with every interaction what it means to be a stand-up guy, and I am honored and grateful for the seriousness and thoroughness with which they provided their assistance.
Also, many thanks to all of the NYPD Bomb Squad detectives whom I’ve met, both inside headquarters with official permission and out on the street with the garage doors open when I stopped by as a citizen. The example of bravery and humanity that you folks set every day serves as an inspiration to us all.
We live in an age when hype and overuse have diluted the meaning of words like courage, heroism, and selflessness. But these words come to me in full force when I think of the man who introduced me to Kevin and Mark, my dear friend Paul Bucha. In his capacity as a recipient of the Congressional Medal of Honor, Paul spends a great deal of time giving speeches and making public appearances. As it happened, he had made a presentation to a group of bomb techs shortly before I mentioned my ambition to write a fictional series about the exploits of the NYPD Bomb Squad. By his introduction to Kevin and Mark, Paul has enabled me to make this a better book. By his example, Paul has enabled me to be a better person.
Patrick LoBrutto edited this book and, as always, improved it by lending his keen eye for story. My agents Jane Dystel and Miriam Goderich believed in it and backed up that belief through action. Thanks also to Sharon Pelletier at Dystel & Goderich for seeing it through.
By the time anyone set eyes on this novel, my wife, Pam, and my daughter, Macklin, had already been living with the concept for years. They have never let me lose sight of what is truly important in life: to create, to respect, and to love. They are my lodestar and my ballast.
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Incident 1: A Danger to Himself and Others
Incident 2: Death March
Incident 3: The Long Black Hand
Incident 4: Blast from the Past
Incident 5: Bottle Rocket
And more…
Table of Contents
A Danger to Himself and Others
Copyright
Books by J.E. Fishman
Series Technical Advisor
Author’s Note
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Glossary
Acknowledgments
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