Planning for this fair had been complicated. He’d faithfully entered the information in the computer program and it had come back with multiple suggestions, none of them what he wanted. In the end, he’d had to make three bombs. Two were small, distraction type bombs, meant to herd the crowds towards the more impressive explosion.
The rest of the time he’d spent researching the SCTU team. Their lives were fascinating, not just their work lives either. They all had checkered pasts, some more questionable than others.
Nick had discovered Xavier Reece suffered from brain damage from a shooting gone wrong. While in medical school, a classmate had climbed up another building and taken aim specifically at Reece. The bullet had shattered on impact with the glass window. A small shard of it and a chunk of glass had lodged into the side of Reece’s head. Unsatisfied, the classmate had then made his way to his target with automatic gunfire. Upon entering the classroom, he’d put several bullets into Reece’s chest. When he bent down to make the sure the man was dead, Reece stabbed him in the ear with an ink pen. Witnesses reported that Reece had pushed until the ink pen broke and the guy fell. Reece survived with brain and heart damage. The other guy had died on the scene.
Lucas McMichaels had been formally charged as a serial killer and discharged from the Navy SEALS program. However, while in custody, the killer had struck again, essentially clearing McMichaels. Somehow, McMichaels got revenge and one night, he called the police to say he’d been attacked. When they arrived, McMichaels had been injured, but not seriously and he’d been standing over a dead body. The dead body turned out to be the serial killer. The incident happened in a notorious spot for trolling and the killer had struck there before. The police suspected McMichaels of seeking the killer out, but couldn’t prove it.
Michael Giovanni had hacked the wrong the computer. His Trojan had hooked onto a live video feed broadcasting a snuff film in the making. He’d then hacked the FBI and uploaded the video and IP address. However, the next day, it wasn’t the FBI that kicked in his door, it was the killer from the snuff film. Giovanni had been prepared. He emptied an entire clip from a Glock into the man’s chest. The gun was bought illegally and Giovanni was at first charged with several felonies. However, the SCTU had hushed it all up and made him a team member.
Gabriel Henders had been attacked by a FBI agent who was also a serial killer. This had landed him a desk job for a while, during which time his ex-wife had shot him because she claimed she thought he was an intruder. No charges had been filed, but Henders had never been to the house again. He had children, but Nick couldn’t find out if Henders ever saw them or not. After the divorce, he’d ended up in the field again. He’d killed a guy who attempted to carjack him one night and then he ended up as a transfer to the SCTU.
Finally there was Aislinn Cain. Her deeds were the most nefarious. There were a string of bodies and brutal assaults connected to her. All of them in self-defense. She just seemed to attract the wrong kind of people.
What bothered Nick the most was that this had been the easy to find information. He’d found more broken links searching for their backgrounds than he’d ever seen. Even paying for the ability to do a background check on them, brought up little information. He felt robbed as it had cost him $49.95 per person and that was all he’d found out. It didn’t explain the scars he’d seen on Reece or Cain. Nor could he understand why the internet, with its vast resources of user input, would be mostly void of anything except a handful of newspaper articles.
Nicky, it doesn’t matter. After tonight, none of it will matter. You have two jobs, do them and move on. The SCTU is not your concern.
That voice. Nick was sitting in the parking lot of the fair in Quincy. He’d slipped in earlier and planted the first two bombs. He was amazed at how easy it had been. All his prep work of creating an ID badge to say he worked there had been for naught. No one had bothered to look at it or ask him what he was doing. There’d been no sign of the SCTU.
He’d been up late the last two nights working on the plans and bombs. Timers were tricky things. The explosive mixture had been even trickier. It wouldn’t do to have it mix early and blow up his house or his car.
Tonight, there wasn’t a bag to carry into the fairgrounds. Just himself and he easily went through the process of paying for entry and surprisingly, being frisked. They hadn’t been searching people on Thursday. However, they must have increased their security since all the bombs had been set on weekends.
