Chase paces the screen for a few minutes as he thinks with his hands.
‘Why would I kill the guy I need alive to pass the 28 amendment?...I guess I could have had him killed for wasting my time and not complying with my demands, but unfortunately I did not and now the guy is dead and I’m left with no bargaining boss. So here’s what I propose. I think Washington should start to take me seriously, if they don’t I will do away with twenty five hostages live on this stream in a matter of minutes. I want a call from the people in charge so we can finally arrange a means of me getting away from this building alive, safe passage to some third world county, blah blah blah, you know the drill. Most of all though, I want Washington to know that if they do not pass my 28 amendment forgoing previous laws on privacy then I shall do away with those twenty five hostages in a firing line live on TV. Now to make sure that everyone understands my willingness to cause such acts of brutality I would like to take you to some live CCTV footage of the train station down town, where I helpfully placed some cameras in strategic positions to catch a moment in history. Roll the footage as they say.’
The TV stutters from the live stream to a CCTV like image of four separate shots overlooking the train station. The images on the TV remains docile as nothing happens for a while. Suddenly a train makes its way into shot. It slows down to a crawl and remains idle. The four different camera angles capture the front end of the train. The side of the train, the rear of the train and a wide angle shot of the whole train. The silence in the room is unbearable as all the officers watch the footage closely. The ticker on the bottom right of the TV reads the exact time and date. Shaw picks up his mobile and dials in some digits as he looks on at the idle train. Someone answers.
‘Hey, no time to talk, I need you to get some units down to the train station something is about to…’ before Shaw can finish, the TV shows a massive explosion as the front end of the train is engulfed in flames. A mushroom of smoke bellows as debris floats down to the ground. The impact of the explosion knocks out the front camera shot and rear camera shot. The long angle shot and middle angle shot remain as smoke and fire spray the platform.
‘Make that some rescue units, we have an explosion at the train station, possible casualties.’ Says Shaw in shock as he flips the phone back shut and puts it in his pocket, the TV image remains haunted with the destroyed train for a further two minutes as the incident room is amass with silence.
Ninety
Frank opens the door to his apartment. He walks in and closes it behind him. He rests his head against the firm wooden grain on the heavy set door as he listens in. He hears nothing but the humming of the light fixtures on the other side. He remains slouched against the door for a while. He squints as he reaches in for the all too familiar feel of his pill contain. He unscrews it and jolts his head back as he pours in a few dozen pills. He rattles the container. It’s nearly empty. He sighs as he takes one last earful on his door. The hallway on the other side is silent. He straightens up and brushes his hand on the firm wooden surface. He turns around and surveys his apartment, the scattered folders and clothes are still prominent in his home. He looks down at the empty bottle of Jack that he so willingly guzzled down a few days ago. He steadily walks through the cluttered open plan living area and makes his way to the fridge. He opens it and peers in. the light from the cold refrigerator warms his face as he rummages through it. His hands hit something ice cold. He grabs it by its long neck and pulls it out. He looks down and sees a chilled bottle of whisky. He smiles as he unscrews it.
‘I wondered where you got to.’ He says to himself as he lifts the heavy brown bottle up to his lips. The liquid gushes down his front as he necks the beverage in true McKenzie style. His face drips with the drink as he tops the bottle off. He chucks the empty bottle on the ground. The thud echoes in the dark room. He stumbles over to his couch and plonks himself down. The cushiony surface welcomes him as it hugs at his back. He grabs the remote next to him and flicks the TV on. The first channel he lands on is showing the carnage of the downtown Boston train station. Frank quickly sits up as he watches the disturbing images.
The TV then flicks back to a live picture of Connor Chase as he stands firm and proud in his white tuxedo, Frank shakes his head and gets up. He hurls the remote towards the Television. It cracks the wide screen in half as Frank grabs his keys and walks towards the door. He opens it and walks out, slamming the door behind firmly him.
Ninety One
‘I hope I have made myself clear when I state that I am serious about this.’ Says Chase as he scornfully looks down at the camera. Chief Shaw is in shock as he stares at the rage filled Chase who’s pacing up and down. Shaw turns around to see Eddie look on with an empty glass in his hands. They both look at each other in pure shock as Chase’s tirade is playing in the background. Shaw turns to the screen again; a look of horror washed across his face as he grips the desk in front of him. His finger nails digging into the wood.
‘So now I have your attention yet again, I’m up for a little game. I did in fact blow up half of the train as you all saw just then. But as usual I’m a cunning individual who does not show all of his cards at once. If this was a game of poker, then we are on the flop. Three cards down, two to go so to speak. I will reveal two things now that represent two cards. Obviously me blowing up the train is card one. Look at your hands gentleman and you will see that I play a good game. Card two is about to be laid down. Bang, it’s a good one! It turns out the game has changed. Half of the passengers were taken off the train to safety before I blew the other half to hell. That’s right, one hundred gone, one hundred saved. Its fifty fifty now people. Card two has been revealed. Now let’s move onto card three. I have a very special V.I.P guest on the train. That person is of the very most importance and plays and integral part in card three. The person I am talking about is none other than Crystal Smith. Boya! Card three has just been smacked down. Now if the people at home don’t know who Crystal Smith is, then let me enlighten you. She is the Boston District Attorney’s daughter and my third wild card. Now before every one just automatically assumes I killed her to make a statement, please digress. This is where the hand gets interesting. I want the DA to give me a call, he knows my number, it’s that eight digit number he has on ignore, or I assume seeing the authorities have not once bothered to contact me in relation to this situation. Anyway, let’s continue. I want, no….I demand that the DA contact me in the next minute so we can further this most interesting game. I want him to ring me and tell me whether he thinks that I killed his daughter in the explosion or I saved her sweet ass and placed her with the others and bordered her off the train. To make things even more interesting, I’m about to bring on a female to the stage so to speak, her identity will be concealed, but I’m hoping that her being present will be enough to sway the DA’s answer in the right direction. If the DA gets the answer wrong then the girl gets a bullet in her head. If he gets the answer right she lives, and we get to see whether the girl under the sack is actually his beautiful daughter. Time starts now, you better get dialling Eddie.’
Eddie looks on in shock as he watches Chase drag a girl into the shot. Her head is concealed under a white knap sack much like the previous hostages that have appeared on screen during the past few days. She is visibly shaking as Chase whispers something into her ear. Eddie’s hands are trembling as he drops the empty glass onto the floor. Shaw turns to face him.