“Sheriff’s Office! Let us through!”
Ben and Frank raced along the train platform, heading toward the train that had momentarily stopped. The area was crowded, and they had to run around people who ignored their warning as they tried to get near enough to board. They had backup from the department on the way that was about fifteen minutes out, but they just didn’t have time to wait for them to arrive. The four on duty security guards that patrolled the station had met them at the depot entrance, as promised, and had quickly led them to the platform. Now they were running behind Ben and Frank and trying to keep up. The deputies saw the train up ahead and finally were able to come alongside it on the platform. Just as they reached the last car, they heard the automated announcement that the doors were about to close. Ben jumped aboard the last car at the doorway near the front, while Frank managed to get aboard at the end of the car. The security guards were unable to keep up and were left behind on the platform. Seconds later, the doors closed, and the train started pulling away from the station.
Ben and Frank quickly made their way to the aisle that separated the rows of seats and started looking for the train’s conductor and assistant conductor. They scanned each seat, looking for anywhere the two might be. They didn’t come across anyone but passengers in the first two cars, but in the third, they found both bathrooms locked.
“Sheriff’s Office,” Ben called as he knocked on the door. Frank did the same on the opposite door, but neither one got a response.
Ben wiggled the door. It was locked tightly. “Anyone in there?” he called again, just to be sure and put his ear against the door. It was faint, but he thought he could just make out the sound of someone groaning. He took a step back, then kicked in the door. It opened and slammed against the wall behind it, giving a loud crash. The assistant conductor sat on the floor, curled into a ball. His hands and feet were secured with zip ties, and he was gagged with a red bandanna tied around his head. His hat was missing, but he still wore the rest of his navy uniform, which was now wrinkled and dusty. His shortly cropped black hair was graying at the temples, and his face looked haggard and tired. His eyes were open, but he moved sluggishly, as if he were drugged.
“I’m Ben Graham with the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office. Let me get you out of those.” He pulled out his knife and sawed through the ties, then went to work on untying the bandanna. As soon as it was loose, the man worked his jaw to get the kinks out and tried to stand. His legs wouldn’t support him, and Ben ended up half carrying him out of the bathroom and into the first seat near the front of the car that happened to be empty. He let him down gently.
“Thanks. The name is Grandy. Jim Grandy. I’m the assistant conductor of this train.”
“How are you feeling?” Ben asked.
“Better now,” the man said, still rubbing his jaw with his hand. “Felix gave us both some coffee, and the next thing I knew, I woke up in there, trussed up like a Thanksgiving turkey.” He looked around anxiously. “Have you seen Joe or Felix? I don’t know what happened to them.”
“Is Joe the conductor?”
Grandy nodded. “We were all joking and getting along just fine. I wish I could remember what happened.” He shook his head as if to clear the cobwebs from his memory. Suddenly, he sat up straighter and a look of alarm spread across his face. “Joe!”
“I’m okay,” Joe answered. Ben turned to see Frank helping another man into the seat across from the assistant conductor. He was an older gentleman with a totally gray head of hair and kind blue eyes that seemed alert and intelligent, despite the fact that his body wasn’t working correctly. “Has anyone found Felix yet? Is he okay, too?”
Ben shook his head. “Actually, we think Felix is behind this.” Both trainmen looked surprised, but Ben quickly told them both all that they had learned, including the lack of communication with the home office.
Joe quickly felt his pockets. “Looks like my radio and phone are missing.”
“Mine, too,” the assistant conductor added. “Can we borrow your phone to call the home office?”
“Sure thing,” Frank responded as he handed Grandy his phone.
“Thanks,” Joe answered, nodding at Grandy to encourage him to make the call. “Let’s get them involved as soon as possible and see if we can fix this fiasco. If the home office didn’t even know there was a problem before you called, that’s promising. You see, the engineer has to press this button within seven seconds of when the thing beeps every so often. Even if we lose communication, as long as Felix keeps pushing that button within the time frame, the home office will think everything is okay, even if they can’t talk to him. If he doesn’t push it, the brakes automatically go on and the signaler in charge of the train will give him a call to make sure he’s okay. Felix has two phones, one internal to the train and a second external one that uses a mobile signal to receive calls and text messages. It even works in tunnels, but of course neither of them will work if Felix has shut them off.”