A large cowboy hat covered his face from the cameras. He’d seen a handful on his previous visit, near large rides, looking for suspicious activity. It made him smile to think they were worthless. The biggest explosion would be in the only logical place and they didn’t have cameras there.
He checked his watch, ten minutes until ten. Walking slowly, he went to the concession stand and bought cotton candy and a lemonade. The band was in full swing, the music beat against him, even outside the grandstand. A few lines of a song caught his attention. They had a great headliner this year. An up and coming country singer that everyone seemed to adore.
At the Kiwanis Club food counter, he found a table and took a seat. The show was about to begin. He checked his watch again. He’d need to act shocked. He’d need to act frightened. He hoped he was up to the task. If he wasn’t, he’d just sit here and eat his cotton candy and watch the entire place burn to the ground.
The first bomb exploded near an exhibition barn. For some reason, there was a large propane tank there. He’d set the bomb near the propane tank. Flames illuminated the sky, towering over what was left of the exhibition barn. The flimsy metal building had collapsed like Lincoln Logs when the bomb exploded. Fire spread across the dry summer grass. Bits of hot metal rained down from the sky.
Action time, Nicky. The voice told him. Nick just sat, mesmerized. He’d seen the aftermath of his work on TV, but he’d never seen it happen live. A shock wave hit him. It wasn’t hard, just a blast of hot air mostly. He’d seen it coming, racing towards the entire Kiwanis crowd, debris and dirt making it somewhat visible. It had happened so fast though.
Rides were screeching to a halt. Riders were screaming to be let off. Those near the bottom of the rides were panicked, trying to get their children off. The operators were doing their best to maintain control, but it was nearly impossible.
A flash of someone he knew. Xavier Reece was running towards one of the rides. One of the rides where he had planted a bomb. Nick’s eyes darted to the ride and found Aislinn Cain was already there. She grabbed a little girl and nearly threw her to a man standing a few feet away. Nick checked his watch. She had a minute, maybe less to clear the ride before she and the riders were gone.
The last person was pulled off the ride. Reece and Cain began to run, shoving the crowd towards the nearest exit as the ride exploded.
How’d they know it was that ride, Nicky? Nick couldn’t answer the voice. They hadn’t been busy evacuating any other rides. They had gone specifically to that ride, like they had known. Perhaps they had figured it out.
A few of the ride’s cars were flung outwards, they slammed into the crowd. Reece went down. Cain immediately stopped to help her fallen partner. Nick stood up and sipped the last of his lemonade. One more to go.
A large ride called a Catapult, shuddered and collapsed. Beside it, another ride, the Tilt-a-Whirl, began shedding its cars. Screams became louder than the shearing and tearing of metal. The security guards were now rushing into the chaos. Paramedics, fire fighters and cops in uniform were filling the area inside the fences. They were trying to direct people away, direct them to safety.
Seeing it, in person, it was breath-taking. Smoke billowed into the sky. Screaming people and metal wrenching were music to his ears. Fires sprung up in several places.
Nick calmly walked towards the exit. Not too fast. He didn’t want to be in the parking lot. The place was already packed. Cars were started, people were trying to get as far away as possible.
The third explosion happened in the trunk of his car. This shockwave was powerful. People in front of him were knocked off their feet. The cars immediately next to his were just gone. A hazy cloud of toxic fumes began to filter into the air.
The cars trying to get away suffered shattered windows immediately. Several burst into flames. People began exiting their vehicles, trying to run away. The fireball was too large, too fast. It engulfed them.
Nick got to his feet in time to see a woman exit a car. She was on fire. The flames had engulfed her completely. The burning figure screamed and sank to the ground. It was a special scream. He’d never seen or heard anything like it. It thrilled him.
The screeching of metal wrenching itself free, caused him to jerk his head around. The Ferris wheel was toppling over. It landed with a deafening thud on top of the bumper cars and merry-go-round. His eyes found an arm a few feet from him.
His work was done. He looked around one more time. Aislinn Cain was staring at him.
Panic now, Nicky.
Nick followed the advice of the inner voice and took off running.