As the SUV approaches a faded red four-door, Charon pick up cell phone # 3 and presses the button. The close-up video feed on his laptop immediately goes black, but the distant video shows a massive explosion at the intersection. Oops.
He coils up the earbud cords and stashes them in his pocket, closes the laptop, slides it and the cell phones into his backpack, then walks out of the café. Jumping on his scooter, he makes an immediate left turn at the first corner, cutting off one of the micro-sized business trucks that seem to be everywhere. Once he reaches his destination, he sees scores of people shouting and gawking at the aftermath of the massive explosion.
Dropping the kickstand under his scooter, he maneuvers it against the curb. He elbows his way past several Chinese workers to get a better view of what’s left of the black SUV. Near the rear, ribbons of fire still rise from what was presumably the gas tank and parts of the doors are blown off. Another car parked near the corner is nothing more than a bombed-out chassis. Some people start to run away, disturbed by the grisly scene, while others push their way toward it.
Charon examines the SUV from the passenger side. In the front seat, he sees Ty Ryan’s burned and lifeless body slumped partially forward and toward the side; in the backseat, Amanda cradles a small child in her arms—both motionless and charred.
You don’t kidnap the Chinese president’s grandson and get away with it.
He nods to himself and walks back toward his scooter, where he taps in a message on his cell phone:
Confirmed.
Then, he scrolls back to his playlist and cranks up his earbuds again. As he speeds off, the crowd continues to expand and sirens grow louder.
A satellite image captures the explosion. The information is conveyed within seconds to the U.S. Embassy in Beijing. Moments later a black SUV screams out through the gates, it stops two blocks away, Britt Hayes jumps in the front seat, and the SUV accelerates towards the bomb scene.
An ambulance speeds by Charon, and then another, on their way to the remnants of the two vehicles. The black SUV arrives shortly after. Britt Hayes and a paramedic associate from the embassy, an Asian-American who speaks Chinese, leap out of the SUV and run to the wreckage. Britt flips open her badge and shows it to the rescue paramedics.
“Tell them we are prepared to take control of the bodies because they are Americans."
Her associate conveys the information to the rescue paramedic who wears a white face mask and small brown frame glasses. He peers into the car at the bodies, then feels Amanda’s neck for a pulse. He turns with a frown and speaks to the man interpreting for Britt.
"What did he say?"
"He said they're all dead."
Britt tries to lean in to touch Amanda's body, but the paramedic with the face mask pushes her away gently, respectfully.
In Chinese, he says, "You are not authorized. Please move back."
"Tell him they are Americans, diplomats from the U.S. Embassy. We are entitled to take custody of them.”
Her associate talks to the paramedic who still refuses Britt’s request.
“He said because they are deceased, they have control of the bodies and will take them to the morgue. I told him I’m a paramedic too. He could care less.”
"No! The girl can’t be dead, tell him,” Britt insists. “She can’t be dead.”
The masked paramedic turns and looks at Britt, shaking his head and responding once more in clipped Chinese.
Britt's associate looks at her. "He said you are crazy American. Nothing can be done for them.”
Lifting Amanda's arm slightly, the paramedic assesses Justin's lifeless body still cradled in her lap.
He moves a few steps away from the car’s interior and speaks into the radio on the right shoulder of his white uniform.
Britt seizes the opportunity and jumps into the backseat. She feels Amanda’s wrist but detects no pulse. She begins CPR on her in feverish desperation. Blow in, chest compressions, blow in, more chest compressions. She also presses on Justin’s tiny forearm but finds no pulse.
When the masked paramedic turns back toward the vehicle and sees Britt perched in the rear seat, he yells something at her and wraps his arms around her waist, trying to pull her out. Britt resists, and another paramedic rushes over and helps him pry her away from Amanda’s body.
The crowd around the SUV has grown to 50 or 75 onlookers who are being held back on the sidewalk on either side of the street by police. The paramedics load the gurney carrying Ryan’s body bag into one ambulance and Amanda and the child into another. Another rescue squad deals with two other young Chinese workers who were literally blown away by the blast.
“Quick, give me the medical bag.” Britt tells her associate, grabbing it from his hand, before he speaks.
As the rescue squad tech swings the doors closed on the second vehicle, Britt flashes her badge, grabs one door before it shuts, and climbs into the rear of the ambulance, leaving the U.S. Embassy employee standing nearby, dumbfounded. He pulls out his cell phone to call the Embassy as both ambulances pull away, lights activated and sirens blaring.
“She’s acting crazy. There’s nothing I could do. She going to the morgue with the bodies.”
Inside the ambulance, Britt’s own words echo in her head.
No. She can’t be dead, tell him.
Britt begins unzipping Amanda’s body bag.
The female tech gestures at Britt to stop and unfastens her seatbelt to intervene. Britt reaches inside her jacket and pulls out her pistol, pointing the muzzle toward the tech, then toward the jump seat. No Chinese language skills required. The tech backs up to the jump seat and re-fastens her shoulder harness.
Britt unzips the bag, revealing Amanda’s charred head and torso, and resumes mouth-to-mouth and CPR.
She can’t be dead.
About the Author
R. N. Shapiro presently practices law as a trial attorney in the field of personal injury law. He worked as a congressional aide on Capitol Hill, and following his graduation from law school he served as a law clerk for a federal judge before entering private practice. An American inventor, he holds 19 U.S. patents and has travelled to China and Europe to design and license folding consumer products like wagons, carts, and baby strollers, with licenses to Radio Flyer, as well as other international companies. His first fiction suspense thriller, Taming the Telomeres medaled in four international literary contests, and was a #1 e-book bestseller. Visit RNShapiro.com, the author’s page on Goodreads, or Taming the Telomeres on Facebook to learn more about the author and what he is working on.
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Amanda Michaels Playlist on Youtube
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Also by R. N. Shapiro
Taming the Telomeres, a Gold Award Winning Suspense Thriller in the Reader’s Favorite Int’l Book Contest, a # 1 bestselling e-book bestseller.
TTT was the debut suspense telomere series thriller by the author.
Targeting the Telomeres, A Thriller Page 34