“So since the train seems to be operating normally, that means Felix is still in control, right?” Frank asked.
“That’s right,” Joe answered. “At least for now. From what you’re saying, though, that could change at any moment.”
“So can the brakes stop the train?”
“They slow it down, but you need a driver in the cab to ensure the safety of the passengers.”
Ben leaned forward. “So, worst-case scenario—if we can’t get in the cab and Felix is in the middle of a seizure, what can we do?”
“Well, something like that happened with a different company on a freight train. The engineer stopped responding, and it turns out he had a heart attack. The railway authorities had to bring another train alongside the running train to see if the driver was okay. Thankfully, there were other crew on the train who knew what to do, and the home office was able to talk them through it.”
“Do you know what to do, if we find a worst-case scenario in that cab?”
Joe nodded gravely. “I do.”
Grandy connected with someone at the home office with Frank’s phone and asked for a supervisor.
Joe pushed himself up to a standing position. “While he’s talking to the home office, the rest of us should head toward the motor unit at the front of the train. It sounds like we need to get into that cab as soon as possible to stop Felix from crashing this train. I sure don’t want my southbound line to end up hurting anyone.” He swayed a bit when he tried to take a step and glanced over sheepishly at Frank. “Can you help me, son? Looks like my legs aren’t working too well.”
“Sure thing,” Frank said as he put the man’s arm over his shoulder and helped him move into the aisle.
Ben motioned to the man on the phone. “Keep talking. The rest of us are headed to the cab.” The three of them started making their way to the front of the train, leaving the assistant conductor talking to the home office and describing the problem. Ben grabbed the conductor’s other arm, and between the two officers, they were able to move pretty quickly down the aisle.
Suddenly, the train lurched to the side, knocking them all off balance. “We’d better hurry,” Joe said softly as they righted themselves. “That means the train is going too fast for this part of the track. Felix is probably no longer in control of the train.”
The motor unit was two cars ahead of where they had found the drugged men, and the group rushed as quickly as possible toward the front of the train. Joe was able to press the numbers in the keypad by the door to enter the car, but once they got to the cab’s door, they found that the second lock had been secured from the inside. No matter how many times Joe put in the code, the lock wouldn’t release.
The train’s momentum continued to increase, and they could all tell that the train was now racing way too quickly down the track. They had to get in that cab. Fast. They could tell they only had seconds before the train derailed.
“Felix has locked us out from the inside,” Joe said grimly. “That was a safety feature they installed to make sure that if a terrorist took control of the rest of the train, they wouldn’t be able to get to the engineer.” The train lurched again as the train continued to speed down the track.
“So now what?” Ben asked.
“The good news is these locks aren’t as heavy-duty as the ones they put on airplanes,” Joe answered. “Those can withstand a grenade blast.” He pointed toward Ben’s sidearm. “I doubt these locks can stand up to a bullet or two.”
“Stand back,” Ben ordered.
The conductor nodded, and Frank helped him back up to the rear end of the car so they wouldn’t be hit by a ricochet or piece of flying metal. With three quick shots all in succession, the lock came apart, and the door splintered around it. Ben pulled on the door and saw the engineer lying on the floor. Foaming spittle was dripping from his mouth, but beyond that, he looked unconscious.
Ben rushed to the man’s side, and he heard Frank and Joe enter the cab behind him. Joe went quickly to the controls of the train and started pushing buttons, while Ben felt for a heartbeat. There was none. Felix Jefferson was dead.
A few seconds later, they felt the momentum of the train start to slow, and eventually, the train stopped completely.
Joe mopped the sweat from his forehead with his sleeve and leaned back in the engineer’s chair, a look of grim satisfaction on his face. “We did it, boys. We stopped the train.” He looked sadly down at Felix. “Is he dead?”
Ben nodded. “I’m afraid so. Looks like you were right, though. We got here just in time to stop the crash and save the passengers. It’s a shame we couldn’t save Felix, too.”
Despite the engineer’s death, Ben suddenly felt as though a huge burden had been lifted from his shoulders. Relief swamped over him, and he said a silent prayer of thankfulness. He knew they couldn’t have done this without God’s help. He looked over at Frank. “What do you think about going with me to arrest some lawyers?”
Frank smiled. “I think that’s an excellent idea.”